Page 34 of A Room By the Sea

Audrey shook her head firmly. “It’s what I’d do for my mom or my daughter, because I love them. And I love you too. Listen, if you prank call me at two in the morning, that’s another thing, but I’m honestly happy to be there for you whenever you need it.”

Penelope chuckled at Audrey’s joke, wiping her tears away with her napkin. “I love you too. That really means a lot to me, thank you. And I promise not to prank call you at two in the morning.”

They shared a grin at that, and Audrey felt her heart lift up with relief.

I’m so glad we’re back on good terms again, she thought, taking a deep breath. Penelope’s friendship means a lot to me, and I’m so relieved that we’re not pulling apart from each other anymore. And I’m so glad that Penelope is willing to let me help her get through this.

Their food arrived, and they dug in eagerly, enjoying the delicious comfort food. Audrey let Penelope steer their conversation, and it seemed clear that Penelope wanted to forget about her troubles and focus on good things for a while. They talked about The Birchwood House together, and about the fact that Shep Townsend had agreed to become business partners with the Suttons. Then they started to talk about their girls’ night, and Penelope spoke so enthusiastically about their plans that it more than made up for the fact that she’d ignored the initial texts about the get-together.

Audrey’s heart felt full as she talked and planned with her friend. Things had looked worrisome for a while, but Penelope hadn’t been unreachable. Audrey was grateful that she’d been able to reach out to her friend and reassure her that her love for her was stronger than anything Penelope might be going through.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Elaine stepped into Shoreline Market, a folder of posters clasped in her hands. She had been spending her morning walking around Coral Sands and putting up posters announcing the grand opening of The Birchwood House. So far, she’d stopped at many local businesses, and they’d all been friendly and welcoming, immediately granting her permission to hang up her posters either in their front windows or on their bulletin boards.

The market seemed like the best place of all for her to try to promote the grand opening. Shoreline Market was housed in an old factory which had been turned into a cozy open space that accommodated various local and traveling vendors. There were craft booths so expansive they were basically small stores, booths for baked goods, candles, paintings, jams and jellies, and so forth. Each time Elaine went to Shoreline Market, she saw yet another small business that had something spectacular to offer.

Since many of the shops and booths offered their own bulletin boards, Elaine began to travel from booth to booth. She introduced herself to the few booth owners that she didn’t already know, but for the most part she recognized everyone there as old acquaintances. Everyone was very willing to put up one of her posters, which she appreciated a great deal. She returned the favor to all of them, letting them know that The Birchwood House featured an announcement board in the downstairs hallway and that she was happy to put up any fliers or business cards from their establishments if they wanted.

She stepped up to the counter at one of the bigger booths, which was run by a woman she’d known since grade school. Esmerelda sat amidst her colorful balls of hand-spun wool, smiling like a fairy godmother.

“Hello, Elaine,” Esmerelda said warmly, glancing at her friend as if they had a shared secret. “What can I do for you? Have you run out of yarn already?”

Elaine chuckled. “No, you gave me plenty of yarn for Christmas. It hasn’t run out yet, especially since I’ve been so busy getting The Birchwood House ready and I haven’t really had time to knit. I was hoping you had space to hang up one of these posters that the girls and I made for the grand opening of the hotel.”

Esmerelda gasped appreciatively as Elaine held up the beautiful poster, which Audrey had written up the text for and Michelle had designed using her fancy amateur graphic design apps. “That’s just gorgeous,” she said. “I’ll absolutely hang up a poster. I don’t have any kind of official place for things like that, but we can just tape it to the edge of the table here, don’t you think?”

“Are you sure?” Elaine asked, feeling grateful. It was one thing for a vendor to offer her poster a place on a bulletin board and another thing entirely to offer a special place right in front of the main selling table.

“Absolutely.” Esmerelda nodded firmly. “We’ve been friends since we were what, seven? Of course I want to promote the grand opening of your hotel.”

“Well, thank you.” Elaine smiled warmly at her friend. “I’ll be sure to put out a poster advertising your yarn at The Birchwood House. I’ll also display those blankets I made in the parlor and let people know what yarn they’re made out of.”

“Scratchy homespun stuff like mine doesn’t usually appeal to fancy city people,” Esmerelda said with a chuckle. There was no criticism in her voice, and she simply seemed to think it was a joke that many people didn’t appreciate the qualities of yarn made straight from sheep’s wool. “I appreciate your offer, but I doubt your guests will want to buy any of my yarn.”

Elaine shook her head, smiling. “Nonsense, I know plenty of people in cities love good natural yarn like yours. Besides, not all of our guests are going to be coming in from cities. I’m sure we’ll get plenty of countryfolk visiting Coral Sands. We always have.” She noticed a young woman wearing baggy denim jeans and a button-down green shirt walking toward them. Her long red hair was pulled back in a low messy bun, and there was something about her that seemed to say, “I’m used to getting my hands dirty and working with animals.”

“Like her, for example,” Elaine said with a laugh. “She looks like she’s from the country.”

“Sure, but she’s not a tourist. That’s Jill. Haven’t you ever met her before?”

“No,” Elaine said, surprised. “Although now that you say that, she does look familiar.”

“She runs Whiskers and Wags,” Esmerelda explained. “You know, that new pet store that’s become so popular? They also do dog grooming there, so everyone in town seems to be a big fan.”

“Oh, of course. I haven’t been in since she opened it—when was that? Last year or the year before? Anyway, without a dog or a cat I didn’t have a reason to go in.”

Jill approached Esmerelda’s booth with a determined smile. Elaine thought to herself that the young business owner looked confident, and there was a no-nonsense air about her that Elaine admired.

I guess I was right about one thing, she thought with a chuckle. Jill definitely is used to working with animals and getting her hands dirty!

“Hi, Esmerelda,” Jill said as she reached the table. She nodded politely at Elaine but didn’t introduce herself. Elaine noticed that Jill also had a poster in her hand. “I didn’t think you were taking posters over here, but I saw that you accepted this one just now.” She gestured toward the poster announcing The Birchwood House’s grand opening, which was lying on the top of the table. “So I was hoping you’d put up this little poster for Whiskers and Wags as well.”

“Oh, um, sure.” Esmerelda smiled at Jill, and she and Elaine exchanged eye contact for the briefest of seconds. Elaine knew Esmerelda was too polite to tell Jill that she’d accepted the poster because of her longstanding friendship with Elaine, as a special favor. “I’d be happy to.”

“Amazing, thanks.” Jill turned toward Elaine, extending her hand for a handshake. “I’m Jill. I run Whiskers and Wags.”

“So nice to meet you,” Elaine replied. “I’ve heard just wonderful things about your shop. I’m Elaine Sutton. My family and I are getting ready to open The Birchwood House.”