“I have an idea.” Beau holds out a finger, gesturing at us to listen, “Operationget Ellie to move back home.” He looks at us and smiles.
“What?” Riley squints at him with pinched eyebrows. “This isn’tMission Impossible, Beau.”
He raises both his hands and shakes his head. “Someone doesn’t know how to have some fun.”
Riley waves him off and says, “But Ellie said there needs to be a purpose behind her doing it, like when she would host the bake sales at school.”
Twice a year during high school, Ellie would hold a bake sale, and the girls would help her with that. One year, she made 700 dollars and donated it to a charity to save bees after a hurricane damaged 95,000 hives.
She had pamphlets about the charity, where to donate if you didn’t want to buy baked goods (which, let’s be real, she sold out within two hours), and they made a presentation board about bees and why they are needed for our environment.
“She can easily find something that would be worth signing up for the festival,” James said.
“Well, Rowan.” Riley looks at me with her head tilted. The look she has in her eyes is starting to scare me. “Your sister said that Ellie would have the best reason to raise money from what she sells.”
“And that would be?” I gesture my hand in a circle, telling her to continue.
“To move back home, permanently, and open her own bakery!” Riley shouts with an excited smile.
We all look at her dumbfounded because that is a wild idea that involves so much work.Don’t get me wrong, if Ellie decided to leave what she built on the other side of the country, you would catch me doing backflips. And I don’t know how to do that.
But no one would just leave all that behind. A successful job, which is burning her out, a nice apartment that probably cost more than my mortgage, and—wait—is that all she would have if she went back? She’s not with Charlie anymore. I’d never heard her mention any friends. Was it just her and Charlie? Maybe Charlie’s friends?
“Why the hell would Ellie just up and move back home? Do you know how hard it is to start a business? I would know,” August tells Riley.
August and Mr. Thompson own the surf shack. August and Ellie’s dad opened the shop before they were born and has had it ever since. After college, August joined his dad, and now they co-own the business.
Riley glares at him. “Yeah, August, you do know. So,maybeyou can convince your sister how much of a great idea it is?” she retorts with a smart-ass tone. “Plus, Rowan and James also run a business. Obviously, it’s doable.” She rolls her eyes at him.
“I mean, sure,” James replies. “But it’s time-consuming and can be stressful if you do it by yourself. You need to find a location, get a loan, get permits, and then construction. It’sa lotof work.”
“Well, good thing she hasfriendswho can help her.” Riley looks at us like she’s about to chew us up and spit us out. “Plus, you think I want to work at my dad's dentist's office my entire life? I have a yoga studio, but it’s not a full-time gig.Ican co-own the bakery with Ellie.”
“You really think you can convince her?” Beau pulls her attention.
“She’s only been here for two weeks. That means we have plenty of time to drill the idea into her head. I mean, come on, she ran back home away from a shitty relationship and a job that has taken over her life. She isn’t happy. Any time she visits home; she looks tired and worn down. When she gets ready to leave, she looks like her normal self again but goes back to the stressful environment she came from. I think she needs to be surrounded by a group of people who will always be there for her. A support system. It seems like she doesn’t have that where she is now.”
“What did she say when Addie brought this up?” I ask as my nerves take over my body.
Riley lets out a laugh. “Oh, she thought it was hilarious. She laughed for about five minutes, and that’s when I came down here to get a drink. The look on Addie’s face when Ellie started laughing was pure gold.” She mimics the expression, and it looks like a toddler who was told no after asking for a toy they saw in a store.
I tap my fingers on the seat while I think to myself about the possibility of Ellie staying in Dove Point for good. I want her to be happy, and I want to be happy with her. If she is willing to change her life and come back home, then why can’t I support that?
An hour later, everyone is hanging out in front of the boat, but Ellie is nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, where’s El?” I ask Hailey.
“I think she’s still upstairs. She was lying down when we decided to take a break from the sun, but she didn’t come with us,” Hailey says.
I get up and find myself walking toward the stairs to where Ellie is by herself. The idea of her opening her own place and staying home puts a smile on my face. I would pour all my money into the venture if she could stay home for good.
When I get to the top of the stairs, I look at where the white tanning chairs are, and holy hell. Ellie’s ass is…tan. I swallow and then clear my throat when I slowly approach her while she lies on her stomach. She turns her head to me, and she moves her sunglasses to her forehead, giving me the smile I always melt for.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asks.
“I, uh.” My eyes quickly roam her body. She’s never worn something like this around me before.
I watch her as she turns over, and sure enough, her nipples are showing off through the fabric of the small bikini top. I would do anything to see the tan lines she gets after today.
