Saving Sandcastles

by Meredith Summers

  When Jane stepped out of the fridge, Addie was already back at the stove, instructing Brenda as they arranged bacon and eggs into the two covered trays. Jane couldn’t help but smile at the familiar scene. Her mother was always meticulous about presenting things to her guests just so.

  Noticing Jane’s return, Addie cast a quick smile over her shoulder as she hovered at Brenda’s side while the other woman carried the tray. “Please thank Claire for that muffin, dear.”

  She remembered. It had been minutes, not hours or days, since Jane had given her the muffin, but there were days when Addie seemed to forget details the moment she heard them.

  Jane beamed. “I will.”

  As Brenda shuffled through the swinging door into the dining room, Addie turned her attention back to food prep, humming under her breath as she took out measuring cups and a bowl. As she sifted flour into the bowl, Jane leaned against the door to the refrigerator and smiled. She counted the cups of flour, noticing that her mother didn’t hesitate with the often-used recipe.

  Turning, Addie frowned, hands on her hips. “Are you going to help me with these pancakes, or aren’t you? I need eggs and milk.”

  Jane jumped to attention, just like in years long gone. “Yes, ma’am.”

  As she slipped back into the cool refrigerator, she tried to focus on the fact that this was a good day. She had her mother for however long she was lucid. Sooner or later, she would have to make hard decisions about her care, but until then she would cherish every last moment like this.

  Chapter Four

  “Your instincts are as sharp as ever, Sally,” Ralph said, descending the ladder he’d used to inspect the pipes at Sandcastles. Despite the compliment, his face was grim as he glanced at Claire.

  “Are they bad?” Claire asked.

  Ralph nodded in agreement. “Ayuh.” He scratched his thinning pate. “I might be able to solder a patch here and there, but I can’t guarantee how long they’d hold. They’re the original copper pipes, and the fittings break down over time. Could be a year. Could be a day.”

  Darn it! Claire had known the building was old when she’d bought it. That was part of its charm. But five years ago, the building was in good repair. It’d had no major problems until now, only small odd jobs she’d called Sally to fix. They made things better back when the old building had gone up. Surely those old pipes would hold out for a while. Ralph was probably being overcautious.

  Sally gave Claire a sympathetic glance then turned to the town plumber. “Can you fit her in, Ralph?”

  “Ayuh.” He scratched at his head again, seeming at a loss. “You’ll have to close, as I’ll need to rip some things apart in here, and it won’t do to have customers hanging around. I’ll warn you: you’ll need to get some repair work to the walls after.”

  Close in the middle of tourist season? The sunny days were her best revenue days. During the winter months, maybe she could manage to close the shop and not suffer for it, but now, with a new bakery moving in, closing Sandcastles was not an option.

  Claire chewed on the inside of her cheek. “How much?”

  Ralph rocked back on his heels, considering. “I could do it for about ten grand, give or take. I’d have to price out materials before I can give you a better estimate.”

  “Ten grand?” The words barely escaped through Claire’s tight throat. She didn’t have that much in her savings account. And after her conversation with Tammi, she’d relegated a good portion of her savings for advertising. Without it, there would be no savvy marketing. There would be no throngs of customers lined up in front of her bakery to show Bradford Breads who the town’s favorite baker was.

  “It has to be done,” Sally said. Her practical manner helped to ground Claire. She was right, of course. Claire knew she would have to do it, but how would she find ten thousand dollars? Her gaze skated around the kitchen. Sandcastles was her dream. She’d put a lot of sweat and tears into it. She wasn’t going to let a few pipe repairs bring her down.

  Jaw firm, she said, “I’ll try to get a loan from the bank to cover the cost. How long will you need the shop closed?” Two or three days, she might be able to work into the schedule. She could have a grand reopening and use some of Tammi’s marketing suggestions to draw in customers. Not to mention, she could continue to bake the custom-ordered cakes at home and deliver them personally. It might work out to her advantage after all.

  “About two weeks, I’d say.”

