Memories in Sea Glass: Driftwood Key Beach Reads #2

4. Jess

The following day, Jess stood behind the counter of the flower shop, surrounded by fragrant blossoms and feeling right at home with soft jazz playing and a single customer browsing.

Joanie had been so delighted when Jess called to say she was back. But she had tried to convince Jess to take a little more time off. Thankfully, she relented quickly when Jess told her she needed the distraction and really missed the shop.

And diving back into her life really was improving her spirits. Jess was even happily planning to have the whole McKinnon crew over for supper tomorrow night to celebrate Anna’s birthday.

“Just these, please,” Mr. Raymond said, carrying his usual bouquet of lilies to the counter.

Jess smiled and rang the older man up.

“It’s nice to see you’re back,” Mr. Raymond confided, his hazel eyes filled with sympathy. “I was sorry to hear that your husband had passed.”

“Thank you,” Jess said. “We were separated, but it hurts anyway.”

“Of course it does,” Mr. Raymond said. “We don’t just stop loving people all of a sudden.”

“You’re right,” Jess said, noticing the sadness in the lines around his eyes and wondering who he’d lost. “Well, I’m happy to be back at the flower shop. This place always cheers me up.”

“Me too,” he replied, giving her a smile. “See you tomorrow.”

The front door opened and they both turned to see who was coming as Joanie strode in with a big smile on her face.

“Hey there, Frank,” she said. “It’s a good thing you came by when you did. We’re closing up early.”

“Closing up?” Jess echoed.

“We’re going on a field trip,” Joanie told her. “Grab your purse.”

“Really?” Jess asked.

“You bet,” Joanie laughed. “Come on.”

A few minutes later, they were in Joanie’s green Jeep, headed out in the direction of the resort.

“Where are we going?” Jess asked, the warm breeze blowing her hair back as they picked up speed.

“I thought today would be a good day to teach you my secret fertilizer recipe,” Joanie said, waggling her eyebrows.

“Wow,” Jess said. “I’m honored.”

“So, how was your trip?” Joanie asked politely after a few minutes.

Jess appreciated the vagueness of the question. She was ready to talk about the trip, but not the funeral.

“The flight was fine,” she said lightly. “And we got a cab back to Driftwood Key. The girls went straight to the diner.”

“So that man wandering around looking for Liberty,” Joanie said worriedly. “Did you figure out who it is?”

“That’s Liberty’s husband, Chase,” Jess said, shaking her head in disbelief that he’d driven all the way down to find her. “He’s the sweetest man, a total teddy bear.”

“He’s as big as a bear,” Joanie allowed. “But he didn’t seem sweet when he stopped in the flower shop. He was very insistent about finding her.”

“It’s funny,” Jess said thoughtfully. “She confessed to me last night that she had practically done to him what Silas did to me. She left him and never told him why.”

“Did she tell you why?” Joanie asked.

“No,” Jess said, shaking her head. “She said it wasn’t right for her not to talk to him first. But she promised that she’s telling him tonight. And hopefully I’ll find out after that.”

“You think he was cheating?” Joanie asked, as if it were a foregone conclusion.

“I did think that at first,” Jess said. “But now… it seems like Liberty actually feels guilty about something. And I kind of thought the same with Silas, and we see how that went.”

“Uh huh,” Joanie said, frowning.

“Oh, wow,” Jess said, realizing Joanie had pulled down a side road.

They were approaching a property that looked almost like a little farm. There was a big, rambling house, and a shed with what looked like a mosaic on the side wall.

Animals grazed the distance. They were too small to be horses, but Jess thought they might be goats. She wasn’t exactly experienced with farm animals. Her knowledge pretty much stopped at the traveling petting zoo the kids back in Aynwick sometimes booked for birthday parties.

“Here we are,” Joanie said, honking when she got to the gate.

Almost immediately, a young woman with long, thick, black hair wearing embroidered jeans and a crocheted tank top walked over to the gate. Three energetic black dachshunds in lovely, hand-knitted sweaters trailed after her.

The young woman smiled and waved to Joanie, and pulled the gate open for her.

“Hi, Katrina,” Joanie said with a smile as they got out of the Jeep. “This is my helper, Jess. Jess, this is Katrina.”

“Hi,” Jess said. “I love the mosaic on your shed.”

“Thank you,” Katrina said with a big smile. “I did it myself.”

“Katrina is an artist,” Joanie said approvingly. “And believe it or not, that’s why she has the secret ingredient for my flowers.”

