Page 12 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

Lifting one hand off the wall, she moved the heavy pink hydrangea heads blocking her view. The restaurant was packed and more beautiful than she’d imagined with its acres of white marble and brass finishings.

On a light, humid breeze, smoke from the wood-burning firepits on the patio drifted past her face, and she sneezed. Loudly. Several people turned her way. She ducked behind the flowers as her mother and sister whispered for her to hurry. She looked over her shoulder to see foam-capped waves lapping at their calves.

“Just give me one more second,” she hissed. She wanted to see for herself how many of their regulars were here.

Once again, she separated the leafy foliage with her fingers. Only this time, she edged up, her head popping above the tops of the hydrangeas. If it weren’t for a cake being carried to a table to the right of the dance floor, the servers singing an off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday,” Eva might’ve missed Ruth and her family—along with several of their other regulars, including Mr. Santos, at adjacent tables clearly enjoying their meals.

“Do you see Ruth and her family? Any of our other regulars?” her mother called up to her.

“No. None of our customers are here.” She hoped her mother didn’t pick up on the depressed note in Eva’s voice. It was hard not to feel disheartened after what she’d seen. She didn’t know how they could compete with this. The food smelled wonderful, the customers looked relaxed while they enjoyed their meals, and the restaurant was truly beautiful.

A shadow fell over Eva as she searched for a toehold beneath her right foot. She glanced up. A man had come to stand by the wall. He was close enough that she could smell his cologne. She sniffed, wondering why it smelled familiar. Curious, she moved the hydrangeas aside.

He was looking out over the bay with his hands in the pockets of his black, well-tailored pants. His suit jacket fit his broad-shouldered, slim frame to perfection. The sun glinted off the copper strands in his golden hair and the stubble on his chiseled jaw. He had the stance of a supremely confident man, a man who was used to commanding respect and attention. He’d certainly captured hers, Eva thought at the uptick of her pulse.

He looked down, and piercing blue eyes met hers.

She nearly lost her grip on the wall. “James?”

He blinked. “Eva?”

“What are you doing—?” she began, her train of thought interrupted by a loud splash. She dragged her gaze from his and looked over her shoulder. Her mother and sister were…swimming?

Laughing, they raised their hands. “Come join us. It’s the perfect night for a swim,” they called out, acting as if this had been their plan all along.

Eva heard people whispering and returned her gaze to James. He was no longer standing at the wall alone, and he was no longer the only one looking at her. They’d drawn a crowd. Eva sighed. There was no help for it. Like her sister and mother, she had to act as if they were out for an evening swim instead of spying on their competition.

She glanced over her shoulder. She wasn’t about to fall into the water backward. It wasn’t deep enough yet. She had to turn around. Clinging to the hydrangeas, she let go of the wall.

James frowned. “Eva, what are you doing?”

“I’m going swimming, darling. What does it look like?” she said, edging her toes out of the crevices. As she pushed off the wall, James swore, reaching for her as she turned in midair. She heard people gasp just before she hit the water.

It was only a couple of feet deep at the base of the wall, and she landed on her knees. Better than on her face, she thought, and then she turned onto her back to float out to her sister and mother. Pink hydrangeas bobbed around her, and she imagined it would make a pretty picture. She smiled up at James and waved, even as she had a sinking feeling she knew why her former lover was here. He must own Windemere.

Chapter Five

Lila stood in the hallway staring at the closed door of the men’s restroom. Luke Hollingsworth had had a thing for her back in the day? She leaned toward the door, about to press her ear against it to hear Luke’s response. She rocked back on her heels. What was she thinking? It didn’t matter whether Luke had had a crush on her or not.

When a voice in her head argued that it did so matter, she reminded the teenager she used to be that she was getting married. In a month. At Windemere. With three hundred guests who right now didn’t include the five most important women in her world.

She opened her purse and took out her phone, looking for a private place to call her cousins. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She noticed a door across from the ladies’ restroom, where there was no longer a line. Just her luck. If she’d waited ten minutes longer, she could’ve avoided embarrassing herself.

But then you wouldn’t know that Luke Hollingsworth had a crush on you back in the day,argued her teenage self, who seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her head.

“I’m getting married,” Lila said firmly, wondering whom she was trying to convince. She looked around, praying no one had heard her, because she’d actually said that out loud.

She blamed it on stress. She was stressed and overwrought, and why wouldn’t she be after all that she’d learned within the span of fifteen minutes?

You’ve got cold feet, the voice in her head unhelpfully added.

Lila was pretty sure her feet weren’t just cold, they were freezing, but that wouldn’t stop her from going through with the wedding—which meant she had to get her cousins on board. The men’s restroom door began opening, and she heard Luke and his friend talking. Lila sprinted for the door across from the ladies’ restroom, relieved when the knob turned under her hand. She slipped inside. Closing the door quietly behind her, she patted the wall for a light switch and flipped it on. The storage room held shelves of cleaning supplies and toilet paper.

She leaned against the door and brought up WhatsApp on her phone, then pressed the call icon. Her face popped onto the screen. She wrinkled her nose at the streaks of mascara under her eyes, dampening a finger to swipe them away. She was about to pinch color into her pale cheeks when her cousin’s face appeared.

Willow stood in front of a green screen wearing a yellow polka-dot bikini. “Hey, babe, I’m on air in ten minutes so make it quick. What’s up?”

“You’re going on air inthat? I mean, not that you don’t look fantastic, you do.” It was true. Willow was drop-dead gorgeous. Her body was toned and tanned, and she wore her sun-kissed blond hair in long, beachy waves.

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