Page 24 of Searching for Sunshine (Crestbrook Cove #1)

Stella: I want to kiss you right now.

Stella: Thank you so much Wyatt. And tell Everett thank you and to let me know how much I owe him.

Wyatt: Don’t worry about it, I already took care of it.

Wyatt: But I will take that kiss when you get home tonight.

“Damn, Stels. What spell did you manage to put on the poor boy?” Avery teases, leaning over to read the messages over my shoulder.

I roll my eyes at her before I text him back.

Stella: Deal ;)

I throw my phone back in my bag and grab the drink out of the cooler, taking a long sip and smiling.

“Did you hear back from Chloe?” Avery asks. “I know you said you were going to invite her this morning, but I didn’t know if she replied.”

“Yeah, she said she had to check in with some of the lifeguards this morning but she should be here soon. I’m glad she’s coming.”

“Me too. We could use some other girlfriends, especially if you’re planning to start abandoning me to roll around in the sheets with that hubby of yours,” Avery teases, and I roll my eyes at her.

“That’s not exactly what happened,” I say hesitantly.

“Babes, I love you, but don’t even act like you didn’t get some last night.”

I blush and finally decide to say screw it.

“Fine, we might have a moment or two, but we agreed it’s just for fun. Friendly, casual, meaningless, sex.”

“Pshh, yeah, I’m sure that’s gonna go super well, Stels,” Avery says sarcastically.

“The two of you are married and he’s getting his brother to track down his supplier to buy you those damn drinks.

And you’re still gonna be living together for the next eleven months?

Sounds totally casual and meaningless to me. ”

“Hey, y’all,” Chloe calls, coming up behind us and dropping her small beach bag in the sand. “Sorry, I’m late. One of my lifeguards was twenty minutes late for his shift, so I had to wait until he got there. But anyway, what’d I miss?”

“We were just talking about Stels having hot sex with her fake husband. She thinks it doesn’t mean anything, but we both know that man is obsessed with her,” Avery interjects before I can say anything and I shoot her a look of frustration.

“Damn, Aves, we want Chloe to be our friend, not run her off the first time she hangs out with us,” I say, rubbing my face with my hand.

Avery shrugs. “Sorry, I figured it’d be best to just throw her straight in. We both know there’s no point in pretending I have a filter.”

Chloe looks between us for a moment, and I’m afraid she’s going to leave as quickly as she came, but instead, she bursts into laughter.

“Oh my god, this is exactly what I’ve been missing. I’m so damn glad you two moved here. But wait, I need us to back up. What do you mean fake husband? I thought y’all got married?” she asks, and I sigh.

“It’s kind of a long story. Wyatt and I weren’t in the mood to give the whole run down to the town, so I’ll totally tell you, but can you promise to keep it between us?”

“Of course. I’ll be honest, outside of the teenagers who lifeguard for me, I don’t have much social interaction. Whatever you say is totally safe with me,” she promises.

I give her a quick rundown of the last month, and she looks at me with wide eyes as I talk about the hotel and the fake wedding, and all the way up to the events at the bar last night.

“Oh my god. This is wild! Nothing like this ever happens in Crestbrook!” Chloe says, and I laugh.

“Yeah, it’s definitely all a little out of the ordinary. But last night we agreed to meaningless sex for the rest of the time while we’re married,” I admit, and Chloe laughs.

“Oh yeah, sorry Stella, but you two are totally fucked. I know you’ve been gone a while, but over the last few years, Wyatt’s become totally withdrawn from everything in town, and just kinda a grump.

I know he puts all of this pressure on himself to take care of his brothers.

And I’ll be honest, you saw how much everyone in this town has been struggling to make ends meet recently.

But everyone in this town has noticed how different he is around you. ”

“See, I told you, Stels,” Avery says matter-of-factly.

“I think you’re both overreacting. Sure, we’ve always gotten along, but I don’t think he feels that way about me,” I insist.

Avery and Chloe look at each other before Avery rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s all it is. But even if that’s true, you still haven’t told us how you feel about him.”

I hesitate, knowing if I admit the truth to Avery, she’ll never let it go. “Yeah, I guess I like him a little.”

“Stella Elizabeth Hale Robinson,” Avery yells and I laugh at her use of my full name with the addition of Wyatt’s last name.

