Page 26 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
Once they were back in his Suburban, she turned toward him and touched his arm. “Thank you for the private tour.” The warmth was back in her voice.
“Anytime,” he said, and his heart gave a happy kick while they drove to his house.
Chapter 6
Kaiah spent Monday morning multitasking. She googled everything she could about Coral Cove, wondering if she could convince her editor that this lovely town would charm readers the way it had her. But every few minutes, without fail, her thoughts would suddenly flit to Reid and the romantic lighthouse sunset they shared.
How could a man that thoughtful, that kind, thatgorgeousstill be single? By his own choice, probably. He and Piper had obviously been through a lot.
Too bad I have to leave them soon.
Wait. What?
Ky, you just met them. Of course you’re going to leave them soon. You can’t stay here. That’s, like, something a stalker would do.
She’d known Reid and Piper for barely two days. But after spending forty-eight hours with them, she felt so comfortable, as if they’d spent a lifetime building an archive of memories and inside jokes. Kaiah was still surprised that she’d opened up to Reid about her mom and her weird family dynamic, not to mention Hayes.She’d never shared such intimate details about herself with a man she barely knew.
She scrubbed her hands down her face. “Maybe I’m losing it,” she whispered. “I for sure need a vacation when I finish my next article.”
When she picked up her phone from the table, she found it was almost noon. Surely Bill knew by now when he’d have the parts to fix Daisy. The sooner Kaiah got back on the road, the better. She’d just head on over to the auto shop to get the latest news, then head out to savor the warm April sunshine. After all, it was cloudy back in New York. If she was stuck in Nowheresville, at least she could enjoy the great weather.
She lifted the window shade facing the driveway and saw that the Suburban wasn’t there. Reid must’ve had some errands to run. She ignored the disappointment that bloomed inside her.He doesn’t exist just to give you rides, Ky.
Instead, she requested a ride through her Uber app and, a short ride later, arrived at Coral Cove Car Care. She hurried to the counter, where Bill spoke on the phone. He nodded a greeting and finished his call before addressing her.
“Ms. Ross,” he began, “I was going to call you.”
“Oh?” Hope bloomed within her. “You were able to find parts for my car?”
“Well, I have good news and bad news.”
She bit her lower lip.
“The good news is that I located the parts.” He frowned. “The bad news is that they won’t be here for a few weeks.”
She blinked and then blinked again. “I’m sorry, did you say a fewweeks?”
“Unfortunately, I did. The parts are coming from Great Britain, which means it’ll take a while to get them.”
Kaiah rubbed her forehead. This was not how she expected this conversation to go. “Any chance I can drive slowly to South Carolina and make it?”
“You want to take an overheating car on a five-hour ride?”
“Not a good idea, right?”
He shook his head. “Not unless you want to do even more damage and wind up stranded.”
“Right.” Her head started to spin as she ran through alternatives in her mind. She could rent a car, go to South Carolina, write her article, and then return to Coral Cove to pick up Daisy, but the cost of renting a car was astronomical these days. For sure it’d be more than her budget allowed. And if she had to come back to Coral Cove, that meantanotherdetour and delay on her way to Florida, which would lead to spending more money she didn’t have.
What if she took Kam up on her loan offer? Then she could rent the car and go down to South Carolina, but asking her sister for money was so humiliating. She was twenty-six years old and needed to get her life in order instead of—
“Ms. Ross?”
“Huh?” Kaiah’s eyes snapped to his. “Sorry.” She cringed. “I was just trying to figure out what to do now.”
The older man pressed his thin lips together. “I tried to find parts that would be here sooner, but I came up empty.” He paused. “Would you like me to go forward with putting the order in?”
“I would. Thank you.”
