Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
BECK
Six-thirty in the morning was too fucking early to deal with my siblings. Especially after I’d spent last night in a pissing match with some fuck-head Everly hadn’t even mentioned in passing.
I’d worked on her dishwasher and disposal for about forty-five minutes, all while the shirtless asshat had looked on, not offering to raise a finger as he ate his cereal and fucked around on his phone.
And then, when I’d finished up everything she’d mentioned—and even fixed a few things she hadn’t—I’d left him in her house while I’d returned to mine, hating every second of it.
He wasn’t a good fit for her, but I didn’t know how to tell her that. It wasn’t something we’d had to navigate in our friendship, but there was no way I’d be able to sit silently by while she kept seeing that cheesedick.
Doing as I’d asked, she’d texted just after 1 a.m. that she was safely behind her locked door and the sock-hungry dog was recovering comfortably.
It hadn’t been the right time to ask about Seth. To grill her on who the fuck the guy was taking up residence in her home like he owned the place. But it’d been swirling around in my head since I’d left her house, and I couldn’t seem to think of anything but that.
For once, my sister had agreed to hold the morning meeting in the diner—the resort’s recent brush with success seemed to have softened her slightly—and my siblings, save for Brady, gathered around the space.
I’d been asking for this location switch for months.
It only made sense to hold these meetings here instead of the main inn because…
Well, because it was a hell of a lot more convenient for me since I lived just upstairs and since I was the only one who had to be somewhere on a schedule—7:00 on the dot—no matter how long Addison insisted on running her mouth.
Never mind that Everly was the only person who’d notice if I was a few minutes late. My siblings didn’t need to know that.
Hoping to make this a permanent switch and not above bribery, I’d pulled out all the stops.
The counter was covered with a huge spread, even though my brother Aiden—keeper of the resort and the budget—would probably have my ass for it.
I’d needed to keep my mind busy last night after I’d gotten back from Everly’s and waited for her all good text, anyway, and nothing kept my mind occupied like spending time in the kitchen.
I’d had a temper growing up and had been in too many fights to count.
It was after one that’d landed me an in-school suspension for a week that my mom had guided me to cooking, and it’d stuck.
So, while stewing over Spencer lounging in Everly’s home while she wasn’t there—worse, while she was—I’d spent a couple hours preparing muffins, banana bread, coffee cake, and blueberry scones.
And from how my siblings had descended on the spread like a pack of wolves when they’d first stepped foot in the diner, I’d say they were going over pretty well.
Levi—youngest McKenzie boy and all-around recluse—sat in a corner all by himself, his brows drawn in a scowl, though I had no idea why. The lucky bastard had managed to get Addison to agree that he only needed to attend one of these stupid meetings per month.
She and Aiden sat at a table dead center, both ignoring each other and everyone else as they ate their baked goods, their attentions locked on their phones. And Ford sat at the counter on one of the barstools, his eyes bleary, no doubt thanks to another late night.
“Hit me,” he said, knocking twice on the counter, and I grabbed a mug before pouring him a cup of coffee. “Was last night the night?”
“The night for what?”
“You to get your head out of your ass.”
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’ll take that as a no, then.”
Before I could ask what he meant, Brady, eldest McKenzie and Starlight Cove’s sheriff, strolled in behind Luna, his new girlfriend—and resort savior, thanks to a viral video.
She grinned at me and sat at the counter next to Ford, seemingly unconcerned by the daggers Brady was shooting at her ass and the scowl on his face as he settled on her other side.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” Addison said as she clapped her hands like the drill sergeant she liked to pretend she was. “This layout’s not ideal, but it will have to do.”
I clenched my jaw and reminded myself I was supposed to be wooing her over to my side today. That worked for all of two seconds before I said, “How about those muffins you demolished like they owed you money? Were they ideal?”
“Mine were delicious, thanks for asking,” Ford said as he licked his fingers. I hadn’t even realized he’d taken one, let alone finished multiple. The guy ate like a fucking horse.
“Can we get on with this?” Levi said from his hovel in the corner. “If I have to be here, I’d like it to last as little time as possible.”
The ass didn’t even know how good he had it. Addison turned in his direction, no doubt ready to lay into him, but the buzzing of her phone interrupted her. Without saying a word to anyone, she shifted her attention to respond to whatever message had arrived, her thumbs flying over her phone.
Levi dropped his head back on a groan. “Jesus Christ, Addison. If all the meetings are going to be like this, I’m sending my shit in via email.”
“Have a muffin and shut up,” Addison said without lifting her eyes from the screen. “It’s from Harper.”
It was nearly comical watching my siblings’ reactions to that bit of news, all of their eyes landing on Levi to witness his response to hearing Harper’s name.
When they’d been younger, she and Levi had been inseparable, but in the ten years since that time, something had happened between them.
What, we had no idea, but it couldn’t have been good.
Not when their rocky history had almost cost us the featured article on the resort Harper had been assigned to write.
Sadly, though we were all waiting for it, Levi didn’t react, save for the slight tightening of his jaw. His poker face was better than mine.
Aiden slid his gaze back to Addison. “They already approved the article. No take backs.”
“She’s not taking it back,” Addison said with a roll of her eyes as she finally set her phone on the table. “She just wanted to check and see if bookings were still up thanks to Luna’s TikTok debut.”
Initially, I’d viewed the modern-day hippie as I did everyone else—with irritation, frustration, or indifference.
And after she proved to be a bit of a speed bump for the resort, I wasn’t sure how this whole thing would shake out, considering she’d spent a good deal of time chaining herself to the tree bordering our property and getting herself arrested by her now-boyfriend.
But in the few short months she’d been in Starlight Cove, she’d managed not only to snag my unsnaggable brother but also to do something we hadn’t been able to for the past decade—breathe life back into this resort.
So, yeah, I’d named an omelet after her. Hell, I’d name the whole menu after her if she could keep up this momentum.
“Which, by the way, they are,” Addison continued. “We’re officially booked out through June. And in case anyone hasn’t been paying attention, that hasn’t happened in years.”
“Yes, yes, it’s very exciting,” I said, tone flat. I uncrossed my arms and gestured to the spread laid out across the counter. “As you can see, I prepared.”
“Oh, you knew this was going to happen, did you?” Addison scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“Had a feeling, yeah. I also have a feeling Luna’s going to want this.
” I turned around to grab her morning green juice I’d made before she came in and set it in front of her.
Then I turned my back on them and grabbed a to-go cup for Everly’s morning coffee.
“And Everly’s going to be here in about thirty seconds for her daily pick-me-up. ”
She ran along the beach every morning, and no matter the weather, I could still set my clock by her appearance.
I filled her cup three-quarters of the way with coffee and topped it with cream before adding two sugars.
The hum of voices rose as everyone continued trading barbs back and forth—it was a nonstop bickerfest when the six of us were together—and I turned when the bells over the door chimed, expecting Everly to walk in, smile on her face despite how early it was or the fact that she’d just run five miles.
Instead, a guy strolled in, head down as he stared at his phone, so I couldn’t see his face.
“Hey, we’re not actually open yet,” I said as the man turned toward me, and a cannonball landed in my gut. Sebastian.
Shirtless man, cereal eater, past-Everly secret keeper, and my number one enemy, considering it was ass o’clock in the morning, and Everly strolled in right behind him, which meant what I’d feared was true…
This asshole had stayed with her last night.