Page 27 of Second Chance at Sunshine Inn

He studied the document she handed him. When his face transformed, disappointment filled her. All the strides they’d seemed to make toward friendship seemed to disappear in that one moment. He held up the pieces of paper. “What’s this?”

“The business plan for the nonprofit.” She pointed to the script in the margins. “You’ll recognize Alana’s handwriting. We were working on this together, Cade. I’m telling you the truth.”

He glanced at the document and dropped it onto the table beside his plate. His face filled with a frown, and she was certain this one said,I’ve heard enough.

“Please just listen, okay?” she asked, but he continued to look irked. “I would never do anything to hurt Alana’s memory.”

“Me neither.”

“Great.” She smiled. “We agree on that.”

He watched her with suspicion.

“I spent the week interviewing Realtors, and I think you’re going to like the one I chose.”

At this, his features turned sour. “Should’ve known you had an ulterior motive.” He pushed back his chair and stood.

“Wait!” she exclaimed. “Please, Cade. Let me finish. We can get a good price for this place, and the Realtor said we can interview the buyers to make sure we approve of their plans for the inn.”

He scoffed. “Are you that naïve, Everleigh? You can’t control what someone will do with a property once it’s theirs. A developer would love to knock down the place, build a cookie-cutter neighborhood, and charge exorbitant prices for waterfront homes.”

“We can’t control that, but the Realtor said we can insist that we don’t want the inn knocked down.”

“Right,” he snapped. “If we’re going to get a few million for this place, the Realtor will tell you exactly what you want to hear, Everleigh.” He shook his head. “And that’s what you truly believe Alana would want us to do?”

She blinked and then nodded. “Yes, I’m convinced she left me half so I could help people with the nonprofit she and I designed.” She pointed to the business plan. “I’d love to share it with you, Cade. Please take a look at it.”

Cade’s eyes were cool, sending a shiver through her. He clearly was upset and angry, and she longed to convince him she didn’t have bad intentions.

“Please, Cade,” she begged. “Just read through it, and you’ll understand.”

His lips worked for a moment, and she held her breath, waiting for him to speak. But then he stacked their plates, put their utensils on top, marched to the kitchen, and began filling the dishwasher.

She followed him through the doorway, and her stomach twisted. “Cade?”

He kept working, his movements rigid and jerky.

She carried their glasses over, along with the bowl with leftover salad, and set them on the counter. But he continued to arrange the dishes, ignoring her. The hostility between them began to gnaw at her.

“Cade,” she pleaded. “Talk to me. Please.”

“There’s nothing more to say,” he muttered.

She rubbed her forehead. “I’ll clean up since you cooked.”

“I got it.” He added the dishes to the dishwasher.

“Cade, I know you’re upset with me, but I—”

“We’ll never agree about the inn.” He slipped a dish detergent packet into the dispenser, pushed the door closed, and started the machine before facing her. He was silent for a moment, but then his glower relaxed, slightly. “Fine. You win,” he said. “I’ll make a deal with you.”

Her breath hitched in surprise. “Really?”

“I’ll let you put the inn on the market, but only with certain conditions.” He held up his pointer finger. “First, no Realtor. You have to sell it by yourself.”

“By myself?”

“Yup. For sale by owneronly. No contract with a Realtor at all.”

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