“How is that?”
He shrugged and wiped down the counter. “Just happens that way. Some things are meant to be. Some think its divine intervention. I don’t know. I like how happy it makes people when they find them. Who cares how?”
Her mouth pulled to one side, almost a smirk.
Maeve noticed the young woman’s bad attitude.
“Are they always found at the same place?” the woman asked.
“Are you a reporter?” Tug slung a towel over his shoulder.
“No. Just wondering.”
“They’ve been found all over the island. Heard one was found over in Beaufort one time. Someone sent a shell from St. Augustine, Florida. Can’t say if it was carried home by a tourist who’d visited here, though. Could be from all over, for all I know.”
The woman scanned the menu.
“What can I get you this morning?”
“I’m not usually a breakfast person. Do you have a protein shake?”
He sputtered at the comment. “No. I could make you an egg-white omelet. Plenty of protein in that.”
“Okay. I’ll have that and a glass of water.”
Maeve slid off her stool and approached the woman. “So, you were over at the surf shop? Were you talking to Kimmy, the owner? Is she still working? I’d think she should be having her baby anytime now.”
The woman turned to Maeve. “Hi. Yes, at the surf shop, but actually I talked to her mother. She said her daughter is in the hospital, getting ready to have twins.”
“Oh my. I hadn’t heard. Twins?” Maeve lifted her chin and motioned toward Tug. “Twins. Little Kimmy is having twins. Did you know?”
“Yeah. Heard something about it.”
Of course he knew. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
Tug was whisking eggs in a bowl. “I forgot. Becky mentioned it when she was here last week. She’s been having some trouble with swelling.”
“Swelling? Becky or Kimmy?” Maeve asked.
The young woman spoke up. “Her daughter was on bed rest, but now they have her in the hospital as a precaution. Becky said she found that shell on the beach right after they put Kimmy in the hospital.”
For a tourist, that woman was a bit of a know-it-all.
“Becky must be worried.” Maeve hadn’t spoken to her in quite a while.
“She couldn’t stop talking about that shell. Like it was a sign or something. Then she was telling me about how lots of people have found them around here.”
“What did it say?” Maeve asked.
“The shell?”
“Of course the shell.” Maeve pasted what she hoped resembled a polite smile on her face. That last comment had most definitely come out with a tinge of judgment she’d meant to contain.
The woman rolled her eyes. “Something about someone showing up and treasures. That’s not the point.”
It’s exactly the point. Maeve’s heart picked up its pace. Caffeine or concern, she wasn’t quite sure. She’d known Kimmy since she was a tyke learning how to skimboard out in front of the beach house. Such a tomboy, but she’d turned into a beautiful young woman and now a mother.
Maeve looked over to Tug. “Did you hear that? We should probably stop by and check in on her.”
“We should.” Tug flipped an anemic-looking omelet into the air.
“Do you really think those shells just show up? Like out of nowhere?” The woman’s arched brow and sassy tone made it clear she didn’t.
Maeve pondered how to answer such a question. “Sometimes you have to trust things for what they are.” She looked the woman square in the eye, daring her to make another brash remark. “Just believe.”
With that, Maeve strode out of the diner, her belly full, her heart full. And as she walked by the big parrot cage, The Wife said, “You better believe it.”
“Oh, I do.” Maeve nodded, and The Wife did too.
“Bye-bye.”
Maeve stopped at the top of the steps and took off her sandals.
A little sand between the toes stomps out the woes.
That uptight woman back there needed to kick off her shoes and take a long walk on the beach.
8
Paul and his newest employee, Chase, walked into Tug’s Diner. The beautiful environment that Paws Town Square was becoming known for was all credit to Chase. He knew his stuff about landscaping, and he’d been an incredible asset to the quick start-up on this second Paws Town Square location. Former army, Chase had a hard time adjusting to civilian life, but he’d found his niche. Now they were working on three more sites together.
“Two specials, Tug,” Paul said as they grabbed two seats at the counter.
“Good morning, Paul.” Tug waved from across the way. “You got it.”
“And coffee. Lots of coffee.”
The waitress slid over with two mugs and filled them before Tug could even respond. “Got ’em,” she said.
The woman sitting to Paul’s left pushed her omelet around on the plate. She had that look about her, like someone who sent back every meal for it being wrong somehow. Or one of those letter-writing complainers.
She lifted her gaze.
“Good morning,” Paul said.
“If you say so.”
He turned to Chase and gave him a sorry-I-asked look.
Chase shrugged and snickered.
The woman leaned forward, bypassing Paul, to speak to Chase. “So, what do you think about shells popping up out of nowhere with quotes on them? Think it’s possible, or a marketing ploy?”
Chase had that deer-in-the-headlights look. The kind a husband gets when he realizes there’s no right answer.
Paul turned to the woman and extended his hand. “I’m Paul.”
“Stacy,” she said.
“Nice to meet you. You have something against the shells?”
“I think it’s bunk, and who needs to be spreading lies?”
“Who are you to say they are?”
“Look, I’m just saying I think it’s probably some kind of marketing ploy to get tourists invested in things around here or romanticize the place. Like something out of one of those Nicholas Sparks novels. It’s dishonest.”
Paul should drop it, but he couldn’t stop
