This morning, Sadie had chosen to take her work outside, spreading her various design books and sketchpads across the deck, so she could enjoy a healthy dose of vitamin D as she brainstormed. Things were moving fast. Their business cards with Grandma Hester’s own pie logo from her diary were set to be delivered from the printer. In the past weeks, she had convinced Renee to donate some of her more striking antique finds to decorate Hester’s and had scored adorable vintage tables and chairs from an estate sale that were being refinished by a local woodworker. And once Dot Turner caught wind of the action, she’d offered up a few candid pictures she’d snapped of Grandma Hester selling pies at the town fair in the early eighties. Sadie was having them touched up and enlarged to adorn the walls alongside some of Grandma Hester’s own cooking utensils and pans.

Yes, the plans were well in motion and recently she had started thinking seriously about some ideas for the additional shop space in the Old Red Mill.

The old building had gone head-to-head with a hurricane, and had proved its grit unlike some of those poor storefronts downtown. The mill had come through with a few shattered windows, a dozen missing shingles, and a twisted weather vane, easy fixes in the grand scheme of things. Plans for the riverwalk were definitely the word on the street these days as the town tried to focus on the brighter days to come, words like “revitalization” and “economic development” were getting bandied about in the paper.

The Old Red Mill was opening at the perfect time and Sadie needed to talk to Essie about the idea that had been taking root: relocating some of the displaced businesses like the Castaway Yarn Shop and Chickadee Studios to the mill.

“Hey there.” Annette stepped through the sliding doors. With her bright eyes, yellow chinos, and navy striped top, she looked like a Talbots model. “Do you have a second to chat? Lincoln is upstairs with Ethan. They’re playing Candy Land.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” She stood up. “Oooof. Hang on, I get a little dizzy here and there. Happened with Lincoln too.”

“How much weight have you gained so far?” Annette asked, before smacking her forehead. “Sorry! I didn’t mean it that way. Sometimes my mouth moves before my brain can catch up. You look terrific. Glowing, actually.”

Good lord, Annette might mean well, but she was going to choke on her foot one of these days.

“I don’t know about that, but thanks.” Sadie was suddenly dreading this conversation. What did she want to discuss? Had she seen the Kid Cuisine box in the recycling bin? Sadie only gave Lincoln the processed chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese when she was really desperate, though Annette probably judged anything that wasn’t fresh from the local organic farm.

“What’s up?”