Page 32 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

“So next time you’ll order salted caramel brownie?” Sage asked, but Lila had a feeling she wasn’t talking about ice cream.

“No, I think I’ll stick with vanilla.” Vanilla was safe. She needed to stick with vanilla.

“You’re hopeless,” Willow said, and then turned to Luke. “I thought you’d be out on the boat. No charters today?”

“Yeah, we’re booked solid. But I’ve got a good crew this summer, and I take off Sundays and Mondays to get caught up at the shop.”

“Luke builds handcrafted paddleboards and kayaks,” Willow explained. “You should see them, Lila. They’re incredible.”

“You started that in high school, didn’t you?” Lila asked. “I remember you talking about it.”

He smiled. “I’ve improved since then, at least I like to think I have.”

“You’re being modest,” Willow said. “The station featured him in May, and he was on the cover ofPaddlingmagazine.”

“Luke, that’s amazing.”

Sage’s narrowed gaze moved from Luke to Lila. “You two are a match made in heaven, and you don’t even know it.”

“Sage!” Lila had no doubt her cheeks were cherry red and noticeable to anyone who bothered to look, which Luke was doing. He seemed as shocked by her cousin’s declaration as she was.

Sage rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t talking about a romantic match. I was talking about a business match. Lila’s opening a consulting business,” she told Luke. “And if you’re serious about building your business into more than a hobby, you need her. She was director of branding for her dad’s company, and he said she was the best there is.”

“He’s my father, Sage. He has to say that.”

“Don’t listen to her, Luke,” Willow said. “She didn’t get her job because of nepotism. She got it on merit.”

“I don’t doubt that Lila’s good at her job,” Luke said. “In high school she was voted Most Likely to Succeed.”

She’d forgotten about that and wondered how Luke knew, then remembered that his brother, Adam, had graduated with her. He’d probably shown his family his yearbook.

“What exactly would you do for someone like me, I mean my company?” Luke asked, and then he gave her a self-conscious smile. “I’m not sure it even qualifies as a company. It’s just me and two part-time employees, but it’s definitely not a hobby anymore.”

“I could tailor a plan specific to your goals for your business, but essentially, I’d focus on developing your brand’s profit-and-loss performance and image and positioning compared to your competitors. Do you have a social media presence?”

“We do for the charter business, and I’ll post on there once in a while. Does that count?”

She smiled. “No. But if you’d like, we can set up a time to talk, and I’d be happy to give you some suggestions.”

“Do you have time now? You could come take a look at the shop.”

“Yes!” Willow cheered. “We’re business matchmakers.”

“It was my suggestion, Willow. Not yours,” Sage said.

Lila hesitated, thinking this might not be the best idea. She hadn’t even talked to David about starting a consultancy business on her own, and she didn’t completely trust that her cousins weren’t attempting to use Luke to drive a wedge between her and David. But her worries were overridden by her interest in Luke’s business and the potential to take on her first client.

“Sure. You guys will be at the dinner tonight, right?” Lila asked her cousins as she got up from her chair.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Sage and Willow said at almost the same time, and the way they said it made Lila wonder if she’d regret that they were there.

“If this isn’t a good time for you, Lila, we can do it another day,” Luke said as she joined him on the sidewalk.

“The dinner isn’t until seven, and I don’t have anything else going on. But Luke, you don’t have to hire me. Sage and Willow put you on the spot.”

“Not at all. I think they’re right. This could be a good opportunity for both of us. I haven’t put enough energy into building the business, either one of them, and it’s mostly because I don’t have the time or the expertise. And it’d be easier for you to attract more clients if you already had a couple lined up, especially outside of the hotel industry, wouldn’t it?”

“Absolutely,” she said, her pulse quickening at the thought that she was really going to do this. It was the first time she’d felt excited about work since she and David had packed up their life in London.

---