Page 3 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
The woman wrote on a cup, and Kaiah moved to the side of the counter and leaned against the wall. Her eyes darted back to the hot guy, who was now talking on his phone. Judging by his T-shirt and gym shorts, he’d just come from a workout. She noticed the way his dark blue shirt hugged his biceps, and clearly he didn’t skip leg day at the gym. Good grief, were those things carved from granite?
Stop it, Ky!
She didn’t have time to obsess over this guy. Instead, she had to worry about how much these car repairs were going to set her back and how on earth she was going to pay for them. She’d sublet her apartment to a former coworker for a couple of months while she was on the road, but this year her income as a freelancer hadn’t been stellar. The assignments seemed to be drying up, thanks to a rise in social media travel accounts that people could access for free instead of paying for an online magazine. And now this reporting trip could end upcostingKaiah money? A dull ache began to throb behind her eyes.
She knew if she ever got a staff writer job at a world-renowned magazine likeTravel and Culture, one of the most respected lifestyle and travel media companies, then she could finally count on a real salary and maybe even some benefits. But that seemed like a pipe dream.
“Reid,” a young woman called from behind the counter, jolting Kaiah out of her low-grade misery. “Jamie, Laura, Mark, and... um, Cayenne?”
Kaiah resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn’t the first time she’d been referred to as the spice. If only her parents weren’t obsessed with names beginning withK, then she could’ve been named something more normal, like Olivia or Madison. Those were names people could spell without an explanation.
Kaiah swiped the cup off the counter and started toward thecluster of tables. She took a whiff of the brew the way she always did, so she could enjoy the rich scent of vanilla before devouring the drink. But she only smelled regular black coffee. The vanilla was missing.
“Excuse me, miss?”
She spun and found herself face-to-face with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome.
Oh, hello!
“I think I took your coffee by mistake. And judging by your cup, I think you have my Americano.” His voice was warm, deep, and smooth. “Did you order a vanilla latte?”
“Y-yeah,” she managed to say.
“Here you go.” He held out his cup, and they made the exchange. “Sorry about that.” And when his very symmetrical face broke out in a sheepish grin, she thought she might melt right into the Roast Shack’s floor. “I promise I didn’t take a sip.”
“I didn’t either.”
“Great.” He nodded as she silently admired his chiseled jaw lined with a hint of dark scruff.
“Thanks,” she said before he gave her another friendly nod and then sat at a table with a woman and a couple of men who seemed to be around his age.
She found an empty table and pulled out her laptop before connecting to the internet and checking her email. A message from her editor was waiting, asking how her trip was going and how soon she could expect the South Carolina story. Kaiah also read messages from both the Airbnb host and her tour guide in South Carolina, confirming her stay and her plans to check out Edisto Beach.
Kaiah took a sip of her vanilla latte and tried to allow the warm drink to calm her frayed nerves. The auto shop was busy, but maybeshe could ask Bill if the mechanic could fix her car first thing on Monday. And since she was only five hours away from Edisto Beach, she could get there in the evening and not have to rearrange her schedule too much. But she couldn’t modify her Airbnb reservation until she knew for sure...
Her phone began to ring, and she found her favorite sister’s name on the display. “Hey, Kam,” she began, “you’ll never guess where I am.”
“Hmm,” Kamryn said. “Well, I hear voices, so not in the car.”
“Nope. I’m in a coffee shop in Nowheresville.”
“Well, that sounds cute. How’d you end up there?”
Kaiah told her sister how she limped Daisy to the mechanic’s garage before retreating to the coffee shop.
“Coral Cove, huh? It sounds pretty.”
“From what I’ve seen, it is. Reminds me of those trips we used to take to Maine when we were kids.”
“Oh... oh wow.” Kam sighed, her voice thick with emotion. “That feels like a million years ago, huh?”
A vision of their mother, young and healthy and beautiful, floated in Kaiah’s mind. She felt a tug in her chest and was sure her sister was remembering her too.
Pushing the memories away, Kaiah pulled up her map app and looked at the route from Coral Cove to the Airbnb. Yup, almost five hours.
“You know, Ky,” Kamryn began, “I’m not going to say I told you so, but... you have entirely too much faith in ol’ Daisy. She’s pretty, but she’s also high maintenance. Devon said the same thing.”
Kaiah sighed. “I know, I know. I hate to say it, but you and my brilliant brother-in-law may be right.” Her gaze wandered from herlaptop, and she paused when she found Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome watchingher. He smiled, and she returned the greeting before his eyes shifted to the woman beside him.
