“Pissed about what?” I ask.

“What he’s calling The Great Sullivan Cock-Up,” he groans. “He sent me here on behalf of Sunny’s to apologize.”

“To me? And he sent you? I’m surprised Cora didn’t step in and do it for you.”

He nods, shuffling on his feet and looking extremely uncomfortable. “I deserve that. After what happened at the restaurant, what you said, yeah, I realized I owe you an apology. Many apologies.”

The new decking must’ve fallen into a black hole, swirling us into oblivion, because I am flabbergasted. Dumbstruck. Confused.

“I’m sorry for how I treated you, Marnie. It was shocking at the time, having everything ripped out from under us. I’ve always looked up to Mom and how she handles the business, trusted her to tell me what to do,” he says. “So, when she said go, I went. When she said your notebook belonged to Sunny’s, I believed her. I didn’t fight for us when she said I should end things. I couldn’t even do it myself. I fucked up everything.”

He glances everywhere but at me as if struggling with every word. I don’t think he’s ever said so many things without inserting a laugh or joke. “I appreciate that, Ashe. Granddad must be furious.”

A smile cuts through his anguish. “Livid. He’s come out of retirement.”

“What?” I gasp. “Isn’t he like… almost eighty?”

Ashe nods. “Yep, but he’s made Mom take a step back from operations at Seagrove. We’ve had to cut staff. The new store manager is terrible. Granddad’s worried that a damn convenience store might put Seagrove’s Sunny’s out of business. Our profits are down twenty percent, and that’s before your grand re-opening.”

I gasp so sharply that I choke on a bug. “Twenty? Seriously?”

“I’ll deny that outside of this conversation,” he says. “But yes. We’re hoping things’ll pick up with the tourists, but for now, the locals prefer you.”

I do a shameless happy dance on the dock—I can’t help it.

“Don’t get too excited. The beach store is doing great, and Grandad’s tasked me to revitalize the Seagrove branch. We won’t be down long.”

I grin widely. “As part owner of the G&G and soon-to-be business consultant, I look forward to the competition.”

He smirks. “Yeah, I heard about that... This might help.”

He pulls out his phone, swipes the screen, and shows me a picture. It’s the front wall of the beach store, where the managers are listed with their pictures under the beach mural and bold Welcome to Sunny’s!

Beside Sunny’s Store Manager portrait is a picture of me next to the words Store Designer & Concept Creator.

“Eep!” I gush, my wide eyes going from his to the picture and back again. “I can’t believe it! Are you responsible for this?”