Page 39 of Searching for Sunshine

Stella and Avery glance at each other, looking like they’re about to start giggling again before Stella answers. “Apparently, one of the bridesmaids from this weekend is a major influencer. We’re talking millions of followers. Well, she just posted a reel about the Hideaway a few hours ago and it’s gone viral.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I ask, looking between the girls. I’ve never been into social media so I’m not sure exactly what the big deal is.

“It means a shit ton of people watched the video,” Trent answers.

“Well, I know that. But how many are we talking about? A couple thousand?” I ask, looking between the girls and fighting the urge to roll my eyes as they start laughing again.

“Not quite. Actually, as of right now, it’s at seven point two million views in less than six hours,” Avery says, tapping at her phone screen. “And we’ve gained over nine thousand followers on the Hideaway’s page too since she tagged us.”

“Oh my god,” Stella gasps. “This feels like a fever dream. Wait, did we get any reservations from it?”

Stella and Avery both freeze for a second, their eyes wide before Avery rushes to tap on her phone screen some more. After a moment her jaw drops and she sits there, frozen.

“Uh, Aves, I love you, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen you speechless. I’m going to need you to say something because I’ve gotta say, it’s freaking me out a little,” Stella says, looking nervously at her best friend.

After a moment, Avery looks up from her phone, her eyes wide. “Stels, we’ve had over thirty reservations made since lunch today. Plus, four bachelorette bookings. We’re completely booked through the last weekend in July already starting next week.”

I’m pretty sure no one at the table moves, as we all stare at each other in shock. After a moment, Stella blurts out, “There’s no damn way this is real. You mean to tell me that, after just under a month of owning the hotel, some random bachelorette party happens to book the Hideaway? And one of those girls happens to be an influencer who posted a video about their stay at our hotel and it happens to go viral? And now we’re booked?” she rambles, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Uh, yeah, I think that pretty much sums it up,” Avery says. “And reservations are still rolling in, some of them all the way into next spring and summer.”

After a moment, Stella looks at her best friend. “We’re seriously booked?”

“Yep, babes, we are. From what I’m seeing there isn’t a day left in the summer that we don’t have any guests after this Wednesday,” Avery answers, continuing to scroll through her phone. “And Wyatt and Trent, I have over forty messages asking for y’all’s social media and website so they can book tours with you, not to mention the bridesmaid packages.”

Now it’s my turn to go quiet. Trent looks at me across the table, and I start to understand why Stella and Avery couldn’t stop giggling. It’s a weird feeling to think that one video could have such an impact on our lives, but here we are.

“Uh, I guess now’s not a good time to tell you we don’t have any of that shit?” I ask, wincing at the idea of losing all of those clients.

“Yeah, you do,” Avery answers, her eyes wide. “I knew you’d fight me on it and tell me you didn’t need any of that shit—which obviously, you do. So I just went ahead and drew up some branding and started a few social media pages for you last week. And I also found a way to tie your booking services into ours, so everyone who books with us has the option to also add on a charter. It’s just not live yet, because I was planning to ask about it tonight.”

I blink at her for a moment before asking, “Wait, you did all of that without talking to me?”

“Yep,” Avery answers, popping the p. “And it took me hours, so you can just say thank you for all the business you’re about to get. Or if you’d rather, I can reply to all of these people and tell them they’ll have to call your number to set up a time. But I guarantee you won’t get more than three phone calls.”

“I swear to god, if your stubborn ass screws this up for us,” Trent mumbles under his breath, and that’s enough to bring me back to my senses.

“No, you don’t need to do that. I’m sorry. I was just caught off guard. But thank you, Avery. This really means a lot to us.”

“No problem. Now I feel like we should do shots or something, right?” Avery asks, causing Stella and Bennett to laugh.

“Hell yeah, we do,” Stella answers. “I need to run to the bathroom and I’ll stop at the bar on the way back. Aves, can you let me out?”

Avery nods and Stella heads behind us in the direction of the bathroom.

“So, if it works for you, I can come by and show you how to work the software for future website bookings sometime next week. I can also make some tweaks to the logo while I’m there if there’s anything in particular you want to see,” Avery starts. We spend a few minutes going over what she’s designed for us. The new logo is honestly a lot better than the one we currently have, and I’m impressed with the way she managed to tie in a fish hook and an illustration of the boat inside the words of Crestbrook Charter Company.

“That looks great, Avery,” I say genuinely.

“Yeah, there’s not a single thing I would do differently. Thank you again for taking this on for us,” Trent agrees.

We talk for a few more minutes before I realize Stella still isn’t back yet. Looking around the room, I see her standing over by the bar, waiting for our drinks.

“Damn, Everett must be short-handed tonight, it’s taking her forever to grab those shots,” Bennett says, following my gaze over to where she’s standing. I don’t love the slightly uncomfortable expression on her face, but due to other people standing around the bar, I can’t see what’s going on.

“Yeah, can you move and let me out? I’m going to check on her,” I announce, moving out of the booth and over to the bar. As I get closer, I start to have a pretty good idea of what had her looking upset. There’s a man beside her I’ve never seen before, and he keeps leaning over to say something in her ear. Each time he does it, she scoots further away, but he follows her. I’m already holding back my anger at how uncomfortable she looks, but right as I step behind her, he grabs her arm and pulls her closer to him, looking at me warily.

“You’ve got about two seconds to get your hands off my wife before we have a serious fucking problem,” I growl, and he looks up at me with wide eyes.

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