Page 97 of New Day at the Beach House

“Well,” Jules started. “You are an—”

“Julia Bloom,” Claire interrupted. “If you know what’s good for you, you will not finish that sentence.”

Kat looked in the rearview mirror to see her aunt’s eyes lit with amusement.

Aunt Jules said, “I was going to say ‘exceptional baker.’”

Claire stared at her sister through the visor mirror, mouth twitching with barely contained laughter. “Sure you were.”

Kat snorted. Hanging out with her mom and aunt was always a good time. “Okay, settle down. We’re here.” She parked and they all got out.

They headed for Scrubs and More, the health-care supply place, and went inside. Her mom went directly to the shoe display. Kat hung back, looking at the racks of scrubs. There was a lot more to choose from than she’d imagined. Some really cute prints, too.

“Hey,” her mom called out. “What do you think of these?”

Kat and Aunt Jules walked over to see what Claire was holding up. They were black clogs with a pattern of colorful cupcakes on them.

Kat grinned. “Those are actually pretty perfect. I never thought you’d find something baking-themed.”

“Me, either.” Jules took the shoe from her sister. “Wow, they’re lighter than I expected.”

Kat picked the shoe up to feel the weight. “Totally.” She turned it over and looked at the price, which made her blink. “Did you see how much these are? Almost a hundred and fifty dollars.”

“Yikes,” Jules said. “But I guess you can’t expect this kind of hard-working shoe to be cheap.”

Claire took the shoe back. “Maybe I should just get sneakers.”

Kat shook her head. “Mom, have you priced sneakers lately? They aren’t going to be cheaper.”

“Okay,” Claire said. “Let me see if they have my size.”

They did, and ten minutes later, they were headed back to the car to drop off the box before going into the thrift shop.

“That’s the fastest I’ve ever spent a hundred and fifty dollars,” Claire said. She laughed. “I know it was worth it, but I hope to spend a lot less and get a lot more in Classic Closet.”

“Me, too.” Kat unlocked the car so her mom could put the shoes in. She didn’t have that much hope that she’d find anything suitable for her new job, but she was keeping an open mind. She could always use new casual clothes, so anything she found would be fine.

“I don’t mind spending a bit,” Aunt Jules said. “Not if it’s something really cool and unique that I can wear on stage. I can write that off, you know.”

“Really?” Kat shook her head and locked the car again. “Must be nice.”

“It is,” Jules said as they walked toward the shop. “But it can really only be worn for the stage if I do that.”

Claire opened the door, and they all went inside.

“Oh, wow,” Kat said. “This place is bigger than I thought it would be.”

“That’s what I thought the first time I was here, too,” Claire said. “But it’s pretty well organized, so it’s not hard to find things.”

Kat rubbed her hands together. “What do you say we divide and conquer?”

Her mom laughed. “Okay, but I want to see any good stuff you find.”

“Deal.”

“Oh, one more thing,” her mom said. She pointed to the sign overhead. “Today all red dots are buy two, get one free. You’ll find the dots on the tags.”

“Even better,” Jules said.

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