“I really needed a girls’ night.” Maggie placed her wineglass down on the coffee table in Gretchen’s living room.

Gretchen leaned back into the couch and kicked her feet up onto the table, narrowly missing the glass.

“Hey, watch it.” Maggie tried to glare, but it quickly turned into a grin.

“Sorry. It’s been a long week already.” Gretchen took a gulp of her own wine.

“It does seem like things have been busier than usual,” Angel said. She was hanging out with the two of them for an impromptu mid-week get-together. Each of them had brought a bottle of wine to share and Gretchen had provided the snacks. She pulled her knees up to her chest and snuggled deeper into the plump pillows of the leather recliner.

“Things always pick up with the tourists toward the end of January. After Christmas they tend to stay home, but once their credit card bills are paid off, they start traveling again.”

“Yeah, if you think this is busy, wait until we get into prime tourist season.” Maggie picked up her glass and sipped from it, then set it back down on the table a safe distance away from Gretchen’s sock-clad feet.

Angel wasn’t entirely sure that she would still be around when prime tourist season hit, but the town was growing on her. Plus, she’d heard all about the upcoming town festivals and how beautiful it was in the summer, so she was curious to see it when it wasn’t so cold and dreary out.

“Did you find anything out about your family? I saw Adam was here a couple of nights ago. Has he been helping you out with it?”

“He has been helping me. He was going to find out from the county who the past owners of the house I discovered were but the county offices were closed that day. I believe he was going again yesterday, but he hasn’t called me about it. I’m sure he’s very busy with the newspaper.”

“Not too busy to visit you at the café,” Maggie said. “It didn’t look like he was there just to pay you a professional visit.”

Angel’s cheeks burned and she fidgeted in the chair. “There is nothing personal between us. He’s helping me to find my family, that’s all.” But how much of what she had said was true? Although she hadn’t intended the dinner as a date, but more as a thank you, it had certainly felt like one. She and Adam had enjoyed wonderful conversation—and then there was that kiss. That magical kiss that had left her wanting more. With a start, she realized she’d been daydreaming and forced herself to open her eyes to focus on the other two women. Both of them had their eyes glued to her.

“Where did you just go?” Gretchen asked. “Were you perhaps thinking about your date with Adam?”

Angel looked toward the door.

Maggie waved her hand in the air. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to say anything to him. We’re just happy that you seem to be having a good time.”

“Yeah, he’s a great guy,” Gretchen said. “I’ve known him since he was a little kid and we were playing together in a sandbox in our diapers.”

“Well, that was an interesting image.” Angel smirked and they all laughed.

“So is there something there with him?” Maggie idly rubbed her index finger along the rim of her wineglass, making the glass ring.

“I don’t know,” Angel said. “Maybe. But I don’t have much time for dating. Plus, I’ve had some really bad experiences in the past and I don’t want to repeat them here. I want to focus on finding my family and hopefully getting to know them.” She sipped her glass of Merlot, savoring the oaky flavor. It wasn’t bad for an eight-dollar bottle of wine that she’d found in the bargain rack at the grocery store.

“Okay, okay,” Maggie said. “We’ll stop teasing you about him.”

“Fine.” Gretchen grinned. “But did you find anything out about your family? That would be so cool if you were able to meet them.”

“I’ve narrowed the house in the photo down to one in town, but I don’t know who the owner was.” Angel sighed. “That’s why Adam went down to the county. He was going to research who owned the house previously.”

“That’s great. Soon you’ll know who they are.” Maggie reached forward to dip a potato chip into the sour cream dip.

“I guess.” Her stomach twisted. Now that she was getting so close to knowing who her family was, it was becoming all too real. What if they were horrible people? What if they wanted nothing to do with her? She’d often thought about what it would be like to have a bigger family, but once she knew the truth, the dreams about it would be over.

“I really do appreciate all of Adam’s help though. I’m not sure I could’ve done this without him. Thanks for suggesting I check with him first.” Her eyes darted in the direction of the carriage house, remembering the sweet kiss they’d shared at the top of the stairs. “Actually, I’d like to be able to return the favor. He mentioned that he’s trying to figure out how to increase newspaper subscriptions, to increase ad revenue. Unfortunately, there isn’t much population growth in this town, but there is tourism.”

Maggie and Gretchen nodded at her.

“We do have a lot of tourists,” Gretchen said.

“So I was thinking that maybe the two of you and I could help him come up with some ideas to sell the newspaper to tourists. I mean, there are probably a lot of businesses in town that would like to advertise directly to the tourists.”

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Gretchen said. “You know, I could talk to my parents and see if we could give each nightly rental visitor a copy of the newspaper.”

“Do you think they would do that? Is that too much to ask?” Angel asked, excitement zinging through her voice.

“Oh, they love Adam. Like I said, we’ve been friends forever and so have our families. Plus, having a newspaper is good for the town and they would love to help him out. And, I think it really would provide a valuable benefit to the rental customers.”

Maggie snapped her fingers. “I just got a really great idea. What if we bundled the newspaper with a morning pastry? What tourist wouldn’t love that?”

Angel nodded enthusiastically. “I love that idea. We could sell them both as to-go picnic boxes at the café and maybe Gretchen’s parents will be able to offer them to the nightly rental customers.” She looked over at Gretchen for confirmation. Gretchen nodded and smiled back at her.

“I bet the grocery store owner would be willing to carry such a thing as well,” Maggie said. “You know, our lunch and dinner picnic boxes have been very popular with tourists, I think this would be a wonderful addition.”

“Thank you for helping me brainstorm ideas,” Angel said. “It means so much to me to be able to repay some of the kindness that Adam has shown me. I can’t afford to pay him anything for his help, but this, I can do.”

“So you’re sure there’s nothing between you and Adam?” Gretchen teased.

Angel felt her face flush all the way to the roots of her hair. She stared over her friends’ heads at the large painting of the ocean that hung over the couch. From prior visits, she knew Charlotte had painted it. Somehow, she’d managed to capture the essence of the surf spilling onto the sand and swirling around the seastacks, just like the whirling thoughts in her brain.

“Maybe just a little. At least on my part,” she amended. “I don’t know how he feels.”

“Adam’s usually off in his own little world. If he’s paying this much attention to you, he’s probably interested.” Gretchen nodded knowingly.

Maggie seemed to notice how uncomfortable the conversation was making Angel. “Is anyone up for a movie? We could make popcorn with lots of butter and eat until the buttons on our pants pop.”

Angel laughed. “Don’t you have to get back home to Alex?”

“Yeah, but not for a few hours. He’s spending time with Jake. It’s good for both of them to get some male bonding time in.” She shrugged. “Plus, it’s a good excuse to hang out with you two. So, are you in?”

Gretchen looked at Angel and raised an eyebrow. Angel nodded.

“We’re in,” Gretchen said. “What movie do you want to watch?”

Angel settled back on her chair, watching as the two other women bickered good-naturedly over movie choices. The wine that she’d already consumed had given her a soft buzz and she couldn’t help but smile. She’d only been in Candle Beach for a little over a month, and she already had good friends, a potential romance, and possibly family here in town. In that moment, life was good.