Chapter 3
three
“Y ou know what I realized today?” Cade hoisted his end of the antique bed frame that he and Linc were helping Noah move into a renovated suite at the Blue Pirogue Inn.
“What’s that?” Noah inched another step up the refinished staircase. A hint of lacquer still hung in the air.
Cade followed, trying to at least give the appearance that he was carrying his fair share of the bed’s solid bulk. But they all knew Linc was doing the heavy lifting. “I’ve never fully appreciated country music before.”
Noah let out a huff. “Think you could save this deep revelation for when we’re not hauling three hundred pounds up a flight of stairs?”
Linc grunted from his end of the frame. “If you’d been up-front about the second-floor bit, you might not have been nominated for walking-backward duty.”
Noah set his side of the bed down on the steps with a groan. “If I’d been up-front, you wouldn’t have come.”
Linc pursed his lips. “Fair.” He lowered his end, forcing Cade to do the same.
Cade cast a glance around as he stretched his back. The inn looked like an entirely different place under Noah’s headship. Crazy to think a few months ago, Noah had been worried about black mold and losing the inn altogether, which was part of his inheritance from his grandfather. Now the Blue Pirogue was back in top shape and ready for a steady stream of summer tourists…which would hopefully arrive for Magnolia Days.
Yet another reason Cade had to come through.
He almost brushed his hands on his pants, then noticed his dust-coated palms. He was getting a blister too, but he liked the physical labor. It got his mind off everything with Rosalyn that morning—and the weight bearing down on him regarding his town. “This bed isn’t that bad, guys.”
“Say the two men walking forward.” Noah shook back his hair, sweat beading on his forehead. He kept one hand on the frame to keep it from toppling into the banister. “Fine. Enlighten us. What’s changed your mind about country music?”
“Keep listening to your instincts, Cade. They were right to avoid the genre altogether.” Linc used the neck of his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. “Can we get this over with, please?”
“What? Cade’s announcement or moving the bed?” Noah smirked.
Linc grunted again. “Both.”
On three, they all grabbed their designated corners and heaved.
“I always thought country lyrics were dumb. You know, all the stuff about short shorts and drinking in a hayfield.” Cade shook his head as they cleared the top of the staircase and started a slow shuffle across the hallway. “But after spending most of the morning with Rosalyn today, well…”
Noah craned his neck to see Cade around the massive piece of furniture. “Well?”
Cade adjusted his grip. “Now I kind of understand why there are so many songs about long tanned legs.”
The bed wobbled as Linc shook with silent laughter.
“They’re hard to forget, that’s all.” Nothing about Rosalyn had ever been immodest. But she had that performance air about her, the kind of beauty that held people rapt.
And he’d only seen her perform live that one time.
“Dude.” Noah scoffed as they scooted into the guest room, minding the newly painted doorframe. “You’re just now realizing Rosalyn is beautiful?”
“Beautiful?” Linc’s eyes narrowed. “ Oy . I’ve been accused of living under a rock, and even I realize beautiful is not the word you’re looking for here.”
“Hey, I’m taken. I’m being respectful.” Noah shot him a look. “Besides, even if Rosalyn does have red-carpet vibes, she’s classy about it. Beautiful fits.”
“Wait a second.” Cade narrowed his eyes back at Linc as they set the bed down. “How do you even know what she looks like? You were a few grades ahead of us in school, and you”—he switched his glare to Noah—“haven’t seen her since before you moved to Shreveport in high school.”
“We looked her up.” Noah offered a sheepish grin. “Social media, her website, newspaper articles. Her name got a lot of hits.”
“With photos.” Linc raised his eyebrows pointedly.
Cade’s phone burned a hole in his pocket. But he didn’t need to google Rosalyn. He had plenty of memories, both from a lifetime ago as well as from a few hours ago.
“I remembered her from school, before I moved.” Noah rested his hands on his hips.
“What was she like back then?” Linc asked.
“Smart.” Noah and Cade answered as one.
“She gave Cade a run for his money.” Noah grinned.
“She gave everyone a run for their money.” Cade shook his head. “But she wasn’t just a brain. She had her fun moments too—when that Amber girl let her, anyway.”
“Oh, I remember her.” Noah grimaced. “She hated every male in the school—maybe Cade the most.”
