Page 10 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove (Jonathon Island #5)

“Isn’t it?” Hunter’s voice grew rough. “Every crack, every broken window, every scorch mark…it’s all part of our story.

And maybe it’s not perfect, but you don’t just give up on it because it’s got a little bad luck.

” He ran a hand over his face. “You stay. You fix what’s broken. Because that’s what family does.”

“Even when it’s falling apart?” Miles asked quietly.

“Especially then.” Hunter’s chest tightened.

“Hunt…” Miles’s voice softened with understanding. “It’s not your job to hold everything together.”

Hunter stayed quiet, the rebuttal dry on his lips. Yes, it was.

His brother let out a loud breath. “You know, I’ve been doing these early-morning kayak outings, and one of my favorite things about them is how quiet it is.

Out there on the lake, I can just think.

And lately I’ve been using the quiet as a time to talk to God…

I’m a little new to it. Not super sure what to do outside of what we learned in church as kids.

But I digress…I don’t have a good answer for you.

But I think if you give Him a chance to come through for you, you might be surprised. ”

It wasn’t the clear answer Hunter had been hoping for.

He hadn’t prayed outside of church in…had it really been years? It wasn’t that he didn’t believe. He just didn’t have a deep relationship with the Big Guy. What was the point if He wasn’t going to stick around when you needed Him?

Miles cut into his thoughts. “Listen, Hunt. I’m leading a tour in a few hours, so I gotta prep and hit the road. But…just think about it. I’ll catch you in a couple days.”

Hunter sighed, heaving himself to his feet. “Yeah, okay. See you.”

The call ended, and he was left on the steps of the house, no closer to working out an answer.

Hunter envied Miles’s newfound faith. The Barrett boys were all raised in the church, but Miles had found something greater than the motions. For Hunter, however, he needed a faith he could keep at arm’s length. Something safe and predictable.

And yet, as he stood there, his family’s legacy slipping through his fingers, he couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to have faith like that. The kind that could move mountains—or save houses.

He glanced up at the worn plaque that hung above the door to the house, the verse etched into the wood by the craftsman who built it. For I know the plan I have for you…

With a sigh, he turned away. Prayer might work for Miles, but Hunter needed something more tangible. He needed a plan.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he pulled his phone back out. He scrolled down the contact listed to “Do Not Call Her” and typed a message:

Hunter

Meet me at the house at ten. We need to talk.

* * *

She could not believe she’d proposed to Hunter Barrett. Like some crazed, desperate lunatic. Daisy groaned and rolled over, stuffing her face into her pillow. It was no use; no amount of smothering was going to erase the humiliation.

I…don’t have time for this. For your crazy was what he meant.

“Ugh, I’m a mess,” she breathed as she slumped from the bed. Sitting up, she grabbed her phone from the bedside table and tapped the screen.

Black.

“Figures.” She’d been so upset when she made it to back to her hotel room the previous night, all she’d wanted was to wash the day away with a hot shower and go to bed.

She’d forgotten to charge her phone. “I guess that rules out booking myself a flight back to reality.” At least until it had a chance to charge.

Daisy let out a sigh, dropping the phone into her lap. Her gaze lifted to the window, remembering the coffee shop from the previous morning. “Might as well get some caffeine while I’m at it.”

Thirty minutes later, Daisy stepped into the quaint coffee shop and instantly felt the kind of comfort only coffee shops and bookstores could give.

Her eyes swept across the room, taking in the rustic charm of the weathered wooden tables and black metal chairs. Soft morning light filtered through the large windows, casting a bright glow on the pastel teal display case and the walls adorned with vintage coffee signs and local artwork.

The coffee shop was quiet this late in the morning, only a handful of locals bustling in and out.

Daisy stepped up to the counter, eyeing the menu hanging against the subway-tiled wall behind the register.

A woman with bright-red hair stepped up to greet her. “Morning. What can I get for you?”

