Page 61 of The Cottage on Blueberry Bay

“You still don’t,” Ginny said. “You left the dishes in the sink this morning.”

“I’ll end up doing them,” he said.

“Will you?” Ginny swiveled in her chair to get a look at him.

“Whatever, I try my best,” he said.

“And I’m sure Kyle thinks he’s trying his best,” Ginny said, always the one with the last word.

Quinn mumbled something incoherent just as he went to peck his mother on the cheek. “I’ll probably stop by Bruce’s place on the way home.”

“Do you want Kyle to meet you there?” Ginny asked. Kyle usually did.

Quinn shook his head. He was going to talk to Lisa’s father about Kyle’s college fund. Ginny may be optimistic for Meredith to change her mind about selling, but he was a realist. He knew dreams could be shattered as quickly as a drunk driver gets into a car.

“Nah,” he said. “You know Kyle can barely stand Sundays with Bruce.”

“God bless Lisa for dealing with that grouchy old man all her life.” Ginny tsked her tongue as though Lisa deserved some sort of medal for dealing with her own father.

“He’s lonely.”

“He’s an absolute nightmare,” Ginny said, shutting down her own computer. “Don’t visit with Bruce too long, because I have a special dinner planned.”

“Don’t tell me you invited her and her sister to dinner,” he said. He didn’t want to deal with a night of entertaining people. He just wanted to go home and watch the game.

“Then I won’t tell you.”

“Mom, you’re going to wear them out,” he said, rubbing his forehead. “Not everyone can handle us all the time. We’re a lot.”

“I get it,” Ginny said, nodding her head, but the dangling bee earrings told a different story.

“Don’t overdo it,” he warned her.

“When have I overdone things?” She laughed before he could respond with at least a hundred instances of her overdoing things.

“Seriously?” He couldn’t believe her.

“They bought lobsters,” Ginny said.

“And…” he waited for the punch line.

“And they asked for a big enough pot to cook the lobsters,” she said. “So, I offered to cook for them. She and her sister are coming at six. So, dress appropriately.”

He stared at his mother. “You’re having them over tonight.”

“Mm-hmm,” she said, grabbing her purse out of the bottom drawer of her desk. Then she pointed to his hand with the papers. “You might want to hurry all that up.”

He looked down at the paperwork. He wouldn’t have enough time to run down to the sheriff, drive back to Blueberry Bay with the traffic, and get ready for dinner.

“Why are you being so pushy?” He worried this would only turn Meredith and her sister off.

“They’re Jacob’s family,” she said.

Even Quinn could see the stretch in that statement. These women knew Jacob less than the rest of the town. And they only knew of Jacob as the recluse in the cottage by the sea.

“ Le gîteen bord de Mer.” Quinn didn’t mean to say it aloud, but there it was. “Sounds like a cute name for a hotel.”

“Stop that,” Ginny said, not wanting to hear the truth. “She’s not going to sell.”

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