Chapter 10

One of the little oddities to running a museum, Darla had learned, was that the weekends were the absolute worst times for her to take off from work. Weekends, particularly when the weather made outdoor activities an unappealing prospect, meant that people were looking for things to do and places to go, and she was happy that her museum could provide that outlet.

She'd also found, to her surprise, that she liked having her days off happen when most other people were at work. It made the world feel quieter, somehow, which was the perfect atmosphere for painting and creating her own art.

A loud snort ripped through the air, causing her to jolt a little.

Well, she thought fondly, the world was quieter when we didn't have a puppy.

Scout had taken to her new home wonderfully, and already Darla felt like she could barely remember a time before the pup had joined their family. On days when her humans were home, Scout appointed herself guardian, although she wasn't always diligent in her role; now, for example, she was snoozing on the dog bed Darla had placed in the corner of her art studio, reclined on her back with all four paws in the air, one of them occasionally twitching in a little doggy dream.

Darla smiled, feeling her heart swell. Scout might be a lot of work, given that she wasn't yet housetrained and was young enough that she had to be taken out for a potty break several times each night. But Darla felt more and more confident they'd made the right decision in adopting the little pup every time she looked at those fluffy ears.

Her phone vibrated where it sat on the edge of her easel, the rattling sound jolting her out of her reverie and making her realize that she'd spent so long staring adoringly at her puppy that the paint on her brush had gone nearly dry. Dropping the brush onto the nearby table to be cleaned later, she snatched up her phone and hurried from the room before the sound could wake Scout.

Scout tended to wake from her naps with a pretty serious case of the zoomies, which Darla needed to avoid if she wanted to get any more painting done today.

Slipping silently down the hallway toward the living room, she raised her phone to her ear. "Hello?"

Wyatt's voice greeted her. "Darla, hey! Is now a good time to talk? Today's your day off, right?"

"Wyatt, hi. Yeah, I'm home on Wednesdays. What's up?"

"Well," her brother-in-law began, "I don't know if Rick mentioned what we talked about the other night at the bar, but I've been thinking, I want to surprise Marty with a honeymoon re-do, and I could use your help."

He explained his plan, allowing that he didn't have an exact destination in mind yet.

"This is so sweet of you!" she exclaimed, curling her feet up under her on her couch. "What do you need me to do?"

Over the phone line, she heard the distant sound of an engine revving, suggesting that Wyatt was calling her from work. He owned a shop called Wyatt's Quads.

"Before I make any concrete plans, I want to know how much time Marty will be able to get away from work. I can't just ask her without her knowing something is up, so I was hoping you could go on a reconnaissance mission."

"I definitely could." She tapped a thoughtful finger against her chin. "But I actually think I can do you one better. I can ask her to help me with the maker's market some days, so she'll reserve that time. Then you'll swoop in and whisk her away on a honeymoon re-do on the days she thinks she'll be spending with me."

"That's genius!" he exclaimed. "It's something she'll be interested in carving out time for, but not something so fun that she'll be disappointed when she doesn't get to do it."

"Hey," Darla teased. "You're saying posting signs with me for museum events isn't a fun time?"

He laughed. "No, not at all. In fact, in exchange for helping me out, I'll post all the signs you want."

"We're family, so you don't owe me anything… but if you want to help me post signs, I'm not going to stop you!"

"Like you said, family helps," he agreed. "Anyway, I have some customers coming in, so I have to jet, but thanks for helping me be stealthy."

"No problem!" Her mind was already buzzing with ideas. "Can I loop in my mom to help on the distraction mission?"

"Of course," he said immediately. "The more the merrier… as long as they can keep a secret, that is."

They said their farewells and quickly disconnected. Darla perked an ear for any signs of the puppy starting to stir and then, hearing nothing, dialed Lori's number.

"Well, well, well," her mother said with a teasing drawl after picking up right away. "If it isn't my very favorite oldest daughter."

Darla grinned. She hadn't always had the smoothest relationship with her mother, but they'd become close in the past few years, ever since Darla had returned to Whale Harbor and they'd hashed out their differences with Marty as a mediator. In a strange way, Darla was almost glad that she'd had some friction with Lori in the past, as it made her appreciate their current closeness all the more.

"Be careful," she teased, "or I'll start to think that you have a different oldest daughter that you secretly like more."

"Never!" Lori gasped. "But I do have a favorite new grand-puppy, so I'm going to need you to send me a lot more pictures."

Darla promised she would do so and then got down to the business of her call. She explained Wyatt's plan to whisk Marty off for a romantic trip and how the two of them would be on Operation Distract Marty.

"My goodness gracious!" Lori said on a dreamy sigh. "If that isn't the sweetest thing I've ever heard." Her voice grew thoughtful and faintly distant. "You know, seeing how wonderful those two men of yours are, I almost start to think…"

She trailed off. Darla waited, then found she couldn't wait any longer. "You almost think?" she prodded.

Lori let out a sharp bark of laughter, like she'd forgotten she was on the phone. "Oh, it's nothing but silliness. Romance is for you young folks; for now, I'm just going to enjoy my grand-puppy and, who knows, maybe with two married daughters I'll end up with a grandbaby sooner rather than later."

