18 Home Again at the Harborside
19 Rest for the Soul
20 The Christmas Trunk
21 Christmas Preparations
22 A Harborhaven Christmas
23 Quiet Beginnings
24 A New Year
25 Becalmed
26 Captaining the Shop
27 The Harborside in Danger
28 Confessions and Sorrows
29 Tuesday
30 The Mysterious Package
31 Advertising
32 Searching for Serena
33 The Braddock Gift
34 The Envelope
35 Serena
36 Saving the Harborside
37 The New Beginning
1 Harborhaven
This was her last option.
Katherine straightened the folds of her “interview skirt” and tugged at the hem of her slightly uncomfortable but businesslike blue jacket. Her heart fluttered anxiously as she stood on the sidewalk looking up at the entrance to the Harborhaven Historical Society. She set down the small, old-fashioned suitcase she had been holding and flexed her stiff fingers.
She stood there for a long while, till her aching feet felt almost rooted to the pavement. Finally, she took a deep breath and climbed the steps. Her hand grasped the ornate door handle, only to find the door locked. Stepping back, she peered at a notice taped onto one of the tall narrow windows next to the door:
Harborhaven Historical Society Offices and Museums: open the first Saturday of the month, or by appointment.
A light breeze blowing in off the harbor played with the ends of her long dark hair as she leaned closer to read a smaller notice, one she had half-expected, but half-dreaded to find there.
Volunteers needed
Katherine sighed deeply as she turned and walked slowly down the steps to the sidewalk. She looked down the street, out of ideas. She had started the day full of hope and expectations, and now all of that had disappeared like the mist the sun dispelled from the harbor waters as it rose higher in the summer sky.
Across the street, she could see the owner of the ice cream shop watching her narrowly from the window. When she walked into the shop that morning, she had expected to find there the jolly old man with twinkling eyes who had been so kind to her as a child. He would certainly have given her a job, or else helped her to find one. Instead, she had encountered a surly new owner who was not at all kindly, questioned her suspiciously, and responded to her inquiry about job openings with a sneer and a tone of utter contempt.
As she began to follow the sidewalk through downtown Harborhaven, her blue eyes blurred with tears of disappointment. She blinked them back and looked up at the two towering rows of ornate Victorian façades. How stern they seemed, frowning and suspicious, like the owner of the ice cream shop.
Harborhaven had been her home once, years before; and in the happy dimness of her childhood memories all had been bright and welcoming. But now—Katherine kicked a stone back into the bed of pebbles in front of a shop window and sighed again. She walked on, bewildered and friendless.
When she neared the end of the downtown blocks, she suddenly noticed the most delicious smell wafting towards her from a nearby building. As she approached the building, she looked up. It was tall and narrow, with large, lace-curtained windows. The Victorian brick had been painted white, so it stood out from its surroundings; yet somehow, Katherine thought it still seemed to belong there, different though it was from the massive red hulk of the old warehouse next to it.
The windows and door were framed in bright yellow trim, and a small sign hung in the window of the shop’s door. As she neared the door, she read the words inscribed on the sign in elegant script:
“Do come in”
Katherine scanned through her childhood memories but couldn’t remember having seen this shop before. Glancing above the door, she read:
Miss Harriet’s Tea Shop.
The delicious smells and the cheerfulness of the place seemed to call to her, and Katherine decided to go in, just for a while. After all, she did need to eat. She pushed open the door and was struck by the brightness and elegance of the place.
A willowy, middle-aged lady stepped out from behind the dark wood counter, holding a plate of baked goods she had just finished filling from several tiered trays on top of the counter.
“Welcome!” she said warmly in a British accent. She gestured to a small table by a lace-enshrouded window at the side of the room. “That table’s open, if it suits you.”
“Thank you.” Katherine said, smiling for the first time since she had arrived in Harborhaven that morning. There was something in the gentle way this tall, graceful woman spoke to her that made her feel as if things were not so bleak, after all.