“Come on,” Katrina said. “Let’s go get it.”

Joanie and Jess followed Katrina and her three canine companions around the back of the shed. As they got further onto the property, Jess realized the animals she had spotted earlier weren’t horses or goats.

“Are those llamas?” she asked, amazed.

“They sure are,” Katrina said.

Jess studied the creatures as they wandered around in the beach environment, looking so at home.

“Here we go,” Joanie said, pointing to a five-gallon bucket when they reached the back of the shed.

“What is this?” Jess asked, lifting it and noticing a terrible smell.

Joanie said something that sounded an awful lot like lima beans.

“Lima beans?” Jess echoed, wondering why Katrina had so many of them. Maybe she was also a bean farmer.

“No,” Joanie laughed. “Llama beans.”

“That’s their poop,” Katrina said softly, giving Jess a wink.

“Oh,” Jess said, realizing. “Manure.”

“What do I owe you?” Joanie asked Katrina.

“Nothing,” Katrina said. “Why do I have to keep telling you that?”

“Because it’s not right,” Joanie said, shaking her head. “Come on in and pick something out at the flower shop next time you’re in town. It’ll be on the house.”

“Oh, I might take you up on that,” Katrina said.

She and her dogs walked them back to the car cheerfully, remarking on the weather and other lighthearted topics, like the new specials at the Driftwood Diner. Jess got the bucket into the back of the Jeep, and Katrina was opening the gate for them once more.

“So, llama beans are your secret ingredient,” Jess said, still amazed.

“They sure are,” Joanie told her. “It’s not easy to grow stuff in this soil, but with enough seaweed and llama beans, I can grow just about anything.”

“Why does she have llamas?” Jess asked after a moment.

“They’re basically pets,” Joanie explained. “But she uses their wool for some of her mixed-media art projects. And for dog sweaters.”

Jess nodded, smiling as she thought of all those little dogs in their pretty sweaters.

“So, what happens now?” Joanie asked after a few minutes of friendly silence. “I mean, I know you might not have made up your mind yet, but I guess the house on Seashell Lane is almost ready to sell.”

“Everything has changed,” Jess said, deciding that maybe she did want to confide after all. “It turns out that Silas left because he didn’t want me to have to watch him die. Which is… awful. But it happened and I have to move on.”

“Oh, Jess,” Joanie breathed.

“Yeah,” Jess said. “It makes me feel like he thought I was a child.”

“He knew you’d already been through it once,” Joanie said. “With your mom.”

“True,” Jess said. “Anyway, we made it in time to say goodbye.”

“Does this mean you won’t lose your place up there?” Joanie asked.

“He left me everything,” Jess said, still amazed at the thought. “There will be a ton of medical bills and estate taxes and all that. My brother-in-law is handling the legal stuff, and he says I have to wait and see what’s left.”

“Forgive me for asking,” Joanie said after a moment, “but why are you back at work?”

“All the same reasons I told you on the phone,” Jess said. “I want to keep busy, and I love working for you at the flower shop.”

“Well, you know I love having you around,” Joanie told her with a warm and gratified smile.

“As a matter of fact, we all love it here,” Jess said. “We’re sticking with the plan to sell the house up north, and we’ll stay down here if we can afford to. I love the beach house, and it’s big enough for all my girls to stay whenever they want.”

“Really?” Joanie asked.

“Really,” Jess told her. “I want this to be home now.”

“I’m so glad to hear it,” Joanie told her. “And I know you’re feeling down about Silas right now. But this place has a way of healing you. The heat, the salty air, the ocean—they bring you peace over time.”

“Agreed,” Jess said, taking a big breath of fresh air and letting it out slowly.

“And it’s good after all that you haven’t wanted to date,” Joanie said firmly. “What you have going on is so complicated. It’s better to hold back.”

Jess turned to her, wondering why the older woman had changed her tune so much. The last time they chatted, Joanie had encouraged her to be open to finding a new man.

“You don’t want some beach bum trying to take advantage of you,” Joanie said, glancing over at her with a smile. “Now that you might have money coming in.”

Jess laughed at that silly idea.

Then her mind unhelpfully offered her the image of Clint, his big body stretched out in the sand with a pair of sunglasses covering his steel-blue eyes.

“And now the best part of the day,” Joanie said happily. “Making secret recipe fertilizer.”

Jess laughed again, glad to have a lighthearted friend who thought mixing up llama beans with seaweed was a fun activity.