“I think that’s probably a very good idea. Let’s do it.”

Her grandfather winked at Peter. “Looks like it’s a go for next year.”

“I’ll let them know.”

“We can let the restaurants know, too,” David said. “That will make it easier for next year if most of them are already committed.”

“I think just about all of my guests at the inn are here,” Lisa said. “I’ll let them know as well, and maybe they’ll want to book with me for next year, too, when they check out. It’s a wonderful event. You have all done a great job.”

“Thanks so much,” Paula said.

They continued to walk around and stopped at Nick’s booth, where he was handing out tiny tuna tacos and plating up sample-size portions of rosemary mashed potatoes and short ribs and small cups of seafood chowder. Bella was by his side, adding bags of crackers for the chowder. She looked cute in a Whitley hotel apron, and dark sunglasses. Nick had beads of sweat on his upper lip and was in constant motion, plating food and chatting with people as they came up to the booth.

They waited for a lull before stepping over to say hello.

“How’s it going?” Paula asked.

“This is fantastic. People are loving everything. And they’re saying good things about all of it, the wine tasting and all the different sampling. I think we might have to do this again next year.”

Grandfather laughed. “I think you’re right. Peter Bradford already suggested it and we agree. Looks like it’s a hit.”

He turned to Paula and David. “Why don’t you kids go get in line and try all of this good stuff, too? There’s nothing else you need to do at this point other than enjoy it. I see someone I need to go visit with.”

He left and David turned to Paula. “Shall we?”

They got in line and received a small square tray that had a space for a wine glass to hook into it. It was a clever design that let you set your glass into the tray so you could nibble on the food more easily. They roamed around and tasted a bunch of different wines and lots of food samples. There were so many good options. Most of the restaurants had a soup of some kind or an appetizer and an entrée, and some had a dessert choice, too.

They ran into Andrea and Marco at one of the wine stations and Paula was pleasantly surprised when Andrea was actually friendly.

“You should really try this Charles Krug Cabernet. It’s ridiculously good,” Andrea said.

Paula noticed that Marco had one of his hands on the small of Andrea’s back and they looked like two people in love, or madly in like. Paula was happy for them.