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  Her mother was intrigued, though, by Nantucket real estate. “Honey, that’s one of the hottest markets in the country. If you could get into a good office there, you could make a fortune. I’m sure I know someone that could get you an interview.” Her mother never understood that Taylor wasn’t driven to succeed in the same way. As long as she had enough money to pay her bills, she was fine, and no one went into journalism for the salary.

  It had taken her a while to figure out what she wanted to do, though. She’d majored in English and Communications and knew that she wanted to do some kind of job that involved writing. She didn’t focus on journalism initially, as she thought something creative might be more fun, maybe in marketing or advertising. Her mother had approved of that, especially advertising, as it was a more glamorous field and if one went into the sales side, the income could be quite lucrative. But sales had never interested Taylor. Her first job out of college was for the biggest advertising agency in Charleston, as an assistant.

  She enjoyed the role, even though it was more administrative than anything else-as many entry-level roles are. She made some great friends there, as every year a new batch of recent grads were hired. Some of her friends went onto the sales side while Taylor stayed in creative and was promoted into a junior copywriter and editor role. She edited copy and contributed ideas to new campaigns.

  It was fun, at first. But it was also stressful too as there was always a lot of pressure for each new campaign to outperform the last one, and when the results weren’t there, they sometimes lost accounts as clients left to go to a new agency. And that often meant layoffs, and it was usually the creative side that took the hit.

  Taylor managed to stay there for almost seven years before getting ‘whacked’ as they put it, when the agency lost its biggest client.

  It seemed like fate though, as she’d been updating her resume and trying to decide what to try next. The layoff gave her the push she needed and two weeks later, she was hired by the newspaper for the community news role, which was basically writing obituaries, wedding and birth announcements. It was a good way for her to experience something new and she quickly felt like she was where she was supposed to be—but not in the right role, yet.

  It didn’t take her long to learn the duties of the position and she was eager to take on more, to start doing some actual news stories. But she had to get in line for that as the paper was fully staffed and turnover was low, so there wasn’t an opportunity to do more than an occasional story when no one else was available.

  It gave her enough of a taste that she wanted more, and she grew resentful of the repetitive nature of the wedding and birth announcements. She wanted to move away from that entirely. So, when Abby mentioned the opening at the Nantucket paper, it seemed once again like a sign.

  As soon as she emailed in her resume, things moved quickly. Taylor did a Zoom interview with Blake Ojala, the managing director of the paper. She’d been surprised when she did her pre-interview research to see that he was only thirty-six, just six years older than Taylor. His father had started the paper and was still involved as chairman, but Blake had moved into the managing director role a few years ago and handled all the day-to-day running of the paper.

  She’d liked him immediately and couldn’t help notice that he had a very Nantucket look about him, with his slightly long dark blond hair, and the pale blue button-down shirt and a Nantucket Red baseball hat sitting on his desk. He’d obviously just taken it off for the call, as his hair was a bit mussed. It kind of gave him a preppy surfer look, which she found appealing.

  But she’d forced herself to focus on the interview and he’d quickly put her at ease. She knew it helped that he was friends with Abby’s husband Jeff, at least to get the interview. Abby had told her, though, that he’d had a lot of applicants, so she didn’t get her hopes up and kept sending out resumes. But then the call came with the offer and Taylor immediately accepted.

  Finding housing, however, was harder than she’d anticipated. Rents were high on Nantucket, especially for seasonal rentals, which were the majority of what was available. Year-round rentals were much harder to come by and the few that were available were way out of her price range. She’d hoped to have her own place, but that was looking less likely and she started looking at listings for people that needed roommates.

  But then, Abby once again came through, or rather, her brother Chase did. He worked in construction and knew someone that had a small cottage that was coming available in two months. She could have it if she wanted it, but would need to find a place to stay in the meantime. He warned her that the cottage was tiny, barely six hundred square feet, but it had everything she needed, including a very distant ocean view from the second floor. There was one bedroom and bath upstairs and a small kitchen and living area on the first floor. When he sent her the pictures by email, she fell in love instantly as the cottage also had a white picket fence covered in bright pink beach roses.

  Abby also offered for her to stay with them until her cottage was available, but Taylor knew there was really no room for her there. Plus, she had some money saved, enough to stay at Abby’s mother’s bed-and-breakfast. She was looking forward to that actually as it would feel a bit like being on vacation as The Beach Plum Cove Inn was beautiful and right on the ocean. She could walk along the beach whenever she wanted a little exercise, and it was just a few miles from Abby and the newspaper.

  Taylor put the address in her GPS as she waited in her car for her turn to drive off the boat. She enjoyed seeing the old cobblestone streets downtown and all the tourists walking around. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Warm for mid-March. Vermont had been blanketed with snow while Taylor visited, and there wasn’t a sign of the white stuff on Nantucket. She hoped it stayed that way. Although it was fun to see an occasional flurry. That rarely happened in Charleston.

  It didn’t take her long to reach The Beach Plum Cove Inn. She felt a thrill as she pulled into the driveway and caught a glimpse of the ocean behind the house. The sunlight glimmered on the water and the beach beckoned her. Once she was settled in, she’d go for a nice walk to stretch her legs and explore.

