Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Elaine stepped into Shoreline Market, a folder of posters clasped in her hands.
She had been spending her morning walking around Coral Sands and putting up posters announcing the grand opening of The Birchwood House.
So far, she’d stopped at many local businesses, and they’d all been friendly and welcoming, immediately granting her permission to hang up her posters either in their front windows or on their bulletin boards.
The market seemed like the best place of all for her to try to promote the grand opening.
Shoreline Market was housed in an old factory which had been turned into a cozy open space that accommodated various local and traveling vendors.
There were craft booths so expansive they were basically small stores, booths for baked goods, candles, paintings, jams and jellies, and so forth.
Each time Elaine went to Shoreline Market, she saw yet another small business that had something spectacular to offer.
Since many of the shops and booths offered their own bulletin boards, Elaine began to travel from booth to booth.
She introduced herself to the few booth owners that she didn’t already know, but for the most part she recognized everyone there as old acquaintances.
Everyone was very willing to put up one of her posters, which she appreciated a great deal.
She returned the favor to all of them, letting them know that The Birchwood House featured an announcement board in the downstairs hallway and that she was happy to put up any fliers or business cards from their establishments if they wanted.
She stepped up to the counter at one of the bigger booths, which was run by a woman she’d known since grade school. Esmerelda sat amidst her colorful balls of hand-spun wool, smiling like a fairy godmother.
“Hello, Elaine,” Esmerelda said warmly, glancing at her friend as if they had a shared secret. “What can I do for you? Have you run out of yarn already?”
Elaine chuckled. “No, you gave me plenty of yarn for Christmas. It hasn’t run out yet, especially since I’ve been so busy getting The Birchwood House ready and I haven’t really had time to knit.
I was hoping you had space to hang up one of these posters that the girls and I made for the grand opening of the hotel. ”
Esmerelda gasped appreciatively as Elaine held up the beautiful poster, which Audrey had written up the text for and Michelle had designed using her fancy amateur graphic design apps.
“That’s just gorgeous,” she said. “I’ll absolutely hang up a poster.
I don’t have any kind of official place for things like that, but we can just tape it to the edge of the table here, don’t you think? ”
“Are you sure?” Elaine asked, feeling grateful. It was one thing for a vendor to offer her poster a place on a bulletin board and another thing entirely to offer a special place right in front of the main selling table.
“Absolutely.” Esmerelda nodded firmly. “We’ve been friends since we were what, seven? Of course I want to promote the grand opening of your hotel.”
“Well, thank you.” Elaine smiled warmly at her friend. “I’ll be sure to put out a poster advertising your yarn at The Birchwood House. I’ll also display those blankets I made in the parlor and let people know what yarn they’re made out of.”
“Scratchy homespun stuff like mine doesn’t usually appeal to fancy city people,” Esmerelda said with a chuckle.
There was no criticism in her voice, and she simply seemed to think it was a joke that many people didn’t appreciate the qualities of yarn made straight from sheep’s wool.
“I appreciate your offer, but I doubt your guests will want to buy any of my yarn.”
Elaine shook her head, smiling. “Nonsense, I know plenty of people in cities love good natural yarn like yours. Besides, not all of our guests are going to be coming in from cities. I’m sure we’ll get plenty of countryfolk visiting Coral Sands.
We always have.” She noticed a young woman wearing baggy denim jeans and a button-down green shirt walking toward them.
Her long red hair was pulled back in a low messy bun, and there was something about her that seemed to say, “I’m used to getting my hands dirty and working with animals. ”
“Like her, for example,” Elaine said with a laugh. “She looks like she’s from the country.”
“Sure, but she’s not a tourist. That’s Jill. Haven’t you ever met her before?”
“No,” Elaine said, surprised. “Although now that you say that, she does look familiar.”
“She runs Whiskers and Wags,” Esmerelda explained. “You know, that new pet store that’s become so popular? They also do dog grooming there, so everyone in town seems to be a big fan.”
“Oh, of course. I haven’t been in since she opened it—when was that? Last year or the year before? Anyway, without a dog or a cat I didn’t have a reason to go in.”
