Sunset on Moonlight Beach - Sheila Roberts Page 0,38
wastebasket. “Good point. Anyway, sugar won’t help. My sorrow is too deep.”
“I’m sorry,” Jenna said. “I wish you could have gotten it. If I had the money I’d have helped you.”
“I know you would,” Courtney said. She heaved a sigh. “I guess I’ll have to wait ’til I’m rich and famous to set up my own clothing store here in town.”
“You won’t need to. You’ll be selling to major outlets all over the world.”
“I don’t know,” Courtney said. “I guess if I wanted that kind of success I’d have moved to New York long ago. I think I just want to be the big fish in the small pond. Best of both worlds that way, because Moonlight Harbor has my heart.” And so did Jonas.
Jenna nodded. “I hear you. You can put down roots in a hurry here.”
“You sure did. Ever see yourself leaving?”
Jenna shook her head. “I’ve got the motel and Aunt Edie, all my friends. Got Mom moving down and Celeste, too, probably. And Sabrina’s going to go to the local community college and expects to live at home. My roots are too deep now.”
“Who’d have thought roots could grow so deep in the sand,” Courtney said.
“I know, right?” Jenna backed out of the program she’d been using and pushed away from the desk. “Guess I’ll get over to the house and try to convince Aunt Edie to let me help with making dinner.”
“Good luck with that,” Courtney said. Edie Patterson was practically welded to her stove. There’d be no pulling her out of the kitchen.
Jenna left and Courtney settled down to read the new Jill Barnett historical novel she’d loaded onto her phone. There were no guests due to check in, and the few that were still in the motel had already enjoyed Edie Patterson’s cookies, so they wouldn’t be back. It would probably be a quiet night. Just Courtney and her book and her misery.
She dug the package of cookies back out of the wastebasket. Her sorrow may have been deep but she’d paid for the cookies so there was no point in wasting them.
She was halfway through the package and feeling slightly ill when she heard a car pull up outside. People sometimes came in without reservations, hoping for a room, but usually not this early in the year.
She left the office and went to the reception desk to see who was venturing out on a rainy spring night. It wasn’t a guest. It was Brody Green.
“Jenna’s at the house,” she told him when he dashed into the office, brushing rain off his windbreaker.
“Actually, I’m here to see you,” he said.
“Me?” Why on earth would Brody want to see her?
“I just bought a business and I’m thinking it might have been a mistake.”
“Mr. Wheeler Dealer? When it comes to business you never make mistakes.”
“I think this time I have.”
“Can’t you back out of the deal?”
“I paid cash. It’s a fait accompli. Everything will be final in a week. But it’s really not me.”
“Okay, I’m dying of curiosity. What the heck did you buy?” she asked.
“Beach Babes.”
“B-Beach Babes? You bought Beach Babes?” Brody Green bought Susan’s business and he didn’t even want it? Life was so not fair.
“I’m thinking you might want to buy it,” he said, helping himself to one of the three remaining cookies on the plate that Edie kept filled every day.
“Wait a minute,” Courtney said suspiciously.
“We can work out a deal. You can make monthly payments.”
“Brody Green, did you really want that business?”
“No, but I heard you did,” he said, and flashed that gorgeous grin he was famous for among all the women of Moonlight Harbor.
“Oh, my gosh. You did this for me?” If he did, Brody was the world’s best Good Samaritan.
His face reddened and he shrugged. “I heard you were having some trouble negotiating with Susan.”
“Negotiating? Susan doesn’t know the meaning of the word.”
“So, want to talk business?” he asked.
Did she! Excitement was bubbling up in her so fast she was sure she’d explode.
“You bet.” Except. “How much did you pay for it? Maybe I can’t afford it.”
“I’ll carry the contract and we’ll make sure you can. Let’s crunch some numbers.”
She led him into the back office and they did the number crunching. Brody had paid a fair market price and Susan had been happy to take the deal. Now he was offering it to Courtney for considerably less than he paid for it.
“I can’t do that,” she protested, horrified. “It wouldn’t be right.”