Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I couldn’t stop my thoughts from eventually catching up to me. The night before, everything had seemed so perfect. With James’s help, I had a business plan that could really work. I’d felt more confident than ever I’d be able to convince my uncles to give me a chance.
And then I’d come home from the bar to find James in the guest room working on renovations, and I’d had this sudden flash that this could be my future—he and I working together. Growing something together. Sex last night had been different. Yes it had been hot as fuck, but there’d been a connection between us.
For one night I’d really thought that I could have it all: the Sea Sprite, a sexy, generous man in my bed, a future of endless possibility.
I’d been stupid to believe it might all become a reality—that it was anything more than a childish dream. It had been obvious from the minute James had conveyed his client’s first offer that he would win. His client’s pockets were too deep. I could never hope to compete.
And as for James and me? We were from different worlds. It was ridiculous to think that things between us could end any other way than it had.
It was time for me to accept defeat. I’d lost the Sea Sprite and I’d lost James, not that he’d ever been mine to begin with. Now I needed to look to the future.
I made my way back down the rock jetty to shore and started the long walk home. I took my time, letting the sun warm my sweat-cooled skin, kicking my feet through the tide as it washed across the sand. Growing up I’d never thought much about my future. First, when I was younger, it felt too vague and far away. Then, when my parents died while I was still in high school, it felt like my world had cratered, and it had taken everything I had to make it from one day to the next—the idea of a future had felt unfathomable.
At some point, the fact that I would eventually take over the Sea Sprite just seemed to become inevitable and obvious. After my parents died, I’d gone to live with my grandparents, and the inn became a part of my everyday life: I’d do my homework in the lobby while my grandmother manned the desk. We had big family dinners on the back patio every Sunday, along with any guests who were staying there at the time. I spent weekends and summers working wherever I was needed—cleaning rooms, hauling luggage, maintenance and repair.
I liked working there. I liked getting to know the guests year after year; I liked that I was a part of them falling in love with this beautiful place. I liked that I was a part of their memories, in the background of photographs and videos. I liked the thought of this being my future.
It had never occurred to me to do anything else. But now, running the Sea Sprite was no longer an option. So what now? The obvious answer was that I could follow through on the plans James and I had made and strike out for somewhere new, find another motel to renovate and run. Except that would mean moving away from my family. No more slinging pints at the bar with the locals, no babysitting Karlie’s kid once he was born, no more hitching a ride on my uncle Brian’s charters.
The idea left a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I glanced toward the houses lining the shore, most of them small, charming bungalows, nestled between a few larger rentals. I could buy one of those with the money from the sale of the inn, I realized. Settle into town life. But then what? Even if I didn’t need a job for financial reasons, I needed something to keep me busy. And it wasn’t like I had many hobbies—all of my time and energy had been poured into keeping the Sea Sprite up and running.
Now it was all gone. All that investment of time and energy wasted. I was in my mid-twenties, no college degree, about to be out of a job, with no idea what lay ahead. At this point I was going to have to start from scratch and decide what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I finally reached the battered steps leading up to the Sea Sprite’s lawn, and I climbed them slowly with heavy legs and an even heavier heart. I wasn’t even conscious of where I was headed until I found myself circling around to the parking lot.
James’s rental car was gone. I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding. So that was it, then. This was over. I glanced at my phone, checking for a text or an email from him—nothing. Not even a goodbye.