We parked outside the place Jonas had booked for my whole family. It was the Ashford Inn, a building that looked historic, but amazingly well-kept with a fresh coat of bright red paint on the roof. Bright, colorful roofs seemed to be a requirement in Fairhope, and it gave the whole town a cheery, upbeat feeling. We’d only been here five minutes and I already felt charmed by it all.

We got out of the car together, stretching after driving most of the morning. The air was cold and dry with a constant breeze. I grabbed my jacket from the back and zipped it up, doing a little “wow, this is cold” jump. Dean saw me and smiled as he buttoned up his own coat.

“This place is pretty charming, huh?” he asked, looking around us.

I took another look around, enjoying the scent of fresh air all around us. I saw a bakery, a few coffee shops, a pharmacy, a “McDermit’s General Store”, and even a flower shop. There wasn’t a big box store in sight, and that just added to the charm, which was practically oozing from every direction.

“Very,” I agreed. “But I have to admit, I wish we were staying out by that big skyscraper with the rest of the employees. This place feels like ground zero. All of my family is going to be here and so is Jonas.”

“Yeah,” Dean said, sizing up the inn as he pulled the trunk closed. “At least Maxwell and Alec are staying with the rest of them by Stone Tower. More and more, I think Alec is hoping to convince his brother to stop working with me. I’m worried he sees our relationship as some kind of weak point to abuse for his goals.”

I frowned. That was news to me, but as I looked back on what I’d seen of Alec’s body language around Dean, I could see it. “Alec kind of freaks me out. He looks like he would’ve been a perfect 90’s movie bad guy.”

Dean laughed and hoisted his bag over his shoulder. He took mine by the handle and started wheeling it toward the front door of the Ashford Inn.

Inside, we found a cozy little lobby that looked old and as perfectly maintained as the exterior. There was a section off to our left that looked more new. From what I could tell, it was a restaurant that might’ve been added recently. There was a clatter of plates and happy voices coming from the dining room and some absolutely incredible smells drifting our way, too.

A boy who might have only been twelve or thirteen was standing behind the counter with his nose in a book. He looked up when he saw me and smiled. “Welcome to the Ashford Inn, where all your dreams come true. For a small donation of–”

“Billy!” A little girl whacked him on the head as she came out from a room behind the counter. “Sorry about him,” she said, smiling sweetly. She looked a few years younger, but I judged her to be the responsible one of the two. “If you asked Billy what he wants to be when he grows up, he’d tell you it’s a turd.”