“Definitely the most.” Still didn’t know why. “Anyway, one night, Rosalyn and a group of us snuck out after midnight for senior prank.”
Rosalyn had tucked her blonde hair up into a beanie, like this elegant ninja in a black leotard and leggings. Again, probably not a detail the guys needed to hear.
He cleared his throat. “We met up with our group of upperclassmen on the front lawn, but she and I both changed our minds last minute.” He smirked. “Well, she did because she realized it wasn’t worth risking valedictorian status, and I did because I didn’t need my father to bail me out of something else .”
“So what happened?” Noah asked.
Cade shrugged. “We did what any self-respecting senior would do with their parents’ money.” He grinned. “Got ice cream and spent an hour debating whether audiobooks counted as reading.”
Linc nodded. “They count.”
“They definitely don’t ,” Noah said.
They glared at each other.
“I know.” Noah snapped his fingers. “You should tell her you’ve been in a movie.”
“Are you kidding?” Linc scoffed. “Don’t you remember how incorrigible this guy was as an ‘actor’?” He jerked his thumb toward Cade. “Don’t encourage him.”
“What are you talking about?” Cade lifted his chin. “I made that movie.”
“Sure. Crowd Scene Bro Number Three—five stars.” Linc hesitated. “But yeah. You could tell her—chicks like that.”
Noah rolled his eyes. “How do you have any idea what chicks like? You’ve never even had a girlfriend.”
Linc’s face darkened. “You don’t know?—”
“Can we not say chicks ? Women aren’t poultry.” Cade held up both hands. “Also, I’m not trying to impress Rosalyn.”
“ This time.” Noah’s grin took a knowing quality.
“What do you mean?” Linc asked.
“It means he literally blew up a science project in sixth grade trying to impress her.” Noah grinned.
Cade reached to pick up the bed again. “So that part you remember.”
“Dude, it’s a core memory.” Noah grabbed his end of the frame and began back-stepping across the room. “The look on Mr. Thompson’s face when volcano goo hit the ceiling.”
More like the look on Rosalyn’s face when she’d laid into him for showing off. Leaving her to do all the work and coming in last minute to ruin it. You always get away with everything because of your dad. Because you’re a Landry.
Cade winced. “Yeah, we never really got along in school. I think that senior-prank-turned-ice-cream night was a fluke.”
Until the Harvard-Yale game, anyway.
Linc set his side of the bed on the rug by the window. “So why aren’t you trying to impress her now?”
Cade released his end of the frame, took a step back. “She’s not even staying in town. What does it matter?”
“Maybe you’re afraid to try.”
Cade glared at Linc.
He lifted both hands. “I’m just saying…women aren’t poultry, but someone here seems like a chicken.”
“She just agreed to do the circus. Hardly the right time to ask the woman out.” He’d thought about it though, hadn’t he?
Noah scooted the end of the bed to align with the window. “If you’re not going to try, why were you whining about Rosalyn being beautiful?”
“I thought we’d already established this whole beautiful thing.” Linc ran one hand down his scruffy face. “I’m buying you both dictionaries for Christmas.”
Cade lifted his chin. “Careful calling other women attractive. Zoey might get jealous.”
A thundercloud formed in Linc’s expression. “Now why would she do something stupid like that?”
Cade fought the urge to back up a step.
Noah wiped his face with the hem of his flannel, but not before Cade caught the smirk spreading across his lips.
It boosted Cade’s courage. “Now I’m just saying.”
Either Linc missed, or ignored, the tossing back of his own words against him. “Zoey and I are friends.”
Were his eyes growing darker? Cade went ahead and took that step away. “Of course.”
Linc moved forward. “ Just friends.” His long hair, piled on his head in his usual tangled knot, also seemed to be growing blacker.
“I was kidding.” Linc wouldn’t hit him. He didn’t think so, anyway.
Linc grunted as he turned back to the window. “Why don’t you focus on a real problem? Like getting this circus pulled off.”
“How’s that going, by the way? The festival plans?” Noah straightened. “No pressure, but I hope your answer is ‘fabulous.’ The inn needs customers.”
Cade corrected the folded over corner of the rug with the toe of his shoe. “First of all, I would never say fabulous .”
