Bookshop at Bella Beach by Kate Wentworth

Author:Kate Wentworth [Wentworth, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: beachy women's fiction, friendship, sisters, beach read, feel good fiction
Publisher: Bella Beach Press
Published: 2023-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Claire

“So, which of these are going with you?” Sophie stood in front of the open doors of the dining hutch, eyeballing the neat stacks of special occasion dinnerware. A roll of bubble wrap lay at her feet along with a couple of empty packing boxes and a packing tape dispenser.

“None of them,” Claire said, unfolding her step ladder next to the far wall where some of her favorite art pieces hung.

Sophie turned and blinked at her. She wasn’t wearing makeup today, and dark circles shone beneath her eyes, enhanced no doubt by the black sweatshirt she was wearing. “None?”

“None,” Claire affirmed. “I don’t need fancy dishes in Bella Beach. I’ll take my basic set to replace the ugly ones Marvin had, but otherwise it all goes.”

Sophie turned back to the hutch, clearly non-plussed. “Okay. What are you doing with them, then? You can’t just leave them here.”

She couldn’t, unfortunately. Tish, Cooper’s real estate friend, had assured her the place would sell—and quickly—but it needed emptied out pronto except for a few key pieces for “staging” purposes. Luxury dinnerware did not fit the bill. Or at least these didn’t. They’d been a wedding gift from one of Charlie’s relatives and they were incredibly gaudy with green and gold leaves around the edges. She’d never liked them. Now she could get rid of them without feeling guilty.

“I’m thinking I could sell them.” She could use the money for the bookshop overhaul. “They might be worth something to the right person.”

“Good idea. There are some shops around that will either buy them from you or put them up on commission. I’ll take a few photos so we can email them, and then wrap them up really well. Make it easier to transport.”

“Great idea,” Claire enthused. “Normally I’m so... I don’t know...”

“Organized?” Sophie teased.

“Yeah, that.” Claire couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped. What didn’t escape her was the surprise on Sophie’s face at her laughter. Had she really been so miserable that any joy surprised her friends? She cleared her throat. “I just feel completely discombobulated and out of my depth. Spontaneity is a foreign concept.”

“To you, maybe, but some of us love a little spontaneity now and then.” Sophie selected a few dishes and set them neatly out on the dining table. After snapping a few photos with her phone, she carefully wrapped the dishes in bubble wrap and set them in the boxes.

Meanwhile, Claire climbed the ladder and began removing artwork from the walls. The paintings were all by a local artist she and Charlie had met at the Portland Saturday Market. They’d both loved her work and picked up a small piece which Claire now kept in her home office. Later, when they were a little more flush with cash, they bought bigger pieces for the dining room. She was definitely going to take them with her to California. With their bold colors, they would look good against the Venetian red wall in her new apartment.

The day passed quickly

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