Page 35 of A Room By the Sea

“I know,” Jill said briskly, and then seemed to think better of her terseness. “And I’m wishing you all the best,” she added. “I’ve been following your progress since we’re both in the same contest together.”

“Oh really?” Elaine said pleasantly. She wasn’t offended by Jill’s tone, since she’d known plenty of no-nonsense people in her life, and none of them had ever let niceties get in their way. “That’s great.”

“Thanks,” Jill said. “Our mayor has been a driving force behind that contest. I think he’s got a lot of say in how it’s run—at least, that’s what people are saying. But you would probably know better than me, right? They’re saying that Evan and Audrey have become very close. So close that he was the one who told her that you should enter the contest.”

“Well, he did draw it to our attention,” Elaine stammered, wondering if she was imagining the slightly accusatory undertone of Jill’s words. Was the pet store owner implying that Evan was somehow going to ensure that The Birchwood House was shown favoritism in the contest?

“Well, it makes sense, considering how much of his own effort he’s put into the hotel,” Jill said. She smiled politely enough, but Elaine was now sure that the pet store owner was insinuating that Evan was showing unfair favor toward The Birchwood House because of his relationship with Audrey.

“He has been helping us out here and there,” Elaine said, smiling back with more politeness than Jill was offering. “It was very nice to meet you, Jill. Thank you again, Esmerelda.”

Elaine went on her way with the few posters that she had left, determined to visit the rest of the booths in Shoreline Market despite the fact that she felt put off by the conversation with Jill.

* * *

Shep glanced around him warily. He hated being in public, but he knew he needed to deal with the situation at hand. At least Iris was with him to do most of the talking.

Some of his best baking pans were starting to lose their flatness, and since he refused to work with warped baking sheets since they altered the cook time for some of the pastries, he had agreed to go out with Iris and buy new ones. He hated shopping, but he wanted to pick out the baking sheets himself. There were some things he could ask Iris to get for him, but baking sheets were important. He wanted top-notch quality, and he was the only person he knew of who could look at a pan and know immediately whether it would serve its purpose well or not.

He and Iris had made their way to Shoreline Market, leaving a “Be Back Soon” sign in the door of the bakery. Now he was surrounded by crowds of locals and tourists, and he was starting to feel a little sweaty.

There was a cookware shop in the market, a booth so well-established that it offered wooden shelves and a counter that was permanently built into the space. Shep had purchased pans from them before, although his last set he’d been lucky enough to buy in Paris. He’d insisted that he and Iris go to a reputable seller to buy the pans. He’d nearly barked at her when she’d suggested buying pans at the supermarket, but he’d quickly turned his first grumble of protest into a cough. She’d meant well, after all.

As they approached the counter of the cookware shop, Shep heard a familiar voice. It was clear, with graceful articulation, and a gentle and yet energetic tone. He felt his heart beating faster as soon as he realized that the voice belonged to Elaine.

“If it wouldn’t be any trouble,” Elaine was saying, breezily. “I see you’ve already got a place over there on that shelf where other advertisements and posters are taped up. I’d just love it if you could add this to it. We’re advertising the grand opening of The Birchwood House, not the hotel itself per se, so you’d be able to get rid of this poster soon enough if you wanted to.”

The cookware shop owner agreed cheerfully and went off to hang up the poster for Elaine. She sighed with satisfaction in a way that Shep couldn’t help finding endearing as she closed her folder of posters. She was just turning to go when she caught sight of Shep and Iris approaching.

“Well, gosh, look at this!” Elaine exclaimed, looking delighted. “I’m surprised to see you here.” She made eye contact with him as she said it, although it was clear she meant it affectionately, Shep felt himself reddening at the ears. What she meant was that she was surprised to see Shep outside of his bear-cave kitchen, and he couldn’t blame her. It was true that he hardly ever went anywhere else, certainly not in the morning when places like this were bustling with customers.

“So fun to run into you, Elaine,” Iris said, hugging the other woman. Shep couldn’t help noticing that ever since Elaine had barged into his kitchen, Iris had been treating her as though they were the only two members of some kind of secret sisterhood.

The only two women in the world who have seen the inside of my kitchen, he thought, almost amused by the concept. Although it was true that he never would have voluntarily let Elaine come into his kitchen, she was also one of his favorite people in town. Heck, maybe one of his favorite people anywhere. There went his ears again, turning pink.

“We heard that you’re putting up posters for the hotel’s grand opening,” Iris said eagerly. “My gosh, that’s coming up quick. Are you excited? Do you feel ready?”

Shep personally would have felt himself reeling after being asked two emotionally charged questions like that in a row, but Elaine didn’t miss a beat.

“I’m so excited and we’ll definitely be ready in time, although there’s still plenty of work to do.” Elaine laughed. “One of my tasks is putting up these posters for the grand opening. I’m nearly done with that though, so I’ll get to check that off the list.” As she said the words, Elaine gestured as if she was striking off an item on a giant list that was hovering mid-air. She leaned into the motion so gleefully that it was almost like a dance move. Shep found his heart beating faster when he saw it. How was it possible for someone to feel that free to be themselves in public? She seemed comfortably at ease and yet vivacious in a way that most people weren’t.

“We should put a poster in the window of the bakery,” Iris said eagerly to Shep. “Announcing the grand opening.”

Shep frowned, immediately opposed to the idea. He’d never put a poster in the front window of his bakery before, not for anyone. How would one even go about doing such a thing? Would you use tape? That would be very difficult to remove. Sticky putty? But then wouldn’t the sticky putty be visible in front of the poster? Surely they wouldn’t put the poster on the outside of the window, right? They would have to put it on the inside?

He was so busy thinking about all the problems such a thing would cause that he forgot to voice his protestations out loud.

“Oh, that would be amazing!” Elaine said, delighted.

“Well, of course.” Iris nodded. “Townsend’s is the business partner of The Birchwood House, after all. Of course we’ll put a poster in our front window.”

As Iris reached for one of the posters that Elaine was holding, Shep suddenly found his voice. Almost involuntarily, he protested, “We don’t put up advertisements.”

Both women turned to him. Iris looked indignant and Elaine looked slightly amused.

Shep shook his head, trying not to sound gruff and grumbly but not managing to change his tone in the slightest. “I’ve never allowed advertisements in my windows before. I don’t see that we need to change a guideline of fifty years just because of a party that will be over soon enough.”

Defiantly, Iris took the poster from Elaine. “We’re putting this in the front window of the shop and that’s final, Shep. It won’t hurt you at all, and we’ve got to show support to our business partners.”