Crystal Cove (Friday Harbor #4)(7)

“Okay, two chickens. I could call them Thelma and Louise—”

“We are not getting chickens,” Zoë said, her tone soft but inflexible. “You have more than enough to do around here. You can barely keep up with the garden as it is. And I don’t think you need a pet. As you used to tell me before I got together with Alex … you need a boyfriend.”

Justine lowered her head to the table. “There’s no point,” she said dolefully. Her mint-infused breath collected in the space between the scrubbed wood and her chin. “It would end up the same way it did with Duane. From now on I’m swearing off men. Maybe I should become a nun.”

“You’re not Catholic.”

“I’d have to convert,” Justine said against the table. She sighed as another thought occurred to her. “But I’d probably have to wear a habit. And the floppy hat.”

“Wimple,” Zoë said. “And don’t forget, you’d have to live in a convent. All women and lots of gardening.”

I might as well join the coven, Justine thought glumly.

At this point in her life, Justine had been expected to become initiated into the Circle of Crystal Cove. Her mother, Marigold, belonged to it, and the rest of the coven were honorary relatives—most of them had known Justine all her life. As much as Justine loved the coveners, however, she had never wanted to become one of them. She liked to cast an occasional spell or brew a potion now and then, but the idea of centering her entire life around the study and practice of magic was not at all appealing.

Unfortunately Justine’s reluctance had caused a rift with Marigold that had lasted at least four years and showed no signs of healing. In the meantime, Justine had received support from Rosemary and Sage, a pair of elderly crafters who were the closest thing to family that Justine had besides Zoë. The two women lived together in a lighthouse on Cauldron Island, where Sage’s late husband had served as a lightkeeper.

She sat up as she heard the sound of people entering the inn … voices, the rattle of luggage wheels.

“The guests are here,” Zoë said. “I’ll go with you to meet them.”

“No, we’re supposed to keep our distance. Priscilla is showing them to their rooms. She has the keys.”

Zoë looked bewildered. “We’re not supposed to welcome them?”

Justine shook her head. “Mr. Black is all business. He doesn’t want to be bothered with trivial social customs like saying hello and shaking hands and making small talk. The group will be down for breakfast in the morning, but he wants a health shake brought up to him at six. Priscilla said she would e-mail you the instructions.”

Zoë went to pick up her phone from the counter to check her e-mails. “Yes, it’s here.” She did a double take as she read the e-mail. “There must be a mistake.”

“Why?”

“Spinach … protein powder … peanut butter … soy milk … I won’t tell you the rest, because your stomach is already upset.”

Justine grinned at Zoë’s appalled expression. “That sounds like a variation on the Green Monster smoothie. Duane drank them all the time.”

“This will look like blended-up swamp.”

“I think the point is to make it as nutritious and disgusting as possible.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Zoë wrinkled her nose as she looked over the recipe. “I thought I would probably meet Mr. Black, since he’s negotiating with Alex. Now I’m not even sure I want to meet him.”

“Zoë, if this deal goes through, you and Alex are going to make so much money, you’ll want to name your firstborn child after him.”

The purpose of Jason Black’s visit to the island was to view a twenty-acre parcel of land bordering Dream Lake, which Alex had once bought with the intention of developing it as a residential area. Although the crash of the housing market had cleaned him out financially, Alex had managed to hold on to the Dream Lake acreage.

This past summer, a Realtor had approached Alex with an offer for the Dream Lake parcel. It seemed that Jason Black planned to establish a community retreat for education, innovation, and inspiration. The proposed development would include several buildings and facilities, all of them environmentally low-impact. Alex was LEED certified, which meant he could build according to the strictest environmental and energy regulations. As a result, the negotiations involved a stipulation that, along with the sale of the property, Alex would be hired as the retreat’s managing contractor.

Justine hoped the deal would go through, for Alex’s sake but especially Zoë’s. After the tough times Zoë had been through, including the recent death of her grandmother, she was due for some luck.

And Justine had a personal interest in the deal: In the summer she had bought and renovated a small lakeside cottage on Dream Lake Road. The cottage had been boarded up and decaying from decades of neglect. Zoë had wanted to live there with her grandmother, who had been diagnosed with vascular dementia. To help out, Justine had bought the cottage and paid for the renovations, and had let Zoë and her grandmother stay there rent-free.

If the Dream Lake land were eventually turned into an upscale community retreat and learning center, the value of Justine’s cottage, which bordered the property, would increase substantially. A win-win for everyone.