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Hearing the gruffness in his voice, I hugged my dad harder

At thatbut peace, and I breathed even easier than I had yesterday

Hartwell

Three Months Later

It was still dark when I letnext door to ift shop Architecturally, Bailey’s inn was siles, and each had a porch However, Bailey’s porch was a wraparound and mine was not Bailey’s inn also had two balconies off two of the guest roo the North Atlantic, and there was a alk on the top floor The inn was ift store, and my place wasn’t tiny

The days were short in February, and the weather was cold We were at the beginning of the rees yet Closing the stained glass door behind me, I shut out the smell of salty sea air I loved so reet me She only had two rooms rented, but she was an early riser and liked to be ready in case her guests were too

“Guests are still abed,” she said without preamble

“The coffee’s ready, though, right?” In truth, Emery made the best coffee in town, but her place wasn’t open yet

“And Nicky’s in the kitchen this , so we have pastries, pastries, and more pastries”

While Mona was the main chef at the inn, Nicky was the sous/pastry chef, and her treats were to die for I groaned “You know I’ve been good since Christmas Don’t tempt me”

“You look great,” she scoffed

“Says the woh she’s thirty-five this year Your metabolism is supposed to slon, you know”

“I’d say that bitterness sounds a lot like envy, but I know that can’t be right considering I would kill for your figure”

I estured to We were total physical opposites, and I guessed it was true what they said: you alanted what you didn’t have “Well, I put on ten pounds over Christ to fatten me up for the whole year”

“I thought you said you’d lost those ten pounds?”