Free Barefoot Bay: When You Touch Me (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Marilyn Baxter

suddenly claimed Althea, Daphne had stepped in again, taking over the day-to-day operations of Mimosa Memories. Even though she had reached the age of majority, Becca couldn’t drive and didn’t need to be left to her own devices. No doubt, Aunt Daffy had helped Becca grieve her mother’s death. She had no children of her own, so she had rather adopted the Logan girls as her own.
    Jillian had long argued that her mother babied Becca too much – another of the issues that put them at odds. She should have given Becca the opportunity and training to experiment and experience life. Becca had been twelve when Jillian moved to Arizona. Perhaps the pampering and over-protectiveness stemmed from guilt over Becca’s cerebral palsy. Althea had been just two years past her mid-thirties and Becca was an unplanned pregnancy. The doctors had assured Althea she had done nothing wrong, and Becca’s birth had been uneventful. However, sometime during gestation, something hiccupped and cerebral palsy, though mild, was the result.
    Jillian had been excited to learn Becca was attending an adult camp. With Daphne retiring and moving away, Jillian needed her sister to be as self-sufficient as possible. Jillian also had been pleased when Becca enrolled at the same community college she had attended and had graduated the previous December with the same associate degree in business. Surely she could find some sort of part-time office work that wasn’t too taxing. Perhaps she could even work from home since she didn’t drive.
    Jillian would move heaven and earth to make sure Becca’s life didn’t change any more than necessary when Aunt Daffy left. Becca adored the woman, and she was afraid Becca would view Daphne’s departure as losing another mother.
    Jillian pulled her compact car into the small parking lot Mimosa Memories shared with another shop and walked to the back of the building. She knocked loudly before sticking her key in the lock and opening the door.
    “Hello? Aunt Daffy?”
    She got no answer, but she had seen Daphne’s ancient turquoise VW in the parking lot. Complete with long black eyelashes adorning the headlights, Elsa the Bug was easily recognizable on the island. After the popularity of the movie character of the same name, Daphne had stuck vinyl snowflakes on the doors and hood, which was the closest thing to snow anyone on Mimosa Key might see.
    “Aunt Daffy?” she called again, moving further into the storage area that ran across the back of the building. She immediately smelled sandalwood incense, Daphne’s favorite and then caught sight of the woman as she walked past the door leading into the retail area. Daphne was dressed in her signature style – a patchwork calf-length gauzy skirt, a white tunic top with a wide belt and at least a dozen bangle bracelets on her left arm. She had tucked an iPod into the belt, and a turquoise cord led to earbuds in each ear. Aunt Daffy had always danced to her own music, but with the digital age, now she had extra help.
    Not wanting to frighten the woman, Jillian stood quietly in the doorway until Daphne turned, looked up and saw she had a visitor.
    “Jillian, my dear!” she exclaimed, pulling the earbuds out and letting the cords dangle. “Come in and let me show you the co-op section I set up.” She took Jillian by the hand and pulled her to the front corner of the shop. Floor to ceiling shelving and a brightly painted repurposed table held a variety of locally crafted items. Jillian recognized Melba Patton’s strawberry jam, Muriel Ortega’s dried mangos and Lena Thornton’s homemade orange marmalade.
    “It’s been very popular with locals and tourists alike. This is just the start,” Daphne said. “Arnold Hawkins makes the most beautiful wooden cutting boards as well as children’s toys. They’ll be especially popular at Christmas.”
    If the shop was still open then. Daphne had begun something she wouldn’t be around to oversee.
    “Oh, Aunt Daffy,