Chapter 1
“Ava Grant!” Anna cried as she pulled her sister, Bella’s, childhood friend into a warm hug. “I heard you’ve been spending time in Seagull Cove lately. I was so sorry to have missed you when you stopped into Bella’s Dream last week.”
Ava returned her hug. “I knew we’d connect sooner or later. Mitchell and I have been making regular trips to town to oversee the renovation of a Victorian we recently purchased. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to learn that you relocated to Seagull Cove last year.”
“It’s been far too long since our last visit,” Anna said.
“I guess when we lost Bella, it became more challenging to make those visits happen. She was the one who would gather us together every so often.”
“Now that you own a house in Seagull Cove, that will have to change. Will you be moving here full time?” Anna asked.
“We plan to keep our townhouse in Boston and to use the Victorian as a second home. But I have a feeling I’ll be spending more time here than in the city. I’m heading back to Boston in the morning, but I’ll be back on Monday.”
“Ruthie told me that your blog has really taken off in the past couple of years,” Anna said. “You were just getting it off the ground when Bella died.” It was so hard for Anna to talk about Bella in the past tense when she knew her Irish twin sister was alive and well in Camden, Maine.
“I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Bella for giving me the push I needed. She is the one who encouraged me to share my love of New England culture through a weekly blog.”
“It was so kind of you to feature Ruthie’s poetry book. She has been amazed at the interest in her work it has drummed up, and it’s brought some customers into her bookshop who were anxious to meet the author.”
“It was my pleasure. Her poetry really captures life in a coastal New England town. And you! I can’t believe you own an ice cream shop a few doors down from Ruthie’s bookstore, and I didn’t even know about it until last week. We must have just missed each other on Main Street several times.”
“I’m glad we finally figured it out,” Anna said.
Ava ordered two scoops of mocha chip ice cream and sat at one of the round bistro tables by the floor-to-ceiling windows in front of the ice cream counter. There were only a few other customers who were seated in the adjacent dining room, but now that April had arrived and temperatures were climbing, Anna looked forward to an uptick in foot traffic.
As Ava settled in with her ice cream, Ruthie entered the shop wearing a broad smile. “I’m so glad the two of you finally reconnected. I saw Ava come in, and I hoped you’d be here.”
“How’s business?” Anna asked Ruthie after she ordered a scoop of mint chocolate chip and sat across from Ava.
“Still slow, but this weather should help draw folks out of hibernation.”
“I understand that I have your sister, Bella, to thank for my recent success. I hear she is the one who encouraged Ava to start her blog.”
Ava smiled, but her eyes betrayed her sadness. “She did. She was the best.”
Once again, Anna had to bite her tongue to resist the temptation to tell Bella’s old friend that she was alive.
“I love that you named your ice cream shop after her,” Ava said. “She once told me about her fantasy of one day opening an ice cream shop that would serve as a community hub. From what Ruthie tells me about the events you hold here, it has become just that. Bella would have loved it.”
Anna smiled. “I think she would have, too.”
“I can’t wait to have a tour of your new house,” Anna said, leaning against the wall by Ava’s and Ruthie’s table.
“You’re going to love it. It’s one of the old Victorians across the street from Mile Long Beach,” Ava said.
“It’s that really big one that looks like it could be a bed and breakfast,” Ruthie said.
“Ooh, I know the one. You’ll be a few doors down from Daniel Appleton. You’ll love having him as a neighbor. His wife lives in the cottage next to mine.”
Ava shot Anna a confused glance. “They are married, and they live in two separate houses?”
Anna chuckled. “It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in some time.”
A man with brown hair cut in long layers and a neatly trimmed beard marched into Bella’s Dream. He was wearing light blue jeans and a hunter green sweatshirt beneath a brown duck coat. “I’ll have a large strawberry ice cream sundae,” he said. “Extra whipped cream, please.”
Another man in a red flannel shirt and dark jeans came in a few seconds behind him.
“Donovan, would you wait up? I told you, just forget about Kenny and Kat. I know it stinks, but she made her choice. You have to find a way to let it go.”
Donovan responded without turning around. “I get it, Glen. It just burns me up when he rubs it in like that. I didn’t have to hire him for this job. He could at least treat me with respect. I just became the youngest president of the New England Construction Workers’ Association, you know. I could ruin his career if I wanted.”
