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Carly sighed in relief. At least her current turmoil was resulting in great fiction.
Exhausted from lack of sleep, she set up for the day downstairs, and before she knew where the time went, the first few customers were lined up outside. Smiling, she opened the door and lost herself in a sea of tourists.
She didn’t check the time again until she saw Sebastian enter just before noon. He was definitely committed to his promise of learning everything he could about Sealena. He hadn’t missed Sealena School in two weeks.
That day, he seemed even more energetic as he approached the counter with a coffee for her from the diner. “Thank you,” she said, gratefully taking a gulp. These 5:00 a.m. wake-ups were going to be tough. By now, she could really use a nap, not more caffeine.
“I have great news,” Sebastian said, leaning his elbows on the counter.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“The parade is going to be televised,” he said proudly.
Carly’s eyes widened over the rim of the coffee cup. “Really? Wow. How?” The local TV station wasn’t far-reaching enough to warrant the effort of televising the parade. Everyone in Port Serenity who wanted to see it would be there live anyway.
“I have a contact at News Live Anchorage. I reached out yesterday and pitched the idea and she loved it. The network is also looking to showcase more local stories to help bring more visitors to all parts of Alaska, so they are in.” Sebastian’s smile was wide as he delivered the news.
“That’s great,” she said, feeling the excitement for all of twenty seconds before the pressure set in. “Just means we are really going to have to pull out all the stops this year.” Her float would be impressive, but they’d need to make sure the entire parade was spectacular.
“I’ve already drafted this email for parade participants, encouraging them to go bigger and better...offering incentives for their efforts,” Sebastian said, opening his email on his phone and handing it to her.
Carly read quickly. Sponsored gift cards...free promo in the local marketing guide...
She nodded as she handed the phone back. “This is wonderful. It will definitely entice everyone to put their best work in.”
He looked happy as he hit Send on the mass email and tucked his phone away. “I did good?”
“You did good,” she said.
Now she needed to make sure her parade float was the most impressive display Alaska—and the world—had ever seen.
No pressure.
WITHTESSATcamp that week, the lighthouse tours fell on his shoulders, and by the third one that day, Oliver was struggling to muster the enthusiasm. Funny how the tour information seemed to get shorter with each one.
But if people wanted to know the history, they could read all the poster boards on the lighthouse walls and the artifact descriptions.
Outside, he lined the group up for the obligatory photo and barely waited until everyone was in place before flashing the pic. “Okay, thanks for coming! Photos will be mailed out in the next few weeks,” he said.
As the crowd dispersed—some to hike the coastline trail around the lighthouse, others to sit in the picnic area along the shoreline—one woman lingered. With her cell phone, she snapped a dozen photos of the lighthouse and the surrounding plot of land. Then he noticed her talking into a recording app.
Her clothing didn’t exactly scream tourist on vacation. There were no Sealena-themed T-shirt or knee socks on this woman. The polished dress capris and flowy white blouse with expensive-looking leather flats on her feet gave him a slight uneasiness as he approached. He’d seen enough tourists to know this woman wasn’t one. She’d been quiet on the tour, taking everything in, but now she seemed full of questions as Oliver approached.
“Anything I can help you with?” he asked.
“All this land belongs to the lighthouse?” the woman asked, gesturing to the entire plot on which the lighthouse stood.
“The land belongs to the community as well as the lighthouse, yes,” he said, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “Let me guess—real-estate developer?” He’d cut straight to the chase.
She extended a hand toward him. “Eliza Delton from Delton Vacation Properties. Nice to meet you,” she said politely.
He’d like to say the same, but inside, he was raging. That slimy Sebastian had sent a property developer out to take a look at the land before he’d even pitched the B and B idea to the tourism board? The man’s arrogance had just crossed a line into cocky and Oliver’s opinion of him took a further nosedive. “How can I help you?” he asked again because he wanted this woman gone before Tess got back from camp. He wasn’t ready to tell his daughter about this just yet. And he certainly didn’t want Tess finding out this way. He hoped a rumor wasn’t already spreading through town.
“I just wanted to come out and see the land before my company put together its proposal for expansion,” she said, pulling a notebook out of her oversized purse and sketching the lay of the land.
He could save her the trouble by offering a copy of the blueprints, but he wouldn’t. “Expansion?”
“Some cabins. The main house will only accommodate eight to ten guests at most with some renovations, so we’d likely put another six or seven cabins along the back of the property,” she said. “But I’m not really at liberty to say any more than that.”
