Four Short Weeks Read online

  Four Short Weeks

  Return to Lighthouse Point

  Kay Correll

  Zura Lu Publishing LLC

  Copyright © 2020 Kay Correll

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any matter without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental

  * * *

  Published by Zura Lu Publishing LLC

  041820

  This book is dedicated to all the healthcare workers, first responders, and essential workers who toiled tirelessly through the spring of 2020.

  What a strange world we live in.

  Here’s to a tiny bit of escapism.

  Kay’s Books

  Find more information on all my books at my website.

  * * *

  COMFORT CROSSING ~ THE SERIES

  The Shop on Main - Book One

  The Memory Box - Book Two

  The Christmas Cottage - A Holiday Novella (Book 2.5)

  The Letter - Book Three

  The Christmas Scarf - A Holiday Novella (Book 3.5)

  The Magnolia Cafe - Book Four

  The Unexpected Wedding - Book Five

  * * *

  The Wedding in the Grove - (a crossover short story between series - with Josephine and Paul from The Letter.)

  * * *

  LIGHTHOUSE POINT ~ THE SERIES

  Wish Upon a Shell - Book One

  Wedding on the Beach - Book Two

  Love at the Lighthouse - Book Three

  Cottage Near the Point - Book Four

  Return to the Island - Book Five

  Bungalow by the Bay - Book Six

  Click here to learn more about the series.

  * * *

  CHARMING INN ~ Return to Lighthouse Point

  In 2020

  One Simple Wish - Book One

  Two of a Kind - Book Two

  Three Little Things - Book Three

  Four Short Weeks - Book Four

  Five Years or So - Book Five

  Six Hours Away - Book Six

  * * *

  SWEET RIVER ~ THE SERIES

  A Dream to Believe in - Book One

  A Memory to Cherish - Book Two

  A Song to Remember - Book Three

  A Time to Forgive - Book Four

  A Summer of Secrets - Book Five

  A Moment in the Moonlight - Book Six

  * * *

  INDIGO BAY ~ A multi-author sweet romance series

  Sweet Days by the Bay - Kay’s Complete Collection of stories in the Indigo Bay series

  * * *

  Or buy them separately:

  Sweet Sunrise - Book Three

  Sweet Holiday Memories - A short holiday story

  Sweet Starlight - Book Nine

  * * *

  Want to be the first to know about exclusive promotions, news, giveaways, and new releases? Click here to sign up:

  VIP READER Signup

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Also by Kay Correll

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Lillian Charm walked into The Nest, the private area of Charming Inn she shared with her niece, Sara.

  Sara looked up from where she was tapping away at her computer. “Good morning.”

  “Morning.” Lillian headed straight for the coffeepot and poured herself a cup. “You’re up early and busy this morning.”

  “I need to finish up this presentation. I have a meeting with Delbert Hamilton regarding promotion for The Cabot Hotel.”

  “That’s a wonderful opportunity for you to get your name known in the area.”

  “I hope he likes what I came up with.”

  “I’m sure he will. You always have clever ideas for your advertising campaigns.”

  “And you’re not biased at all.” Sara grinned as she stood and snapped down the cover of her laptop. “I should head out.”

  “Have a good day.”

  “I’m having dinner with Noah tonight, so I’ll see you later this evening.”

  “That’s fine. I’m working the dinner shift in the dining room tonight, anyway.”

  Sara gathered her things and left, and then the kitchen was suddenly empty and quiet. She’d so enjoyed having Sara back here living with her even though her niece made noise about moving back out on her own. Lil was in no hurry for that to happen, though she understood how Sara might want her privacy. Especially now that she was dating Noah. Though Lil tried to give them as much time alone as possible.

  She reached for the paper sitting on the table. Might as well have a leisurely cup of coffee and do the crossword. She felt only slightly guilty delaying the start of her workday. Sara was always telling her to slow down some. She was just taking her advice.

  Not that slowing down would really ever happen. Charming Inn was still packed with guests even though the “snowbird” season was officially over. She really should head to her office. She’d left a long list of to-dos for today. Thank goodness she’d hired Robin, one of Sara’s best friends, to help with the running of the inn. The busier they got, the crazier things were at the inn, and she did like things to run smoothly.

  She folded the paper when she finished the crossword, pleased she’d figured out the whole puzzle, and set her cup in the sink. Time to get to work. With one last look around, she slipped out of The Nest and down the long hallway to the inn.

  As she entered the main area of the inn, Robin waved to her from the reception desk where she was talking to some guests. She crossed over and waited until Robin was finished.

  “It’s been busy this morning. I tentatively booked a wedding for September, and Jay wants to see you. Some problem with Magnolia House.”

  Lillian sighed. “This rehab has been nothing but one problem after the next.” She’d really thought when George and Ida wanted to sell their house next to Charming Inn that it would be a nice addition to the inn. A large, rambling house that guests could rent for big family gatherings. She’d paid a pretty penny for the property, too.

  “I’m not sure what the problem is this time.” Robin shrugged.

  “I’ll go find Jay and see what’s going on.” She might have hired him to be the chef, but Jay was super helpful with everything at Charming Inn.

  More problems at Magnolia House had not been on her already too long to-do list.

  Gary Jones rolled over in bed and looked at the bedside clock in shock. How in the world had he ever slept this late? He never slept in. He was always at work before dawn and came home late at night. But on his first night at Charming Inn, he’d slept a good ten hours.

  Ten.

  He couldn’t remember doing that si
nce he’d been a teenager, if then.

  He guessed the stress of the last few months had finally caught up to him. He raked his fingers through his bed-ruffled hair and pulled himself up to lean against the stack of pillows. Light streamed in through the doors to the balcony overlooking the gulf.

  He’d chosen this place because it was about as far from home as possible. Far from everything he wanted to forget. Not to mention, his own son had asked him to leave for a while. Though his son—in his role of acting CEO—was probably right, and it was for the best. At least he’d raised his son to make smart decisions. Smarter decisions than he’d been making recently. That had been made crystal clear this year.

  He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes to wipe away the sleep as well as a feeble attempt to erase his thoughts.

  He stared outside at the brilliant blue sky sprinkled with fluffy white clouds. On a normal day, he’d have hours and hours of work behind him by now. And breakfast. He would have had breakfast by now. His stomach growled in answer to his thoughts.

  Sliding his legs around, he set his feet on the worn wooden floor. It was warm and welcoming compared to the cold, stark tile floor of his apartment in Seattle. He glanced in the mirror and shook his head, barely recognizing himself. A couple days’ growth of beard covered his face, and his hair was way past its usual four-weeks-on-the-dot limit. He ran his hand across his beard, debating shaving it off. But then decided to leave it. Why not break all the rules along with this ridiculous attempt at a vacation?

  Vacation?

  Why in the world should he be taking a vacation? What had he done that he deserved a break? Though, if he was honest with himself—which he’d sworn he would do from now on—it was more of an escape than a vacation.

  The guilt slammed over him again, but he pushed it away. If he could only find a strong cup of coffee and wake up, maybe things would look better.

  Maybe.

  But he doubted it.

  Chapter 2

  Lillian stood on the large wrap-around porch at Charming Inn. She frowned and shook her head. “Jay, you can’t keep doing everything around here. I hired you to be our chef—the best one ever, by the way—but we need to hire some more help.”

  “I can take over for that lazy builder. Vince misses more days of work than he shows up.”

  “You can’t take on that job, too. I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to have to find someone else.”

  “While you’re at it, maybe find someone who really knows what he’s doing.” Jay shook his head. “Vince does everything halfway. I’m always going behind him and making sure he’s doing things to spec.”

  “It’s going to delay our opening of Magnolia House if we have to wait and find someone else.” Lillian let out a long sigh, frustrated at all the delays.

  “It might. But better the house and its new deck are made right and safe than the way Vince is doing it.”

  “I thought buying the house next door and rehabbing it was a smart business decision, but now I’m not sure.”

  “I still think it was a good idea. And Robin ran the numbers on it, didn’t she? She thinks it’s a smart purchase, too.”

  “I didn’t think it would take this long to get it up and running. Anyway, you’re right. I’m going to walk over to the work area and let him go.”

  “You could if he would have shown up today…” Jay rolled his eyes.

  “Then I’ll send him an email cancelling our contract with him. I’ll list all the problems we’ve had and the delays. It was supposed to be finished by now. I’m glad we haven’t booked anyone to stay there yet.”

  “The guy wouldn’t know a deadline if it came up and smacked him in the face.” Jay shook his head. “Wonder if Noah has the name of a good contractor?”

  “He might. Let me deal with firing Vince, then I’ll work on finding a new worker to finish up the rehab.” She sighed. Just another task on her already long list.