  Claire took a deep breath. Two weeks? No way, not right now. Not with that bakery about to open across the street. The pipes had lasted a hundred years. Surely they could last until the end of summer.

  “I’ll talk to the bank. I might not be able to swing it until October.” The pipes groaned ominously, as if warning Claire to speed up the timeline.

  Ralph raised a brow at Sally then turned to Claire. “Okay, I’ll patch the leaks for now. Give me a call as soon as you know when you want me to start.”

  Hailey noticed the worried look on Claire’s face as she let Sally and Ralph out the back. Something was really bothering her boss, and she wanted to find out what it was. It was a slow time of day, so she filled two mugs with coffee and ushered Claire over to a table in the corner.

  “Sit. Let’s chat. We haven’t done that in a while.” Hailey pushed Claire into a chair.

  “Aren’t you supposed to leave now?” Claire wrapped her hands around the mug.

  “Yeah, but I have a few minutes. Mrs. Pease doesn’t expect me back until four thirty.” Mrs. Pease was the babysitter to Hailey’s eleven-year-old, Jennifer. Hailey had actually planned to pick up some groceries with the extra time, but she and Claire had become close after working together in the bakery despite their fifteen-year age difference, and she sensed that Claire needed to talk.

  Claire was a good boss and a nice person, and she paid fantastic wages, which Hailey was very grateful for. Being a single mother wasn’t easy financially, and Hailey knew that most bakery assistants didn’t get paid nearly as much as she did. Hailey needed her job, so if Claire was worried, that meant she was worried. Besides, she had something important to discuss with Claire, but maybe it wasn’t the time.

  Hailey cut to the chase. “So, what’s going on with the ceiling?”

  Claire made a face. “Pipes need replacing.”

  “Oh. That sounds expensive.” Probably not the time to ask for more responsibility and a raise. Never mind that her car was on its last leg and she needed it to take Jennifer to her soccer games and get to work or that she was getting behind on payments toward all the debt her ex-husband had saddled her with. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, and her troubles were not Claire’s problem. They weren’t anyone’s problem except hers, and she would figure out how to solve them.

  “It is. But I have some money saved.” Claire sipped her coffee, her eyes drifting to the new store across the street. Her face darkened.

  Hailey had noticed the store too. She had no idea what was going in there, but apparently it had Claire worried. “Do you know what the new store will be?”

  “Bradford Breads.”

  “Breads? Huh, seems odd to move in across from a bakery.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought.” Claire turned her attention back to Hailey. “Oh, but it’s nothing to worry about, I’m sure.”

  Hailey frowned. She got the sense that Claire really was worried and was just telling Hailey that because she didn’t want her to worry. “Yeah, sure. I mean we don’t even carry bread here, really.”

  “Right. No competition.”

  Hailey glanced over at the store. Maybe it sold breads now, but what if this Bradford Breads place decided to expand into pastries later on? Then it would be competition. No wonder Claire was so worried, and on top of that, there was this looming problem with the pipes. She would have to get that fixed, as she couldn’t afford a big plumbing catastrophe with a bread store moving in. Plumbers cost a lot of money. Hailey knew that from experience. Definitely not the time
to ask for a raise. They would just have to eat more ramen noodles for a while. Good thing Jennifer loved them.

  “How’s Jennifer?” Claire’s question brought a smile to Hailey’s face.

  “Great. She got an award for summer soccer, and now she wants to play on the Lobster Bay school team in the fall.” Hailey’s smile faded just a bit. “She’s growing up so fast.”

  “I know how that goes. Seems like Tammi was Jennifer’s age just yesterday. Just try to enjoy every minute. Speaking of which—” Claire nodded toward the clock. “You should probably get going.”

  “Yeah, I suppose. Is there anything I can do to help with the pipes?” Hailey shot a glance over at the new store again.

  “Oh, no. Don’t you worry about those. Now scoot! I’ll go see if Harry and Bert want a refill. It’s always slow on Mondays, so I might close early anyway.”

  Hailey stood, taking her mug with her. She would wash it in the sink on her way out. “Okay, well if you’re sure.”

  “Of course. Nothing for you to worry about. See you tomorrow!”

