Page 26 of Searching for Sunshine

“Yeah, we grabbed some beers when we came in, but I don’t mind getting you and Avery whatever you want,” I offer, and Stella shakes her head.

“Nope, I got it. I’ll be right back,” she says, bouncing off to the bar where my brother’s working.

“So, how was today at the Hideaway?” Bennett asks Avery, causing her to go into detail about the new ways she’s trying to get the hotel’s name out there. I zone out for a minute and turn when I hear a squeal over by the bar next to where Stella is standing.

“Oh my god, Stella, is that you?” a girl calls from across the bar, but there are too many people in between for me to tell who it is.

Avery and I both crane our necks to look for whoever yelled at Stella, and finally, after a moment I see Chloe Hill emerging from the crowd of locals who just came in the door and running to give my wife a hug.

“Who’s that?” Avery asks me, looking over at the two of them.

“Chloe Hill. She supervises the lifeguards for all of Crestbrook Cove, and she and Stella used to be great friends when she visited, but I don’t know if they kept in touch,” I admit,watching as Stella grabs her drinks and leads Chloe over to our table.

“Oh my god, I could not believe it when I heard you were back in town! It shouldn’t have surprised me when I heard you married this guy but I just can’t believe how fast it happened. I was gone for a few weeks attending some training, and I heard you were back and married in the time I’d been gone,” Chloe rambles as Stella gestures for me to scoot further into the booth so Chloe can sit with us.

I do as she asks, trying to act like I’m annoyed, but I’m mostly excited to have an excuse to have her so close to me. Sure enough, as she slides into the booth, she presses her small body against mine, and I wrap my arm around her to pull her close.

“Gosh, if you two aren’t just the cutest thing,” Chloe says with a giggle as Stella hands Avery her lemonade.

“Thanks, babes,” Avery tells her before Stella pauses to introduce the two of them.

“Avery, this is Chloe. Chloe, meet Avery. Avery and I have been roommates for the last several years, and she moved down here with me to help me take over the Hideaway. And Chloe and I were great friends when I spent my summers down this way. I’m so glad we finally ran into each other. I thought about you the other day and I was thinking you must have moved away from Crestbrook Cove since I hadn’t seen you yet. But I’m so happy to know I was wrong.”

Chloe and Avery smile politely at each other from across the table, and Stella keeps babbling away excitedly.

“We have to have a girls’ night or something soon. I know there’s not a ton of options in Crestbrook, but I bet we could still come up with something really fun to do together.”

“I’m totally in,” Avery agrees. “We’ve been working so hard on the hotel. I feel like we still haven’t done a very good job ofexploring the town. I’ve lived here for almost three weeks now, and I still haven’t been to the beach!”

“Oh yes, that would be so much fun! I’d absolutely love—” she starts but is cut off when Avery checks her phone and squeals loud enough that the whole restaurant turns to look at us.

“We just got our first booking!” she yells. “Five rooms and the bachelorette package!”

Stella screams at the announcement and jumps over Chloe to get out of the booth and hug her best friend. Bennett and I shake our heads as they jump around excitedly.

“Wait, when is it?” Stella asks, her eyes wide.

Avery pauses, reaching across the table for her phone. “God, I was so excited we finally got something, I didn’t even think to check. Let me look.”

She taps away at her phone for a second before she looks up, and I realize she looks slightly pale.

“Uh, well they check in the day after tomorrow,” she says, looking at Stella. “Shit, how the hell are we going to pull this off? That’s literally less than forty-eight hours until they’re here, and we still have so much to do at the Hideaway before it’s ready.”

“Great question, but we’re just gonna have to make it work,” Stella says.

Before the girls can say anything else, Chloe interjects. “Hey, it’ll be great. I have the day off tomorrow, so I’m happy to come help.”

“Yeah, Stels. I don’t think we have but one charter tomorrow so you can put Trent and me to work too,” I tell her.

Bennett nods in agreement. “Yeah, I should be able to slip away from the shop tomorrow afternoon too. We’ll make it work.”

“God, I love living in this town,” Avery whispers to Stella, causing her to giggle.

“Yeah, I don’t mind it either,” Stella agrees. “Let’s drink up and get something to eat, so we can head back. We have a weekend to plan.”

CHAPTER 14

STELLA

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