“I guess that would be okay,” Letty said. “But she hasn’t had lunch yet.”

“That’s cool. I haven’t either. We could walk down the beach to Lazy Larry’s and grab a bite. They’ve got a kids’ menu,” Isabelle said.

“You’ll need money.” Letty hesitated.

“I got moneys,” Maya said excitedly. She reached into the pockets of her shorts and pulled out the ten-dollar bills Arlene had given her earlier, waving them in the air.

“Whoa, dude,” Isabelle said, laughing. “We’re rich!”

“Mrs. Finocchia insisted on tipping me for unclogging her bathtub,” Letty told Ava. “When I wouldn’t take the money, she gave it to Maya.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Ava said, patting her employee’s hand. “Arlene is always very generous. But she’s probably the only one of our regulars you’ll ever see do something like that.”

“Yeah,” Isabelle agreed. “The last time I got a tip, it was fifty cents, from Mr. Maples, after I helped him carry in, like, a thousand bags of groceries from Publix, in, like, two-hundred-degree heat.”

Ava rolled her eyes. “That’s Merwin, all right. The last of the big spenders. He used to own a company that printed those color advertising inserts you get in the mail. Sold it and made a ton of money. But I promise you, he hasn’t spent a nickel of that money since he retired. It’s like a game with him. They drive that beat-up fifteen-year-old Honda Odyssey minivan all the way down here from Poughkeepsie every winter, and after they get here, he loves to bore everybody here with what great mileage he got. He even makes poor Trudi eat dinner at four thirty when they go out, so they can get the early-bird special.”

“I was wondering about his wife,” Letty admitted. “What’s with the gloves?”

“Trudi’s got some kind of problem with her circulation. Her hands and feet don’t get blood like they ought to, so she’s always cold, which is part of why they spend winters down here.”

“It’s called Raynaud’s disease, Mom,” Isabelle said, and spelled it out. “Trudi told me all about it. She’s really nice, Letty. She doesn’t get out a lot, with the walker and all, so she watches a ton of television. Like, she’s seen every episode of Buffy, ever. We usually order Chinese takeout and watch The Bachelor together on Monday nights.”

“Because Merwin has a coupon, of course,” Ava put in.