Darla rolled her eyes good-naturedly and accepted her mother's quips about how she was ready to be a grandmother. But in the back of her mind, she stored away Lori's little slip about how she was possibly thinking about romance again. It was something to discuss with Marty… just as soon as Darla was finished keeping secrets from her sister, of course.

As Claire signed her signature on the very last document, the one that would make the flower shop officially hers, she almost felt as though she was going to cry.

They would be happy tears, but even so, she sniffed them back and gave Lori a beaming smile.

The older woman was smiling at her kindly. "Trust me," she said, taking in Claire's teary expression. "That happens more than you think. It's overwhelming and exciting, buying a property!" She patted Claire's hand in a motherly gesture.

"Really?" Hudson said from where he stood at his daughter's side. "My clients don't cry. Maybe you're doing it wrong, Lori."

In sync, Claire and Lori rolled their eyes. Well, at least that got rid of the last of Claire's sniffles.

"Thank you, Hudson, for that helpful professional insight," Lori said, voice dry as a bone. She turned to the desk behind her and grabbed a set of keys, each neatly labeled. "So, here's all the keys; you'll see there's two of each. Here's the front door, the back door, and then the storage room."

The ring jangled merrily when Lori placed it in Claire's hand. It was satisfyingly heavy.

Drat, there were those tears again.

"Congratulations." Lori made a playful shooing gesture. "Now go get to business! I want to buy flowers at your shop, so hop to it!"

Claire laughed and bid the woman farewell; Hudson grumbled something that might have been considered a polite goodbye, if you squinted. Claire waited until they were out on the sidewalk to let out a little squeal of excitement.

Her father was beaming at her. "I'm so proud of you," he said, squeezing her into a hug. "I know you were worried about taking this leap, but you did it despite those fears. You are so brave, and I am so impressed by you."

This time, the tears slipped free from her eyes, just a little bit.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, squeezing him with all her strength. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"I do," he confirmed, pressing a paternal kiss to her head. "And I love you. And so did your mom. She'd be so proud of you."

Okay, maybe Claire had one or two more tears left in her.

"All right," she said when she pulled out of the hug at long last. "I'm a very busy businesswoman, you know, so I can't stand around here all day." She propped her hands on her hips in a ‘power pose.' "Lots of deals to make, what what!"

Her father threw back his head and laughed. "Yeah, you're a natural, kid. Okay, okay, I'll see you later. Call me if you need anything."

She promised she would do so and they got into their separate cars.

Claire knew the most responsible thing would be to head back home, since she had some work to do there, but…

She turned her car in the direction of her flower shop. She couldn't resist going to see the space now that it was really, truly hers.

When she pulled up in front of the storefront, its windows still partially covered in light brown butcher paper, she immediately felt that it was even lovelier now that it was hers. Feeling the need to spread this joy, she snapped a quick picture and sent it to the group text with her friends.

CLAIRE: Checking out the new digs, no big deal.

She added an emoji of a woman flipping her hair. She only had to wait a few minutes before the replies came in.

MARTY: Aahh! It's all yours!!

DARLA: Yay!! Congrats, Claire!

MONICA: I'm gonna change our group thread name to "Whale Harbor Businesswomen's Association."

MONICA: Okay, that's too long to fit, actually. WHBA it is. Welcome to the club, Claire!

CHARITY: Oooh, this is such a fun part of the process. All that potential. Not to be bossy, but I would have a lot of fun helping you set up shop.

MONICA: Hey! I'm the interior designer! Stay in your own lane, Char.

CHARITY: Oh, my bad. You guys can do all the heavy lifting then and I'll just bring coffee, lol.

Claire clasped her phone to her chest, happiness overflowing. She just felt so gosh darn lucky. Not just to have the money, although that was obviously a dream come true. But it was the most special thing in the world to have such a supportive community.

Feeling bolstered by this knowledge, she let herself into the flower shop-to-be and gave the place a once-over. The real first step would be to get the utilities transferred into her name, under her newly opened business accounts, but she didn't have the patience to wait for that. She needed to do something now.

Remembering a closet in the back held some rudimentary cleaning supplies, she dug out a broom and an old plastic trash can that would need to be replaced. There was some detritus hanging around from the last owners' move out, so she hauled that all into the can, then dragged it around back before giving the floor a quick sweep. It was physical work, but she was careful not to overdo it, and she knew her own limits.

The real limitation, she realized, glancing at her watch, was time. She had to go home and do some bookkeeping. She hurried back to her car and drove home. After a quick shower to clear off the dust, she settled into her desk chair and buckled down for a few hours. The client she was helping had records that were a mess, and the whole thing was an ordeal. By the time she was done, she could feel a wave of exhaustion threatening to overtake her and a headache forming behind her eyes. Although it was temping to drop straight into bed, she made herself follow the self-care rituals that she knew would help her body remain even keel.

She made herself a nutritious dinner and drank several glasses of water slowly over the meal. Then she took a bath with Epsom salts to soothe her sore back and, once she was done, did some gentle yoga stretching and basic strength exercises. Only when all that was done did she let herself curl up in bed with a book.

She barely made it past a few pages before her eyes were drooping, however, so she clicked off the light, sinking into her mattress with a happy sigh. It had been a long, exciting, and sometimes challenging day, but despite it all, she had a smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep.