Page 6 of Second Chance at Sunshine Inn

Cade opened a can of cat food. He got a whiff of fish and groaned. “You’ll love it.”

The cat continued to sing his song and weave between his feet. Cade set the bowl down and stowed the can before sitting on the sofa and opening his laptop. As he found the inn’s webpage and studied it, his last conversation with Alana echoed in his mind. She’d been admitted to the hospital, and while he sat beside her, she’d managed to say, “Make me a promise, Cade.”

Cade took her hand in his. “Anything.”

“Promise me you’ll find your sunshine. Don’t keep your heart closed forever.”

Cade’s heart had seized. Such a big promise, but Alana had always seen the best in him. He owed it to Alana to look for the best in himself. He nodded.

“Promise me.” Her voice was a weak whisper.

“I promise.”

Tears stung his eyes, and he swiped them away while he perused the website. Alana had plenty of visitors who came to the Sunshine Inn every year, and he’d already received several emails asking if the inn would reopen soon so they could come back before the summer ended. Since Alana had made him promise to care for the inn, wasn’t it his duty to open the reservations again? Cade held his finger over the button to set the reservations to open.

But he paused. Shouldn’t he discuss it with his partner first? The one who couldn’t be bothered to give him her phone number?

He glowered.

Bryant hopped up on the sofa beside him and began bathing himself, and Cade stroked the cat’s fuzzy head. “Guess I need to consult my business partner before I reopen the place. Right, Bryant?”

The cat continued licking between his toes.

Alana had told Cade that Everleigh worked as a traveling nurse. Best-case scenario, she would allow Cade to run the inn while she returned to her job. If so, she’d be a silent business partner, only sharing in the profits instead of the day-to-day operations.

And that was the best kind of business partner to have.

***

Everleigh breathed in the warm, salty air and scanned the neighborhood where she’d grown up. The sky was dark and showed no sign ofthe earlier rainstorm, and the stars twinkled above her. The brightly colored beach homes sat quietly along the street, illuminated by the golden streetlights lining the sidewalks. Each home was a different shape and style—no two were alike—and each house sported a cute and creative name like Rock ’N’ Reel, Catch ’N’ Relax, or Absolute Beach. The neighborhood felt warm and welcoming, and even though she’d been gone for nearly two years, everything looked the same.

She studied her parents’ blue clapboard home, taking in the name her mother had given it when her parents had purchased it years before she’d been born—The Endless Summer—and she hugged her arms to her middle. The day had been surreal, from her long trip from Houston to the North Carolina coast to the appointment with the lawyer. She felt as if she were stuck in a fog.

After leaving the meeting with the lawyer, she and her mother had met Dad at Little Italy, the Italian restaurant in Coral Cove. It had always been one of her favorites, and Everleigh welcomed the warm comfort of her favorite pasta dish. She’d let the zesty sauce and good company heal her heartache. Soon enough, she was sharing stories about her work in Houston, about her precious patients and her friends at the hospital, before catching up on how her father was enjoying his retirement from the Coral Cove Police Department.

“Everleigh?”

She spun to face her mother, who was standing on the small front porch. “Yeah?”

“Are you going to come inside or stay in the driveway all night?” she asked gently. “Your dad already took your suitcase to your room, sweetie. Let’s get you settled.”

Instead of joining her mother on the porch, she leaned against the front bumper of her mother’s late-model Subaru Outback. The questions she’d been holding deep inside were starting to bubble up to the surface.

“Why didn’t she tell us she was sick?” Everleigh said, her words shaking as she locked eyes with her mother.

Mom came down the steps and took her hand. “I wish I knew. I only just found out too. I didn’t even have a chance to tell you before...” Her voice trailed off.

“But we’re her family—heronlyfamily. That’s what she always told me.”

“I know.” Mom sniffed. “I imagine she didn’t want us to worry.”

Mom wiped at her tears, and seeing her mom cry tore up Everleigh even more. She hadn’t meant to make her cry. She pulled her in for a hug and tried to hold back her own emotion.

When Everleigh released her, Mom pulled a tissue from her pocket and mopped up her eyes.

“I’m so confused, Mom. She left me half of the inn, but she also gave half to that guy Cade. Who is he?”

“He’s been working for her for a while now. Maybe two years?” Mom leaned against the bumper beside her.

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