  Claire watched Hailey leave. The last thing she wanted was to worry her assistant. The girl had enough on her plate raising an eleven-year-old all on her own. Hailey had picked up on the fact that something was bothering Claire, so she would have to be careful from now on. But the fact that Hailey depended on her job there was just another worry for Claire. If Bradford Breads stole business, would she still be able to pay Hailey?

  Grabbing the coffee pot, she headed over to the corner table where Harry and Bert, her favorite regulars, were chatting away, huddled over a newspaper. The two men were in their late seventies and spent a good deal of time sitting right at that table, reading the paper. From their vantage point, they could see who was coming and going and greet any of their friends entering the coffee shop. They were good customers.

  “What’s so interesting?” Claire tilted her head to look at the paper.

  “That place across the street is finally opening. Gonna have a two-for-one sale on Saturday and a grand opening.” Harry pointed to an ad that took up a whole page. A smiling loaf of bread announced the opening of Bradford Breads. Claire resisted the urge to grab a marker and doodle a villain’s mustache on the smiling bread face.

  “Looks like a big deal,” Bert added. “I hope they have rye. You hardly ever find that anywhere.”

  Claire glanced back at the tiny bread section of her bakery case. She didn’t have rye.

  “Do you think they’ll have some of those fancy breads like oatmeal molasses or honey olive?” Harry was practically salivating.

  Claire glared at the new store, picturing all her customers rushing over for fancy breads. “Hard to tell what they’ll have.”

  Her voice came out a little weak, and Harry glanced up at her, his gray brows furrowing in concern. “I’m sure they won’t have anything as good as you have here.” He glanced back at the case with the lame selection of breads, and Claire’s stomach tightened.

  “Yeah, whatever this Bradford guy has can’t be as good as what you got.” Bert squinted down at the ad. “Looks like just bread. Man cannot exist on bread alone. We need pastries, and this is the best place for that.”

  Claire’s chest warmed at the men’s loyalty and their attempt to make her feel better, but she knew what they were thinking: the same thing she was. Come Saturday, the whole town would be over at Bradford Breads, and she would be sitting in an empty coffee shop.

  “Hey, maybe you should have a sale on Saturday too,” Bert suggested.

  That might not be a bad idea. Tammi had suggested she have a sale, but Saturday was in less than a week, and Claire didn’t have any idea what she would put on sale, let alone know how to take out an ad.

  The bell above the door jingled, and Claire turned to greet the new customer. Her cheery greeting froze on her lips when her gaze met the other woman’s baby blues: her ex-husband’s new trophy wife.

  Oh no. She did not need this today.

  Sandra—or Sandee, as she liked to call herself—looked no older than thirty-five and dressed as if she were twenty despite being in her midforties. She insisted on everyone calling her by her ridiculous nickname. What grown woman chose to spell her name with two Es instead of a Y?

  It was probably that fountain of youth Claire’s ex-husband had hoped to tap by first leaving Claire for this woman then later marrying her. She was everything Claire was not—blond with a supermodel figure and a defined taste for fashion. And Sandee, petty as she was, never missed an opportunity to subtly flaunt her success as a real estate agent for high-end beach property.

  Claire was successful too. Claire had a thriving bakery, and she didn’t have to lure customers in by trying to look half her age.

  “Hello, Sandee. What can I get you?” Claire had to make an effort not to choke on her words, but she was a professional, and Sandee was a customer.

  “I’m here for your famous cupcakes. My parents are coming down to have dinner with me and Pete tonight, and they loved them the last time they were here. I guess you always were a talent in the kitchen. Not like me. I have far too many other things to do.”

  Claire bit the inside of her cheek to stop from making a sarcastic comment about how Sandee spent her time.

  Sandee didn’t seem terribly disappointed when Claire didn’t ask what those other things were. She leaned forward as best she could on her pencil-thin heels, showing off her perky breasts through the dress’s low-cut neckline. Had she gotten a boob job? Claire didn’t want to stare, so she crossed her arms over her own modest chest and waited as Sandee took her time choosing the cupcakes.

