Page 8 of Searching for Sunshine (Crestbrook Cove #1)

STELLA

“ A ll right, I think that’s everything,” I say, looking around the apartment Avery and I have shared for the last three years.

“I think so too. Thank god this place came partially furnished or we never would have managed to get all of our shit in our cars.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that,” I agree before looking down where Duke is lying at my feet. “You ready for a new adventure, buddy? You’re gonna be the cutest little beach pup Crestbrook’s ever seen, aren’t ya?”

His tail thumps against the floor as he rolls over for me to lean down and pat his stomach. “I know, it’s gonna be so good, sweet Duke.”

He licks my hand in agreement, and I stand, turning back to Avery. “I guess we’re really doing this, huh?”

“Hell yeah, we are,” Avery says, reaching over to grab Duke’s leash from the counter and handing it out to me. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

“Yeah, I guess it’s time. God, this is getting so real. I feel like I’m going to throw up,” I mutter, taking a deep breath.

“Hey, hey, hey, Stels. Calm down,” Avery says, reaching out to give me a hug. “It’s all gonna be great. We’re going to get in the car and we’re going to start this new life in Crestbrook.”

“I know, you’re right. I just cannot believe I’m getting married tomorrow, Aves.

I mean I know people get married all the time, but I always imagined my wedding day would be something special—not something thrown together in less than a week.

And certainly not to someone who remembers all of my awkward phases or who I haven’t seen since we were teenagers.

Don’t get me wrong, I know none of this is real, but it just feels like so much to take in. ”

“I think that’s completely valid, babes.

But just remember, you’re doing what you have to in order to keep the hotel.

And you’re getting married to someone who you apparently used to be great friends with.

Which, by the way, if you weren’t already dealing with a lot of shit this week, I’d be totally pissed that you never told me you had some hot beach bestie growing up. ”

I roll my eyes at her and laugh, momentarily distracted from my anxiety over the move. “Aves, you’re being ridiculous. Are you forgetting the part where I haven’t seen him in literally forever?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll give you a pass this time, but if I find out there are any other sexy singles in your past you haven’t told me about, I’m never going to let you hear the end of it.”

“Avery, you haven’t even seen him yet. How do you know he’s hot?” I tease, clipping Duke’s leash onto his collar.

“Babes, let’s be real. You thought I was going to let you marry someone I haven’t fully vetted? I spent at least four hours this week looking through his grandmother’s second cousin’s best friend’s social media. And I can attest to the fact that your future hubby is a complete hottie.”

“Okay, great. You caught me. He’s definitely attractive, but it doesn’t matter. We’re just friends, and this wedding isn’t even real. It’s just a year of our lives and then we part ways on good terms,” I remind her, leading Duke toward the door and waiting for Avery to follow me out.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly how it’s gonna go,” Avery mutters skeptically, pulling the door to our apartment closed behind her. “But with that, we’re officially out of here.”

“I guess so. I know this isn’t what we planned, but I’m kinda excited to spend the summer at the beach again,” I admit as we make our way to the parking lot.

“Same. I mean we may be broke bitches for the foreseeable future, but as sad as we are about losing our teaching jobs, I’m already less stressed knowing I don’t have to step back into a classroom for at least a year.”

I nod in agreement, knowing exactly what she means. “Yeah, here’s to trading grading papers for helping hotel guests,” I say as we make it to our cars. After opening the door and letting Duke into his spot in the back seat, I turn back to my best friend.

“Let’s do this.”

“All right, Duke, we’ve made it to our new home,” I tell him, pulling into the parking lot of the High Tide Hideaway.

I’m embarrassed by how long it’s been since I was here.

As I got older and busier with school, Memaw insisted on coming to Smith’s Valley to visit, and when her health started to decline four months ago, I moved her to the local assisted living facility so I could check in on her.

Within a month she was gone, and she’d demanded that we cremate her and save the “fuss” of a funeral.

I never intended to spend this many years away from a place that was so special to me, but as I look at the Hideaway, I realize I might have more work cut out for me than I originally thought.

The once vibrant pink siding is patchy and spots are almost white thanks to sun damage, and the bushes and plants out front are overgrown and wilting.

Reaching over to pull out my phone, I send a quick text to Wyatt.

Stella: Hey! We just made it to the Hideaway. Let me know when you want to go over logistics for tomorrow.

Wyatt: Sounds good. I have one more tour for today, but as soon as they’re over, my brother and I will come by to help you unload.

Stella: That sounds good, but you don’t have to help us. Pretty sure I’m never gonna repay you for all you’re doing for me as it is.

Wyatt: This isn’t a competition, Stella. We’ll be over there in a few hours.

Stella: Sounds good. Avery’s dying to see the town so we’ll probably walk around while we wait.

After pressing send, I look back at the backseat where Duke spent the ride napping. He perks his head up at me, and his tail knocks against the side of the door.

“You ready buddy? Come on, let’s go see our new home,” I tell him, getting out of the car and opening the back door to let him out.

Avery throws open her door from where she pulled up beside me, and yells, “Oh my god, I can’t believe we’re here!”

“Yeah, we made it,” I tell her, leading us toward the main entrance.

“Wait, so I totally should have asked this already, but do you know who’s been keeping everything running since your Memaw passed?” Avery asks, and I shrug.

“Not really. When I called Mr. Marshall on Tuesday to tell him the plan, he said the place has kinda been in limbo for the last few months. I think there might be a few people here, but I really don’t know what to expect,” I admit, stopping to let Duke sniff the bushes beside the door. “I’m so damn nervous.”

“I know, but whatever it is, we’ll figure it out,” Avery says. “Let’s do this, Stels.”

