“I don’t know.”
“Let me think of all the things you like. Things that are you.”Heather frowned but it quickly turned into a grin. She snapped her fingers.“I’ve got it. Sea Glass Cafe.”
“Because of my obsession for sea glass?”
“Exactly. And it’s a cute name. Who doesn’t love sea glass?”
“Sea Glass Cafe…”She rolled the name around in her head.“You know. I like it. Like it a lot.”
“Perfect. Sea Glass Cafe it is.”
“People are still going to call it Parker’s.”Olivia sighed.
“Some will. But it won’t matter. It’s officially Sea Glass Cafe.”
With that decided, Olivia slid her shoes back on.“I guess I should go back inside and check on Emily.”
“She’s probably still twirling around in her dress.”Heather’s lips curved into a grin of amusement.
Olivia glanced down the pathway and saw two men walking toward them. As they passed under a lamppost, she grabbed Heather’s arm.“I know you haven’t told me what went on with Jesse, but don’t look now. He and Austin are headed our way.”
Heather glanced in the direction she nodded, then looked wildly for an escape route. But short of jumping up and running, there was no avoiding the men.
Heather let out a long sigh.“Just what I need.”
Jesse stopped in front of them.“Ah, the Parker women again.”
“Parker women? Are you two sisters?”Austin asked, his warm smile still evident. And did he have a dimple? He did. But just one.
“Cousins,”Olivia replied.“And not Parkers really. We’re just descendants of Grace Parker. I’m Livy Foster, and this is Heather Carlson. The Parker thing is just…well, a town thing.”
“I see.”Though he didn’t look like he saw…
“Actually, IamHeather Parker.”Heather rose from the bench, her tone a bit defiant as she faced off with Jesse.
Olivia jumped up and eyed her cousin.“What?”
“Yes, she legally changed her name. Didn’t she tell you?”Jesse asked, his eyes clouding with…something. Displeasure? Accusation?…or hurt?
Olivia turned to face Heather.“What’s this?”
“I just…well, since I was using Parker with my art…Heather Parker…it just seemed…easier.”
“And Heather likes things easy.”Jesse’s tone was almost mocking.
Olivia stared at Heather, then Jesse, then back at Heather.“I…didn’t know. Does Aunt Evelyn know?”
“Um…not yet.”Heather shook her head.
“How long…oh, never mind. We’ll talk later.”Olivia wasn’t sure if she was more surprised or hurt that she didn’t know this huge fact about her cousin. She turned to the man standing beside Jesse.“Sorry about all this. Anyway, we come from a line of Parkers. Grace Parker and her husband opened Parker’s General Store years and years ago. The town has just always called us—and our mothers—the Parker women.”She shrugged, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal that her cousin hadn’t bothered to tell her that she’d changed her legal name.
And why did Jesse know this, but she didn’t?
Jesse took a long look at Heather, then turned to Austin.“Livy works at Parker’s with her mother. And Heather is, as she said, an artist.”
Olivia decided to jump in and change the subject and sort through her feelings about Heather’s secret later. It appeared her cousin had been keeping lots of secrets. She turned to Austin.“So, are you enjoying your vacation?”
“It was a vacation until I got a look at Jesse’s online presence for The Destiny. Crummy website. He’s not even on TalkTime. He needs to be. People go there to find places.”