“Well, I was going to get a regular black coffee.” Daisy pointed up at the regular menu, and then her finger darted to the next sign over, the one decorated with chalk pumpkins, leaves, and acorns. “But then I saw the seasonal menu.”

The barista grinned, turning to glance at the menu with her. “We do like to keep it fun around here.”

“Clearly,” Daisy agreed. “Can I try the caramel apple macchiato? I could use some cozy fall vibes right about now.”

“Absolutely.” The barista rang up her order and Daisy pulled out her card to pay, but before she could hand it over, another arm reached across her, slipping a ten across the counter.

“I’m buying,” an older woman said. “And my usual, if you don’t mind, Jill?”

Daisy turned to find her favorite waitress, Vera, standing behind her. “Morning, sweetie,” she said. “Thought you’d be headed back to California by now.”

Jill peeked over the espresso station. “You two know each other?”

“Oh sure,” Vera replied. “Daisy’s been a regular down at Martha’s the last couple of days”—she turned to Daisy—“It is Daisy, right?”

“It is,” she replied with a polite smile. “And thank you for the coffee. That was sweet of you.” And then she remembered Vera’s question. “And I was just about to book a ticket, just as soon as my phone is charged.”

Daisy glanced around the room.

“There’s an outlet next to that booth there,” Jill provided, sliding Daisy’s drink across the counter along with Vera’s.

Daisy picked up the cup, savoring the heat against her fingers. She glanced at the older woman. “Want to join me? It’ll probably be a couple minutes before my phone has enough juice.”

Vera’s smile swelled at the invitation. “I would love that.”

They sat down across from one another.

“So,” Vera said, nestling against the gray-green cushion that ran along the wall. “If you don’t mind me asking, what made you travel all the way from California just to look at the old Barrett house?”

Daisy warmed her hands around her mug. “Oh, it wasn’t the Barrett house that got my attention. It was the dollar house program. I heard about it on the news coverage of Asher Quinn’s concert. What they’d neglected to say in the news coverage was that all the one-dollar houses were gone.”

“Oh! That’s too bad.”

“It’s okay. Turns I don’t think it would have worked out anyway. I would have needed to open a business here too.”

Vera smiled. “I didn’t know you were a business owner.”

“I’m not.” Daisy laughed. “I mean, I was. I had a home design firm once. But about five years ago, I started hosting this show on HGTV.”

Recognition lit in the older woman’s eyes. “ Double Decker ! The curb appeal show, where you build the beautiful porches and reface houses and such.”

Daisy shrugged, lifting her palms. “That’s me.”

“I knew I recognized you from somewhere,” Vera said excitedly. “I really enjoy that show. Such beautiful landscapes. I loved the one where you incorporated that family’s old gazebo into the deck rebuild. It was very touching.”

Daisy smiled politely. “Thank you.”

She’d enjoyed that build as well. And she’d had to fight tooth and nail off camera to keep that little piece of history. Logan had wanted to tear it down.

“It takes so much talent to do what you do,” Vera said, a touch of awe in her voice. “How did you get started in the business?”

Daisy cupped her drink and took a quick sip, savoring the bitter mixed with hints of caramel and crisp apple. It reminded her of corn mazes and yellow fields, dotted with burnt-orange pumpkins. It had been a long time since she’d spent a fall in the Upper Midwest.

“Well, I grew up in the outskirts of Chicago, in an old neighborhood with a lot of young families. Starter homes we call them in the reno business.”

Vera sipped her coffee, nodded for her to go on.

“My mom and I lived in this cute little worker’s cottage.

It was blue with green trim,” she continued.

“It had all this personality. Sunburst gables. A covered porch with dentil molding. The bay window looking out over the garden my mom spent entire summers caring for…” She trailed off, realizing just how much design jargon she was using.

She glanced up at Vera and found her grinning, her eyes alight, listening to her.