  There was a lighthouse not too far off—maybe she could walk down and back. She was grateful for the timing too, as she never could have afforded to stay here in the summer when the rates were the highest. But now, in the off-season and with the friends and family discount, it was manageable. She parked her car, grabbed her suitcase, and headed to the front door to check in.

  Chapter 3

  “What can I bring tonight?”

  Lisa thought about her friend Marley’s question as she gave the veal Osso Buco a stir before closing the slow cooker lid. It had already simmered for a few hours, smelled heavenly and by the time the girls arrived around six, it would be falling off the bone delicious.

  “Maybe just a bottle of wine, whatever you feel like drinking. Paige is bringing a salad and Sue is bringing brownies for dessert,” Lisa said as she settled back onto the stool at the kitchen island and pulled up her Shopify account to see the day’s orders, as she knew what Marley’s next question would be.

  “How are sales?” Marley had an e-commerce background and she and Lisa became good friends when Marley stayed at the inn for a while after her divorce. Now she lived year-round on Nantucket and had a thriving digital marketing consulting business, and Lisa was her first client.

  “They’re still really good.”

  Marley laughed. “You sound so surprised. I told you this would happen. If you have a great product and market it well, good things happen and word-of-mouth kicks in. Your lobster quiche is to-die for.”

  When Lisa ran into an issue with not having a license to serve food—something she hadn’t realized she needed for the hot breakfast items she served to her guests—they came up with a solution. Rhett helped her to design a commercial kitchen addition that her son Chase built, and then Marley oversaw a website to sell her quiches and other items online.

  Lis
a had no idea what a big business online food sales could be. But she was pleasantly surprised as every week, sales grew and she’d had to hire help to staff the kitchen and make the items. She was having a lot of fun with it though.

  “I was surprised. Every day when I check the numbers, I always expect to see that sales are down, but they almost never are. Rhett turned on a feature that plays a cash register sound whenever there’s a sale and that was so fun at first. I laughed every time I heard the sound.”

  “I bet you have that turned off now, though? The thrill wore off fast.”

  “Yes. It’s off now.” Lisa glanced out the window and saw a silver Honda pull into the driveway. “I think my newest guest has just arrived.”

  “I’ll let you go. See you tonight. I’ll bring some kind of red—whatever Peter recommends.” Peter Bradford owned the local liquor store and was also dating Lisa’s friend Paige.

  “Perfect. Tell him I said hello.” Lisa ended the call and a moment later, the front doorbell rang.

  She opened the door and smiled. As expected, her new guest had just arrived. Lisa had met Taylor Abbott several times when she’d visited Abby on summer breaks. She was a pretty girl, a little on the short side, with dark brown hair that fell in a long, shiny bob to her shoulders. Her eyes were just as dark and were the first thing you noticed about her face. That and her warm smile. She also looked exhausted.

  “Taylor, so nice to see you again. Come on in. Would you like a hot cup of tea or coffee? I was just about to make one. You must be tired from your trip.”

  “I’d love a cup of tea if it’s not too much trouble. After that, I think I need a hot shower and either a nap or a walk on the beach to wake up. I’m not sure.”

  Lisa laughed. “I’d save the walk for tomorrow. Relax and rest up today. How long was your trip?”

  “I was visiting my father in central Vermont, so a little over five hours to get to the Cape and then a few more hours on the ferry.”

  “That is a long day,” Lisa said as she put a kettle on the stove to heat up some water. “While it’s heating up, I’ll give you a quick tour and show you to your room. You can drop your suitcase off.”

  She showed Taylor the commercial kitchen first, since they were right there.

  “Abby told me about the online store. That’s so exciting,” Taylor said.

  “It has been fun,” Lisa admitted. She walked into the dining room next. “This is where you can come for breakfast anytime between eight and ten. There’s always coffee and juice, bagels or toast and fruit and a hot item or two—it varies by day.”

  “That sounds wonderful.”

  Lisa took her upstairs next to room number three, which faced the ocean. “This was Abby’s room. It’s slow right now. I only have two other rooms rented, and one of them is leaving tomorrow. So, it should be nice and peaceful for you.”

  Taylor set her suitcase in a corner and walked to the window. In the distance, they could see another ferry arriving. “I think I might just stare out this window all the time. The view is amazing.”

  Lisa smiled. “Thank you. We love it here. I think the water should be ready for tea now.”

  They headed back to the kitchen and Lisa poured two cups of tea and they sat at the island. She put out a bakery box of chocolate chip cookies. “You need to try one of these. Kate dropped them off from a new bakery in town and they’re so good.”

  “I had lunch on the boat, so I’m really not hungry,” Taylor said. And then grinned. “But these do look amazing.” She reached for one, took a bite, and swooned. Lisa laughed and reached for one, too.

  “So, when do you start the new job?” Lisa asked.

  “The day after tomorrow. So, I have all day tomorrow to explore. I think Abby is having me over for dinner tomorrow night, so that should be fun.”

