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"Your momma said you’d say that, but she knew better Knew your worth ethic She said you worked very hard"

Maddie had worked hard And dammit, she had also pretty much run that company May it rot in hell "How do you know all this?"

"I’nition frohter "I actually work for you You know, at the inn? Whenever there’s guests, I come in and clean"

"By yourself?"

"Well, business hasn’t exactly been hopping, has it? Oh! Wait here a second, I have so to show you--"

"Actually, I’one "Okay, then"

Twoa small carved wooden box that said RECIPES, the kind that held 3x5 index cards "This is for you girls"

Maddie didn’t cook, but it seemed rude not to take it "Did Phoebe cook?"

"Oh, hell, no," Lucille said with a cackle "She could burn water like no other"

Maddie accepted the box with a baffled "Thanks"

"Now, you just continue down this road about aYou can’t … spider relocation"

This caught Maddie’s attention "Spider relocation?"

"Yourthey had in common "Are there a lot of them?"

"Well, that depends on what you consider a lot"

Oh, God Any ed a save a wave of thanks, and got back into her car, following the dirt road "The Mouse," she said with a sigh

That was going to change

Chapter 2

"Don’t take life too seriously After all, none of us

are getting out alive anyway"

PHOEBE TRAEGER

Turned out Lucille was right, and in exactly oneThe Pacific Ocean was a deep, choppy sea of black, dusted hitecaps that went out as far as Maddie could see It connected with a ray sky, fra

She had found the "resort," and Lucille had gotten so

Dead was more like it

Clearly, the inn had seen better days A woman sat on the front porch steps, a Vespa parked nearby At the sight of Maddie, she stood She wore cute little hip-hugging arh-tops Her glossy dark red hair cascaded down her back in an artful disarray that would have taken an entire beauty salon staff to accomplish on Maddie’s uncontrollable curls

Chloe, the twenty-four-year-old Wild Child

Maddie attempted to pat down her own dark blond hair that had a ood day, which this most definitely wasn’t Before she could say a word, a cab pulled up next to Maddie’s car and a tall, lean, beautiful woot out Her short brunette hair was layered and effortlessly sexy She wore an elegant business suit that enolia

As the cabbie set Tara’s various bags on the porch, the three of thee aardly between them The last time they’d all been in one place, Tara and Maddie had ee jue Chloe had thanked theone their separate ways

It was just the way it was They had three different fathers and three very different personalities, and the only thing they had in co hippie of a h the uncoain after we sort out this latest mess," Tara murmured and eyed their baby sister

Chloe tossed up her hands "Hey, I had nothing to do with this one"

"Which would be a first" Tara spoke with the very slight southern accent that she denied having, the one she’d gotten frorandparents’ horse ranch in Texas

Chloe rolled her eyes and pulled her always-present asth around without uess so," Maddie said, also taking in the clearly deserted inn "There don’t appear to be any guests at the ood for resale value," Tara noted

"Resale?" Maddie asked

"Selling is the siet out of here as fast as possible"

Maddie’s stoet out of here She wanted a place to stay--to breathe, to lick her wounds, to regroup "What’s the hurry?"

"Just being realistic The place cae and no liquid assets"

Chloe shook her head "Sounds like Moe trust fund from her parents," Maddie said "The will separated it out from the estate, so I have no idea who it went to I assumed it was one of you"

Chloe shook her head

They both looked at Tara

"Sugar, I don’t know any more than y’all What I do know is that we’d be smart to sell, pay off the loan on the property, and divide what’s left three ways and get back to our lives I’ we can list the place and be out of here in a few days if we play our cards right"

This time Maddie’s stomach plummeted "So fast?"

"Do you really want to stay in Lucky Harbor a er than necessary?" Tara asked "Even Mom, bless her heart, didn’t stick around"

Chloe shook her inhaler and took a second puff fro works for me I’m due at a friend’s day spa in New Mexico next week"

"You have enough h to paythere to work I’ve been creating a natural skin care line, and I’ to sell the line to the spa" Chloe eyed the road "Think there’s a bar in town? I could use a drink"

"It’s four in the afternoon," Tara said