Glen let out a frustrated sigh. “Nobody’s going to ruin anyone’s career. Kenny is a reputable plumber, and you’re one of the best job superintendents in the area. The two of you are bound to work together for many years to come. You need to make peace with it. You can’t threaten his livelihood every time he ticks you off.”
Donovan turned and faced Glen. “I know. I just need to blow off some steam.”
As Anna made Donovan’s strawberry sundae, she glanced at Ava, who was listening intently to their conversation. After he paid for his order, he turned around to leave. When he noticed Ava, he stopped short. “Oh. Hi, Ava,” he said, straightening his shoulders.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Of course. Just a little personnel issue. Nothing for you to worry about. Your renovation is still on track to be completed in a few weeks. I just came here for a post-lunch pick-me-up.”
“Great,” Ava said. But she didn’t sound convinced.
Donovan and Glen left at the same time. Glen got into a black Buick and went north on Main Street, while Donovan headed left on foot, taking a spoonful of his strawberry sundae as he walked.
“I wonder what that was all about,” Ava said once the door closed behind Donovan and Glen.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Anna said. “It sounds like a personal problem between the contractors. I’m sure it won’t affect their work.”
“I hope not,” Ava said. “Mitchell and I did a lot of research before hiring SW Construction Group. The owner, Sammy, is supposed to be the best general contractor on the North Shore.”
“See? I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. If it becomes a problem, Sammy will step in and work it out.”
“True. But if I hear anything like that again, I’m going to place a call.”
“How’s Mitchell doing?” Anna asked, changing the subject.
“He’s great. He took over his father’s architectural firm last year, so he’s been working a lot of late nights.” Ava gave her a mischievous smile. “He feels guilty about working so much, especially since the girls are away at college, so it wasn’t hard to convince him to buy the house in Seagull Cove.”
“A beach house is the perfect place to write your blog, too,” Ruthie said.
“My thoughts, exactly. There is a study on the second floor that overlooks the ocean. It will be amazing.”
When they finished catching up, Ava stood to leave. She stopped and watched through the window as a fire rescue truck raced down Main Street with sirens blaring.
“Oh, no,” Anna said, stepping outside. She squinted as she peered down the street to see if it was going to stop in town. “I hope everyone’s okay.”
Ruthie and Ava followed her outside.
“The truck is stopping at the cove,” Ruthie said. “I sure hope nobody went swimming. I’ve heard of over-enthusiastic folks deciding to take a swim as soon as we have a slightly warm day. It’s easy to get into trouble that way.”
“I’m going to take a walk down and check it out.” Anna went back inside to grab her coat and a pair of binoculars from her office.
Ruthie and Ava followed Anna out the door.
When they arrived at the cove, Casper was perched on the cement retaining wall, looking toward the jetty that extended from the left side of the beach. He slammed his tail firmly against the wall.
The women hopped onto the sand and walked closer to the jetty, where a few people had gathered. A paramedic was climbing onto the jetty, presumably to assess the situation.
Another first responder rushed toward them, carrying a stretcher. When the first responder who was on the jetty arrived at what appeared to be a man lying on the rocks, he held up his hand, and the woman with the stretcher stopped. She dropped the stretcher onto the sand and joined her colleague on the rocks.
“That can’t be good,” Anna said. “The only reason they wouldn’t need a stretcher for a man lying motionless on the rocks is if he were dead.” She looked through binoculars, which she had hung around her neck, and searched for the source of their concern.
A man who had been standing a few yards away approached them. “He looked dead to me.”
“He’s not moving, that’s for sure.” Anna could see a man lying on the rocks. He was toward the end of the jetty and his back was facing her. There was blood on the back of his head.
“I’m the one who called 9-1-1. I’m staying at the Inn at Seagull Cove.” He pointed to Rosie’s inn, which could be seen up on the hill. “I came to take a walk on the beach and noticed him out there. He took his phone from the pocket of his black pants and showed the women a photo. “I think he was dead before I placed the call. There was a lot of blood and some white substance that I can’t identify.”
Ava gasped when she saw the picture. “That’s Donovan Reed, my job superintendent!”
“And that’s the strawberry sundae I just made for him splattered on the rocks next to him.”
Anna studied the photo. There was a second wound on Donovan’s forehead, but it was hard to tell how much of the red substance on the rocks was strawberry syrup, and how much of it was blood. “You’re right. That is Donovan.”
Now she knew what the white substance on the rock was. It was the whipped cream from his strawberry sundae.
