Page 15 of Starfish Cottage
“Is something wrong? Not enough salt on the tops?” He squinted at the row of sea-salted caramels, which were perfectly dipped and sprinkled with just a few grains of coarse sea salt.
“No, it’s not that. You’re doing a great job.” Deena paused then decided she might as well confess her worries to him. “It’s just that I told Sam about us, and she didn’t seem very enthused.”
Chuck frowned. Hopefully she hadn’t hurt his feelings, so she quickly added, “I’m sure it’s just because she doesn’t know you.”
“Oh, I wasn’t taking it personally. In fact, my son, Cole, had the same reaction.”
“Oh no.” Deena felt like her happy bubble was about to burst.
“Honey, we’re grown adults and can’t let our kids rule our lives. They’re also grown adults, and you’d think they’d be mature enough to be happy we found each other.”
“I agree.” Deena had been taken aback by Sam’s obvious disapproval. Her only daughter was almost thirty, and Deena had expected a much different reaction. It wasn’t as if she was replacing her late husband—he’d been gone for years—but that was exactly the way Sam had been acting. It was so disappointing.
“At least Audrey was happy for us,” Chuck said about his daughter. He put his arm around Deena’s shoulder and kissed her cheek. “We don’t need our children’s approval, you know.”
“I know. But it would be nice to have it.” Deena didn’t want to lose Chuck, but if it meant being estranged from her daughter…
“Maybe we can come up with a way to get their approval? I’m sure if they knew how good we are for each other, they’d change their minds.”
“What do you mean?” Deena asked.
“I’m not exactly sure, but there might be a way for us toshowthem how good we are together instead of just telling them.” Chuck smiled down at her. “You let me think about that, and don’t worry. Everything will work out.”
Chapter Eight
“You found whisky inside your wall?” Gina looked up from the apple pie she was slicing, her expression a bit incredulous.
After visiting Saltwater Sweets, Maddie had come straight to the Beachcomber to tell her cousins about the unique discovery. Gina had been baking, and the motel kitchen smelled of sugary dough and spiced apples.
The apple pie wasn’t her only creation. Four other pies sat on the counter. Maddie wondered if maybe Gina was getting a bit overzealous with the pie making. There were only a few guests at the Beachcomber now. Who could eat all this pie?
“That’s so cool. Nick was really excited about that.” Jules was sitting at the table, going over the paperwork for the motel.
“Nick knows already?” They’d only made the discovery a few hours ago, and Maddie had only told Deena and Chuck. Then again, Dex and Nick were best friends. He’d probably called him right away. And judging by the way Jules was blushing, Nick had called her right after that.
“So that’s the important phone call you had to take down to the beach earlier?” Gina winked at Maddie then handed them each a dessert plate with a slice of pie. Maddie was going to need a new wardrobe in a bigger size if Gina kept this up.
Jules apparently thought it was time to change the subject, because she said, “Tell us more about the whisky.”
“Are you going to drink the whisky?” Gina shoved pie in her mouth.
Maddie made a face. “I’m not sure it’s still good.”
“Of course it is. Booze gets better with age,” Gina said, licking some apple off her fork. “But I think the town should save it. Put it in a museum or something.”
“I haven’t actually thought much about what to do with the bottles.” Hopefully the entire cottage wasn’t full of moonshine bottles. Maddie didn’t have room to store them, and now she was wondering if they even actually belonged to her.
“I heard that Harley down at Sharkies was going to store them,” Jules said.
“Oh, I guess you know more than I do.” Dex must have called Harley too. Maddie didn’t mind. She didn’t really want to keep the whisky anyway, and Gina’s idea of putting them on display was a good one. The town didn’t have a museum that she knew of, but maybe it should.
“Sorry,” Jules said. “Word gets around fast in a small town. And it’s a pretty exciting discovery. It’s cool that it was hidden in the wall all this time.”
“And that a bootlegger lived in Shell Cove. Very exciting,” Gina said.
“I’m hoping other people will think so, too, and want to come to the town to find out more.” Maddie told them the details of how they’d discovered the whisky in the wall and what she’d learned about Marco Rosone so far. “I haven’t thought it all out yet, but I want to take advantage of our gorgeous beach and the pier. Deena said she would make the whisky fudge recipe that I found in the drawer, and I was thinking maybe the other businesses in town might want to do something special related to the occasion.”
“That’s a great idea,” Jules said. “We can show off the town and the great businesses to make people want to come back.”
