Page 84 of Life, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness

Delilah reached across the truck seat and tweaked her daughter’s chin.

And so it went the entire day, including when they walked down the street, while the machines were churning away at the Laundromat, to the secondhand clothing store, Out of the Closet.

The owner, George Saunders, took one look at Maggie as she skipped in with Delilah, and said, “Lilah, you are in such luck! Lance just sent me a half dozen boxes of children’s clothing from the Hatteras shop. Some rich folks did a closet cleaning.”

George and his partner, Lance, owned a dozen upscale thrift shops throughout the Outer Banks and into South Carolina down to Myrtle Beach. What didn’t sell in one community did well in another.

“I just called Sally Dawson over at Sweet Thangs to come look-see, but she has only boys . . . three growing boys. So, no conflict with you. Wanna see?”

“Of course.”

Maggie was already off to the side eyeing a pair of red sparkly Dorothy (from The Wizard of Oz) shoes. They would probably be too big, but she could grow into them, Delilah supposed.

“They’re still in the boxes in the back room, so they might be wrinkled.”

“No problem.”

And he had been right. The boxes were a gold mine of little girl bargains. The usual Gap and Old Navy jeans and tops, with some Kalliope Kids outfits tossed in. But then, there were a few high fashion dresses from couture designers—a pink tulle dress over black-and-white polka dots from some French boutique, and a Lanvin leopard print dress to die for. At fifty dollars each, that was expensive for a thrift shop, but way below the original prices well over five hundred dollars. George gave them to her, a repeat customer, for a combined discount price of sixty dollars. Still expensive, but Delilah figured she had to have some way to celebrate the treasure hunting success.

Not that she wasn’t going to celebrate in another way tonight. Which reminded her that she hadn’t heard from Merrill all day. She checked her cell phone. Nope. No replies to the three previous text messages she’d sent, either. Which was unusual for him. But then, this was an unusual day.

Back to shopping. Delilah discovered that her daughter was a mini fashionista, a born shopper. The deciding factor on any dress was whether it passed the twirl test. Pants couldn’t be so tight they would hinder running. Tops couldn’t be scratchy. And orange was an icky color.

It was fun shopping with her daughter, and she even found a few things for herself. Some of them were chosen by Maggie, who proclaimed, “You have a great butt, too, Mommy.”

From the mouths of babes!

“I heard that,” Sally Dawson said with a laugh. She’d just arrived with her three little boys in tow. “Be prepared. The things your kids say will embarrass you. The trick is to embarrass them first.”

Three adorable boys, with short brown hair and freckles like their mother but pale blue eyes that must come from their father, one of them missing his two front baby teeth, stood behind Sally, looking like they wanted to be anywhere in the world but a clothing store. Three bicycles were parked outside. They all smelled like something sweet, cookies probably, having come from their bakery down the street.

Glancing at Delilah’s overladen shopping cart, Sally made a face. “You got here first.”

“Yeah, but I left all the boys’ things.”

The youngest, about Maggie’s age, stepped forward and said to the little girl, “I have a new bike. It’s red. Wanna see it?”

His brothers gawked at him like he was either brave or crazy. They might have liked to do the same thing but they were much cooler older guys, at least six or seven.

Maggie looked to Delilah for permission and she nodded. She just knew that the next thing Maggie would be wanting was a bike.

“I promised the boys burgers and fries at the The Bay Shack for lunch if they behaved,” Sally said. “Wanna join us?”

“Sure. I need to pay for this stuff, then put loads of wet laundry into the dryers over at the Laundromat first.”

“Good. I should be done by then. Can’t wait to hear about the big treasure discovery on Sweet Bells. You guys are gonna make this town famous.”

“Um . . . where did you hear that?”

“It’s all over town. Annie and Sam from The Morning Show did a news alert about it on NBX-TV this afternoon. Treasure Found. Bell Cove Riches. Or something like that. More news to come at six.”

That must be why she hadn’t heard from Merrill. He would be swamped with inquiries if news of the shipwreck discovery had leaked.

An hour later, and a hundred dollars poorer, Delilah sat with Sally eating delicious soft shell crab sandwiches with sides of coleslaw, while Maggie and the boys devoured cheeseburgers and homemade boardwalk fries. They would have eaten outside on the deck, except that the sky was dark gray and the breeze uncomfortable. She’d like to be home before the downpour hit.

Before Sally had a chance to grill her on the shipwreck discovery, Laura Atler, the local newspaper editor, came over to their table. “Congratulations, Lilah!”

“Well, I’m just the cook and odd job person. I don’t dive.”