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Toni would want to be with her again, but, just in case, she wanted
to look presentable.
:
Noel had to wait a few minutes, and she spent her time chatting
with Jackie, who seemed to be at the bar every minute that it was
open. Heidi blew in, looking a little harried.  Sorry I m late. I was
having dinner with a potential client, and she nearly talked my ear
off.
 Oh, I m sorry I made you rush.
 Rush? We met at five o clock! I think we would have closed the
place if you hadn t rescued me. Thank you. She took Noel s hand
and kissed it.
 Glad to help. Any time you want out of something, I m glad to
interrupt.
 I might take you up on that. Now, what do you think of the
offer?
 I think it s very good, Noel said, her lack of enthusiasm
showing clearly.  But I m not ready to& give up. She scratched
her head, her expression confused.  I don t know why I used that
phrase, but that s what it feels like. I m& I guess I m beginning
to get invested& both in the inn and my guests. I don t feel right
ruining all of those vacations. She put her chin on her hand, after
103
Susan X Meagher
resting her elbow on the bar.  Dumb, huh?
Heidi leaned over and kissed her cheek.  I was hoping you d
start to like being an inn-keeper.
 Really? I feel bad for turning down a good offer. I know that s
gonna hurt your bottom line.
 Buy me dinner some night. I haven t spent much time on this
deal. But let s take it off the market until you ve decided whether to
improve it or run it, okay?
Noel looked like she d been pinched.  Oh, no! I m not going
to run it. But I might sell it at the end of the season. I ve got to
do some research and scope out the competition. I haven t been
treating this as an investment, but I m going to start.
 I think that s a good idea. And if I get a vote, you ll keep it.
 You get dinner, Noel said,  No vote.
104
Part Six
oel lay in bed that night, ruminating about her decision.
N She knew she d made a financial mistake, had known that
so clearly that she hadn t even called her brother Andy to ask his
advice.
She was still clear she wasn t interested in running The Sandpiper
full time. And she just wasn t comfortable with the glad-handing
she had to do to enjoy having guests. So, she had to admit that the
simple truth was that she wasn t willing to leave town when she
had a chance at having a torrid summer affair. It had been many
years since she d put attraction and sex above a well-thought-out
financial plan, but she kind of liked this devil-may-care attitude.
April always told her that she acted more like the older sister, and
she had to concede that was true. But maybe it wasn t too late to
start to be more impetuous. And she had a feeling Toni could help
in that regard. She just had to hope that Toni felt the same way.
:
Noel spent the next mid-day creating and repeatedly revising
comment cards that her guests could use to give her feedback. She
knew that it would actually be more effective to talk to them, but
she figured the comment cards would appeal to the guests who,
Susan X Meagher
like her, preferred to write a comment over saying something that
might be deemed critical.
By the time she was finished, it was early afternoon, and she was
famished. On a lark, she called Gloria, knowing it was her day off.
Luckily, her friend didn t have anything important going on, and
they decided to meet for coffee. Noel had designs on the raspberry
scone that the coffee shop made, and she hoped they hadn t run
out.
When Gloria arrived, they took their snacks outside and sat at a
table facing the sidewalk. Noel surprised herself by saying,  I d like
to talk about Max.
:
An hour and a half went by in what felt like moments. Once
she d started, Noel found that her questions were legion, and she
learned everything Gloria knew about Max s family and her early
life. Gloria seemed very happy to be able to talk about her friend,
and at one point, Noel asked,  Why did you like Max so much?
 Hmm, that s a tough one. She had a lot of good qualities. She
looked contemplative, then said,  I think I liked her moral code.
 That surprises me. Everyone talks about how friendly and
welcoming she was. I thought you would have liked her for her
personality.
 Oh, she had a good one. But I knew that Max could be trusted
with a secret, a husband or a life s savings. If I d found her taking
my money out of the bank, I would have believed her if she said she
was doing it because she heard the bank was gonna fail. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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