“How’s the weather looking?” Fred said as he came into the family room.

“Mornin’, Fred. Not sure, I haven’t turned the TV on yet,” I replied, shaking his hand.

“Well, let’s check it out.” Fred grabbed the remote and flipped on the morning news.

“Yes, Bob, raining cats and dogs is an understatement, and it doesn’t look like it’s stopping any time soon. Folks, if you had plans today, you’d better cancel them. We are expecting more rain and lots of it. In some areas it’s coming down at the rate of one inch per hour. Massive flooding all over the county and power outages galore-”

Fred clicked the TV off in the middle of the weatherman’s report and dropped the remote on the couch, his head falling back in exasperation. He looked over toward Sophia and my eyes followed. Poor Sophia. I knew that look anywhere—my mom made it too. She was panicked, clutching her necklace, staring back at Fred. He got up off the couch and walked over to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

“It’s okay, don’t worry. The sandbags are keeping the lake at bay and you bought that back-up generator for a reason. It’s business as usual around here.” She looked over and smiled at him, her face more relaxed.

I walked into the kitchen, up behind Kacie who was on her tiptoes trying to reach something in the fridge.

“Need help?”

“Ah!” she yelled, spinning around. Her back slammed against the refrigerator shelves.

“Whoa! Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. My mind was somewhere else.”

“I hope wherever it was, it was having fun.” I winked at her playfully. “What can I help you with?”

“Knowing my brain, it was re-organizing a closet and sorting dirty laundry into color coordinated piles.” She grinned up at me. “Um … wanna cut up some strawberries?”

“Yep, I’m all over it.” I grabbed the cutting board and pint of strawberries and got to work.

“Kacie, did Fred tell you about the shower?” Sophia asked her.

“The shower?” Kacie pulled her brows in close and looked at her mom, confused.

“Nothing major. I think it’s just a broken cartridge, but no water comes out, so no one can use it until it’s fixed. I’ll get to it this afternoon,” Fred said, walking over to pour himself a cup of coffee.

“Oh, no biggie. If I smell today, it’s Fred’s fault.” Kacie teased, nudging him with her elbow as he walked by.

I discreetly stared at Kacie as she continued small talk with her mom and Fred. I had found myself doing that a lot over the last eighteen hours, but I couldn’t help it. She was mesmerizing, every little thing about her. From her bright green eyes, to her cute little nose that crinkled just a little bit every time she smiled. When we were talking last night, I was trying hard to concentrate on what she was saying, but I kept drifting off, getting lost in her features. Twenty-four hours ago, I didn’t know this girl existed. Now I wanted to know every single detail about her, all the way down to her shoe size.

“Mmmmm, I love strawberries. So sweet and juicy.” Ashley winked at me as she reached over and grabbed a berry, popping it into her mouth.

I smiled politely, finding it hard to hide my annoyance with her any longer. Though this detour to the Cranberry Inn wasn’t planned, it had been surprisingly awesome so far, except for Ashley. She was a thorn in my side that I wish I could remove. I didn’t have a lot of time left here, and she was not the one I wanted to spend it with.

Just then, Kacie wiggled in between Ashley and me with catlike prowess and set down a cast iron skillet full of gooey, delicious-looking cinnamon rolls on the island. She took the cutting board from me, brushing the strawberries into a bowl. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at me out of the corner of her eye and I knew what she was doing.

She was saving me from Ashley, amongst other things.

A few hours after breakfast, I was holed up in my bedroom, listening to the rain bounce off the roof and avoiding reality. I needed a break … from the house, from the girls, from Brody. Not that Brody being at the house was a bad thing, but his presence was awakening a part of my brain that had been dormant for a long time and that was exhausting. My life the last four years had been simple, and I liked that. I needed it. Our life with the inn was so chaotic that I craved as much routine as possible in our day-to-day lives. I woke up every day knowing what was going to happen and did my best to keep us organized and on schedule. Needless to say, the storm threw me off balance, especially with Brody showing up. I hadn’t planned on dating anyone until after I was done with nursing school, but now I was questioning things. Was there room in my life for someone now?

Grabbing my cell phone, I decided to text Alexa to distract myself.

HEY! HOW ARE YOU GUYS DOING OVER THERE?

It was less than 30 seconds before my phone beeped in return.

POOKS! WE’RE OKAY. POWER IS OUT. I’M BORED. DEREK KEEPS TRYING TO HAVE SEX. IT’S ANNOYING. HOW ARE YOU ALL DOING?

I laughed at her ridiculous nickname for me. I called her Pookie Bear once in high school after a marathon wine cooler session and she had shortened it and called me Pooks ever since. I made the decision right then not to tell her about Brody. First, she wouldn’t understand my hesitation in opening myself up for an opportunity, then she would call my mom and they would be picking out my wedding dress together. Alexa wanted me to get married almost as badly as my mom did.

WE’RE OKAY. COUPLE SURPRISE GUESTS WHO WERE STUCK. POWER KEEPS FLICKERING ON AND OFF, OTHER THAN THAT, NOTHING TOO EXCITING. I’LL TEXT YOU TOMORROW. HOPEFULLY THIS RAIN LETS UP AND WE CAN MEET FOR LUNCH LATER IN THE WEEK?

Obviously, once high school ended and I had the girls, life had changed dramatically. I couldn’t always drop everything and run out and do what I wanted like most of my other friends. Sometimes I was jealous of Alexa and her freedom to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. My mom insisted I still have a life outside of the inn, so she agreed to babysit the girls once a week for a day out with Alexa. When I first moved back, we would go out to clubs or bars on the weekends, but I was a lightweight and was always yawning by ten o’clock. Eventually we switched the outings to lunch dates, or I would just grab takeout and hang out at her flower shop.

YES, FOR SURE! OKAY, DEREK IS STICKING HIS HAND DOWN MY PANTS YET AGAIN, GOTTA GO BREAK IT OFF. STAY DRY. LOVE YA!

I put my phone down and looked outside at the pouring rain. Maybe Alexa and my mom were right—I was too closed off from the possibility of love again. Was I even really in love with Zach the last time? Ugh, just saying his name to myself made my stomach turn. I couldn’t think about this right now, my brain was as cloudy as the sky out my window. I went to find the girls and persuade them to play a game with me.

The house was silent. No one was in the living room or the kitchen. I walked through the hallway to the front room and found my mom sitting on the couch looking out the window, smiling.

“Where is everyone?”

“Oh, they’re all milling around here somewhere.”

“Where are Piper and Lucy?”

“Brody was taking Diesel out to go potty and they asked if they could go with...” She smiled at me and nodded her head toward the window.