Page 59 of The Cottage on Blueberry Bay

That seemed like a lot of money for a boat that old.

“It’s from 1972.” The year before Meredith’s birth. Goodness, she was old.

“Will you sell it?” Remy asked.

Meredith took a sip of her coffee. “What am I going to do with a lobster boat?”

Remy nodded. “Do you think you should talk to his father before selling an old boat to a teenager?”

“Right,” Meredith said. She should most definitely talk to the boy’s father before even entertaining the idea of selling it to him. “He probably doesn’t have that kind of money.”

That’s when she thought about his bonfire with the young lady the other night.

“There’s a small little cove,” Meredith said to Remy. “I saw him having a bonfire.”

“We should totally have a bonfire,” Remy said, thinking the same thing as Meredith.

Meredith nodded. “We should totally have a bonfire.”

“Let’s make a list,” Remy said. “For what we need to finish today.”

Meredith could feel her shoulders suddenly relax. Today didn’t need to be stressful. The situation didn’t have to be negative. She could look at the gift Jacob had given her rather than the disaster she’d inherited.

Then she smiled at Remy as she worked on a list of what needed to be accomplished to get Jacob’s art collection in order.

“I can call a friend who’s a collector I know from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston,” Remy said. “He can help us figure out which of the pieces will be worth more than the others.”

Meredith didn’t know this world, the art world. Remy loved to live in it. Always attending posh art exhibits or openings, she had her own collection of fine art and a master’s in art history. Remy’s own art talent had been something Meredith had been a bit jealous of as a kid. And it was something that Remy and Jacqueline had in common.

Yet, when was the last time Remy had an art show or work on a piece?

More cracks.

Suddenly there was a thwacking on the door. Ginny stood in her straw hat and gardening gloves with a fanny pack.

“Whew, girls, it’s getting hot,” she said, opening the door. “Hope you don’t mind me stepping in for a break.”

Meredith sat there, shocked at the fact that this woman had just walked inside her home.

“Good morning,” Meredith said, still in surprise.

Remy, however, seemed overly delighted to see the older woman.

“I used your jam!” Remy pointed to the jar on the table.

“Fantastic!” Ginny rubbed Remy’s shoulder as she walked up to the table. “The Queens have one of our weekly summer meetings tomorrow evening if you care to join us.”

“You meet once a week, too?” Meredith couldn’t get over the commitment.

“The summer is our busiest time up until the festival,” Ginny said.

“When’s the festival?” Meredith asked.

“The last weekend in August,” Ginny said. “Before school starts up again.”

“Wow, that’s dedication,” Remy said.

“We’ve been caretakers of Jacob’s property for fifty years,” Ginny said, as though this should’ve have been obvious.

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