She opens the door for me, and I take a deep breath before stepping inside the lobby. I smile at the sight of the bright pastel interior where I spent all my childhood summers and breathe in the familiar scent of the sea breeze mixed with the vanilla air freshener my grandmother always loved.

Tears prickle my eyes, longing for her to come sweeping out of the small office behind the counter to kiss me on the cheek like she used to. Blinking them back, I turn to my best friend. “Well, welcome to the Hideaway.”

“It’s really cute,” Avery tells me, looking around. “But, uh, are we the only two people here?”

“Um, I’m not really sure,” I admit. “Hello, is anyone here?” I call a little louder, waiting to see if anyone emerges from the office.

“I mean the door was open, so surely there’s someone around here,” Avery says, turning in circles.

“Yeah, I mean I know the hotel’s technically mine, but is it weird that I still kinda feel like we’re trespassing?” I ask, and Avery giggles.

“We’re definitely not trespassing, but I know what you mean. Come on, you can give me a tour, and hopefully we’ll run into someone.”

“Okay that sounds g—” I start just as I hear an excited shriek behind me.

“Oh my god, Stella, is that finally you?”

I turn to see Miss Clara, one of my grandmother’s best friends, hobbling toward me. She’s gotta be in her eighties and she hobbles over to me on her cane.

“Hi, Miss Clara. How are you doing?” I ask, trying to figure out what’s going on.

“I’m a whole lot better now that you’re here, darling. We’ve been waiting for you to show up for months,” she says, almost knocking me over as she hugs me and hits me in the back with her cane.

“Wait, what? Have you been running this place, Miss Clara?” I ask, looking around.

“Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I guess you could call it that. I promised your grandmother I’d keep the lights on and the doors open until you showed up, but I never imagined it’d take this long,” she chastises me.

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to keep an old lady waiting? ”

“Oh goodness, I’m so sorry, Miss Clara. I don’t know why Memaw told you that, but I didn’t know anything about this whole situation until earlier this week. Last I heard, she was thinking about selling the place.”

“That old hag was always sprouting out the most ridiculous things, wasn’t she?

” Miss Clara says with a wave of her hand.

“Well, anyway, you’re here now, and that’s what matters.

And you have the cutest little dog too,” she points out, bending down to pet Duke who’s sitting at my feet.

“But wait, who are you?” she asks, turning to Avery.

“I’m Avery, Stella’s best friend. I moved down here to help her with the hotel,” Avery explains, reaching out her hand to shake Miss Clara’s. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, darling,” Miss Clara responds, taking her outstretched hand and pulling Avery into a hug. “I’m glad she has help. I’m afraid, with the state of things right now, she’s going to need it.”

“Oh, that’s comforting to hear,” I say with a nervous laugh.

“Well, now that you’re here, come on over and let me show you the books,” Miss Clara says, reaching out and taking my hand to pull me over to the counter. To be so old and on a cane, she’s surprisingly fast, and I have to hurry to keep up with her.

“Okay, here we are,” she says, grabbing a bright pink book off the side of the check-in counter.

“So, all of the bookings for the summer are recorded in the front. And then in the back, there’s a list of monthly expenses and the staff members we’re currently employing.

And in this little lock box down here is all the hotel room keys and a few extra master keys for the stock rooms.”

“Thank you, Miss Clara. Do you know how many guests we currently have?”

“Oh, dear, maybe one or two? Definitely not more than three.”

I blink at her in surprise. “Wait, that’s it? I knew we were down on reservations, but there’s over fifty rooms in this place. And it’s the summer season,” I say, feeling my panic start to rise. I hadn’t expected much, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. “What about the pool and the restaurant?”

“Honey, your grandmother closed down the restaurant almost two years ago. It’s turned into a storage room for right now. But the pool is open if any of the few guests we have want to use it.”

“Wait, really? I can’t believe she left all of this out of our conversations,” I admit, and Avery pats my back in comfort.

“It’ll be fine, babes,” she tells me before we turn back to Miss Clara. “Thank you for keeping everything going in the meantime, Miss Clara. How have y’all been handling bookings here? Are there any websites, social media logins, or anything like that we should know about?”

“Oh, darling. The High Tide Hideaway doesn’t have any of that new-fashioned tech stuff. There isn’t a website. All of our reservations are done over the phone.”

Avery and I both pause, waiting for her to tell us that she’s joking, but she just shrugs. “It worked for your grandmother for years, so she never saw any need to go through the trouble.”

“So wait, how do guests find out about this place?” Avery asks.

“I don’t know. Most of the people that I’ve seen come through here have been coming here for years.

But like I said, I’ve just been standing in as a favor to your grandmother since she passed, so I don’t know enough to help you there.

But enough of all this talk, I’ve got an hour until I have to meet the girls for bingo.

Now that you’re here, I’m going to leave you with it.

Good luck, darling,” Miss Clara says, hugging me again and leaning over to pet Duke’s head before heading out the door.

I look over at Avery, and I see the same look of shock on her face that I’m sure is on mine. “Uh, so this might be a much bigger undertaking than we planned,” I tell her.

“Yeah, you’re right, but we’re gonna make it work,” Avery reassures me. “Let’s find me a room and figure out where I’ll be living.”

“That we can do,” I say before looking down at the mostly empty list of guests. “The good news is I’m pretty sure we have plenty of options.”

“Hell yeah.” Avery laughs, pointing at a random room number. “Let’s go with this one for now.”

“Perfect. Let me finish showing you around and then we can walk around town while we wait on the guys if we have time. Wyatt’s brothers and a friend offered to help us move our stuff in when they get off work, but I’m not exactly sure what time that’ll be.”

“Hell yeah! We don’t have to move all our shit by ourselves this time? See, if you ask me, there are some real perks to this whole marriage gig.”