Wandering Heart (9781101561362) Read Online Free Page B

didn’t take very long, Liza gave the pair a tour of the inn, downstairs, and then the upper floors. Judy seemed genuinely pleased by the size of the rooms and the decor. She made a lot of notes and Zach took photos. She even picked out rooms for Charlotte Miller and Nick Dempsey, mentioning a few items the stars liked to have handy: favorite brands ofbottled water, organic dried apricots, ginger tea, and chocolate-coated Oreos, chilled in the refrigerator.
    “I’ll e-mail a complete list,” she added. “Don’t worry about that now.”
    Liza forced a smile. She did worry about it. They didn’t exactly live on a desert island; there was a well-stocked general store, and stores in Cape Light and beyond were easily accessible. But it was hard to shop by such specific brands. She could only imagine one of the stars having a hissy fit because she’d bought the wrong brand of dried apricots.
    But look at the upside, Liza,
she coached herself.
A full house for several days, great publicity, and such excitement.
There were definitely more pluses than negatives to this situation.
    Judy and Liza talked a bit more about the business end, the rates for the rooms and meals. Liza offered a group discount, and they agreed to confirm everything by e-mail once Judy got back to her boss, who was with the crew in Cape Light.
    “This is going to be great,” Judy said, shaking Liza’s hand as she left. “I can’t wait to come back … and get more of this crumble.”
    “I look forward to seeing you again. Claire will have more crumble ready and waiting,” Liza promised. She watched as their white Land Rover drove off. Then she stood by the door a moment, feeling a bit stunned and wondering if she had just imagined the whole thing. Were the cast and crew of a real movie actually coming here? It was just too unbelievable.
    “Are they gone?” Claire asked quietly.
    Liza turned to see her standing by the stairway.
    “Yes, they left. But they’ll be back,” she quickly added. “And we have a ton of work to do before they get here.”
    Claire’s pale eyebrows rose a notch or two. “How long will that be?”
    “Two days.” Liza waited for her reaction. “That’s their schedule right now. They’re coming to the island to shoot some scenes on the beach in two days. So that’s our deadline.”
    Saying it aloud, she honestly could not believe she’d agreed to this. But there it was.
    Claire, in her usual way, seemed unfazed. “That is soon. How many will there be?”
    “A full house. Some of the rooms will be doubled up, in fact.”
    “Yes, I’d imagine they would be,” Claire said calmly. “We might need those cots in the attic. Maybe Daniel can help get them down. It will be nice to entertain a big group. Your aunt loved to see the inn filled to the brim. One of her favorite things was to put out the ‘ NO VACANCY ’ sign. I love to see a full table. That’s what we’re here for, don’t you think?”
    Liza nodded. “Absolutely.”
    Trust Claire to look on the bright side and not complain about the work. Liza was thankful to have her help, as always, and the blessing of her positive perspective.
    “Having all those movie stars with us is a bit intimidating, though. I hope the inn is up to their standards.”
    Claire smiled calmly at her. “We don’t have all the bells and whistles, that’s for sure. But I think the inn offers something rare and special in its own way. We can’t try to be something we’re not, Liza. We can just try our best to entertain them in our unique style.”
    When Liza looked at it that way, she had to agree. Just let the inn be the welcoming, peaceful place it had always been. That was the best strategy, even for hosting Hollywood.

Chapter Two
    T HE Gilroy Farm stood just beyond the fence that bordered Liza’s property. Heavy rain in the morning had tapered off to a steady drizzle. Liza considered driving but felt silly taking her car just to go next door. Dressed in her yellow