I smile at her as I set my nearly empty mug of hot chocolate down on the white Formica counter. “You didn’t need to do that, Millie.”
“Oh pish, child,” she scolds. “Don’t ever tell an old woman what she doesn’t need to do. Don’t you know we stay alive to take care of people?”
“I—”
“Don’t answer that,” she orders. “If you do, it means you agree that I’m an old woman.”
“Oh, I—”
“Shh. Anything you say now will seem like you’re trying to make me feel better about being decrepit.”
I’m trying to decide how to proceed, when she bursts out laughing. “Heavens, Ashley! Your face. Did people not joke with you in California?”
“Not like you do,” I admit.
“Well, get used to it, because you’ll be getting a lot of this,” she says as she points to herself.
“I’m looking forward to it,” I answer. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, dear. I keep thinking of how happy your grandfather must be that you’ve made your way here for good. The same is true for your grandmother, you know,” Millie says. “She only ever wanted you to be happy, and you’re always happiest here.”
I smile softly. Millie understands my love of Charlotte’s Cove, because she feels the same. “I think they’re happy too,” I tell her.
“Now that we’ve established this is a good thing, I need to tell you something serious,” she announces.
I’m startled by the sudden change and that the expression on her face is, in fact, serious. “Okay,” I say slowly, wondering what’s up.
She gestures to me before she says, “Now, it’s a fact that Felicity Falls wore pantyhose and a polyester dress nearly every day that she was at the front desk at the station, so I understand why you’re wearing this outfit. And honey, it’s lovely, really. If you were in your sixties, that is. Luckily for you, Tyler Jameson isn’t uptight in the way Chief Perry was. He wore Felicity down quick too. Within two months of taking over, he had her wearing pedal pushers and sweater sets. The skirt and top you have on are too formal for the new and improved Charlotte’s Cove Police Department.”
My brow furrows as I look down at my long-sleeved, cream-colored top with buttons up to just below my neck. My skirt is a pleated navy number that ends below the knee, and my sensible cream-colored heels are in no way alluring. The tan pantyhose I’m wearing round the outfit out terribly. I really do look like a spinster, but that’s what I was going for. I spent three hundred dollars buying mix and match business wear on a website that specializes in modest-looking clothing, because I thought I knew what to expect. Charlotte’s Cove has never been big on change.
“So I should just wear… um, what, exactly?”
“Tyler’s pretty casual. As long as you’re in something appropriate to deal with the public, he’ll be happy.”
That means I can use the clothes I wore to work in LA, which is a plus. I have more of that stuff than I do the schoolmarm attire I bought. Hopefully I can return some or all of it, because it’s awful. “I’ll go change then. I’m glad you came over so I didn’t spend an entire day in this. It’s not the most comfortable outfit in the world.”
“In combination with the bun hairstyle, it’s also a tad Little House on the Prairie,” Millie teases.
I laugh, because she’s not wrong. After she leaves, I head down the short hall to the bedroom and quickly get ready for work, again. Unsure of exactly how casual the new chief really is, I put on a floral cotton dress that ends above the knee and a pair of petal-pink Rothy’s. I’m frugal about a lot of stuff, but footwear isn’t one of those things. Assessing my outfit with a critical eye, I decide it’ll have to do. I then take my hair down and restyle it into a softer, less severe bun, leaving some soft tendrils to frame my face. With that out of the way, I swipe on a bit more of my favorite nude lipstick.
Glancing at the clock, I groan. Even the idea of being late to work makes my stomach rumble. Hadley would’ve gone up one side of me and down the other if I’d arrived anything less than fifteen minutes early each day, and it’s definitely scarred me. Hurrying to the kitchen, I pick up the lunch Millie left for me, grab my car key, and race out the door.
First day of work, here I come.
_______________
SINCE IT’S NOT yet summer, traffic on the island is non-existent, which means I arrive at work twelve minutes early. Not bad. Parking outside of the precinct, I can’t hold back the smile that spreads across my face. The brick building is postcard perfect, the same as it was when Chief Perry was in charge. On either side of the glass doors to the entrance, there are lilac trees. To the right of the building, just above the large window that looks out onto the parking lot, four-inch polished brass letters tell anyone who didn’t already know that they’re at the Charlotte’s Cove Police Department. To the left of the building is a small outdoor space, consisting of a paved seating area with four benches circling a beautiful Japanese maple. Everywhere you look, there are beds of fresh, red mulch full of pink and yellow tulips. Not coincidentally, they match the plantings across the street at the multi-denominational church and the elementary school just down the block.