Page 13 of Sunrise

We head another block down and round the corner to a little produce stand. She pulls out the list Brynn gave her and starts pulling open the tote bags she was carrying.

"Finishing the shopping the flying kiwi stopped yesterday?" I joke.

Lin laughs. "Exactly."

She makes quick work of grabbing strawberries and some other fruits before checking out.

"Let's put these in the car and then hit the grocery store and post office before we head back," Lin says once she finishes.

Just as we load the bags into her car, her phone rings.

"Hello?" she answers, and a moment later, she rolls her eyes, then holds the phone out to me.

"It's for you," she says as I take the phone from her.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Hey, man," Wren says. "So I just got off a call with the studio."

"What did they say?" I ask, but something in his voice tells me it didn't go the way he wanted.

"Well, they want you to show that you are more stable and settled down. Basically, they want you to drop the playboy tag and become more family-friendly," he says.

"I've been trying to do that for that last year, and they expect me to do it overnight now?"

"I have a few ideas, but I just need you to stay there and keep your head down. I have a meeting with another studio in a few days, so let's just see what they say, okay?" Wren says.

"Fine. What choice do I have?" I say and hang up.

As I pass the phone back to Lin, her hand touches mine, and we both freeze. The anger and irritation I felt just moments ago vanish and are replaced with a desire to get her even closer.

She clears her throat and steps away.

"Everything okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, just my manager pushing my buttons. Let's get this shopping done so we can get you back to the inn," I say.

The rest of the shopping goes like before. We shop, she talks with the locals, no one pays me a bit of attention, and then we load everything into the car.

By the time we head back to the inn, I realize what it is to have a normal life where I'm just another face on the street. And I think I like it.

Chapter 7

Linly

Ever since the night our parents died, Brynn and I have hated thunderstorms. They bring back all the horrible memories from that night. That's why we're huddled on the back porch of the Sunrise Inn together after dinner to watch the storm and wait for it to end.

Neither of us will be able to sleep, and we feel safer together. We are all each other has left after all. Wrapped in a blanket Brynn's mom made, we're sitting on the wicker couch on the porch staring out over the water. The back porch is so deep we are able to stay dry no matter which way the wind blows.

A flash of lightning followed by a loud crack fills the air, and we both jump. I wish we could go back to the days when we wanted to go run on the beach when it rained. We thought the summer showers were like magic cooling us off after the hot summer heat. Now they seem more and more like a curse used to scare us.

We're both staring out over the water so intently that neither of us sees Kade approach from the other end of the porch. When he plops down in the chair next to us, we both jump and squeal.

"Slacking on the job, aren't you?" he jokes.

His eyes bounce from my face to Brynn's and back to mine before he sits up and the smile on his face drops. That was the wrong thing to say, and I know Brynn won't let it go.

Brynn snaps at him before I can stop her. "You are the only one here, and it's after nine o'clock. What do you expect us to be doing?"

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