Page 9 of Starfish Cottage
“You two do seem awfully close, dear.” Aggie looked at Jules over the rim of the ruby-rimmed glasses that had slipped down her nose.
“We’ve only been on a handful of dates,” Jules said.
“Well, it seems like you two get along really well,” Aggie said. “But back to the problem. I hope Henry can help, and there are some other old-timers in town too. This town is just too adorable to give up on, and I’m sure once you start getting the flow of tourists, word of mouth will get out, and they’ll keep coming. The motel is fabulous and the scenery gorgeous. Don’t you girls worry. I’m sure it will all work out fine.”
“You’re probably right,” Gina said. But shewasworried. The three of them had a lot of hopes tied up in the success of the town. And if any of the old-timers—as Aggie called them—knew of something to base an event around, Rose, Leena, and Pearl would have mentioned something to Maddie before now. Still, she had all the faith in the world in her cousin, and she was determined to keep a positive outlook.
* * *
Dex wasglad that Sharkies wasn’t very crowded. The small pub could draw a crowd on weekends, but tonight only three people sat at the polished wooden bar, and all the other pub tables were empty. The brewpub was like a second home to Dex, the kind of place where everyone knew you, which wasn’t really hard in Shell Cove since only locals ever came here. From the sports pennants behind the bar to the round pub tables to the warm lighting to the smell of burgers being cooked in back, it had a feeling of home.
Dex enjoyed talking to his best friend, Nick, and Nick’s grandfather, Henry. When the bar was crowded, it was hard to hear what anyone was saying. Henry was getting up there in years, and Dex knew that shouting over the noise was an effort for him.
He’d been worried about Henry these past few years. The white-haired man had seemed to shrink into himself, shuffling along with his head down most of the time. But the past few weeks, Henry had changed. He had a spring in his step and a glint in his sharp, sapphire eyes. Nick did too, and Henry knew why. They both had new women in their lives. The change in his friends warmed his heart.
“So how many dates do you think is enough before I kiss her?” Henry was comically serious as he sat at the pub table across from Dex, his hand wrapped around a frosty mug of golden draft beer.
Dex shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’ve been dating Lorelei since after college. Nick has more recent experience.”
Nick beamed. Dex had noticed how happy his friend had been since Jules Whittier had come to town. It made sense; they were in those blissful days of a new relationship. Hopefully Nick would enjoy it. That feeling didn’t last.
He was glad his relationship with Lorelei was stabilized, mature. None of that anxiety or second-guessing how the other person felt. Their relationship was predictable. It was safe. It was… not really that exciting anymore.
“I’d say two or three, Gramps,” Nick said. “It sort of depends on what kind of dates they are.”
“Maybe at your age you might want to speed up the timeline.” Dex’s joke brought a deep, genuine laugh from Henry. It was good to see him laugh like that. It had been a long time.
“Speaking of speeding up the timeline, I wanted to thank you for getting my garage repairs done so quickly.” Henry’s expression turned serious. “What do I owe you?”
Dex made a face and waved his hand. “There’s never a charge for you, Henry.”
The doors on Henrys two-car garage had rotted, and Dex had repaired them right away. He had no intentions of charging Henry for that work, though. Friends did that as a favor. Nick was his best friend, and therefore, Henry fell under that umbrella. Henry had a lot of money and could afford it, but that wasn’t the point.
“No. No. Please, you’re a young guy. You need money,” Henry insisted.
“He’s not that young.” Nick laughed. They were both in their thirties. Though that might have seemed young to Henry, sometimes Dex felt ancient.
“Okay, well I won’t be a pain about it, but I’m happy to pay,” Henry said. “I get what you are saying. Neighbors take care of each other here in Shell Cove. Small-town life has its benefits, and you’re important to the town. That’s why I hope your young lady doesn’t persuade you to move to the city. Rose said she was keen on it.”
Dex’s heart pinched. Though his grandmother always acted supportive, he knew she wasn’t happy about Lorelei’s recently ramped-up efforts to get him to move.
“You don’t really want to move, do you?” Nick asked.
“Not really. I like it here.” Dex didn’t just like it, helovedit there. Lorelei said he wasn’t adventurous enough to want to move from the town he’d lived his whole life in, but why move when you were already happy? Except Lorelei’s escalating demands about moving were making him quite unhappy. She did have a point that since she lived in Portland and he lived here, they only got to see each other on weekends, but that had never bothered Dex. Maybe it should?
“I don’t blame you. Everything I need is in Shell Cove. But you, if you want to settle down with Lorelei some day and start a family, you’re going to have to make a choice about that,” Nick said.
Dex frowned. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He was more of a live-for-the-moment guy than a planner.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about that,” Henry said.
“I haven’t. I just kind of go with the flow.” But now Dexwasthinking about it. He loved Lorelei, but somehow the picture of them with a family wasn’t jelling in his head.
“Speaking of planning.” Nick nodded toward the window. Outside, Constance Harbinger strolled past the bar, glancing at her watch. She wore a yellow sweater draped over her shoulders despite the warm air and a scowl on her face.
“Drink up!” Harley, the owner of the bar, called out. His eyes tracked Constance from beneath bushy brows set in a frown as his beefy, tattooed arms worked at cleaning the bar with a kitchen towel.
The three of them sighed. Small towns were great for knowing everyone but maybe not so great for other things. Like old town ordinances and people that wanted to keep them intact. Somewhere along the line, Constance had resurrected an old ordinance from the 1930s that prohibited drinking after nine p.m. during the week as well as other strange town bylaws related to drinking. Even though it put a damper on some of the things Dex liked to do, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for the woman. She wasn’t well-liked, and with good reason, but he knew it all stemmed from her husband’s accident.
