Free Sea Glass Cottage by Vickie McKeehan Page A

waiting on demanding guests at the inn. They tried to use the weekends to cram in as many activities with the kids that time permitted.
    As soon as the toddlers spotted Bree, they surrounded her with offers to join in the fun until Nick put a stop to their persuading. “Bree can’t play with you because she has a tour this morning.”
    “Can we go?” Hutton asked. “Take us.”
    “Maybe another time,” Jordan answered for her daughter. “You wanted to plant seeds in the egg cartons to grow your own beans, remember?”
    “Oh, yeah. I forgot.”
    “And you were going to help your brother make moon sand,” Nick added with a wink.
    Bree shook her head. “I don’t know where you guys find the time. Lately it seems like I’m running from place to place with no time to catch my breath.”
    Jordan smiled and nodded. “An upcoming wedding and a new business tends to make you feel stretched to the limit.”
    “It’s fun putting together the wedding, but at the same time, a lot of hard work. I barely get to see or talk to Troy without us both falling asleep during the convo, which brings me round to my idea.” A little breathless, she blurted out, “It’s a bit unconventional but I need for you to hear me out before you say anything at all. After the wedding, when Troy moves out of the studio over your garage, I’d like to turn that space into my office for the business and pay you rent. That way, I would be here, onsite to ferry passengers out to the shipwreck and the island as well as take them on hikes in the area. It would save me money from having to go on the hook for a lease along Ocean Street and keep me out here on a full-time basis.”
    Nick and Jordan exchanged looks. “You don’t have to convince us. It sounds like a plan.”
    “Good. I’ve already approached a few of the stores along the boardwalk near the pier to let me leave a stack of my business cards next to their cash registers. Malachi Rafferty thinks I should be able to pick up a few bookings each month that way by word of mouth. Most businesses in town seemed excited about spreading the word.”
    “Did someone give you trouble about leaving the business cards?”
    “Just one. But he’s left town now anyway.”
    “Let me guess. Joe Ferguson.”
    “You got it. He refused to let me leave a pack of cards. But his son, Tucker, called me a couple days ago and said it was okay if I still wanted to put them on the counter. So I said sure, left a tall stack there yesterday just to shove it in the old man’s face.”
    “Tucker called me yesterday, too,” Nick admitted. “It seems the son understands his father might’ve left him a huge PR problem in his own backyard.”
    “It sounds like Tucker’s taking action before it gets too big to overcome,” Jordan added.
    “If you ask me, it’s already pretty far out of hand,” Bree stated. “I know Joe pissed off Troy and Zach. They’re both willing to give Tucker a second chance if he realizes the opportunity. What Joe didn’t get is that Tradewinds Boatyard will turn out to be a valuable customer.”
    “Everyone in town should be treated like a valuable customer,” Nick declared. “This was a sore spot with me. I could never get Joe to understand that.”
    “And believe me Nick spent a lot of time trying,” Jordan said with a smile. “Nick had more run-ins with Joe than anyone else in town. Dealing with that man became tiresome for both of us.”
    “Then I guess we’ll reserve judgment until we see if Tucker does anything to improve,” Bree finished.
     

     
    An irritated River Amandez Cody looked around at the morning surf as it clawed its way into the shoreline, ripping into beach, eating away the landscape. Because it had gotten worse over the summer, she’d shut down the dig site and watched her team pack up and move on. She’d known Julian and Laura for years and already missed her buddies. But she’d come to terms with keeping in touch with them via email. Her family