“So how did the festival go for you?” SuAnn asked.

“Pretty good. Julie handled most of it so I could walk around with Harry. He’s still having some back trouble, so we couldn’t do a whole lot.”

“We sold out of all of our cakes. I think I will have a bunch of new customers on Monday morning!”

“That’s great! Where is Nick?”

“Oh, he had to go out of town to visit his niece. She just had a baby.”

“How nice. He seems like a lovely man.”

“He is. The love of my life,” SuAnn said, smiling. It wasn’t often that a person could get SuAnn to open up and act like a normal human being, but Nick seemed to have a special touch.

“So where are you headed?”

“I guess I’m going to go home and rest these old feet. Maybe take a bubble bath and drink several glasses of wine.”

“Well, I don’t drink the wine because I can’t mix it with my medication, but I think a nice bath sounds like a wonderful idea.”

“Say, Dixie, do you ever feel like we are the luckiest women in the world?”

Dixie tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“I mean we’re still vital at our ages, still building successful businesses. We have wonderful men in our lives, great kids. I even have a great-granddaughter now. And William and Janine just got engaged. We live in this fantastic little town. Sometimes it just seems like we have been given way more blessings than we might deserve.” It wasn’t often that SuAnn spoke so poetically.

Dixie thought for a moment. “We are blessed beyond measure.”

“We sure are. Well, I guess I better get home. Nick is supposed to be calling me in a little bit.”

“Have a good night, SuAnn. I’ll see you back here on Monday.”

“Enjoy your bath,” SuAnn said, laughing as she turned around and walked towards her car.

Epilogue

The Fourth of July had always been one of Julie’s favorite holidays. Aside from the patriotism of it all, she loved the fireworks, a cookout and the gathering of family and friends. And this Fourth of July, they had so many different things to celebrate.

Having a party at the inn had become one of her favorite traditions. Lucy and Dawson had spent the whole afternoon cooking up all kinds of food, with Lucy in the kitchen and Dawson on the grill. They had invited several people from town including their family and friends.

Meg and Christian had gotten married in May, and it had been a small affair right there on the beach like Meg had wanted. It turned out to be the perfect little wedding, and Vivi looked adorable as the flower girl being pulled in a wagon by Dylan.

And then there was Emma, the new resident in town. She had become a constant fixture in their social scene. She and Janine were very good friends, and she was settling in to Seagrove like she had always been there.