Page 78 of Second Chance at Sunshine Inn

“It’s pretty there.”

“It is.”

A group of teenagers, each of them licking an ice cream cone, came toward them, and Cade moved to the edge of the sidewalk to let them pass.

He scratched his neck. “You mentioned that you and your wife are starting a family, right?”

Declan nodded.

Everleigh’s face lit up even more. “When’s she due?”

“January.”

“Congratulations,” Everleigh told Declan before smacking Cade’s arm. “You’re going to be an uncle.”

Cade’s heart expanded. In the blink of an eye, he’d gone from being an only child to having a brotheranda sister-in-law and soon a niece or nephew. He was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t speak for a moment.

“How long have you been married?” Everleigh asked.

Cade silently marveled at how she effortlessly kept the conversation going. He considered himself socially awkward, always racking his brain to think of something to say. But social graces came naturally to Everleigh. He imagined she was always the life of the party.

“Almost eight years. It took us longer than we expected to start a family.”

Everleigh nodded. “I’m sure that was very frustrating.”

Declan rubbed his jaw. “Yes, it was.”

They continued walking for a few moments, and then Everleigh suddenly held up her phone. “This is a special day. Let’s take a selfie!”

Cade couldn’t stop his smile as a pleasant feeling moved through him. Leave it to Everleigh to want to commemorate this.

She pushed her phone into Cade’s hand. “You’re the tallest, so you need to take it.” Then she held on to his arm and rested against him. “Come on, Declan,” she instructed. “Lean in close.”

Cade’s brother complied, and Cade’s grin was wide as he snapped a few photos before giving her phone back to her.

“Perfect!” she exclaimed, examining the shots. Then she pointed toward an empty bench. “You two sit, and I’ll get us some drinks,” she said before taking off toward a food truck.

Cade shared an awkward smile with Declan.

“I get the feeling you weren’t expecting to see me today,” his brother said.

“No, I wasn’t.” Cade shook his head. “Everleigh woke me up less than an hour ago, banging on my apartment door and insisting she wanted me to bring her to the festival.”

Declan sat on the bench. “She arranged this.”

Cade sat beside him. “Looks like it.”

Everleigh took her spot in a long line at the food truck several yards away from them, and examined her phone while she waited.

Cade nodded toward her. “I guess she wanted us to have a chance to get to know each other.”

“Yeah.” Declan chuckled. “Seems that way.” He looked out toward Everleigh and then back at him. “Are you two...?” He waved a finger between them.

“No, no.” Cade shook his head. “We’re just running the inn together.”

“She told me that when I stopped by, but it seems like you’re more than just business partners. You two have chemistry.”

Cade considered that while he rested his arm on the bench. “She’s...”Pretty special.“A really good friend.”

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