neat.”
“Yeah. I’d like it if I ever found one. People say they are life changing.” She slid her pen behind her ear.
Amanda couldn’t help but peek back at the one about sunburn.
The waitress followed her line of sight and laughed. “Yeah, well sunburn can cause cancer. It was like a PSA. The tourists, man, they get burnt slap up. It’s dangerous. You think people would know better.”
“Touché.”
“I’ll get this order right in. Won’t take long.” She reached into her apron pocket and set two packs of crayons and coloring pages about the size of index cards on the table in front of Jesse and Hailey.
The kids compared pictures, traded, and then started coloring the postcards. Amanda stood and walked over to look at another shell near the glass cases filled with T-shirts and to-go desserts. That shell was really tiny and almost green, the writing in it so precise:
What is your personal gift?
What was the point of a message like that? Gift? She couldn’t sing, paint, or even type. A wife and mother? Anybody could do that.
“What’s yours?”
The voice took her by surprise. She swung around to see Maeve standing there. “Maeve?” She hadn’t heard her walk up. “Hello.”
Hailey and Jesse ran up, squealing hellos to their new best friend.
“Good morning. How did you find my very favorite restaurant?”
“Mommy drove us here,” Jesse stated.
“I heard it was a local favorite,” Amanda offered.
“I’m a local. It’s my favorite. I guess you’d be right. Plus, the owner is a good friend of mine.” Maeve waved over Amanda’s head. “Tug, say hello to Amanda, Hailey, and Jesse. They moved into the house at the dunes.”
Amanda turned to look.
Tug’s eyes lit up. He threw a welcoming hand in the air. “Yes, glad to have you. I heard we had new neighbors.” His white ball cap had the diner logo on it. He had that aged tan beachboy look to him. The kind with the dark, leathery skin who loves the outdoors and never gives up being outside as long as they live. “Nice to meet you. Folks call me Tug.”
“Hi, Tug. Nice to meet you too.”
Hailey said, “I’m having octopus for breakfast.”
“You’ll love it. It’s a crowd-pleaser.”
“I hope it doesn’t taste like fish sticks, because that would be pretty yucky for breakfast.”
“If you think it does, then I’ll fix you something else.”
Hailey raised her eyebrows, liking the idea of being catered to.
“I’m sure it will taste great,” Amanda assured Hailey.
“I see you were catching up on our claim to fame,” Maeve said. “The shells?”
“We fou—”
Amanda twisted Hailey around toward the table. “You and your brother zip on back to our spot. I’ll be right there.” She turned and smiled, glancing back at the shells on display. “Yeah, the stories about the shells are so interesting.”
“So, what’s your gift?”
“Mine?” Amanda sputtered. “I don’t have one.”
“Sure you do. Everyone does.”
She shrugged. “I got nothin’. What’s yours?”
“I’m an excellent listener. Took me a long time to realize that. Turns out it’s a rare gift too. Who knew?”
It was true. Maeve had proved that yesterday. Most people were so busy thinking about their response that they didn’t half listen to a conversation these days.
Tug leaned out over the counter. “She doesn’t forget anything either. Ever.”
Maeve shot him a look. “Don’t mind him. We’ve been friends forever. He was the best man in my wedding.”
“Still am the best man, if you ask me.”
“No one asked you,” Maeve said as she and Amanda walked toward the table where Hailey and Jesse sat pushing sugar packets around the table like cars. From somewhere beyond the room came a voice, “Who asked you, Tug?” followed by a cackling laugh.
“What was that?” Hailey raised up in her seat.
“That’s The Wife,” Maeve said with a look over her shoulder toward Tug. “Tug, you want to introduce them to her?”
He wiped his hands on his apron, then came around the counter. “I’ve got a minute. Let me take you to meet The Wife.”
Hailey and Jesse looked at Amanda and then Maeve as they all fell in line behind Tug and headed toward the back door.
“The Wife is a parrot,” Tug explained as he led them out to the deck.
There sitting in a cage in a gazebo, a dark-gray-feathered bird with a bright-red tail stared at them, then followed up with a resounding, “It’s about time. Where’ve you been?”
The kids’ mouths dropped wide, and then they scrambled toward the cage.
Tug said, “Say hello to our new friends.”
The bird bobbed her head up and