Page 45 of The Shell Collector
“Sold.” Amanda stacked all three of the menus up into a pile and handed them to the waitress. “Milk for these two. I’ll stick with coffee.”
“Gotcha covered.”
“Oh, and…” Amanda tried to catch her before she got too far away.
The waitress spun back around, her pen to the ready.
“These shells. Are they part of some kind of local legend?”
The waitress brightened, beginning to talk with her hands. “Oh yeah. Been going on for years. The article down there near the door”—she pointed toward the front of the restaurant—“was from the local paper here, from like twenty years ago. Funny how the shells just show up out of nowhere.”
“It’s kind of nice. I was reading this note. So mostly tourists find them?”
“No. People from around here too. Maybe more locals. I don’t know, really, but it’s been a thing since as long as I can remember.”
“That’s neat.”
“Yeah. I’d like it if I ever found one. People say they are life changing.” She slid her pen behind her ear.
Amanda couldn’t help but peek back at the one about sunburn.
The waitress followed her line of sight and laughed. “Yeah, well sunburn can cause cancer. It was like a PSA. The tourists, man, they get burnt slap up. It’s dangerous. You think people would know better.”
“Touché.”
“I’ll get this order right in. Won’t take long.” She reached into her apron pocket and set two packs of crayons and coloring pages about the size of index cards on the table in front of Jesse and Hailey.
The kids compared pictures, traded, and then started coloring the postcards. Amanda stood and walked over to look at another shell near the glass cases filled with T-shirts and to-go desserts. That shell was really tiny and almost green, the writing in it so precise:
What is your personal gift?
What was the point of a message like that?Gift?She couldn’t sing, paint, or even type. A wife and mother? Anybody could do that.
“What’s yours?”
The voice took her by surprise. She swung around to see Maeve standing there. “Maeve?” She hadn’t heard her walk up. “Hello.”
Hailey and Jesse ran up, squealing hellos to their new best friend.
“Good morning. How did you find my very favorite restaurant?”
“Mommy drove us here,” Jesse stated.
“I heard it was a local favorite,” Amanda offered.
“I’m a local. It’s my favorite. I guess you’d be right. Plus, the owner is a good friend of mine.” Maeve waved over Amanda’s head. “Tug, say hello to Amanda, Hailey, and Jesse. They moved into the house at the dunes.”
Amanda turned to look.
Tug’s eyes lit up. He threw a welcoming hand in the air. “Yes, glad to have you. I heard we had new neighbors.” His white ball cap had the diner logo on it. He had that aged tan beachboy look to him. The kind with the dark, leathery skin who loves the outdoors and never gives up being outside as long as they live. “Nice to meet you. Folks call me Tug.”
“Hi, Tug. Nice to meet you too.”
Hailey said, “I’m having octopus for breakfast.”
“You’ll love it. It’s a crowd-pleaser.”
“I hope it doesn’t taste like fish sticks, because that would be pretty yucky for breakfast.”
