Page 95 of Sunsets at the Beach House

“Give me one second to send a text and make sure someone’s still there to show you around, then I’ll text you the address.”

“Okay. Great. Thanks!”

“You’re welcome. In the interest of full disclosure, the shopping center where the available storefront is located belongs to my mother, so…”

“That explains how you know about it.” He laughed. “Could it be ready in a month’s time?”

“I think so. But I’ll ask Ethan, our project manager, to be sure. He’ll be the one to show you around, too.”

“I’ll wait to hear from you.”

She called Ethan, made sure he was there and that one of the storefronts could be turned into what Thomas needed in the allotted time.

“A photography studio should be pretty easy. If all he needs is an office built, and the rest is cosmetics, it should be no problem.”

“Perfect. I’m going to text him the address and send him your way.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you. See you tonight.” Roxie hung up and smiled as she texted Thomas the information. If he rented one of the storefronts, she’d really feel good about contributing toward the family business. As much as she planned to help Trina, that was still in the future.

Helping now was even better.

“Great day, everyone,” Jesse said through the intercom. “Really fantastic. I think we could be ready to record by tomorrow afternoon.”

Jules nodded as she looked around the studio. “So do I. This has really come together.”

Everyone smiled.

“Why don’t we call it a day?” she said. “I need to walk my dog and I’d like to get home before the sun goes down.”

They all laughed.

“You’re the boss,” Rita said.

“Try telling my dog that,” Jules said with a laugh. She put her guitar on the stand and soon met Jesse in the control room as the rest of the band filtered out, saying their goodbyes.

“You want to grab some dinner?” Jesse said.

“I really should get home. I don’t know what time they’re all getting back from Landry, but I want to be there to help unload.”

“That’s really kind of you. Do you want me to come over and help?

She shook her head. “Thank you, but I know you have a lot going on here already. Today was really good, wasn’t it?”

“It was. We’re about ninety percent there and tomorrow, with Cash back in the studio, we’ll be complete. This song is going to be life-changing, Jules. You saw how the band responded to it.”

She nodded. “I did and that was really encouraging. I just…I don’t want to say I need to see it to believe it, but I’ve had songs before that people talked up and while they were hits, they weren’t mega hits, the way you all seem to think this one will be.”

“Time will show you.”

Together, they walked out after she grabbed her purse. He locked up. “Hey, speaking of family, I can’t stop thinking about that pie your sister made.”

“The sour orange?”

“Yep. It was so good. I can’t believe I’ve never even heard of it before. She’s quite the baker, huh?”

She laughed. “She is, but I have to tell you, if you’re thinking about asking her out, she’s already got a man in her life.”

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