Page 1 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove

ChapterOne

Daisy Decker had always been a girl with a plan.

So why did she feel like she was drifting aimlessly in the middle of nowhere?

Outside the window, gusts of wind sprayed icy water against the side of the vessel, carrying the scent of pine and autumn leaves through the nearly empty ferry. Daisy let out a shiver and wrapped her sweater closer to her body, wishing she’d taken more than five minutes to research her destination before tossing a few “cute fall girlie” outfits into her suitcase and fleeing the city. Apparently, Michigan had very different definitions of fall than California.

A vibration from her smartwatch tugged her attention away from the mesmerizing swells of Lake Huron and she glanced down to see the preview of a text.

Robin

Stop hiding from me. Answer your phone.

Daisy rolled her eyes, cracking a smile for the first time in what felt like days at her friend-slash-agent’s dramatics. She was not hiding. She was just taking a strategic retreat while she tried to formulate a plan to salvage the wreckage of her career.

That’s what she was good at. It was sort of her “thing”: Daisy Decker—the girl with all the plans. She cringed at the memory of that slogan being slapped across half the HGTV billboards in the Midwest a few years back.

Her watch buzzed again, flashing the name Robin across the screen.

Taking a breath, Daisy fished out her phone and winced as she answered it. “Hi…”

“Hi?” Robin asked from the other end. “You dump your boyfriend, quit your job, and then vanish into thin air for forty-eight hours and all you have to say is ‘hi’?”

“Hi…How are you?”

Her friend let out a groan. “You infuriate me.”

Daisy grinned, relaxing for the first time in twenty-four hours at the sound of a friendly voice. Well…friendly-ish. “I’m sorry, Robin. I should have talked to you before bolting.” A swell of water splashed against the glass as the ferry passed beside an enormous bridge. In the distance, the outline of an island was just starting to come into view. “I just…I had to get out of there.” Like. Immediately. Because the moment she’d stood up in that conference room and laid down that ultimatum, making them choose between her and her hunky costar-slash-very fresh ex-boyfriend Logan, she’d known it had been a mistake.

“I know,” Robin said softly, followed by a heavy pause. “He’s a jerk. And they’re idiots for picking him over you.”

Daisy sucked in a breath, trying her best to smother the sudden ache in her chest. “Thanks, babe…but honestly, I think I’m over him.”

“Sure. Because it’s just that easy to get over someone you dated for over two years.”

Daisy stared out across the choppy water, searching for the right way to explain it. “Really. I think we’ve been over for a while now…I just didn’t want to admit it, you know? It felt like we were this package deal—Double and Decker—but something was never quite right. And I kept waiting for things to click, but they just…never did.”

The truth was, it wasn’t seeing Logan with his arms around another woman that had made her run. It was her pride. It was standing in that boardroom, Jerry McGuire style, with the heavy silence of rejection pressing in on every side, that kept her awake at night. She couldn’t let that be the end of her career.

She heard her friend take in a breath of her own and then, “Okay, so what’s next? I can start making calls…” Her tone turned suddenly optimistic.

“I’m glad you asked,” Daisy said as the docks came into view. “Priority number one is damage control. I’m sure social media is already spinning out stories about the way I stormed out. The longer I avoid the public, the more power Logan has. That brings me to priority number two. If I’m going to get back on the radar without the network’s help, I need content. And I need it ASAP. So, the plan is as follows:

“Step one, find myself an adorable little house on an adorable little island. Step two, film myself giving the house a total ‘Decker’ remodel and slap it up on YouTube. Step three?—”

“Absolutely annihilate Logan andDouble Deckerin ratings until the network realizes they made the wrong choice and come crawling back?” Robin suggested.

Daisy grinned. “Bingo.”

“I guess it’s a start,” Robin said. “So where are you going to find this adorable little house?”

Before Daisy could answer, an automated voice echoed through the ferry speakers. “On behalf of everyone at Jonathon Island, we’d like to welcome you to the island. We’ll be docking in just a few minutes, so please remain seated until the vessel has been secured to the dock and luggage carts have been unloaded. Please take this opportunity to collect your things. And lastly, please be courteous to your fellow passengers as you exit the ferry. Thank you, and have a nice visit.”

“What was that?” Robin asked, her frown sounding through the receiver. “Daisy, where are you?”

Daisy shifted in her seat, trying to get a glimpse of her destination. “Jonathon Island, Michigan.”

The ferry slowed as they passed a pair of buoys bobbing in the water. Daisy’s eye trailed up to the shore, where the water faded from blue to teal, lapping against a white pebbly beach. Above that, a wall of pine trees hugged the shoreline with pops of orange and red.

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