Three Little Things Read online

  Three Little Things

  Return to Lighthouse Point

  Kay Correll

  Zura Lu Publishing LLC

  Copyright © 2020 Kay Correll

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any matter without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental

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  Published by Zura Lu Publishing LLC

  030120

  This book is dedicated to the wonderful days of “winter" in Southwest Florida. Palm trees, warm breezes, and sunshine—glorious sunshine.

  Kay’s Books

  Find more information on all my books at my website.

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  COMFORT CROSSING ~ THE SERIES

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  The Shop on Main - Book One

  The Memory Box - Book Two

  The Christmas Cottage - A Holiday Novella (Book 2.5)

  The Letter - Book Three

  The Christmas Scarf - A Holiday Novella (Book 3.5)

  The Magnolia Cafe - Book Four

  The Unexpected Wedding - Book Five

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  The Wedding in the Grove - (a crossover short story between series - with Josephine and Paul from The Letter.)

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  LIGHTHOUSE POINT ~ THE SERIES

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  Wish Upon a Shell - Book One

  Wedding on the Beach - Book Two

  Love at the Lighthouse - Book Three

  Cottage Near the Point - Book Four

  Return to the Island - Book Five

  Bungalow by the Bay - Book Six

  Click here to learn more about the series.

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  CHARMING INN ~ Return to Lighthouse Point

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  This is a spin-off series from Lighthouse Point. Either series can be read first so jump right in!

  Click here to learn more about the series.

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  One Simple Wish - Book One

  Two of a Kind - Book Two

  Three Little Things - Book Three

  Four Short Weeks - Book Four

  Five Years or So - Book Five

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  SWEET RIVER ~ THE SERIES

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  A Dream to Believe in - Book One

  A Memory to Cherish - Book Two

  A Song to Remember - Book Three

  A Time to Forgive - Book Four

  A Summer of Secrets - Book Five

  A Moment in the Moonlight - Book Six

  Click here to learn more about the series.

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  INDIGO BAY ~ A multi-author sweet romance series

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  Sweet Days by the Bay - Kay’s Complete Collection of stories in the Indigo Bay series. The three stories in the collection are all interconnected.

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  Or buy them separately:

  Sweet Sunrise - Book Three

  Sweet Holiday Memories - A short holiday story

  Sweet Starlight - Book Nine

  * * *

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Also by Kay Correll

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Ruby Hallet looked out the kitchen window at the brilliant winter day. Winter here on the island was her favorite time of year. The humidity dropped, the temperatures were delightful, the rainy season was behind them, and the sun shone brightly most days. A perfect place to live.

  She glanced over at Mischief, who’d thrown her a sit so she’d give him a treat. He didn’t exactly beg, he just sat there looking adorable in his scruffy, charming way. She grinned. “Here you go, boy.” She grabbed his favorite treat from the treat bowl. He sat patiently until she handed it to him. He gobbled it down and wagged his tail in appreciation.

  “We’ll go for your walk as soon as I finish cleaning up the kitchen.” He wagged his tail again in answer. She swore he knew the word walk. And treat. And who knew what else?

  Getting Mischief had been one of her better decisions if she did say so herself. His friendly tail wagging greeted her each morning, urging her to get up and out of bed with light nudges of his nose. She had to admit she also liked his gentle snoring as he cuddled up on the bed with her each night. It was nice to have someone to talk to in this empty house—even if she was just talking to a dog.

  Her son, Ben, did come by often. Though, not quite as often now that he was dating Charlotte. Plus, he was so busy running the marina. She’d invited Ben and Charlotte for dinner tomorrow night, though, and was looking forward to that. She planned one of his favorite winter menus. She was going to make his favorite chili, homemade rolls, and a salad. If she had time, she was going to bake an apple pie today, too. Her son did have a healthy appetite, but he always seemed too busy to make himself a proper meal.

  It pleased her that he was dating Charlotte. A perfect match for him in so many ways. She hadn’t heard any news from them about how serious they were getting, but she did know they spent a lot of time together these days.

  Which also was a good thing. It kept Ben busy so he didn’t feel he had to come over here so often and check on her. Maybe he was finally adjusting to their new version of life. Though she knew Ben missed Barry as much as she did. It had been hard adjusting to living alone after being married for so many years, but she was learning that life goes on. Hiding out in the house hadn’t worked for her, and she’d slowly begun to discover what kind of life she could make for herself without Barry.

