I walk into the coffee shop and am disappointed to see the woman with the short purple hair behind the counter. I didn’t realize how much I was hoping to see Avery instead. And only because I still want to figure her out and what makes her different from most of the people in my life. That’s the only reason, that I tell myself anyway.
“Hello, Max,” the cashier says with a knowing grin.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know your name,” I say, trying to see if she has a nametag or anything.
“I’m Sarah. I made Avery tell me your name.”
I glance up at the chalkboard sign behind the cash register, needing a chance to avoid eye contact with her. “Let me just get a medium black coffee, please.” I pull out a few dollars from my pocket and place them on the counter.
“Sure thing,” Sarah says. “What brings you to our town so early?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Early?”
“We don’t get many tourists until The Season officially begins,” she says, pouring the coffee into the cup.
I lean in. “What exactly is this ‘season’ everyone keeps talking about?”
She gives me a look of surprise, but I don’t let it get to me. “It’s the big tourist time here. We go from a small community to a booming beach town in about two weeks.”
That’s probably when Aiden and his family always came.
“I’m checking on some projects for the company I work for.”
Her eyes go wide. “Are you with one of those companies trying to buy up the south end of town for luxury resorts?”
“No, this is the first I’ve heard of that. No, mine are some smaller renovation projects.”
To be honest, I haven’t seen into most of the buildings I own yet. Which is why I wish Aiden would text me back. I don’t have our friend Roman’s number saved in this phone, not thinking I’d need a master at real estate when I flew here.
Sarah hands me the cup with a lid and I thank her. Then I turn before she can say much else, not in the mood to be interrogated.
A company trying to buy up beach land. I can see the appeal. Sure, there is a lot that goes into it, but there’s room to create the large skyscraper resorts, which would impact this town severely.
Communities like this thrive when there’s enough work for everyone, but if they’re overwhelmed, productivity and actual viability are impacted.
That’s probably why Aiden swooped in to get us to help with some of the buildings. But are there more that will be affected because of the investors?
Shaking my head, I tell myself to rein in my thoughts and focus on what I’m working on now. It’s something I can ask Aiden, if he’ll ever text me back.
Normally I don’t notice how long it takes people to respond, but with not much to do, it’s more apparent.
As if he knows I’m irritated, I finally get a text.
Roman didn’t work on these ones. It was when Isabelle was on bedrest and he took some time off from work.
Who did you use then?
I’m surprised he didn’t just wait for Roman to be back to work. He’s one of our frat brothers who’s built a real estate empire in England. Most of us use him for all of our real estate deals because of how good he is at his job and finding just what we need.
A local real estate agent. Maria Matthews, I think?
Send me her info. I need the keys and the documents to get this remodel started.
Are you planning on sticking around for a while?
I have to pause after reading his question. It’s one of those things where I get going on a project and am time blind. In this instance, I think I’m just trying to block out whatever I can while doing something productive.
I don’t know how long I’ll be here, but someone has to get this project going right. Who did you hire as the contractor?