“Uh, Aves, you know I didn’t actually change my name, right?” I ask, and she shrugs.

“Yeah, whatever. Enough of that. Come on and be honest. You know we don’t keep secrets in this friendship.”

Sighing, I decide to give in. “Fine, there are definitely some feelings there, but I’m not ready to dissect them yet.

I’m still getting adjusted to living in Crestbrook Cove and we’re about to be so busy with the hotel that I just want to enjoy how things are for a while before I put any more pressure on everything,” I admit, and Chloe nods encouragingly.

“I think that’s a good point, Stella. You and Avery have both been through a lot of changes over the last month, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not wanting to rush anything,” she says, and I smile at her in gratitude.

“Fine, I’ll allow it,” Avery says, obviously content with the information she was able to get out of me already. “So, now that that’s taken care of, we need to talk about the Hideaway for a minute.”

“Wait, is something wrong?” Chloe asks, looking between us in concern.

“Actually, for once, I don’t think so,” I say with a laugh.

“We just hosted our first bachelorette trip and apparently one of the girls is some major influencer, and she made a post about the Hideaway. Well, it went viral and now we need to figure out how we’re going to staff all the bookings we got from it. ”

“Wait, so you actually need a full staff? How many reservations are we talking?” Chloe asks.

Avery pulls out her phone. “I actually haven’t let myself check any of the numbers because I wanted to be with Stels when I did. But last night before I went to bed, there were over seventy-five reservations made yesterday.”

Chloe’s mouth drops open in surprise. “Are you serious? This hotel hasn’t had more than ten rooms booked out at a time since I was in high school.”

“Yeah, it’s not what we expected, but we’re still grat—” I start before Avery interrupts me with a loud scream.

“Damn it, Aves. You’ve gotta quit doing that,” I complain, looking over and waiting for her to fill us in.

“Stels,” she says, looking up at me, “we’re almost completely booked from the Fourth of July next weekend until the end of August. We’ve also already got bookings for spring break and next summer. Plus, ten bachelorette requests and I’ve gotten four wedding inquiries for next summer too.”

I stare at her in shock. “No, that can’t be right.”

“Yeah, it actually is,” she argues, her smile spreading.

“Wait, how many reservations came in since last night?” I ask, trying to make sense of what she’s saying.

Avery taps at her phone for a moment before answering, “Another sixty-five and counting. And we’re up to almost twenty thousand followers on Instagram.”

With that, I can’t control the laughter that bubbles out of me. “This can’t be fucking real,” I wheeze out through the mixture of laughter and tears I feel building. “Aves, how the hell are we going to make this happen with exactly two-and-a-half staff members?”

“Wait, we’re gonna come back to how fucking incredible this is, but I’ve gotta know, who’s the half?” Chloe asks, looking between us.

“Kelly, the housekeeper has just been coming in on an as needed basis,” I explain, then add, “oh my gosh, I’m actually gonna have to call Miss Clara and ask her for help.”

“Well, that may be a possibility,” Avery mutters. “All I know is we have a few guests coming in this week, and after that, the next six weeks are nonstop. So we’d better find some staff before that.”

“What are we going to do, Aves?” I ask, trying not to panic.

“Wait, wait, wait. I know this is a little overwhelming, but do the two of you not understand how fucking incredible this is?” Chloe asks, looking between us.

“Or how many other businesses this could help? Not just Wyatt’s business, but they have to eat somewhere.

And Bennett’s surf shop? We could even get some new businesses if we actually have enough tourism to support them. ”

Avery and I pause, neither of us realizing how far-reaching this could be for Crestbrook Cove.

“Yeah, I didn’t really think about it like that, but you’re right,” I admit.

“I know I am,” Chloe teases before opening her bag.

“Listen, I stopped by The Sand Bar and had Everett make us a gallon of that yummy pineapple vodka lemonade he makes. I say we spend the next hour drinking and tanning, and then tomorrow you drop the news to Miss Agatha that you need help. Have her put it in the The Cove Column . I guarantee you won’t have any problem finding people to help you.

Personally, I know I’ll even help out where I can. ”

“I’m gonna have to take your word on that one,” Avery says hesitantly.

I smile, knowing Chloe’s right. “Actually, I agree with her. With the way this town gossips, once we get the word out, I think we’ll have the help we need. Now, let’s spend a little while drinking away our problems and get ready to work our asses off.”