  Mischief walked up to her, his leash hanging out of his mouth. She threw back her head and laughed. A laugh that came from deep inside and awakened some part of her that she’d kept hidden for so long. She reached down, patted his head, and took the leash.

  “You win. The dishes can wait. Let’s go for a walk.”

  David Quinn stood on the balcony of his room on the top floor of Charming Inn. The view of the sea was spectacular from his vantage point. But then, he seemed to appreciate the little things in life more these days like the waves rolling onto shore and a group of pelicans swooping by highlighted against the brilliant blue sky. He sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh, salty breeze and washing away the stale airplane air from his flight today.

  The weathered wood of the railing was smooth beneath his touch as he ran his hands along it. He glanced down at his hands and frowned. They’d grown pale from months indoors. He used to have a healthy glow from being outside. He hadn’t realized how long it had been since he’d gone outside and done simple things like work in the yard or go for walks. He’d fix that now. Daily walks on the beach. Reading books out here on the balcony. He’d stocked his e-reader full of novels he h
adn’t had time to read in forever.

  This wasn’t exactly how he’d planned his life. He missed his job. He missed it a lot. But he wasn’t one to mull over what-ifs. They just drove a person down a long, twisted road. One he didn’t want to be on.

  He needed to learn how to adjust to this new life of his. Not one to be scared off by a challenge—and these last few years had certainly proven to be that—he was going to figure out this new way of life.

  He turned to head back inside, grabbed his suitcase, and put it on the luggage rack. He quickly unpacked and changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Perfect for the winter weather on the island, and a nice change from heavy winter coats and boots back home in Kansas City. Not to mention, he hadn’t seen the sun back home in weeks. They’d had day after day after day of gloomy, gray skies. The dirty snow and dreary skies had started to get to him when he’d finally realized that he didn’t need to stay home and endure them.

  He’d read about Belle Island in an article about where to go to escape winter. After reading some reviews of Charming Inn, he’d booked a room for a few weeks and promptly flown down to Florida. He’d left the dismal gray town in the Midwest far behind him. And hopefully left his trouble behind, too. Though, he’d realized he couldn’t run from it… it would always be with him now. But it didn’t have to be the defining focus of his life. Even if it would always be there, clinging to the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.

  He glanced out the window, pushing away all troubling thoughts, and grinned at the brilliant blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Yes, coming to Florida for a break had been one of his better ideas.

  Chapter 2

  Ruby wandered along the edge of the beach, stopping when something caught Mischief’s eye… and that was often. Very often. But she didn’t mind. She’d come to enjoy their leisurely walks on the beach. The sun had warmed up the day to a comfortable shirt and jeans day. Her favorite. She’d rolled up her jeans and still walked barefoot in the sand, which she tried to do unless it just got too cold for her. Then she’d reluctantly put on shoes for their walks.

  The beach was scattered with other walkers, smiling and nodding when they passed her. She headed toward the lighthouse, stopping to pick up a few shells that caught her eye and stuffing them in her pockets.

  As if she needed more shells…

  But she couldn’t seem to stop herself from always collecting just a few more.

  A light breeze blew her shoulder-length hair, and she reached up to swipe it away from her face. She’d long ago quit coloring her hair, and now it was streaked with gray. She was good with that. It was easier, and for some reason, the streaks of gray hair just didn’t bother her.

  A lone man came walking toward them dressed in jeans and a blue long-sleeved shirt. He gave her a smile as he approached and bent down to pet Mischief, who threw a sit, begging for attention. His smile turned into a grin. “Well, hi there, buddy.”

  “Mischief, leave the man alone. I’m sorry. He’s kind of an attention seeker.”

  The man dropped to one knee. “Can’t blame a dog for wanting a bit of attention, now can we?”

  “Mischief. His name is Mischief. An apt name for him.”

  The man ruffled the fur on Mischief’s back. “So, you’re a handful, are you, boy?” He stood back up and faced her. “Now that I’ve met your friend here, let me introduce myself. I’m David. David Quinn. I’m staying at Charming Inn for a bit.” He reached out a hand.

  She slipped her hand in his, immediately taken by the strong, friendly grip. “I’m Ruby Hallet. Local resident.”

  “From what I’ve seen, you’ve picked a lovely place to live.”

  “I love it here. I’ve lived here for years.” She glanced up at his face. It was a bit pale, which was usually a sign of a tourist who’d just gotten to the island in the winter months. A few days in the sun and wind would change that. His dark hair was streaked with just a few hints of gray, and his blue eyes sparkled with warmth. He was strikingly handsome, not that it mattered. It mattered more that she even noticed that fact.