  “I’ll take two of the chocolate, one of the vanilla, and…” Her nose wrinkled. “Don’t you have a healthier choice?”

  “In a cupcake?” Claire couldn’t keep the incredulity from her voice.

  Sandee straightened. “A vegan sugar-free option or something.”

  “You aren’t vegan.” Unless that was a new development.

  “No,” she drew out the word, “but it’s probably better for you than this sugary stuff.” She sighed dramatically. “Better add in another vanilla, then.”

  Leave it to Sandee to insult the very cupcakes she’d come in to purchase. Claire pressed her lips tight together and put four cupcakes into a box that fit them perfectly. She sealed it with a sticker that included her Sandcastles logo. When she perched it on the counter in front of the cash register, Sandee eyed the display case, tapping a bright-fuchsia fingernail against her lips.

  “Anything else?” Claire tried to keep her distaste for the woman out of her voice.

  The blonde shook her head, her straight hair billowing and catching the afternoon sunlight. “No, I don’t think I’ll buy bread here today. I’d rather wait for the sale at that new bakery coming to town.” Sandee turned to look pointedly out the window at the new store, the store Claire was quickly coming to view as her competitor. Sandee turned back, her blue eyes all wide and innocent. “You know they’re having a twofer sale? That’s a lot. If my folks weren’t coming to dinner, I’d spend the money over there. It’s like getting double!”

  Claire knew Sandee was baiting her, but she couldn’t help the thoughts swirling in her brain. How many other people were skimping on buying pastries this week and saving their money for bread?

  Even worse, Sandee had a look of triumph in her eyes that told Claire she’d been purposely trying to upset her. She loved that Claire was distressed about the bakery’s grand opening. Claire wasn’t about to let Sandee get the better of her.

  Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “I’m having an even bigger sale than Bradford Breads on Saturday!”

  Sandee lifted a thin eyebrow. “You are?”

  “Yes. Huge.”

  “Better than two-for-one?”

  Claire swallowed against the lump in her throat. She couldn’t take it back now. “Yes. Buy one, get two free.”

  “You’re having a bread sale?”

  “N
o.” Her gaze dropped to the white box with its pink-and-yellow sticker. “Cupcakes.”

  “Are you now?” Harry called from the corner. There was real warmth in his voice.

  His companion nudged him as they both stood, their chairs scraping back as they prepared to leave. “See? I told you she wouldn’t let that bread guy get the better of her. She’ll give this new bread place a run for its money!”

  Their support gave Claire confidence. Yep, a sale was the perfect solution.

  Sandee looked skeptical. She glanced around the shop critically. “You’re really going to have a sale? Why don’t I see anything about it? Other stores have flyers and posters up whenever they’re preparing for a sale.”

  “I’m going to advertise later,” Claire answered, starting to stumble over her tongue. Okay, maybe she’d blurted it all out a bit too spontaneously. How far ahead did one have to plan to get an ad in the paper? How long did it take to make flyers?

  “I’m sure you’re going to be running a big ad to generate interest.” Harry tapped the paper now folded under his arm.

  “Oh, sure. There will be an ad and posters, flyers, the whole nine yards.” Claire looked Sandee in the eye and forced a smile.

  “I hope you’re going to offer more variety than chocolate and vanilla. People won’t come in for the same old thing.”

  Unfortunately, Sandee’s caustic remark made sense. “Of course there will be other flavors. At least six.”

  “Oh?” Sandee pursed her lips. “Which flavors?”

  Claire’s forced smile was starting to hurt. “You’ll have to come in on Saturday to see.”

  “You know we’ll be here,” Bert called as he and Harry left the shop. “Be sure to save us our usual spot!”

  Claire waved to them as they exited into the summer air, leaving her pinned beneath Sandee’s narrow-eyed gaze.

  “If you’re going to have such a popular sale, I can only imagine the enormous number of cupcakes you’ll need to bake. Why, they’ll have to overflow the display case, or you’ll run out! Are you sure you’ll be able to bake all those cupcakes in your tiny kitchen in time?”