Jules smirked. “Maddie’s getting along with him great.”
“He sure is a charmer.” Pearl gave Maddie a knowing smile.
“He’s impossible. So disorganized. I don’t think we’re on the same page at all.” Maddie looked out the window to make sure Dex had picked up his mess, as he’d promised. She had to admit he’d done a good job on the porch, and it had been nice of him to inspect the rooms, but she was glad he was out of her hair. She wanted to make friends in Shell Cove, but she doubted Dex would be one of them, even if he did have a charming smile.
“Tell us more about the loan,” Leena told Jules.
Jules sighed. “It turns out Nick at the bank isn’t exactly a straight shooter. The loan has some problems.”
Pearl clucked. “I bet his grandfather is behind that.”
Jules frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“Henry can be a jerk,” Pearl said. “Maybe I should have a talk with him.”
“You’d probably make things worse,” Rose said.
“I think this was all on Nick. He lied about the inspection too. Luckily the motel passed,” Jules said.
“It turns out that was a blessing in disguise.” Maddie could tell Jules was trying not to let on how upset she was about Nick lying. “Nick did us a favor, really. The motel is already approved if we get guests for the contest.”
“You can thank Dex for that,” Gina pointed out, to Maddie’s dismay. “Because he knew Ryan, he was able to show him the work being done and get his approval.”
“Back to the contest,” Rose said. “I’m going to call a town meeting. I think we can get most of the people on board with this. Hopefully we’ll get lots of volunteers to clean up Main Street, take down the plywood from the boarded-up shops, maybe even get some flowers planted.”
“Maybe Gina can bring a pie. It would be appropriate, considering the contest,” Pearl said.
Judging by the look on Gina’s face, Maddie didn’t think she wanted to.
“Everyone needs to bring a dish,” Leena reminded them. “That’s how we get people to come.”
“We’ll bring something. Maybe not a pie, but something good.” Hopefully it would be better than the fruit kebabs. Maddie felt a rush of excitement. If Rose thought it was possible, maybe she dared to hope.
“Okay now, what about the venue, the old donut shop? That might take a lot of work,” Leena said.
“I drove by on the way back here,” Maddie said. “It doesn’t look too bad from the outside, but we need to get in there and check it out before I show it to Marilyn.”
“No problem.” Rose pulled a key out of her pocket. “I know the owner. Shall we go take a look right now?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
There was a lot of work to be done, so Pearl and Leena went to arrange the town meeting and spread the word while Jules took Rose to the donut shop on the pier in her car. Jules was surprised to discover that Dex was already taking the boards off the windows.
“Hi, Dex. What brings you here?” she asked.
Dex nodded toward Rose. “Gram mentioned that they were thinking of using this for that baking show and asked if I’d come and remove the boarded windows. It won’t make a very good presentation with the windows blocked off.” He peered over Jules’s shoulder, as if looking for someone. “Is Miss Sunshine with you?”
Jules laughed. “No, she’s back at the motel.”
Rose raised her eyebrow. “Miss Sunshine?”
“He’s talking about Maddie.”
Rose laughed. “Oh, how interesting. Shall we go inside?”
She handed the key to Jules. Jules held her breath as she put the key into the lock, worried about what she might find inside. Would it be a complete wreck and unfit to even show to Marilyn?
It wasn’t a wreck. In fact she was pleasantly surprised that it was in pretty good condition.
