Page 4 of Starfish Cottage
Maddie flipped through the pictures showing a woman in a 1920s sheath dress covered by a white apron. She was a pretty woman, petite, with her hair fashioned in the wavy curl popular at the time. Maddie recognized it as the same room they were in now by the placement of the doorway and tall windows, but the room was practically bare. A few tables with boxes of candy, and a large marble slab where the woman was cutting fudge.
They leafed through the photos with Deena making comments about some of them.
“That looks like my cottage!” Maddie pointed to an interior shot of a cottage. Etta was standing at the kitchen window, gazing out at the ocean. The kitchen cabinets looked new and freshly painted. Gingham curtains hung in the window, and a set of enamel canisters was lined up on the metal-trimmed Formica countertop. But even with the differences, Maddie recognized it as her kitchen.
Deena squinted at the photo. “I think there are more from the cottage.” She flipped to the next page, where Maddie got excited to see a picture of the dining room and living room. One bedroom shot showed a chenille bedspread and makeup table, Etta in a dark evening dress.
“Could I get copies of these?” Maddie asked. Even though it was definitely her cottage, there were a few differences, and seeing what it looked like originally might be helpful for her renovation. It would be kind of cool to get the pictures framed and hang them up in the house for nostalgia.
“Sure. I can make a copy right on my printer.” Deena slipped the photos out carefully and disappeared into the back of the shop.
Maddie was eyeing a peppermint patty on the sample plate when the door opened and Constance Harbinger entered.
Maddie remembered meeting Constance at one of the town meetings. She was somewhat of a grouch then, and her demeanor hadn’t changed, judging by the tight-lipped smile she gave Maddie.
Determined to be her usual cheery self, Maddie gave Constance a big smile. “Good morning! How are you?”
Constance looked surprised at Maddie’s greeting. Maddie got the impression that not a lot of people greeted Constance Harbinger with a smile, and for a split second, she felt sorry for her.
“Fine, thanks.” Constance clutched her purse to her chest as if expecting Maddie to grab it and run, and then disappeared behind a candy display without further comment.
She approached the counter with a bag of sour candies just as Deena was coming out from the back with the copies.
“Hi, Connie. I see you have the usual.” Deena put the copies in front of Maddie and rang up Constance’s purchase.
Constance—somehow Maddie couldn’t think of her as Connie—avoided eye contact, keeping her gaze on the counter. Her eyes were fixated on the old recipe. “What’s this?”
“An old recipe from my great-grandmother.” Deena packaged up the sour candies in a white bag and handed them over. “Maddie owns Starfish Cottage now, and she found it in a drawer. Isn’t that great?”
Constance snorted. “Whisky fudge? Sounds inappropriate. I hope you aren’t going to add it to your selection of candies.”
“As a matter of fact, I am. But don’t worry. You couldn’t eat enough of them to get drunk, so I don’t think there are any licensing issues.”
“Harrumph… I suppose if you say so.” Constance took the bag and left.
After the door closed, Deena said, “She’s kind of a sourpuss, but don’t judge her too harshly. Her husband had a drinking problem and caused a fatal accident. She withdrew from society after that. Do you realize she’s only fifty-eight?”
Maddie was shocked. “She looks almost eighty!”
“That’s what a hard life full of bitterness will do.” Deena shook her head. “She’s practically a recluse now. The only thing she has is her work on the town approval committee, but with the lack of tourism, there hasn’t been a lot for that committee to do.”
“Hopefully that will change.”
Deena smiled. “Thanks to you.”
No pressure there. “Speaking of which, I’d better get back to work. Thanks for the copies of the photos.”
Chapter Four
Maddie took a deep breath as she pulled into the cottage driveway. Dex had wasted no time getting to work. He stood over a table made of sawhorses and plywood, cutting into a two-by-four. His tools were spread out haphazardly around the yard.
“Should have that doorframe repaired by the end of the day,” he said as she stood there eyeing the mess.
“That’s great. Thanks.” Maddie smiled at him despite how much the untidy mess bothered her. She was going to have to ignore that for now. Dex was doing what she asked, and she needed the work done. The doorframe was so loose that locking the door wasn’t much of a deterrent to anyone who wanted to break in.
“I’ll start inside after that?” Dex asked. Maddie had wanted the interior work done first so that she could get started with the painting while Dex worked on the exterior. Frank had assured her that the cottage was solid, so there wasn’t anything that was an emergency to be fixed right away. If she ran out of funds, it would bother her to have the inside in shambles more than the outside.
“Yes. Do you have a schedule of when you will start and complete each of the jobs?” Maddie had bought a separate day planner to use for the renovation schedule, but she hadn’t filled it in yet because she wasn’t sure how long each job would take.
