own, since it was only a couple of passengers, and Allie had decided she would visit Miss Greer. Sara asked to tag along, solving her transportation problem, and afterward they were going to do some wedding planning.
“So how are you managing without Miss Greer?” Allie asked as soon as Sara was buckled into the passenger seat of Allie’s little blue Suzuki Rodeo.
That was a very good question. “Okay, I guess. Reece is helping.”
Allie raised her eyebrows. “No kidding? Does he wear a frilly apron and scrub bathtubs?”
Sara let herself form that mental picture, then embellished it slightly, picturing him in the frilly apron-and nothing else. Surprisingly sexy.
“Sara?”
She snapped back to the present. “He makes beds. And he serves breakfast. Unfortunately, he also put Miss Greer’s good china in the dishwasher.”
“That’s bad?”
Of course Allie wouldn’t understand. She was a tomboy through and through and had probably never had a dishwasher. Or fine china, for that matter.
“It’s bad. Now we have to try to replace it before Miss Greer gets home from the hospital, and it’s a rare pattern. Reece found a few saucers on the Internet, but that’s it.”
“Hmm. Are you talking about those white dishes with the pink roses?”
Sara nodded.
“I saw some of those somewhere. I remember thinking, hey, those are just like the ones at the Sunsetter.”
Sara sat up straighter, nearly strangling herself on the shoulder harness. “Oh, think, Allie! Where did you see them? Was it recently?”
“It seems I was with Cooper, so pretty recently. Maybe at one of those antique stores on Second Street.”
“Which one?”
Allie shrugged. “They all run together in my mind.”
At least it was a place to start. There were probably a dozen antiques stores in Port Clara’s old downtown, but it wouldn’t take that long to hit them all, blitz style.
When they reached Miss Greer’s room at the hospital, Reece was just coming out. He looked yummy today in crisp jeans and a shirt with blue stripes, neatly tucked in. At least he’d gone to short sleeves in deference to the warmer May weather, but the shirt was starched to within an inch of its life.
Allie greeted him with a hug, which was a little bit funny when Sara thought about it. A few short weeks ago, all of the Remingtons had been Allie’s enemies, trying to take away her boat and her livelihood. Now she was marrying into their family.
“No cruise today?” Reece asked her.
“Cooper’s handling it. I needed an afternoon off and some girl talk.”
“How is she?” Sara whispered, nodding toward the partially open door.
“Health-wise, pretty well,” Reece replied. “She’s been up walking, and she’s a regular Chatty Cathy. But I’m afraid I upset her.”
Sara gasped. “You didn’t tell her about the dishes, did you? Because I have a lead on some replacements.”
“No. But I…well, I asked her about the future. She was worried about whether she could keep running the B and B, and I asked her if she’d planned for retirement and if she had long-term care insurance and…and, well, she got upset.”
“Of course she did! Nobody wants to think about being shuffled off to the old folks home, especially when they’re lying in a hospital bed.”
“I’m worried about her. She keeps her money under her mattress, for pity’s sake.”
“It makes her feel safe,” Sara pointed out sensibly. “She went through a war, remember. Maybe her parents were able to escape Germany because they
Reece looked thoughtful. “I never thought of that. Would you try to calm her down? I didn’t mean to upset her.”
Allie slipped into the room, leaving Reece and Sara alone. “I’m sure you meant well, Reece, but not everyone sees the world like you. As cautious as Miss Greer is with her money, I’m sure she has some saved for a rainy day, which is better than a lot of people.”
“What if she becomes disabled? What if her mind goes? She has no family to take care of her. Someone could take advantage of her.”
“She has lots of friends. I love her like my own grandmother, Reece. I won’t let anything bad happen to her.” She supposed Reece saw that as the blind taking care of the blind, but she refused to spend her days worrying about the future. Life was too short.
Impulsively she leaned up and kissed his cheek. “You’re sweet to worry. But you really need to lighten up. Live in the moment. Smile a little more. Carpe diem.”
He took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I’ll try.”
“I’m going to a party tonight. Why don’t you come with me?”
“On a Sunday?”
“What’s wrong with having a party on Sunday? It’s still the weekend.”
“I have some financials I have to go over tonight.”
She rolled her eyes. “Suit yourself,” she said, as if it made no difference to her. But inside she wilted. She’d asked him out and he’d turned her down. She had to face it-he wasn’t into her. Yeah, maybe they had chemistry, but Reece was obviously the kind of man who needed more.
She wasn’t convinced that there couldn’t
He said goodbye and walked away, and Sara swallowed the stupid lump in her throat and entered Miss Greer’s room, nearly hitting Allie, who was on her way out.
“Sorry,” she said.
“Sorry,” Allie said at the same time. “I was just coming to see what happened to you. Did you just ask Reece to go to a party with you?”
“You were eavesdropping.”
“No, honestly, I wasn’t. The door was open a crack.”
“Well, yes, I asked him, and he said no.” Sara brushed past Allie into the room. “Hello, Miss Greer!” she said cheerily. “How are you today?”
“I was fine, until Reece reminded me that I’m going to end up bankrupt in a nursing home, dependent on the kindness of strangers.”
Sara sighed. “Don’t listen to him,” she said, rubbing the elderly lady’s arm. “He means well, really, but his brain functions a bit differently from ours.”
“Actually,” Allie said, “Reece is very good at what he does. I had a little bit saved for retirement, but not nearly enough. After he ran the numbers for me I realized I had to do more-”
“Wait a minute,” Sara interrupted. “You’re not taking his side, are you?”
“I don’t see it as taking sides,” Allie said. “I’m just saying everyone should do some planning for the future. Everyone,” she added pointedly, giving Sara a meaningful look.
“And I say that if you spend today worrying about the future, you’ve wasted a perfectly good day.”
“Oh, Reece is probably right,” Miss Greer grumbled. “I won’t live forever. You won’t either, Sara. You’re young and healthy now, but in the blink of an eye, you’re old and you wonder what happened to the years.”
Great. Now she’d lost Miss Greer to the dark side.
“Can we change the subject to something more cheerful? We could talk about my root canal.” An aide chose that moment to deliver Miss Greer’s lunch, and no more was said about retirement, which suited Sara just fine.
AFTER LEAVING the hospital, Sara and Allie went to Allie’s house to talk about the wedding. Allie had no interest in an expensive gown or a tall cake, or forcing her friends to wear ugly bridesmaids’ dresses. But she did want to mark the occasion in a special and memorable way. So she and Cooper were renting the biggest party barge they could find and decking it out with flowers stem to stern. They were inviting close friends on an afternoon wedding cruise, complete with champagne and appetizers. Afterward there would be a big party on the beach for