  Gary sat around the corner from the lady and man having the discussion about rehabbing the house next door to the inn. A crazy thought crashed through his mind.

  But no. It was too crazy.

  Or was it?

  It would at least keep him busy. If his hands were busy, maybe his mind would quiet down. Maybe he could feel like he was helping someone instead of hurting them…

  He pushed up off the chair, still second-guessing himself, and rounded the corner. “Excuse me.”

  A woman—about his age, he’d guess, but he wouldn’t bet his life on it—stood talking to a tall, thin, younger man with an apron tied about his waist.

  “I’m sorry, did you need something?” The woman smiled at him.

  “I… uh… I didn’t mean to be… I mean I was just sitting around the corner and…” He shrugged. This wasn’t coming out right. “Didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you saying you were looking for a builder for finishing up rehab of the house and deck you’re building.”

  “We are.” The woman smiled again. A warm, welcoming smile that reached her honey-brown eyes. “I’m Lillian. Lillian Charm. I own the inn.”

  Ah, Lillian Charm. Charming Inn. He got it.

  Lillian motioned toward the man. “And this is Jay, our chef and all-around fix-it man, but he’s too busy for me to heap this job on him too even though he’s a wizard with fixing things.”

  “And if I told you that I’m an experienced builder—a good one—and an accomplished carpenter. And if I told you I’m looking for a job while I’m here on the island, what would you say to that?”

  The man—Jay—looked skeptical.

  “How about we walk over to the house and I’ll give you my opinion of the work that’s been done. Look at the plans. Sounds like you know your way around a hammer and a drill.” He looked at Jay.

  The man stood there, still looking skeptical, in a black t-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders. The t-shirt said First coffee and then… more coffee. A hint of flour covered the hem of the shirt. At least they could agree on one thing—coffee.

  “Jay, why don’t you do that? Go over with Mr.…?”

  “Gary Jones.” He held out his hand.

  She took his hand, and he was surprised by her firm handshake. “I always listen to the universe when it drops an opportunity in my lap. I need a builder. You say you’re one and need a job. I say it’s serendipity.”

  Jay still didn’t look convinced, but he untied his apron and handed it to Lillian. He cocked his head. “Let’s go. I’ll show you what’s been done so far and the plans.”

  Gary didn’t miss the look of doubt that crossed the young man’s face as he led him off the porch and down a pathway. Guess he couldn’t blame him. He knew better than most that a person should fully vet the people they hired.

  Chapter 3

  An hour later Lillian looked up from her desk as Jay walked into her office.

  “I almost hate to say it because I was so skeptical, but this Gary guy knows his stuff. He also pointed out that the support posts Vince had ordered for the deck weren’t large enough and he was certain they wouldn’t be to code. He actually headed back to his room to read through the building code for Belle Island. Won’t that be some light reading?”

  “So you think we should hire him?”

  “He said he doesn’t have any recent references, and that bothers me, but he does seem experienced. Said he’d been out of the day-to-day construction business for quite a few years. Didn’t say what he did now.” Jay scowled. “It’s kind of crazy to just hire him on the spot, but I’d say… yes. At least give him a shot. What do we have to lose? I’ll keep an eye on him and his work, too.”

  “See, serendipity. Just like I said.” She smiled and stood. “I’ll go up to his room and talk to him now.”

  She hurried through the inn and took the steps up to the suite Gary was staying in. It occurred to her that it was strange that someone who had rented the suite would be looking for work, but then, you never knew what was going on in other people’s lives
and she tried not to pry.

  She knocked on the door and he promptly opened it. “Miss Charm.”

  “Lillian. Call me Lillian.” She stepped into the room. “Jay says you know what you’re talking about when it comes to rehabbing.”

  “I do. I worked quite a few years in construction.”

  “Well, the job is yours, if you want it.”

  “I do.”

  “Don’t you want to know what I’m paying?”

  “I’m sure it’s fair.” He shrugged.

  “And you’re able to stay here on the island until the job is completed?”

  “I am.” He nodded slowly. “That won’t be a problem.”

  “I pay the going rate for this type of work and I’d like to comp your room, too.”

  “No need to do that.”

  “I insist.”

  He frowned. “How about I move into the house next door? It will make it easier to work on if I’m there, and you can have this suite for another guest.”

  She thought about it for a moment. It would be easier for him if he stayed where he was working, and the house really was beautiful, even if it needed a lot of work. The kitchen and bathrooms were functional at least. And she could always find paying guests for the suite.