Page 29 of Changing Tides
Andie gazed out at the ocean. “I know. I guess it never came up.”
Chandler had wandered over to the east wall and was eyeing the collage of gilt-framed paintings. The paintings dated back to Jane’s great-grandparents’ time. Old landscapes, vibrant ocean scenes.
“You have quite the collection here. Some of these paintings are quite valuable.” Chandler turned to look at them. “You wouldn’t be interested in selling any of them, would you?”
Jane was startled by the thought. The paintings had been there since before she was born.
“These paintings have been in our family forever. We would never sell them.” She turned to her sister. “Would we?”
Andie shook her head. “No, they’re like family heirlooms. We couldn’t part with them.”
Chandler smiled sheepishly. “Oh well. I hope I didn’t offend you. It’s just that one can’t help but be interested when you run into something exquisite in my line of work. You know how it is, Andrea.”
Andie nodded. “We’re not offended, are we, Jane?”
Jane shook her head. “Of course not.”
The inn was filled with antiques, paintings, furniture, and knickknacks. The thought of selling them had never crossed Jane’s mind. She could practically feel her ancestors looking down and shaking their heads. She couldn’t possibly part with anything in the inn… not unless she was absolutely desperate. Thankfully, she hadn’t gotten to that point yet. All she needed was to ramp up the bookings, book a wedding, or come up with an idea for some other type of event.
Chandler headed to his room, and Jane and Andie chatted for a bit longer before taking Cooper out to do his business and then heading to bed. Jane was surprised at how Cooper took to living at the inn. He simply followed her up to her room and lay down.
Jane fell asleep, feeling more hopeful than she had been in weeks.
Chapter 17
Jane’s bedroom faced east, and she was used to the rising sun peeking in at an early hour. What she wasn’t used to was the warm body in bed beside her. She startled awake when a wet nose against her hand reminded her about Cooper. He’d started off on the floor but must have made his way into the bed during the night. Jane didn’t mind.
“Come on, boy. You probably have to go out, right?” Jane wasn’t used to having another being to consider, but she was happy to make the adjustment. She took Cooper outside to do his business and then fed him before even getting a cup of coffee for herself.
Settled at the kitchen table with an English muffin on her plate and Brenda cooking in the background, Jane checked her email and practically fell off her chair.
Brenda turned around, concerned. “Is something wrong, Jane?”
“Someone wants to book a wedding.”
“Really? That’s good isn’t it?” Brenda asked.
“Of course. It’s just a surprise. I wasn’t expecting something this quick, and they want it in less than five weeks.” Jane started to panic. How was she going to pull together a wedding in a month? She didn’t know anything about weddings. Why had she signed up for this?
Brenda, unflappable as usual, forked the bacon out of the pan, laying it on paper towels. “Nothing wrong with getting more money sooner.”
Brenda had a point. She’d just taken money allotted for the food service to pay the electric bill. If she could pull this wedding off, she’d get a deposit and should be able to replace that money without having to be overdue on the bill to the food supplier.
She read the comments on the form application carefully. “It’s a rush job because the place they had booked closed down without notice. It’s for fifty people, and they’re excited about a beach wedding and lobster bake. Do you think we can handle that?”
“Of course we can. And just think, maybe they’ll book all the rooms.” Brenda seemed happy at the prospect of being able to cook breakfast for a full house.
The applicant wanted pictures of the actual outdoor area where the wedding would be and a description of Jane’s plan. Plan? Was she supposed to have a plan? She’d be filling the role of wedding planner, but how hard could a small beach wedding be to plan?
The comments on the form specified that they wanted something classy, not a venue with picnic tables and porta potties. If they liked what Jane sent and her quote was reasonable, they would send a twenty-five percent deposit right away.
Jane’s mind whirled as she thought about what she should send them for a plan. She wanted more pictures. Maybe some close-ups of the work Andie was doing on the garden and one of the ocean framed by the arbor. She already had basics of the rooms and interior of Tides up on the website, but she didn’t have any of how it would look at an actual wedding. Maybe Maxi could help with that.
Mike was due any minute to go over the website, and Jane wanted to visit her Mom at Tall Pines, so she asked Maxi to come later that afternoon.
There! She’d put the plans in motion. This could really work.
Cooper let out a sudden woof and rushed to the screen door. Jane looked up to see Mike, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder.
