“That’s very true. After all, we only get one life!”

“Some of us don’t believe that,” Janine said, walking up to the table.

“What are you talking about, sis?”

“Well, some people believe that we reincarnate over and over and live many lives. And the things that we go through here on earth might be because of things we didn’t learn in a past life.”

Julie rolled her eyes. “Charlotte, this is my sister, Janine. She’s a little woo-woo but we love her anyway.”

Janine slapped her on the shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Charlotte. I’ve heard wonderful things about your books.”

“Thank you.”

“I just came by to let you know that William is going to be in the boat parade later.”

“Oh yeah? Like the one we did at Christmas?”

“Very similar, I think. We will all gather along the marsh and the docks, and different boats will float by and throw candy and generally have a good time while we watch them pass.”

“That sounds fun. I grew up on boats, so I’d like to be a part of that if you all walk over there,” Charlotte said with a smile.

“Of course! We’ll head over as soon as we’re finished here.”

As Janine walked off, Julie looked around the square. She saw Dixie walking hand-in-hand with Harry, looking at different tables and picking up crafts people were selling. She saw Colleen and Tucker giggling under the tree like a couple of madly in love school children. Every so often, Tucker would feed Colleen a bite of ice cream and then they would laugh all over again.

And of course, she saw Meg and Christian with Vivi over by the face painting station. Vivi was getting a butterfly painted on her cheek, although she was squirming so much that there was no telling what it was going to look like when the poor volunteer was finished doing it.

And then there was Emma who was sitting at a table, handing out flyers and other information about the lighthouse. She seemed a little down today, but she was still doing her job and would occasionally smile and wave from across the way.

Julie truly loved her community. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for the people who had supported her and made her a part of them. When she had shown up in Seagrove, so broken and lost, she never imagined that these people would literally just fold her into their lives like she had always been there. She was no longer the newcomer. She was a full-fledged Seagrove resident and proud of it.

“You know, I’ve been working on a novel for over a year now. I’m sure authors hate when people tell them that, but since I think we’re sort of friends now…”

Charlotte smiled broadly. “I love to hear when people are writing books. The more creativity we have out in the world, the better. What’s it about?”

“Oh, I won’t bore you with it.”