  “Say, since you’re a local, could you give me some recommendations for where to eat?” He tilted his head to one side, a charming, winsome smile on his face. Not that she noticed that either.

  “There’s the dining room at the inn. It’s wonderful. Jay is the cook there. Can’t go wrong with anything you’d want to order. There’s also Magic Cafe.” She pointed down the beach in the direction of the cafe. “And The Sweet Shoppe will entice you with the best baked goods for breakfast.”

  “That should get me started.” He nodded in thanks. “I guess I should let you continue your walk. Nice to meet you, and thanks for the recommendations.” He leaned down for one last pet for Mischief and turned to walk away with a small wave.

  She watched him head down the beach and smiled when she saw him lean down and pick up a shell and put it in his pocket.

  Another shell collector.

  “Come on, Mischief, let’s finish our walk. Then I need to head over to my knitting group at the community center. You can come with me if you promise to behave.” He jumped up and wagged his tail as if promising to behave.

  He did behave nicely… when he wanted to.

  Ruby got to her knitting group at the community center and claimed a chair beside Dorothy, the woman who had invited her to join the group. Ruby had been tentative at first but now looked forward to their weekly meet up which had somehow become a twice-weekly meetup if enough of the ladies could come.

  Dorothy reached down to pet Mischief. “Hi, Mischief. You going to knit with us today?” He wagged his tail then sat beside their chairs.

  “I brought that lace scarf pattern I was talking about. I thought you could help me figure out this one section that I just cannot get right.” She dug into her knitting bag for a printout of the pattern, smoothed it out, and showed the chart to Dorothy.

  She looked up when they were joined by Lillian Charm. “Mind if I join you?”

  “Lil, you haven’t been to knitting group in forever.” Dorothy stood and hugged her.

  “I know, but Sara insisted I come. My niece can be a pushy one.” Lil smiled. “And now that Robin is helping me with running the inn, it’s a bit easier to get away. And Robin joined in and insisted I can’t just work all the time. And no one really ever argues with Robin.”

  Dorothy laughed. “That’s the truth. I’m glad you joined us.”

  “Hi, Ruby. Didn’t know you came to knitting group.” Lil settled onto a chair.

  Ruby smiled. “I’ve been coming for a while. Dorothy persuaded me. And it’s great to have some help with difficult patterns.”

  “Not to mention having time to just sit and chat while we knit.” Dorothy sat back down. “Let me see that chart again.”

  Dorothy helped her figure out where she was going wrong, and she began the next row of her knitting, hoping she wouldn’t have to tear it out yet a third time, now that Dorothy was here helping her.

  Lil pulled out a lovely cream-colored wrap she was working on. “I love a wrap for, well, wrapping up in on a chilly night on the deck.”

  “That’s beautiful.” She admired the cable work on the wrap.

  “I do love doing cable work, though there’s not much need for heavier knitted items here on the island. When Sara was in Boston, I would knit sweaters for her, but now that she’s moved back to the island, she says she has enough sweaters to last her a lifetime.”

  Dorothy held up the sock she was knitting. “I seem to be on a sock knitting kick.”

  Their talk turned to weather and the winter festival coming up in town. The town would light up Oak Street with white lights and the gazebo at the end of the street. The stores decorated their storefronts and vendors lined the streets with delicious treats. Kind of a winter pick-me-up for the townspeople and tourists.

  “The snowbirds are back in force.” Lil paused and concentrated on crossing a cable, then continued. “Not that I min
d. Love seeing Charming Inn full of guests.”

  “Traffic is a bit of a problem, but we’ve been full at Belle Island Inn too. Susan is pleased. She and Jamie have really done a great job turning things around for the inn.” Dorothy paused her knitting. “And I’m getting lots of hours at the front desk. A little extra money is always a good thing.”

  “There certainly are enough tourists coming to the island for all of us.” Lil continued on with her wrap.

  Mary Lyons came hurrying into the meeting room. “Sorry I’m late. Adam brought me over. I was helping out in the dining room. They have me seating guests now. I do love feeling like I’m helping out.”

  “I know Susan loves having your help. Come, sit here.” Dorothy patted the empty seat on the other side of her. “I’m working at the reception desk at the inn after we finish up here, so we can walk back together.”

  Ruby had heard that Mary was at the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s and her family and friends liked to keep an eye on her. She’d often see Dorothy and Mary out walking Stormy, Mary’s dog, when she was out walking Mischief and she’d join them on their walks.