Chapter 12That summer was the worst of times and the best of times, to paraphrase Charles Dickens.
Christopher, Henry, and I spent it living in adjoining rooms in the Bandy Hotel, eating every meal at the Bottom, Monique’s Bakery, or the downtown diner. Henry and I worked at the store with Riley and Larry and one other kid I hired so that Henry and Larry had some summer days to goof off together.
The tourists overran Old Town and swarmed the hardware store. Residents came in either singly or in groups to commiserate on the loss of the farmhouse, a part of Stone Acres history. With designer Fredi Zimmer’s help, Riley, the boys, and I gave the store a makeover. We added a history exhibit that looked like a scene from the old hardware store, where kids of all ages could weigh out two-penny
