Chapter 1
Evelyn Carlson hummed under her breath as she sat at her kitchen table and sorted through old recipes from her great-grandmother’s collection. Many of the recipes had become favorites of the people who frequented the Sea Glass Cafe, and she didn’t like to disappoint.
The peach pie—everyone called itGrace’speach pie after Grace Parker—was probably the favorite. Although, the cinnamon rolls were the second most requested item on the menu. Now she was browsing for something new to serve along with the patrons’ favorites.
Here was one for a beef soup that sounded interesting. Maybe this winter. Right now, they were having an unseasonably warm late fall. She vaguely remembered a chilled strawberry soup that her grandmother used to make. Maybe she could find that recipe.
She got up and made herself a cup of tea and looked around her tiny but beloved apartment. She still couldn’t believe she lived on her own for the first time in her life. She loved the absolute luxury of making her own decisions, decorating to her tastes, buying what she wanted for the place. Not that she’d spent much. Her daughter, Heather, had helped her find some furniture and decorations at the thrift shop. And she’d framed two lovely beach scenes Heather had painted and hung them on the wall. A glass bowl of seashells sat on the coffee table. Family pictures adorned a table near the sliding door to the balcony. The whole apartment was airy and coastal, and she adored it. Everything was perfect in her life right now. She couldn’t remember ever being happier or more content.
She sat back down with her tea and the recipes and kept looking, hoping the right one would jump out at her and she could make something new. A card fell on the floor, and she leaned down to pick it up. She smiled when she saw it was the chilled strawberry soup recipe. She glanced over at the photo of Grace Parker sitting on the table across the room. “Thanks, Grace. I guess I’ll try this one.”
Rob Bentley stared at his phone screen and his sister’s innocent yet not convincing, smile. “What did you just say?” He frowned, not truly believing he’d heard her correctly.
“I said I bought Murphy’s Resort. You remember it from when we were kids, don’t you? We’d go to Moonbeam for a week in the summer. I think we went like four times.”
Oh, he remembered it all right. A tiny resort with ramshackle cabins. “Why would you buy it?” He couldn’t wrap his mind around what his sister was saying. A resort? She bought aresort?And from what he could remember, the termresortwas a generous name for the place. About eight or ten cottages. Loud, raucous window air-conditioning units that thumped into the night and never really cooled anything down. Pipes that knocked when the water ran and never enough hot water for showers. There had been a cracked windowpane in the cottage that had never been fixed over the years they’d gone there for vacation.
“It’s what I wanted to do with my inheritance from Uncle Jeremy. It’s all mine now, and I just love the town of Moonbeam.”
He frowned again. “How long have you been there?”
“Um… just a few days.” She shrugged “But I already know I’m going to love living here.”
“Violet, those cottages were run down when we stayed there years ago.”
Her infectious laugh came drifting across the airwaves. “Well, they aren’t any better now. But with some paint and repairs, I’m sure this place will look great. Just wait and see.”
He shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell me you were considering this?”
She looked away from the screen before glancing back at it and grinning. “Because you’d have told me not to.”
“I would have.”
She waggled her finger. “Exactly my point.”
“But you don’t know anything about running a resort.”
“I’ll learn. And it’s something that’s all my own. Rob, I’m happy. Really happy. This is going to be great.”
He seriously doubted it. It was probably yet another thing in a string ofgreatthings his sister was always getting into.
“So… the reason I’m calling is…” She gave him a wheedling smile, the one he’d rarely been able to resist in all of his baby sister’s forty-something years. “I thought maybe you’d like to come to Moonbeam and… uh… help fix the place up. You love the beach. And you said you just finished your book. I know you always take a break when you finish a book.”
He did need to take a break. She was right about that. Because he had absolutely no idea for his next book. None. Not one. At least not one that grabbed his attention enough to make him want to actually write it. “Just how much work does this place need?”
“Some.” He didn’t believe her innocent look this time, either. “But you’re handy. You could do most of it.”
He sighed. So his sister bought a place in Moonbeam and he’d get to spend his time off working on fixing the place. Though, maybe some mindless labor would help his writer’s block.
“Come on, Rob, you know you want to come help. It will be fun. We can do it together.”
He’d never so much as seen his sister pick up a single tool, so he wasn’t so sure about the wholetogetherthing.
“Please, Robby?”
Ah, the old Robby ploy. Unfortunately, it usually worked with him. And why had their uncle left her that money in the first place? He knew how Violet was prone to these harebrained ideas. Rob let out a long sigh. “Okay, I’ll catch a plane out tomorrow. But I’m warning you, if the place is impossible, you’re going to turn around and sell it. Even if you have to take a loss.”
“It’s not impossible. It’s wonderful. Just you wait and see it. This is going to be great, you’ll see. Thank you, Robby.” A wide smile spread across her face as she clapped her hands. “By the time we’re finished, it’s going to be the best resort in Moonbeam.”