Daisy laughed, shrugging. “It was a cute house. But the inside was a disaster. My parents had bought the place with plans to hire contractors to fix it up, but”—she sighed—“then I came along and suddenly they didn’t have the budget anymore.

“Anyway, my parents split when I was in middle school. A couple months went by and then one day, my mom just shows up with all these supplies. Paint. Tarps.” She let out a laughing breath.

“She even got us matching overalls…That summer, we worked every night, painting and patching, and making every nook and cranny of that place just as much of a home on the inside as it was on the outside.”

Daisy took another sip of her drink.

“Wow,” Vera said, her voice reminded Daisy of a proud grandparent. “Your mother sounds like a strong woman.”

“She is,” Daisy easily agreed. “She’s amazing.”

“I bet she’s very proud of you.”

An overwhelming sense of homesickness washed over her. She wondered if her mom had heard the rumors already making the rounds. Diva Daisy Decker storms off set.

“I haven’t talked to her in a while.” Not aside from the usual “mom texts.” Thinking about you today.

Hope you’re doing well, sweetie. Or the occasional Just checking in.

She was saving her next phone call for a day with good news.

Daisy ran her fingers over her neck. “Hard to find the time when you’re in showbiz. ”

She should call. It wasn’t like her mom would be disappointed in her. She’d never been disappointed in her. But she just…couldn’t. Not yet. Not until there was a tangible plan to pull her from this catastrophic failure.

The sound of coffee grinding pulled her attention back to the present as Jill set a fresh batch of baked goods into the display case across the shop.

Vera took another sip of the drink and set it down. “And what about your co-host? Is he looking at houses as well?”

Daisy dropped her gaze to her fingers, picking at the corrugated paper sleeve of her cup. “Um, actually. I don’t know what he’s doing these days.” She ripped a piece off and added it to the small pile growing in front of her. Cleared her throat. “They fired me from the show.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. But they might as well have.

“That’s terrible,” Vera gasped. “You were the heart of that show.”

Daisy cracked an honest smile. She had no idea how badly Daisy had needed to hear that, her costar’s voice fighting against it in her head. You wouldn’t even have this show if it weren’t for me.

“And you and—what was his name?—”

“Logan,” Jill provided from behind the counter, and both Daisy and Vera turned to look at her. Jill straightened from where she’d been leaning over the counter to listen. She shrugged. “What? I keep up with things.”

Vera turned back to Daisy. “Are you two still…”

Daisy plastered on a polite smile. She’d been prepared for the question. But it didn’t make it any easier to answer. “No. We split up too.”

Vera reached across the table, giving Daisy’s elbow a comforting squeeze. “I’m sorry, love.”

“It’s okay—I’m okay.” Surprisingly okay. “I’m on to better things.”

Suddenly the barista was beside her. “For what it’s worth, I always thought you were too good for him.” She set down a small plate with what looked like a cherry tart. “You’re sunlight. And he’s fog.”

Daisy blinked up at her in surprise.

Hold on. Was everyone in this place listening in on their conversation? She glanced around and was relieved to see most everyone else had left.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Jill said. “Old habits, you know.” Her eyes drifted to the empty outlet on the wall, and she frowned. “Weren’t you going to plug in your phone?”

The reminder hit Daisy like a splash of cold water. She still had to book her flight, pack, and catch a ferry back to the mainland.

“Oh my goodness, I completely forgot, thank you.” She fumbled through her purse and fished out a charger, plugging it into the wall with her phone attached. The screen flickered to life a moment later, and a message popped onto the screen. Daisy picked up the phone, unlocked it to look at the text.

Hunter

Meet me at the house at ten. We need to talk.

Daisy’s eyes darted to the clock on the wall. 11:15.

“Shoot!” She scrambled to her feet, nearly knocking the table over in the process. “I have to go. I’m so sorry. It was so nice talking to you, Vera. Thank you for the coffee!”

Vera laughed and waved a hand. “Go!”

Daisy pushed through the door to the street and ran.