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There was a slight pause, as though she were rolling the idea around in her mind. “Let me speak to Lane because he’s my business partner now. I’ll get back to you.”
He was suddenly reminded of how his parents kept putting him off, and when he pushed the subject, they’d turned him down. It was a gentle letdown, but it was still a solidno.
He didn’t want to wait around for another rejection. “You know we’re on a timetable with my vacation and the wedding?”
“I understand.”
They said their goodbyes, and then Kent was left to wonder what would be decided. He wished he’d had this idea earlier while his sister was still on the island. It would have been much easier to make the pitch in person instead of over the phone.
Maybe his problem was that he’d stayed on this island for too long. Maybe he should be like his older brother, who was now a doctor and lived on the mainland. There would be more opportunities there.
It wasn’t the first time he’d had the idea. In fact, he’d had it many times over the years. He’d just never been this restless.
The problem started when his brother Grant declared that he wanted to become a doctor. Their parents looked at Kent as the heir to the furniture store. There was never any real conversation about it—at least none that he could recall.
He opened the fridge again and pulled out some leftover pizza from the other night. In the time it took for him to heat it up in the oven, his phone buzzed. He checked it and found a message from Josie. He’d been given the go ahead to refresh the lobby. He wondered how Sara would feel about having him at the inn.
Chapter Four
Hisplanwastakingshape.
Saturday morning, Kent finished ordering supplies at the hardware store and set off for the inn. He didn’t care that it was the weekend. He didn’t have time to waste. He wanted everything completed before his sister returned.
He’d spoken to Josie again late last night to go over some details about the refresh. She’d sounded happy. Very happy.
He’d had his reservations about Lane Johnson when he’d shown up on the island, anxious to sell the inn—the inn where his sister had devoted so much of her life. And yet the more he got to know Lane, the more he liked him.
The only thing he couldn’t figure out was how his sister and Lane were supposed to make a long-distance relationship work. While Josie lived on the east coast, Lane had his home and business in San Diego. It didn’t matter how strong a relationship was; Kent didn’t see the relationship going the distance with that sort of mileage between them.
But he couldn’t judge their relationship when he was an utter failure when it came to his own relationships. It wasn’t that he didn’t date. He did. But he’d learned to do most of his socializing on the mainland. This island was too small to start anything casual on it. As soon as he was spotted with someone, the rumors started about him being in love—even if nothing could be further from the truth. He’d never been in love with anyone—at least he’d never felt anything with the depth that he heard other people talk about.
Now that Sara had pushed her way into his cart yesterday, the rumors were already swirling around the island. Even the guy at the hardware store had heard that he and Sara were an item. And now people wanted to know how Sara’s sister felt about the relationship, since he used to date Cari. If only people knew the truth—he wasn’t interested in Sara, and he’d never truly dated her sister. It was all an illusion. But that wasn’t his story to tell.
He’d been in a rush that morning and headed out the door without breakfast, much less a cup of coffee, and so he stopped at The Lighthouse Café. They had some of the best food and coffee on the island. The place was packed with a mix of tourists and locals. There wasn’t a table to be had anywhere.
He headed straight to the long counter at the back of the restaurant. They had four servers on that day. He knew two of them: Lucy and Molly. There was a guy he didn’t recognize and another young woman. Two of them were putting in orders with the kitchen. One was carrying a tray of food. And then Lucy rushed over to the cash register. Her long dark ponytail swished back and forth as she rushed around. She had some cash and a slip of paper in her hand.
From beneath her bangs, her gaze lifted to meet his. A smile lit up her face. “Hey, Kent. It’s good to see you.”
“Thanks. Could I trouble you for a cup of coffee? To go?”
“Sure. Just give me a moment.” She rang up the order before slipping the change into her pocket. A couple minutes later, she returned and filled him a to-go cup of steaming coffee. She placed it on the counter in front of him. “Can I get you anything else?”
He eyed up the glazed donut on the counter beneath a glass dome. “Let me have a donut too.”
“Certainly. Would you like a second one? Maybe for someone special.”
He inwardly groaned. “Not you too.”
She smiled and shrugged. “You should know that there aren’t any secrets on Bluestar. You riding around town with Sara has been the talk of the town since yesterday. Some already have you two married off.”
He sighed. “Some people have really wild imaginations.”
“So there’s nothing going on between you and Sara?”
He hated discussing his private life, but he knew if he avoided answering her question, it would just escalate the rumors. “No. Nothing at all.”
“Interesting. I’ll be sure to spread the word.”
