Page 24 of Second Chance at Sunshine Inn

“I wish I had enough to buy her out, but thanks to my ex, the only thing I have left is my bike.” He pointed his bottle of soda toward the motorcycle sitting on the gravel driveway. “And the truck Alana gave me.”

Roger was silent as he took a long drink of Coke. Then he angled his body toward Cade and grinned. “What if you tried another approach?”

“I’m listening.”

“Humor her.”

“How?”

“Tell her you’ll sell,” he began. When Cade opened his mouth to protest, Roger said, “Hold on. But you’ll only agree with certain conditions.”

“Rog, I don’t want to sell.”

“But if you make the conditions impossible, it won’t sell anyway. Tell her she has to advertise it for sale by owner. That way, she won’t have the help of an agent. And put a ridiculous deadline on her. Like two months. Then tell her if the inn doesn’t sell by the deadline, she needs to go back to her job and let you run it.”

Cade let the idea roll around in his head. “I don’t know...”

“Just an idea.” Roger shrugged and took a sip.

Cade contemplated Roger’s suggestion while he looked out toward the street. At the very least, the plan might get her off his back.

He turned his focus back to his best friend. “You think that might work?”

“I do.”

“But what if she gets an offer?”

Roger’s grin was back. “She can’t sell it without your signature, right?”

“Right.”

“Then just refuse. She’ll get frustrated and leave, and then it will be over. You’ll have your sanity back too.”

Cade nodded.

Roger patted his shoulder. “If nothing else, having an attractive partner ain’t bad, right?”

Cade shook his head. “Right now, all I care about is getting her out of the inn and getting some visitors back. I’m ready to open up reservations whether she likes it or not.”

“Good call, man.”

Cade took another drink of soda and wondered if Roger’s idea might just work. He wanted nothing more than to hang on to the inn—but maybe the easiest way to do that was to push Everleigh Hartnett out of his life for good.

Chapter 7

Everleigh flitted around the kitchen at the inn. It was Thursday evening, and she had tilapia on baking sheets and ready to go in the oven. The table in the dining room was set for two with Alana’s best china. Everything was falling into place. She just had to finish the meal and then call for Cade. The last time she’d checked, the garage door was still open. She assumed he was tinkering on his motorcycle or his truck.

She’d spent the past week going through the last of Alana’s things and settling in at the bed-and-breakfast. She and Cade had only spoken in passing since their conversation over a week ago when they’d sat outside the sunroom with Bryant. Cade had kept to himself while he took care of the grounds and rarely came inside the house. And even though she hadn’t mentioned selling the inn again, she’d been busy researching Realtors. Tonight she’d planned a special meal so she could tell him what she’d found out.

Everleigh brushed melted butter on the fish and then sprinkled salt and pepper over it. When she opened the oven doors, smoke poured out, and soon the smoke detectors began shrieking.

Oh no!She’d forgotten to set the timer for the french fries!

Cade appeared in front of her. “Move,” he ordered before yanking the baking pan from the oven and dropping it in the sink. He hissed and shook his injured hand.

She gasped.“Cade! Are you okay?” She took his hand in hers. “You should have used a hot pad instead of just grabbing the pan.” Her eyes lingered on his rough skin, examining the red spots. But when she looked up at him, his sky-blue eyes were focused on hers. The look was intense and something she couldn’t quite decipher, and an unexpected shiver moved through her body.

“Cold water will help.” She turned on the faucet and angled his hand under it. “I’ll make you an ice pack.” She started searching through cabinets and drawers for zippered storage bags.

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