Page 93 of Second Chance at Sunshine Inn

Silence stretched between them, and then a thought took hold of her:What if we madebothof Alana’s dreams come true? What if we took the B&B to the next level and started the nonprofit? Would Cade be willing to do that with me?

Cade tilted his head. “What’s going through your mind right now?”

She twirled her fork in her hand and debated telling him the truth—that she wasn’t sure she wanted to leave Coral Cove or even sell the inn, but she didn’t know how to bring the nonprofit to life without a sale.

Alana is our guardian angel. What would she want us to do?

Everleigh knew for sure that she didn’t want to argue with Cade again. She wanted to keep talking to him like this.

Her thoughts wandered to their argument last Saturday, and the urge to clear the air between them surged inside her. They had discussed so much since he’d brought her to his apartment last night, but that subject hadn’t come up once. It was the elephant standing in the room with them, and she needed to find the courage to address it.

“All right.” He set his fork down and rested his elbows on the table. “Your mood suddenly changed when I asked you about the nonprofit. I really think it’s a great idea, Everleigh. I understand why it was important to you and Alana.”

“Thanks, but that’s not what’s troubling me.”

His lips formed a thin line. “Troubling you?”

She moved her hand over her warm mug. “I’m sorry for interfering with your family last Saturday. I never should have arranged for you to see Declan or to ambush your mom that way. I was totally out of line.”

Cade scratched his cheek. “And I’m sorry for being such a jerk about it. I never should have yelled at you or left you stranded.” He pushed his knife around on his plate. “I looked for you at the festival after I stormed off, but you’d found a ride.”

Surprise doused her. “You looked for me?”

He nodded. “I should have called or texted you to say so, but I was too angry.” He turned sheepish. “Sometimes my temper prevents me from doing the right thing.” He scoffed. “Okay, let’s be real. Italwaysdoes.”

They were both silent for a moment, and her mind clicked through so many questions. Should she have gone looking for him instead of running to the park and going to the coffee shop with Trevor? If she had, then maybe they could have worked things out Saturday night instead of spending five painful days apart.

“Have you talked to your brother since the festival?” she asked.

“We’ve texted here and there, but we haven’t discussed my mom. I don’t even know what to say about her.”

“Have you reached out to her?”

He shook his head. “I’m too bitter.” He settled back on his chair. “Have you talked to Harlowe?”

Everleigh shook her head.

He held up his mug toward her. “A toast to our dysfunctional families.”

She snickered and tapped her mug to his.

“There’s that smile,” he said.

They continued to eat their breakfast, but Everleigh’s thoughts turned toward the mess at the inn. She hadn’t looked out the window yet—she almost didn’t want to—but she assumed the damage was extensive.

“What should our plan be for the sunroom?”

Cade took a long, deep breath. “Well, I haven’t been outside to look yet, but through the window, the sunroom looks completely flattened.”

“Ouch.”

“First and foremost, we need to cancel all of our reservations until the inn is back to normal.”

“Once we have power and the internet is back online, I’ll take care of that,” she offered.

“Great,” he said. “Roger builds sunrooms for a living, so I’ll get him over here to take a look. Also, I’m going to call my dad. He’s a plumber, and he knows plenty about construction. They can help me determine if it’s safe for you to go inside or not.”

She considered her shirt and shorts. “Can I at least run in for something more presentable to wear before we have company?”

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