  “Good. You also have a small fridge in your room and a microwave, so you can pick up a few things at Stop and Shop and make sandwiches or heat up soup, whatever you like. Tonight, if you don’t feel like going out, there are a few local places, pizza, Thai and so on that deliver. There’s a list in your room with their phone numbers.”

  “Oh, that’s perfect. Thank you.” Taylor’s eyes were starting to look heavy. Lisa could see that the long trip had caught up to her.

  “If you need anything, my number is on that sheet, too. Don’t hesitate to call. Otherwise, hopefully I will see you at breakfast in the morning?”

  Taylor finished her cookie, took a final sip of her tea, and stood up.

  “Thanks again, for everything. I will definitely see you in the morning.”

  Lisa walked her to the front door and as she opened it, remembered something Abby had said at breakfast.

  “Abby mentioned that another new girl just started at the newspaper too, just this last week. Abby thinks that she’s about your age, so that should be fun for you.”

  Taylor looked surprised. “Really? That’s interesting. I didn’t realize there were two openings.”

  “I’m sure Abby can fill you in tomorrow when you see her.”

  Marley took a bite of Lisa’s veal Osso Buco and sighed. The meat was so tender and the rich sauce silky smooth and so flavorful with lots of fragrant mushrooms. Lisa served it over a big mound of whipped potatoes with sautéed spinach on the side.

  “Lisa, this is amazing, as usual. And Paige, Peter was so right about this wine. It goes perfectly with it.” When she’d stopped by Bradford’s liquors and told Peter what they were having, he instantly recommended a wine that Marley wasn’t familiar with, an Italian Amarone.

  Everyone agreed that both the wine and veal were delicious, and they laughed and caught up with each other as they ate. Marley knew that Paige and Sue had been Lisa’s best friends for many years, and she was grateful that they were including her in their circle.

  She and Lisa had clicked when they first met, and it was like they’d known each other forever. They were all about the same age, in their mid-fifties, and Marley felt that she had more of a community here on Nantucket than she’d ever had in California.

  She’d been so busy raising her kids and growing what turned into a massively huge e-commerce business with her now ex-husband that she never had enough time to visit with friends. She’d thought Nantucket was just going to be a temporary stop and instead it turned into her forever home.

  “Marley, how are things going with Mark? Paige asked.

  Marley’s second client, after Lisa, was Mark, a local photographer that was looking to see if he could sell some of his most admired prints online. She helped him set up a store and some marketing for it and in the weeks she spent consulting with him, they developed a friendship that recently had surprised both of them by turning into a romance. It was still very new, and Marley was cautious of getting too serious too soon. After the divorce, dating hadn’t been on her radar at all. Until she met Mark.

  “He’s great. We’re really enjoying each other’s company. I did have a strange phone call though, right before I left to come over here.” Marley had been so surprised by the call and debated whether to share with the girls, but decided she needed their input.

  “So, out of the blue, Frank called me. I haven’t talked to him in months. No reason to, now that the divorce is final. Apparently, he saw a picture of me and Mark online. Some of the photos from that charity gala we went to last week got picked up by the national news and someone brought it to his attention.”

  “That was a really good picture of you,” Sue said.

  “Thank you.” Marley usually hated the way she looked in photos as she was always carrying an extra fifteen pounds or so, but she’d recently lost ten pounds and had been doing weight training so that she’d lost some inches and was down several sizes. She’d bought a new dress for the occasion, a rich royal blue, and it was very flattering.

  Lisa’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me he’s jealous and wants you back?”

  Marley laughed. “It’s so ridiculous. But yes, he says that seeing m
y picture made him realize how much he misses me and that we never should have gotten divorced and he’s an idiot and had a mid-life crisis.”

  “I agree with the idiot part,” Lisa said dryly.

  Sue lifted her wine glass and leaned forward. “Would you ever want to reconcile?”

  Marley immediately made a face. “Absolutely not. I think he’s lost his mind and just felt nostalgic and yes, probably a pang of jealousy when he saw me happy with someone else.”

  “A very handsome, nice someone else,” Lisa added.

  “So, you told him no, then?” Paige asked.

  Marley nodded. “I did. I told him it was too late, and we’d both moved on and that I was happy. But he said he’s coming to Nantucket next week and wants to meet for dinner, for old times’ sake.”

  “You told him no, I hope?” Lisa said.

  Marley hesitated. “I told him I’d think about it and he could call me when he got here. He’s actually coming for some e-commerce conference at The Whitley. I’m going to it as well.”

  “You could just chat with him there, then?” Paige suggested.

  “No. I told him I don’t want to do that. If people see us there together, the media will be all over it. I don’t want that. It might be easier to just see him briefly, have the conversation, and let him know it’s totally not an option. I want to close that door firmly.”

  Sue topped off her wine glass and took a sip before glancing at Marley. “You’re curious to hear him out, see what he has to say. I would be too. Doesn’t hurt to listen. And then tell him no with satisfaction.”

  Marley laughed. “That is sort of what I’m thinking. It is a nice boost for the ego. And I’m just glad that things are going well with Mark, so I’m not even remotely tempted.”

  Lisa lifted her glass. “Good! Let’s drink to that.”