Chapter 1
Lisa Hodges walked along the empty beach and breathed in deeply as a soft gust of wind blew her hair across her face. The steady boom of the waves crashing against the sand soothed her soul. It was one of her favorite sounds. She loved these early morning walks when she had the beach, and her thoughts all to herself.
She picked up her pace when a glance at her phone showed the time. She wanted to be back to the house by a quarter of eight, to be ready for her first guests. Breakfast started at eight and Rhett, her very first guest--the one who came and never left--was usually there right at eight. She joined him most days, and when her girls came to visit, they did too. She smiled as she thought of Rhett. It seemed silly, at her age, almost fifty-four, to say that she had a boyfriend, but that’s what Rhett had become, much to her surprise.
Rhett was a few years older than Lisa and was on Nantucket to open his newest restaurant. His original plan had been to move into a rental, but he decided to stay long term at the Beach Plum Cove Inn instead, and Lisa was enjoying his company immensely. They went out to eat at least once a week and she had him over for dinner often too.
It was funny how things sometimes worked out. When her husband of over thirty years died several years ago, Lisa had been dismayed to learn that he’d blown through most of their retirement savings. She’d felt foolish that she hadn’t realized his occasional casino trips with his buddies, was really a gambling addiction. But Brian had been a financial advisor, and she’d always trusted him to handle their finances.
Lisa had tried unsuccessfully to find work locally, but since she hadn’t worked in years, she had no employable skills and no way to support herself if she stayed. The situation was so dire that Lisa was faced with only two options--sell the house and move off-island away from her family and friends--or try to turn her large waterfront home into a bed-and-breakfast. Since their area of the island was called Beach Plum Cove, she decided on the name The Beach Plum Cove Inn.
Her son Chase had helped her do the minor renovating that was necessary, basically to just close off the downstairs by adding a wall. There were five rooms upstairs, each with their own bath, and every morning she served breakfast in the dining room, the only room guests had access to during breakfast hours.
So far, the inn was doing better than Lisa had expected. She really hadn’t known what to expect, but thanks to Airbnb and some online advertising her daughter Kate had set up for her, The Beach Plum Cove Inn was steady with bookings, which was a relief.
When she reached the house, she saw that all three of her girls had arrived. Kate was filling a big thermos with coffee while Kristen was arranging cut fruit on a platter. Abby, her youngest, was sitting at the island, patting her stomach. She was almost four months pregnant now and just starting to show, but only if you looked closely. Kate handed Abby a mug of coffee and she proceeded to dump four sugars into it.
“Are you feeling okay?” Lisa couldn’t help but worry about her youngest daughter and her future grandchild, the first in the family.
Abby smiled as she lifted her coffee mug to take a sip. “I’m feeling a lot better, actually. I’m not as tired now and the morning sickness has eased up a bit. The mad cravings have started though.”
“Oh? For what kind of things?” Kate asked.
Abby laughed. “Fried clams. Isn’t that the strangest thing? I want them at least once a week now, and vanilla ice cream almost every day. Though that’s not all that unusual.”
“What were your cravings, Mom?” Kristen asked.
Lisa thought for a moment. “Definitely ice cream, that was for all of them and chocolate for you girls. With Chase, I craved potato chips and red meat. I always wanted either steak or meatballs.”
Abby looked interested. “They say if you crave salty things you’re having a boy. I thought it was an old wives tale, but that was true for you.”
Lisa shrugged. “Maybe. Though these days I think I’d rely more on what an ultrasound says.”
“True. Ultrasounds are sometimes wrong though, the early ones anyway. Jeff is looking forward to having the next one and having this confirmed. I’ll hold off on decorating until then. ”
Kate asked the question they’d all been wondering about. “How is he doing? Are things still going well with his work hours?” Abby had been so frustrated with the long hours Jeff worked that she’d considered divorce, even after finding out she was pregnant. They seemed to be working through it and Lisa hoped that Jeff wouldn’t slide back into his old habits.
“So far so good. He’s actually been great lately. He’s excited about the baby.”
“Good.” Lisa grabbed two potholders and took a quiche out of the oven. She’d put it in to warm up while she went on her walk. “Let’s head into the dining room with everything. Rhett should be down any minute.”
They brought the food into the dining room and set it on the counter so everyone could help themselves. Lisa was starving after her walk and cut herself a generous wedge of ham and red pepper quiche. Abby and Kate did the same and Kristen just put a little fruit on a plate and nibbled at it while the rest of them ate.
“Something smells good.” Lisa’s favorite guest, Rhett Byrne, walked into the room and helped himself to a cup of coffee and then settled next to her at the dining room table. He liked to ease into his day and always had one cup of coffee before getting anything to eat. He was her only guest at the moment, though they were booked solid for the rest of the weekend.