“Sorry. I don’t know what the cool kids are saying these days.” Noah hiked an eyebrow. “Probably because I’m busy with my girlfriend.”
“Low blow.” Cade snorted. “But you know I’m happy for you and Elisa.”
Noah’s jaw twitched. “Even though you flirted with her that one time.”
“Force of habit.” Cade shrugged. “She’s cute.”
“Beautiful, you mean.” Linc snorted.
“Okay, I’m uncomfortable with where this conversation is heading.” Noah pulled a rag from his back pocket and wiped sweat off his forehead.
“You mean, where you and Elisa are heading?” Linc grinned, a genuine one for once.
Noah threw the rag at Linc, who easily caught it. “Can we get back to the Magnolia Days conversation?”
“Everything’s going exactly as planned, especially now that my secret weapon agreed to participate.” Cade checked his palms for dust, shoved his hands into his pockets. Hopefully that would hide the telltale shaking that always seemed to strike when he was nervous and didn’t have a snack. “Hey, you guys hungry?”
“Is it really going fine?” Noah headed toward the stairs. “Or are you doing that thing where you change the subject because you’re trying to deny reality?”
“You know me being hungry is always a reality.” Cade followed Linc out of the room. They took the stairs down much faster than they’d come up.
At the bottom, Noah paused. “Seriously, what do you need? We’re here to help. This is a town affair.”
“Yeah, we can bring the muscle.” Linc turned on the stairwell and arched a pointed brow at Cade. “Some of us more than others.”
“I’ll remember that.” Cade shuffled after them. “But I got it.” He would find a way to pull this off and show Dad he had what it took to represent the Landry name.
But he also couldn’t lie.
Cade hesitated on the last stair. He couldn’t mention he still had to finish lining up the booths, create more promo materials, and confirm about a dozen other details like porta-potties and dancing poodles. But he had to give them something . “I’m worried Magnolia Days, even with the circus, might not be enough to bring in the revenue we need.”
His friends turned to face him on the bottom floor. “What do you mean?” Noah’s brow furrowed.
“Well, for starters, it seems like for every dollar I anticipate getting, another pothole pops up on Village Lane.”
“Say what?” Linc crossed his corded arms over his chest. Did the guy ever skip arm day?
“Long story.” Cade shook his head. “My point is, the fundraiser is set to be a hit, but I’m wondering if we need a second hit at the same time.” Or a third. Or a tenth.
“You’re only one person.” Noah’s gaze sobered. “Don’t forget that.”
“I also only have one job, and it’s this.” Cade straightened his shoulders. “I’m a Landry—it’ll work out. I’m glad Rosalyn came to help, because that expands our reach.”
They headed across the lobby, the faint hint of woodsy air freshener lingering in the air. Rosalyn was a life saver. There was the one hitch with her knee, but she’d assured him it’d be okay to perform in three weeks.
And he had no other choice than to believe her.
“I know we were joking about the movie thing earlier, but seriously—what about getting the crew to come back?” Noah rested one arm on the front desk, where a tiny potted plant struggled to bloom in mid-summer heat. “Consider Magnolia Bay for another movie? That would get tourist attention for a long time to come.”
“Not a bad idea.” Cade tilted his head. “I still know the producer. We send each other social media reels sometimes.”
“There’s a solid relationship for your generation,” Linc muttered.
Noah raised his eyebrows. “Might be worth asking them to scout post-hurricane and see.”
The idea wilted like the plant next to Noah’s elbow. “But Magnolia Bay is still sort of a disaster.”
Noah shrugged. “Then ask them to come during the circus.”
The idea blossomed again.
“That’ll be a fun distraction—a way to show them what decor and the right lighting can do.” Noah grinned. “And wouldn’t hurt to remind the guy that Louisiana still offers big tax breaks for movies.”
Valid points.
Linc and Noah began arguing about the merits of communication via messenger apps as they headed across the gravel walk to their vehicles, but Cade was only half listening. Maybe he’d go set up at Chug a Mug and work a few hours—and make that call to remind the film studio about Magnolia Bay. Maybe Noah was right. Maybe the crew was scouting a location already and this could be perfect timing. Maybe Cade could put Magnolia Bay back on the map.
Maybe he wouldn’t have to fail again.