A Holland Harbor Clean, Small Town Romance book 2.

Time For Change

A Clean, Small Town Romance

Chapter 1

Anna Dowling addressed the customer standing between her and lunch. “How does that look, Mrs. Moore?”

Mrs. Moore examined her reflection in the mirror, tossing her head from side to side. Anna watched attentively, handing her a mirror, and gently turning her around in the chair so Mrs. Moore could view the back of her hair. Anna was proud of her work, with over fifteen years of experience as a hairstylist and the proprietor of Locks and Love Salon for the last five years.

“It looks beautiful, as always, dear,” Mrs. Moore complimented.

“Thank you,” Anna replied graciously, taking the mirror back and assisting Mrs. Moore out of the styling chair. Her passion for the beauty industry stemmed from her desire to uplift and empower others, particularly women. While Anna believed that true happiness came from within, she also understood the transformative power of looking and feeling one's best. That’s what had sent her to beauty school rather than college years ago.

Anna confirmed, “Same time next week?” as they approached the cash register, even though Mrs. Moore hadn't missed a Saturday afternoon appointment in years.

“Yes, dear,” Mrs. Moore affirmed with a smile.

After ringing her up, Anna watched Mrs. Moore leave for the parking lot, where Anna knew her grandson was waiting to drive her home. She thought it so sweet that when Mrs. Moore’s grandson became driving age, he had taken over bringing her to her Saturday appointments from his mother, Mrs. Moore’s daughter-in-law. The Moores were a great family, and Anna felt a familiar pang of longing. She didn’t come from a big family, and even though she had grown up in Holland Harbor, her parents had retired to Florida years ago and she only saw them on an occasional holiday. Her brother lived in California, and they weren't close, so she didn’t see him often.

“She's the nicest lady,” Evie, one of Anna’s employees, said, walking up, nodding toward Mrs. Moore who was just walking out the door.

“She truly is. If only all clients were like her,” Anna replied wistfully.

“I know, right? I noticed you had Renee earlier. Was she as hard to please as normal?” Evie inquired.

Anna nodded. “She’s always in such a bad mood. I don’t understand her. Life is too short to be so negative all the time.”

“She was never the most positive of people, but I think since her husband left, she hasn’t been able to see the happiness in anything,” Evie said.

Evie was right, and Anna had compassion for Renee. She knew what it was like to have your husband up and leave with no warning when you thought everything was perfect. She hated that Renee still hung onto her anger even though her divorce had happened years ago. Anna and Renee used to be friends, but Renee started distancing herself, and after her divorce, well, Renee closed herself off from everyone, to Anna's knowledge. She had rebuffed any attempt Anna made to be friendly with her.

“Some people just don’t want to be happy,” Evie said.

“I guess not, but enough about Renee. I see that you don’t have any more appointments for the day, and neither do I. I haven’t had lunch yet. Do you want to walk over to the farmers' market and get something to eat?”

Evie’s stomach growled at that moment, and both ladies laughed.

“Clearly, my stomach decided to answer for me. I would love to go to the farmers' market with you. Both the taco truck and the barbecue truck are so good. I just hate that I will have to choose.”

“Then let’s not choose. We can get something from each place and split it, if that works for you, and then we can have the best of both worlds.”

“That’s a perfect solution. I’m in.”

The women went to the back to get their purses and then headed out the back door after letting the two stylists still working know where they were going. Anna didn’t have any more clients for the day, but she would be back. Not that the other employees weren’t capable of closing properly, but when she didn’t have plans, she often stayed, even when she didn’t have appointments, for walk-ins or just to be a presence and be there to help if needed. She had always told herself that as a business owner, she wanted to make sure her employees felt supported and always knew they could come to her. Anna felt that was what made a great team, and so far, she had been right in her approach because while there were only four of them, they were a close-knit group, and it made for a friendly work environment.

“It’s so nice to see sunshine after the last few days of rain,” Anna said.

“Yeah, it’s kind of surprising it’s not more humid, especially considering it is July.”

“You don’t consider this humid?” As they strolled toward the next block where the farmers’ market was located, Anna stole a quick glance at her friend. “I’m already feeling sticky, and we’ve only been out here a couple of minutes.”

“I do consider this humid. I just meant relative to how it normally is in South Carolina in July after rain.”

Anna laughed. “I like your optimistic nature. I’ve lived here all my life and I still sometimes wonder how I’m going to make it through summer without melting.”

“Me too, but I can't imagine living anywhere else.”

“I couldn’t either.”

The ladies reached the edge of the farmers' market and headed right to the food truck section. Holland Harbor was a small beach community about 45 minutes from Charleston. It expanded to about three times its normal population of 20,000 during the peak tourist months, and while sometimes that could annoy the locals, Anna knew that the money tourism brought kept many businesses afloat. Even though Anna’s business was made up of primarily locals, a lot of her friends depended on the seasonal income.

“Is there anything in particular you’re craving?” Anna asked as they stood in front of the taco truck staring at the menu.

“It all sounds good to me. But if we're also to get barbecue, how do you feel about the chicken nachos from here?”

“Sounds delicious to me.”

A few minutes later, Anna and Evie headed over to one of the many picnic tables set up around the food trucks. Since it was a little later than the traditional lunch hour, there were several tables available, which didn’t always happen. They sat down with their food and dug in.

“I’m glad we decided to get something from each place. The chicken nachos and the barbecue brisket are both so good I can’t decide what I think is best, and I’m glad I don’t have to choose,” Anna said.

“Me too.” The women ate in silence until they finished and stood up to throw away their plates.

“You want to walk around for a bit before we head back to the salon? We can walk off some of this food,” Anna said.

“That’s a great idea. I should’ve stopped a few bites ago, but it was so good.”

“Same here.”

“Can we go over to the Waverly Farms booth? I’m almost out of my favorite goat cheese. The garlic flavor. Have you had it?” Evie said.

Anna felt a little bit of a tingle at the mention of Waverly Farms. “I’m pretty sure I’ve had every flavor they make, and honestly, I can never decide which one I like the best, but I know the garlic and the poppy seed are my two favorites.”

Each vendor had a specific spot at the farmers' market, and Anna knew exactly where the Waverly Farms stand was. This year it was located in the northwest corner of the market, which was opposite where they were by the food trucks. The women meandered in that direction, stopping every once in a while to look at one of the stands. There were a lot of local craftsmen that Anna admired, anything from sewing, to woodworking, to wine, to cheese and jams, like the Waverly Farms stand. Her friend Darla had recently bought a hand-carved oak front door from a vendor here, and its craftsmanship could rival anything in a bigger city. Anna loved her little town. Her brother had left for California when he went to college and never returned, and while where he lived was pretty, it was inland, and Anna couldn’t fathom not living by the beach. Her favorite thing to do was to take her coffee out on the beach and walk at sunrise.

“Oh good, there’s not a long line,” Evie said as they reached the Waverly stand, but Anna wasn’t looking at the line of customers. Instead, she was looking to see if Chan Waverly was working. As Evie checked out the cheeses, Anna glimpsed Chan helping a customer. He looked up, caught her staring at him, and gave her a slight smile. Anna glanced away and quickly joined Evie, pretending to care about cheeses instead of the fact she felt attracted to Chan Waverly. She hardly knew him, but when her friend Darla had got together with his brother Charlie, she couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. But her and Chan together? That would never happen.

This book releases 9/13/2024 and is currently available for pre-order.