“What was your favorite meal?”
He shrugged. “I like to cook, so anything is fine.”
“What was the name of your restaurant?”
He took a long drink of coffee. “Sully’s.”
“Sully’s?” she asked. “Who’s Sully?”
Cade ate more of the waffle and considered his answer. He didn’t want to tell her about his business partner who had double-crossed him and run the business into the ground. That level of detail was too much to share with her, even though her eyes seemed to pull him in.
Still, he knew better than to trust her.
“I didn’t pick the name,” he finally said.
“Who did?”
“My business partner.”
“Oh.” She looked curious. “Who was Sully?”
He moved his fingers over his warm mug. “It was his grandfather’s nickname.”
“Super cute,” she declared.
They ate for a few moments, and he felt himself start to relax.
“Mr. and Mrs. Newton were very impressed with your breakfast,” Everleigh said. “What are you going to make tomorrow?”
“Eggs Benedict.”
“Oh, I can’t wait!” Her smile was brilliant as she pulled out her phone. “We need to take a selfie.”
“What?” he asked. “Why?”
“Because this is the first breakfast we’ve prepared together for our guests.” She hurried around the table and held up her phone.
“Whoa,” he protested. “I don’t do selfies.”
She scrunched her nose. “What do you mean? Everyone takes selfies.”
“Not me.”
“Just try it, Cade.” She stood up on her tiptoes, angled the phone toward him, and leaned in close. “Now smile,” she exclaimed before her face lit up. She snapped the photo, then turned and showed him the shot. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”
He snorted as she returned to her stool. “So you liked helping with breakfast?” he asked.
She nodded and ate another bite.
He hoped she was finally remembering why she loved the inn so much, which would mean his plan was working. “I want to add suppers too.”
“When we sell the inn, you should take your half of the money and open another restaurant.” She made a sweeping gesture. “It would be the talk of Coral Cove. You can have your international food days and make bananas Foster Belgian waffles for breakfast. It will be a hit, Cade. I’m sure of it.”
He stilled, and his lips turned down in a frown. So they were back to this. Just when he felt like they were making strides together, she had to bring up selling the inn.
Her smile faded. “Cade? What did I say wrong?”
“I’m done running restaurants.”