“Any movie news?” Rhett asked Kate. Kate had recently published her first mystery and thanks to an introduction from local celebrity author, Philippe Gaston, her book had been optioned by a famous brother-sister team.
“Not a peep. Though Philippe said that’s normal, and he warned me that it might never actually get out of the option stage, but I’m optimistic. They both really seemed excited about it.”
“It’s a good story, would make a great movie,” Rhett said.
Kate looked shocked. “You read it?”
“He read the first few pages of my copy a few days ago and I offered to lend it to him, but he insisted on buying his own.” Lisa had thought that was sweet but unnecessary.
“Of course I did. I wanted my own copy, and she doesn’t earn anything if I borrow yours.”
“Well, that’s true.” He did have a point. Lisa hadn’t considered that. Until recently, Kate had worked as a writer for Boston Style magazine. But when the company was sold, she was one of many that were laid off. She still did some freelance work for them, but since moving home to Nantucket, she’d turned her attention to writing mystery novels. And so far, it was going better than expected.
“Has anyone heard from Chase this week? I left him a message a few days ago and haven’t heard a peep back yet.” Lisa wasn’t really worried, but Chase usually was better about calling her back.
“I talked to him briefly a few days ago. I caught him as he was heading out the door and he said he’d call me back. But he hasn’t yet. He also didn’t mention where he was going,” Abby said. If anyone knew what Chase was up to, it would be Abby. The two of them had a bond similar to the one twins Kate and Kristen, shared.
“I bet there’s a girl involved and for some reason he doesn’t want to talk about it yet. Which might mean he thinks we won’t approve,” Kristen said.
“Or maybe he just wants to keep it to himself for a while. Until he knows that it’s going to go somewhere,” Abby suggested.
“Well, I won’t worry then, since you’ve talked to him. I think I’ll have a bit more quiche.” Lisa cut herself a sliver and didn’t feel at all guilty about it. She’d been good about getting in her daily walks and eating healthier.
“Have you met your new neighbor yet?” Lisa asked Kristen as she sat back down. “I noticed the sold sign is gone.” Kristen lived in a charming small cottage that had a lovely sunroom and a studio area where she did her painting. The cottage next door was identical in size and design and had recently gone on the market and sold in record time. Anything that was reasonably priced was snatched up quickly on Nantucket, where most homes went for well over a million dollars.
“No, I haven’t yet. Though I saw a moving van there yesterday. I haven’t heard a peep though, so whoever is there is quiet so far, thankfully.” Before the house was sold, it had been used as a summer rental and some of the college kids that stayed there had been annoyingly loud, with late night parties.
“Do you have any shows coming up soon, honey?” Lisa asked. Kristen occasionally showed her paintings at local galleries, but she wasn’t very aggressive about getting out there and networking.
Kristen grimaced. “No, I don’t. I should probably reach out to Andrew and a few of the other galleries to see about setting something up or just getting some of my newer stuff out on commission.”
“Have you talked to Andrew lately?” Lisa was curious. She’d been relieved when Kristen finally ended things with Sean, the man she’d been dating for too long. He’d been separated when they met and never took the next step to file for divorce. When Kristen went on a date with Andrew, the new gallery owner, Lisa had been thrilled. But it never got off the ground. When Sean realized Kristen was serious about ending things, he finally filed for divorce and begged her to take him back. And she did.
“No, I haven’t. Not since I got back together with Sean.”
“How is that going?” Abby asked her.
Kristen was quiet for a moment before simply saying, “It’s fine. We’re going to that big charity event at his golf club tonight.” But Lisa noticed there was no spark of joy in her eyes. She hurt for her daughter and wanted her to find happiness, but knew she needed to figure it out for herself.
Kate jumped in to change the subject, “I was tweaking our Facebook ads and set up a new campaign to run through the next few months.”
“Thanks, honey.”
“I took a look at the reservations calendar before I updated the ads and I thought I saw that you had someone that was supposed to be checking in last night. A Tom Smith, I think? It looked like he paid in full too.”
Lisa frowned. “He did yes. It’s the strangest thing, actually. He never checked in.”
“Maybe he missed the last boat?” Kristen said. It was certainly possible.
“Could be. I’m sure he’ll show up today. He’s paid through Sunday.” Lisa would refund him for the night that he missed. She knew that she didn’t need to, but it didn’t seem right to keep it, especially if the poor guy did miss the boat.
“Do not refund him,” Kate said, almost as if she’d read her mother’s mind.
Lisa laughed. “We’ll see. Let’s just hope he shows up today.”
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