I was glad when Sunday evening finally arrived because it meant I had somewhere to go. I didn’t want to miss any of my girl time with Court, so I headed over to Joe’s a little early.

Joe’s Restaurant would be bullied out of business soon, and we would have to find a new place to meet for our Sunday night BFF time. The imminent closing of the restaurant also meant that Court, Joe, and all of the other employees of the restaurant would soon be out of their jobs, thanks to Sam. The last part hurt to admit. I didn’t like thinking about my dream man being capable of causing all of this turmoil.

It made me sad to think about what was happening all over Harbor Shores, so I kept pushing it out of my mind. The town’s forced transformation of all the prime, waterfront property was starting to become impossible to ignore, especially since it affected the livelihoods of so many of the people that I cared about. There was really no denying its reach, since the takeover had even eliminated my own job.

I wanted to believe that Sam could devise a solution that would make us all happy, but I just didn’t see how that could be a possibility. He and I were at opposite ends of the spectrum on what we felt would be best for the area.

I walked through the familiar, welcoming front door of Joe’s and what I saw almost blew me away. The best booth in the house, with a clear view of the lake, where Court and I always sat on girls’ night, was gone! The table, the bench seats, the twinkle lights, and even the beautiful stained glass pendant lights that dangled above, were all missing. There was an ugly, empty space where it all should have been.

I whirled around, intending to get an explanation. In my second huge surprise of the night, I saw Sam standing at the bar. Normally, I could sense his presence from a mile away because my skin would start tingling or the hair on my arms would stand on end. I must have been so preoccupied with not seeing what I expected upon my arrival that I didn’t notice my body’s usual reactions to his nearness. It was so wonderful to see him again, and it took all of my strength not to run to him.

“What? Where? Why?” There were so many questions swirling around in my brain that I couldn’t seem to formulate a single one coherently. Sam graced me with his crooked smile as I struggled to speak.

The more time I had to process, the more questions I had. Beyond the obvious ‘where the hell did our booth go?’ I was now wondering what Sam was doing here, and if Joe knew he was here, and where Courtney and Joe were. Nothing was making any sense.