Page 36 of Starfish Cottage
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rose swirled a packet of sugar into her steaming coffee and smiled up at Aggie Fletcher, who was seated across the café table just outside Ocean Brew. Pearl, Rose, and Leena had bumped into Aggie around town a few times and decided to ask her for coffee. She had accepted enthusiastically and had proven to be good company, smart and vivacious. Today she was as chipper as ever, her red hair made even brighter in the summer sun. Her face was dotted with freckles, and her nose was red from too much time on the beach.
Rose had more to smile about than just a new friend. It was a crisp summer morning, the birds were singing, and the tents for the event were set up in the common and buzzing with activity. More tourists milled about in front of the stores on the street, holding colorful bags loaded with purchases. Maddie’s event was already working its magic.
“The town is awakening. I can feel it. This is the very thing we needed.” Pearl pinched a crumb off the top of her bran muffin. They’d each ordered muffins—Pearl’s was bran, Leena’s was blueberry, Rose opted for lemon poppy seed, and Aggie got the chocolate muffin with chocolate chips.
“What made Connie change her mind?” Leena asked.
Rose had driven past Connie’s house and seen the repairs. She knew Dex had done them, but he was too humble to brag, and when she mentioned it, he made light of it saying he’d noticed how run-down it was the day he had brought Rose out and just happened to have the exact lumber and supplies on hand to fix it up. Only someone who really loved the town would go to those lengths. Dex just couldn’t move away. He would be miserable.
“I think she just remembered how we help each other and how she loved the town and figured out how to make it work,” Rose said. Dex wouldn’t want her telling everyone what he’d done.
“I saw them doing some preliminary setup down at the old donut shop. I guess the tent for the party will go up tomorrow.” Aggie’s eyes twinkled. “It’s very exciting.”
“Were you able to talk Henry into wearing a costume?” Rose was skeptical. Henry never was one to dress up for parties when they were younger, and Rose didn’t think he’d be more receptive to it in his old age.
“It took some doing, but I managed. I love dressing up.” Aggie waved her arms, letting the sleeves of the rainbow-colored caftan float out like butterfly wings as if to illustrate.
“If you’ve talked him into that, I must say he must be very sweet on you.” Pearl smiled at Aggie warmly.
Aggie blushed. “We do get along well.”
“So what are you wearing, Rose?” Pearl asked.
“I’m going with classic black, and I have an outrageous peacock feather hat. What about you?”
“I’m wearing a peach sheath dress, nothing too fancy, but I do have a long strand of pearls that were my mother’s, and I’m going to wear those.” It was just like Pearl to be understated, and pearls were her signature gem.
“Leena?”
Leena made a face. “I’m not much for fancy dresses. I was thinking about wearing one of the suits.”
“A pinstripe suit would look great on you!” Rose, Pearl, and Aggie agreed.
Leena looked pleased at the compliment. “Then that’s what I’ll wear.”
“I’m wearing hot pink with lots of fringe,” Aggie said. “Don’t worry, it’s not too flamboyant.”
“We’ve sort of come to expect flamboyant from you.” Leena gestured toward Aggie’s flowing sleeves.
Aggie laughed. “I guess so.”
“It’s good to be known for something,” Rose said, lest Aggie think they disapproved. Quite the contrary, the ladies had agreed Aggie was a lot of fun.
Pearl turned to Rose. “Dex worked really hard on this event. I saw him down here a few times measuring things and building supports for the tents in the common.”
Leena snorted. “Yeah, Burt’s moonshine tent needed a lot of work. He had to build a special platform”
Aggie laughed. “Ugh… did you try any of that? That stuff will rot your stomach out.”
“Sure will, but the tourists seem to like it,” Leena said.
“Those Marco Rosone enthusiasts ate it up… or should I saydrankit up,” Pearl said. “I heard a lot of them remarking on how quaint the town was and how they wanted to come back on vacation.”
“I still can’t believe that Dex wants to move away after putting all this work in.” Leena frowned at Rose.
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Rose said. “He’s been asking some serious questions, and I have a feeling that he’s going to see that Shell Cove is exactly where he belongs.”
