The Shell Shop by Mia Alexander

Author:Mia Alexander [Alexander, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-01T16:00:00+00:00

10

Chapter

“Who was that?”

Julia almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice behind her. She rushed toward her youngest daughter and wrapped her in a hug.

“Kelsey! You’re early.”

“No, I’m not,” she replied. “I’m right on time.”

Julia gasped when she looked at her watch. She’d lost almost an entire day to the shell shop, and the kids would be arriving in less than an hour. She locked the shell shop door and grabbed Kelsey’s hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

“Oh, my gosh. We’re late. Come talk to me and you can help with dinner. I want to hear everything.”

Kelsey laughed as she trailed behind her mother. Kelsey was actually the only one of Julia’s kids who was interested in cooking herself, and she knew she could put her to good use.

As they chopped mangoes, jalapeños, onions and cilantro and wrapped the grouper in foil packets with lots of butter, Kelsey told her all about her job. She’d wanted to be on TV ever since she’d seen one as a little girl, and Julia loved hearing about the ins and outs of the weather spots.

“How do you know all that? Being a weather girl sounds tough.”

Kelsey set down her knife and folded her arms. “I’m a meteorologist, Mom, not a weather girl.”

“Oh, right, sorry,” Julia said, reaching for her Instant pot to start the black beans that were Aubrey’s husband Joe’s favorite.

Once the beans were on, she started the rice for the kids. They’d be having fish sticks and rice while the rest of them enjoyed the fresh grouper she’d gotten in town earlier. While the rice was on, Julia reached for the plates to set the table. She paused at the cupboard where her she kept her grandmother’s flow blue china. She usually used them only on rare special occasions taking them out so few times that John always teased her about it being a waste to have dishes that were too precious to use. It seemed silly now as they were only dishes, maybe she should start using them every day. Life was short.

“I’ll set the table, Mom.” Kelsey brushed past her and grabbed the everyday dishes out of the cabinet. Okay, then, maybe she’d use the flow blue next time.

Once the table was set, she sat down across from Kelsey to hear the rest of the story—Kelsey had been talking the whole time, though. How much more could there be? With Kelsey, a lot, but she finally stopped to take a breath.

“I thought we’d be meeting Will tonight.” Kelsey had said she would be bringing her boyfriend of several months.

Kelsey sighed but looked annoyed. “William, Mom. He was supposed to take time off like me, but his boss said he couldn’t at the last minute.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Julia said, not at all surprised as this would be about the tenth time this had happened. She wasn’t at all sure about this relationship and looked forward to meeting this guy so she could tell for sure.

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