Status Updates From Pelican Point (Hope Harbor #4)

The changeable weather in her adopted town was nothing new. She ought to be used to it after two years. This was Oregon. Warm and sunny one minute, with clear skies and views to the horizon. Cool and foggy the next, visibility reduced to a few feet. Yet the sudden deterioration in the weather today felt like a metaphor for life.

Father Kevin to Dr. Be
A loving community—like Hope Harbor—can help compensate for a lack of family. You should ask Charley about that. Or Luis Dominguez . . . or Adam Stone . . . or Brenda Hutton, the wonderful cook and housekeeper Paul and I share, and her son . . . the list goes on. As for friends—you already have quite a few here. It’s a very welcoming place.”

If Harpo, my resident pelican, is there, just wave the towel at him.” “You have a pet pelican?” “No. He followed me home from the lighthouse one day and shows up on a regular basis. I think he’s taken a fancy to my gazebo. But he doesn’t make any noise and keeps to himself, so I’m cool with it.” -Marci

Charley: they’re having donuts at Grace Christian tomorrow after the services. I can recommend the chocolate custard.” Charley winked. Greg froze. Strange that the taco chef would happen to dangle his favorite variety as bait—although it was possible he’d mentioned his preference to the man years ago.

“Well, that old saying we’ve all heard may be trite, but it’s also true. ‘The family that prays together stays together.’”
Rachel goes weekly …

Greg pulled out his wallet. “Are you ever going to take credit cards?” “Nope.” He tapped the small cash-only sign taped to the serving window. “I like to keep life simple. You two enjoy those tacos.”

Charley to Greg (Rachel’s husband)
Yes I read the Bible .. “I’ve been to both of the churches in this town..many occasions.” “But not every week, right?” “If you’re asking me whether I worship regularly, the answer is yes—and not just on Sunday.” Charley could be as slippery as a slime eel if he didn’t want to be pinned down. “You don’t have to go to church every week 2B a person of faith

“It’s a risky venture, though. Papers are struggling everywhere these days.” “That’s why I do PR work on the side. Those clients provide my main income—but journalism is my first love. And every town deserves a newspaper. (She revived it.)

Marci appeared to be bright, smart, and personable. The kind of woman who would rise quickly in any field. So what had brought her here two years ago? Where had she lived before? What had she done in her previous life? Who had she left behind—or come to Oregon to be close to? Why wasn’t she working for a big-name publication? How could she make a living publishing the eight-page, every-other-week Herald?

Marci
“You work on weekends?” -Ben
“Half a day every other Saturday. A necessity with a paper that comes out on alternate Tuesdays. But I try to take some comp time on Wed.”

“Jim Gleason said you came straight from the Middle East. That’s a long haul for a short trip. How much leave did they give you?” “Unlimited. I was a week away from mustering out, and they expedited the paperwork.” So he was ex-army now.

We had some fascinating conversations, and along the way we got to be friends. Sometimes we even met at Charley’s for lunch and ate on a bench by the wharf. I’m the editor of the paper, by the way. Well, editor, owner, publisher, reporter—in other words, jack-of-all-trades. It’s a very small operation.” -Marci re: Skip (Ned)

Marci Weber .. The tiny arched roof over her small front porch hid the caller from her sight, despite the dusk-to-dawn lights flanking the front door. (nach 10 pm n Hope Harbor)
why couldn’t Great-Aunt Edith have chosen to live in the middle of town rather than on the fringes? The Pelican Point cottage might be charming, but the old saying was true. There was safety in numbers.

Maybe, as with the prophets of old, a solution to his dilemma would come to him in a dream. And if it didn’t? He was going to be beating the bushes to find a buyer for his unexpected—and unwanted—legacy.