Yes, she should have. And maybe she should feel more bitterness toward her aunt. But the thing was, Celeste welcomed her the minute she appeared in town. She welcomed her the way, deep down, she’d wished Elodie had the night of the Pavlin & Co party. “I guess you had your own reasons for keeping your distance, not just from me but from the whole family. I’m not taking it personally.”

“Please don’t,” Celeste said. “And I know it’s probably too little too late, but would you consider staying here a bit longer? We have the extra room. And I know you mentioned not having an apartment in the city right now.”

Gemma felt like she could cry at the kindness. It was sweet and well-intentioned. But she had to get back to her own life. She had to get back to work.

“I appreciate that, Aunt Celeste. But I can’t stay.”

Celeste nodded in understanding. “Okay,” she said. “Well, at the very least, would you be interested in coming with me to an estate sale this afternoon? It might be fun. And I don’t want your last memory of your visit here to be this unfortunate breakfast.”

An estate sale could be fun. She might find an interesting piece or two. Then at least the whole trip wouldn’t have been a waste of time.

One more day wouldn’t hurt.

Elodie fumed the entire walk back to the Barros house.

Unbelievable. She’d made that grifter a generous offer, and she’d refused. Now what? And as if that weren’t bad enough, the house now smelled dank and briny, as if somehow during her walk the bay had seeped into every floorboard.

Lidia sat at the kitchen table chopping up what appeared to be dried plants. It was immediately clear this was the source of the very strong odor.

“What is that smell?” Elodie said, bending to undo Pearl’s leash.

“Oh, hi, Elodie. Dried seaweed. I’m immune to the scent at this point. But don’t run off—I wanted to talk to you.”

Reluctantly, she took a seat. She didn’t particularly want to talk, and she certainly didn’t want to be exposed to the seaweed for a minute longer than she had to be. Pearl sneezed.

“Dare I ask why you’re chopping up seaweed? Is this a local custom I should know about?”

“Marco and Olivia farm it, then we mix it with fresh tea leaves for a special blend sold at Tea by the Sea. If you haven’t visited there yet, I highly recommend it. It’s right across the street from East End Books.”

“I prefer my tea without seaweed, thank you,” Elodie said.