LITMIR.BIZ

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out to Josh, the portly owner of Antiques by Thomas and, up until a few months ago, Aunt Jackie’s gentleman caller. I waved at him and pointed to the chair. For my trouble, I got the evil eye as his shoulders slumped and he let go of the chair. Dustin Austin, owner of the bike rental shop, grinned as he tilted his gray dreadlocks toward Kathi’s ear and whispered something that made her laugh.

      Bill turned her way and Kathi shook her head. “Sorry, but you all are so entertaining. I can’t believe I didn’t move here years ago.”

      “Glad you’re enjoying your first meeting. Now that we’ve all settled in, Mary, do you want to give a summary of the upcoming Summer Beach Blast?” As Bill looked at his wife, I saw the adoration he had for the woman even after so many years.

      Mary smoothed her skirt as she stood. “As you know, summer traffic really picks up around the Fourth of July, but June can be a little slow. So we’re sponsoring a festival starting tomorrow to bring in tourists and hopefully customers for your shops. Our bed and breakfast is already full for the weekend and we’re hearing that the others in town are nearing capacity.”

      A loud motorcycle roared up Main Street and Mary, along with the rest of the committee members, switched their attention to the window. All I could see was a huge bike with an equally large rider in black leathers. I could see he wore a gang patch on his leather jacket, but couldn’t read the lettering in the short time before he disappeared out of my view.

      “And that’s what worries me about these activities.” Pointing to the window and the now-vanished rider, Josh interrupted Mary’s presentation. “Are we sure this will bring in the right types? I don’t want to see any of those motorcycle gangs taking over South Cove. Let them stay in South Dakota where they can’t do any damage.”

      “Not all motorcycle clubs are gangs.” Dustin had started renting scooters in addition to the bikes last month after he’d received a large inheritance from his recently passed wife, Kacey. Well, actually, recently murdered wife. But Austin had been cleared of her death even though I still thought he should be charged with being a royal jerk.

      “That’s right. My cousin rides a motorcycle and he’s not in a gang at all,” Kathi added to the discussion. “He just can’t afford a real car right now. He’s kind of between jobs.”

      “We bought advertising in upscale local publications, so we’re targeting a specific customer.” Mary looked around the room, trying to get back to her prepared notes.

      “I don’t care who comes into town as long as they have money to spend.” Harrold held his coffee cup and toasted Mary. “I appreciate you setting up this program. Go ahead, tell us what we can expect.”

      Mary smiled gratefully at Harrold and I saw my aunt pat his hand. On my left, I could feel the rage coming off Josh like Harrold had just stolen his last dollar. I tried to circumvent the upcoming blowup by diverting the attention back to Mary. “Be sure to mention the beach party on Saturday. That’s my favorite part.”

      “Oh, there’s a beach party? I want to help. I’ve ran a snow cone machine before, do you all have a snow cone specialist?” Kathi clapped her hands together and actually bounced in her chair, gaining the attention of the men at the table. I heard a sharp gasp of air escape Josh’s lips.

      Mary tapped her empty coffee cup on the table. “If I could have everyone’s attention.” She waited for the group to turn back toward the front.

      Man, those guys must be getting cricks in their necks turning them so much.

      “We’ll get to the party, Jill.” Mary considered Kathi. “I appreciate your enthusiasm for the festival. I’m sure we can find something for you to do to help. Let’s just go over the schedule first and maybe something will pop out at you.”

      She took a breath and dove into the list of events happening starting the next day and running through mid-next week. Mary scheduled the celebration to start on a Wednesday to try to bring in traffic to our normally dead days. We were setting up the new Coffee, Books, and More mobile annex at the beach starting on Thursday. I’d scheduled Sasha and Aunt Jackie to man the main store, but Toby had to be at his real job as one of South Cove’s finest. He’d be doing security for the event when he wasn’t mixing coffee drinks. I didn’t know when the guy slept.

      We’d also hired Nick Michaels for the summer. His mom ran Sadie’s Pies on the Fly and was one of my BFFs. This would be the kid’s first full-time week since he came home from Stanford for the summer. I hoped he was up to the challenge.

      As I considered our staffing for the Summer Beach Blast, I noticed the table had gone quiet. Mary had sat down and Bill, and the rest of the table, was looking at me. “Sorry, what?”

      “Way to pay attention,” Josh muttered. “He asked you if you wanted to attend the city council session next time to present our results.”

      “Oh, yeah, I could do that.” I looked at Mary. “Aren’t you going to be there?”

      “Our daughter is expecting our first grandchild this month, so I’m heading to Idaho as soon as labor starts.” Mary smiled at Bill. “I know I’m leaving at a bad time, but you can’t plan babies.”

      “As long as you leave me talking points, I’d love to step in for you.” Okay, so love wasn’t quite the emotion I was feeling. I wrote a note so I’d remember to attend. I tended to file my liaison reports electronically and hadn’t been present at a council meeting for months. Both Mayor Baylor and I liked it that way. He didn’t have to pretend he liked me and I didn’t have to be around the guy.

      We finished off the rest of the agenda in record time. I looked at Bill, hoping he’d close the meeting early rather than opening the agenda up for new business. Josh fumbled with a list from the pocket of his black suit and ran his hand over the wrinkles in the page that had been folded and unfolded several times. I snuck a peek at the list and groaned. All the items he tried to get onto the committee’s agenda month after month were on the list. He must have read my thoughts because he narrowed his eyes and moved the paper out of my line of sight.

      “Now, since we have a little time,” Bill said, and I watched Josh sit forward in his chair, waiting to pounce on the opening. Bill didn’t even look Josh’s way as he continued. “I’d love to learn more about our newest member. Kathi, can you tell us a little about you, your new store, and why you came to South Cove?”

      The men around the table broke into applause as Kathi stood, blushing. “Why, aren’t you all the sweetest things?”

      I looked at Aunt Jackie across the table, who shrugged. I guess I just didn’t get why Kathi was a big deal. Yes, she had a southern drawl, and, I’ll admit she was beautiful, but the men in the room were treating her like some Hollywood starlet had arrived in our little town. I realized Kathi had started talking and I was still zoned out.

      “So, I decided to take my love for china into a specialty shop that only sells tea-related items. Tea Hee will sell specialty teas, tea cups, saucers, and tea pots. The idea came to me one day when I was in my grandmother’s china cabinet and noticed how many different sets of good china we’d collected over the years. Of course, many of the sets were missing pieces, but they all had enough cups and saucers to put on a good tea party with the girls. And who doesn’t like a good tea party on a sunny afternoon?” Kathi paused, looking around the room, focusing her attention at me. “I’m sure Jill and her friends often get together in the afternoons for tea and gossip. Am I right?”

      I froze as every member of the table turned their attention to me, shook their heads, and went back to watching Kathi. That just ticked me off. “Actually, no, most of my friends have jobs during the day so afternoon get-togethers are kind of hard to plan. We do like to do girls’ night at Darla’s winery every week or so.”

      A flicker of anger or disappointment passed behind Kathi’s eyes and then her mask was back on and I questioned even seeing it. “Well, that’s just sad. Women need more time to bond. There’s nothing like girlfriends to keep your life settled. Men come and go, but a good girlfriend is gold.”

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