Page 54 of New Day at the Beach House

Having her son on the album with her would be quite a way to introduce him to the world. Even if he never worked in music again, it would be a memory that would last them both a lifetime.

She walked out of the elevator and set her plate and glass down on the coffee table, then picked up her guitar again.

She was hungry, but the ideas were coming too fast to ignore and not just about the mother-son duet. Although that would be something amazing if she could pull it off.

She scooped up some peanut butter with one of the apple slices and stuck it in her mouth. As she chewed, she settled her guitar in her lap, then grabbed her pen to jot some notes. There’d be time to eat the rest later.

Claire stood on the sidewalk in front of the shop, staring through the large windows. Standing on a plywood platform, a couple of mannequins, one missing a head, the other armless, displayed summer dresses. Behind them was a backdrop of mismatched shower curtains that made seeing much more of the store impossible.

She didn’t know what to make of that.

Obviously, the building had once housed some sort of real store. A good-sized one. Maybe a grocery store. Or an old department store. But this? This was Roxie’s hidden gem? Her secret to great clothes without spending a lot of money?

Claire looked at the redhead beside her. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not at all.” Roxie frowned. “I love Classic Closet. And if you remember, I did ask you to keep an open mind.”

“It’s a thrift shop. This stuff is secondhand. Other people have worn these clothes.”

“So what? They’re clean. Or they can be cleaned.”

Claire’s lip curled. “I don’t think this is for me.”

Roxie cocked one hip out. “Oh, suddenly you have more money to spend?”

“No, but…secondhand clothing?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Roxie said. “In fact, it’s environmentally sound. It’s basically recycling.”

“Yeah.” Claire was unconvinced.

Roxie rolled her eyes. “Look, you can stay out here, but I’m going in.”

“To look for what?”

“I have no idea. That’s the beauty of this place. I always find something I didn’t know I needed.” She plucked at her gingham top. “This came from here. I looked up the brand, too. This top was fifty bucks new. I got it for three fifty.”

Claire’s mouth came open. It was a cute blouse. “For real?” Maybe she was being a little hasty.

Roxie nodded, smiling. She pulled the door open. “Wouldn’t hurt to look, right?”

“I suppose not.” Claire followed Roxie in.

Once inside, there was almost too much to look at but, thankfully, the racks were divided into areas with signs hanging over them. Men’s, women’s, kids, household, miscellaneous. There were smaller sections inside those. Shoes were all together, as were pants, tops, accessories, and so on.

Naturally, things were divided by sizes, too. It was a lot more organized than Claire had been able to see through the windows. She’d actually been picturing bins of old things that had to be dug through. This place, while old and somewhat rundown, was clean and tidy.

She was a little embarrassed that she’d thought otherwise. Her mother had always donated to thrift and charity shops, but never patronized them as a customer.

In Claire’s mind, thrift stores were for the poor and needy. More of her mother’s influence.

And while Claire might not be needy, she wasn’t exactly flush, either. Having all that money in the bank was great, but she couldn’t touch it. Not until the financing stuff was all taken care of. And even then, she could only really dig into it for household bills and genuine emergencies.

Buying a new wardrobe was neither of those things.

“What sort of stuff are you looking for?” Roxie asked from one rack over. “You said you wanted a new wardrobe, right?”

“I do,” Claire answered as she perused the rack in front of her. “But I don’t really know what kinds of things I should get, other than I need more color. Everything I have now is so blah.” She felt eyes on her, looked over, and realized Roxie was watching her. “What?”

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