Page 2 of Second Chance at Sunshine Inn

The light turned green, and the driver steered down the street before pulling up in front of a large glass window with Buford, Buford & Gallagher etched across the front in fancy script.

The middle-aged man slipped the SUV into park, then angled himself in the seat so his dark, deep-set eyes were focused on Everleigh. “Here we are.”

Just in time!

“Thank you,” Everleigh said, the sound of the rain permeating the vehicle.

The driver hit a button, and the locks popped. “Trunk’s unlocked,” he mumbled before turning his attention back to the windshield.

She turned toward the front of the lawyers’ office, realizing she didn’t have a jacket or an umbrella. Surely Mom had seen her pull up and would run out with an umbrella.

“You gettin’ out?” the driver barked.

“Uh... yeah.” Everleigh slipped her crossbody purse over her head and shouldered her backpack, then pushed open the door and jumped out into the pouring rain. Her black Converse high tops sloshed through the standing water as she pushed on the tailgate trunk lever. It didn’t want to budge, so she yanked on it. Then smacked it.

Nothing happened.

“Ugh!” she yelled. The downpour was soaking her hair, along with her black T-shirt and jeans.

Everleigh spotted the driver’s reflection in the side mirror. His head was bent as if studying his phone. She huffed out a frustratednoise and hit the tailgate button again. She’d taken many Ubers since she started working as a traveling nurse, but this was the first driver she’d encountered who hadn’t bothered to open the trunk for her.

“Need some help?”

Everleigh jumped with a start and spun toward the deep voice: a man now holding a large umbrella over both of them.

Oh, hello, blue eyes!

The stranger was tall—at least five or six inches taller than her own five-foot-seven height—and his sandy-brown hair was cut short and had a natural wave. But those azure eyes... They were focused onher. She guessed he was in his late twenties or possibly early thirties, but no matter. The man was handsome, and he’d arrived just in time!

Relief slid through her. “Yes!”

“Here, hold this.” The stranger handed her the umbrella before pushing the lever on the tailgate, which lifted with awhoosh, as if by magic.

“I guess there are some gentlemen left in this world,” Everleigh declared as he grabbed the handle on her black-and-white houndstooth suitcase and yanked it from the trunk with a grunt.

“Brought your rock collection?” he grumbled, heaving the ginormous suitcase onto the sidewalk.

She gave him a sheepish expression and pointed to the lawyers’ office across the sidewalk from them. “Thanks. I’ll take it from here.”

“I got it.”

Confusion overtook her. How did this guy know where she was going?

He slammed the tailgate, then made a sweeping gesture toward the office. “Go.”

“But how did you—” she started.

“It’s pouring,” he said, interrupting her. Now hepointedtoward the office. “Go,” he repeated.

Everleigh hustled through the rain, doing her best to hold the large umbrella over herself and the stranger. When they reached the door, she wrenched it open and held it for him.

“Everleigh!” Mom crossed the room and pulled her in for a hug. “You finally made it.”

Ignoring her own questions about the stranger, Everleigh leaned down and held on to her mother. Nearly a decade ago, Everleigh had sprouted up taller than both her mother and her older sister. She breathed in the comforting scent of Mom’s perfume—White Diamonds—an aroma that always took her back to her childhood. And thoughts of her childhood always brought with them memories of Alana.

“Oh, sweetie.” Mom pulled a wad of tissues from her pocket and placed it in her hand. The dark circles under Mom’s deep-brown eyes were signs she’d been struggling to sleep, just like Everleigh had since she’d gotten the news. Mom’s eyes welled with tears, and Everleigh touched her hand. “I can’t grasp that my best friend since college is gone.” Her voice was rough.

Everleigh sniffed.Don’t cry! Be strong for Mom!

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