Page 33 of Ten Beach Road

Footsteps sounded out on the loggia.

“The Realtor said Dyer got a great buy because so much work had to be done, but he must have been too busy stealing to do the renovation.”

They looked up to see Nicole in the kitchen doorway. She wore what had to be designer running clothes and shoes and though those clothes were wet from exertion and her skin glowed with perspiration, her makeup was still intact. She had an odd, almost wary, look on her face.

“What did I miss?” she asked, pulling a bottled water out of the fridge and raising it to her lips.

“Just talking about the kitchen,” Avery said, watching her. “And working up the energy to start washing windows.”

Nicole closed her eyes briefly and grimaced, but she didn’t stop drinking.

“Yeah, we’re all really looking forward to that,” Avery said. “And I thought maybe we should take a look at the ‘jungle’ while we’re working outside and see if we can figure out what needs to be trimmed or removed.” She carried her empty coffee cup to the sink. “Do either of you garden?”

“No.” Nicole finally lowered the bottle; it was almost empty.

“I once got lawn of the month in our neighborhood, but that was because the real winner got disqualified for secret watering during the drought.” Madeline poured the last of the coffee into her cup and turned off the coffeemaker. “Maybe we should call John Franklin and see if he meant it when he said his wife and her garden club might be willing to help.” She said this somewhat tentatively.

“Good idea,” Nicole said.

“You’re a genius,” Avery added. “I have no desire to do any grunt work that someone else might be willing to do.”

Madeline flushed at the compliment, clearly pleased. “It’s the first rule of committee management. I learned it when I was room mom for Kyra’s kindergarten class. You can kill yourself doing everything or you can delegate.”

“Sounds good to me,” Avery said. Then deciding to try Madeline’s technique on for size, she turned to Nicole. “Would you be willing to call John Franklin and see if his wife and her garden club are actually willing to tackle the lawn and garden?”

“Sure,” the redhead said as she tossed the now-empty water bottle into the recycling bin Madeline had set up. “I’ve talked people into all kinds of things in the name of love; I’m sure I can get a couple of garden ladies to come over here for a little weed pulling and frond plucking.”

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