Jill approached Esmerelda’s booth with a determined smile. Elaine thought to herself that the young business owner looked confident, and there was a no-nonsense air about her that Elaine admired.
I guess I was right about one thing, she thought with a chuckle. Jill definitely is used to working with animals and getting her hands dirty!
“Hi, Esmerelda,” Jill said as she reached the table.
She nodded politely at Elaine but didn’t introduce herself.
Elaine noticed that Jill also had a poster in her hand.
“I didn’t think you were taking posters over here, but I saw that you accepted this one just now.
” She gestured toward the poster announcing The Birchwood House’s grand opening, which was lying on the top of the table.
“So I was hoping you’d put up this little poster for Whiskers and Wags as well. ”
“Oh, um, sure.” Esmerelda smiled at Jill, and she and Elaine exchanged eye contact for the briefest of seconds. Elaine knew Esmerelda was too polite to tell Jill that she’d accepted the poster because of her longstanding friendship with Elaine, as a special favor. “I’d be happy to.”
“Amazing, thanks.” Jill turned toward Elaine, extending her hand for a handshake. “I’m Jill. I run Whiskers and Wags.”
“So nice to meet you,” Elaine replied. “I’ve heard just wonderful things about your shop. I’m Elaine Sutton. My family and I are getting ready to open The Birchwood House.”
“I know,” Jill said briskly, and then seemed to think better of her terseness. “And I’m wishing you all the best,” she added. “I’ve been following your progress since we’re both in the same contest together.”
“Oh really?” Elaine said pleasantly. She wasn’t offended by Jill’s tone, since she’d known plenty of no-nonsense people in her life, and none of them had ever let niceties get in their way. “That’s great.”
“Thanks,” Jill said. “Our mayor has been a driving force behind that contest. I think he’s got a lot of say in how it’s run—at least, that’s what people are saying.
But you would probably know better than me, right?
They’re saying that Evan and Audrey have become very close.
So close that he was the one who told her that you should enter the contest.”
“Well, he did draw it to our attention,” Elaine stammered, wondering if she was imagining the slightly accusatory undertone of Jill’s words. Was the pet store owner implying that Evan was somehow going to ensure that The Birchwood House was shown favoritism in the contest?
“Well, it makes sense, considering how much of his own effort he’s put into the hotel,” Jill said. She smiled politely enough, but Elaine was now sure that the pet store owner was insinuating that Evan was showing unfair favor toward The Birchwood House because of his relationship with Audrey.
“He has been helping us out here and there,” Elaine said, smiling back with more politeness than Jill was offering. “It was very nice to meet you, Jill. Thank you again, Esmerelda.”
Elaine went on her way with the few posters that she had left, determined to visit the rest of the booths in Shoreline Market despite the fact that she felt put off by the conversation with Jill.
* * *
Shep glanced around him warily. He hated being in public, but he knew he needed to deal with the situation at hand. At least Iris was with him to do most of the talking.
Some of his best baking pans were starting to lose their flatness, and since he refused to work with warped baking sheets since they altered the cook time for some of the pastries, he had agreed to go out with Iris and buy new ones.
He hated shopping, but he wanted to pick out the baking sheets himself.
There were some things he could ask Iris to get for him, but baking sheets were important.
He wanted top-notch quality, and he was the only person he knew of who could look at a pan and know immediately whether it would serve its purpose well or not.
He and Iris had made their way to Shoreline Market, leaving a “Be Back Soon” sign in the door of the bakery. Now he was surrounded by crowds of locals and tourists, and he was starting to feel a little sweaty.
There was a cookware shop in the market, a booth so well-established that it offered wooden shelves and a counter that was permanently built into the space.
Shep had purchased pans from them before, although his last set he’d been lucky enough to buy in Paris.
He’d insisted that he and Iris go to a reputable seller to buy the pans.
He’d nearly barked at her when she’d suggested buying pans at the supermarket, but he’d quickly turned his first grumble of protest into a cough. She’d meant well, after all.
As they approached the counter of the cookware shop, Shep heard a familiar voice. It was clear, with graceful articulation, and a gentle and yet energetic tone. He felt his heart beating faster as soon as he realized that the voice belonged to Elaine.