Sand Dollar Cove
by Nance Naigle
Contemporary Romance
Date published: July 2015
From USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle - Sand Dollar
Cove
Escape to the shores of Sand Dollar Cove, a quaint beach town on
the North Carolina coast. When Elli Eversol returns to Sand Dollar Cove to
rebuild her grandparents shops on the old fishing pier following last fall’s
hurricane, she’s faced with bigger problems. For one, the pier has taken a much
more serious hit by a recent Nor’easter. Secondly, the boy who broke her heart,
Holden Moore, is back in town too and tempting her, only her heart is telling
her he’s still not one to be trusted. So she keeps her focus on her family and
the Buy-A-Board campaign project so she can put those funds to good use and
spare her heart. When Brody Rankin answered the online request to help router
names into boards purchased in a campaign to save the shops on the pier in Sand
Dollar Cove, he’d really just been trying to do a good deed and get a closer
look at the sleepy little town where his mega-company is planning to build an
east coast warehouse. Will this well-known playboy be able to resist a woman
who loves the ocean as much as he does, or will he leave Sand Dollar Cove
behind?
As soon as Elli
Eversol pushed her toes into the gritty sand on the beach, wonderful memories
swept away the stress she’d carried on the five-hour drive from Charlotte.
Temperatures were already hovering in the sixties, unseasonably warm for March
on the North Carolina coast, especially for this early in the morning. With her
shoes and socks in hand, she walked down to the pier, her footsteps leaving
clear imprints in the crusted top layer of sand.
Filling her lungs with ocean air, the only thing missing from her
memories of the beach was the scent of suntan lotion, but summer was just a few
months away.
Sand Dollar Cove still held a special place in her heart. Every
summer for as long as she could remember, she’d stayed here with Nana and Pops
at their beach house. The Sol~Mate had been her home away from home on summer
breaks until she’d gone away to college. Her plan had been to move here once
she graduated, but Dad had made her promise that she’d work in a city for two
years before making a decision to settle in Sand Dollar Cove. He’d grown up
here and, according to Nana and Pops, Daddy couldn’t wait to get out of the
small beach town. She’d never understood it, but he must’ve been onto
something: Even though she’d moved to
Charlotte with the plan to get some experience under her belt just
to make him happy, she’d been there ever since. Two years turned into five, and
she stayed so busy she hadn’t even had the time to think about moving since.
Waves crashed against the pier, filling the air with a misty
spray. The seagulls above seemed to laugh at some inside joke between them. At
least at this time of the year the sand was cool. In the summer there were days
you were forced to use your towel and shirt as stepping stones to get back to
the parking lot or else burn your feet. After a winter of closed-toe shoes, it
sure felt good to walk the beach again.
A young couple stood under the pier. The water lapped at their
ankles as the guy leaned in, probably promising her the world. She’d been that
girl once. The crash of the waves dulling her sensibilities and drowning out
her voice of reason. It was a long time ago, but her chest ached at the memory
of the heartbreak of that summer.
Elli silently wished the girl under the pier better luck than
she’d had. Between those broken promises and then losing Pops just a few weeks
later, that summer had been the worst of her life. Maybe work wasn’t the only
reason her trips back to Sand Dollar Cove had become more infrequent over the
years. Maybe these memories had a little to do with it too.
As she got closer to the pier, the No Trespassing signs and yellow
caution tape caught her off-guard. The insurance company probably demanded they
mark it to keep from being held liable, should someone try to fish before the
repairs were complete. But still, it was unsettling.
The recent nor’easter had done even more damage to the pier,
sweeping a huge gap right out of the center of the remaining pilings. Seeing it
for the first time in person, it was a lot worse than she’d realized. The pier
looked like a snaggle-toothed jack-o’-lantern about two weeks after Halloween.
A swirl of concern swept through her. If the town didn’t get busy on repairs
they could miss one of the biggest moneymakers of the summer tourist season,
Memorial Day weekend.
Her bright mood faded. Pops had built those shops on the pier
nearly fifty years ago. When the hurricane damaged them, Elli had started an
online fundraiser to repair them. The Buy A Board campaign had been more
successful than she’d ever dreamed; the donations more than doubling her
initial goal in only a few weeks. For a $250 donation, donors could opt to have
their names displayed on one of the boards used to make the repairs. That had
been the most popular option, and the smaller donations had added up quickly too.
When Nana mentioned that she hadn’t been able to renew her license
for the shops, Elli had assumed Nana just hadn’t gotten around to it. Now she
wondered if perhaps the town was stalling on issuing them because they’d fallen
behind on this project. Fallen behind was being kind. It looked like no one had
done a thing.
She glanced at her watch. Right now she was due at the Carolina By
The Sea Resort and Spa. Breaking into a jog, she got back to her car and used
her socks to swat the damp sand off her feet, then put her shoes back on.
It was a short ride to the spa from here. Elli pulled her car into
the last parking spot at the far end of the resort near the restaurant.
March could be desolate, and many of the businesses chose to shut
down completely until Memorial Day. But Pam seemed to be doing a big business,
if the parking lot was any indication.
Inside, the place was bustling. Filled nearly to capacity in the
shoulder seasons, pre- and post-summer, was a big deal in a small beach town
such as this.
“You made good time,” Pam said, rushing to Elli and pulling her
into a big hug.
“It’s so good to see you.” Elli pulled back from the hug. She
still thought of Pam as her teenaged beach buddy. Practically twins, except Pam
had dark hair and brown eyes, so whenever they got together and Pam was pulled
together, all business, it always took her by surprise. “You look great.”
Pam struck a pose. “Spa living suits me.”
“Apparently. I could hardly sleep last night knowing I’d be
seeing you today.”
“Some things never change. Welcome back.” Pam motioned her to
follow. “You should have just driven down last night.”
They settled in a corner booth, and a waiter dropped off menus
and took their drink orders. “True, but I’d promised Bob I’d take care of some
things before I left town. We’ve got a big open house today. So I did all the
prep for that last night.”
“Y’all staying busy?”
“Very busy,” Elli said. “Bob and I are a good team. We have
different specialties, so between us we have a steady workload no matter what
the economy is doing. That’s a blessing in the real estate market right now.”
“And there’s still nothing between you two? I swear if I had a
Realtor as good-looking as he is, I might never settle on a house to buy. I’d
just look and look and look.”
“He is cute, but no. He’s so not my type. Nothing but business
between the two of us.”
Elli thanked the waiter for her cup of tea and glanced over the
menu as she spoke. “And frankly, that’s good for business. Besides, now that I
know him so well I can see that I’d never be his type either. He likes those
high-maintenance girls who stroke his ego day and night. Not exactly my style
if you know what I mean.”
“I know the type. But hey, as long as he’s selling houses it’s
all good, right?” “My thoughts exactly.”
“Every once in a while a customer will talk about buying a place
here. Are you still licensed to sell here in the cove?”
Elli took a sip of her tea. “Sure am. I’ve kept that up to date.
Never know when it’ll come in handy.”
“Next time someone goes all gaga for Sand Dollar Cove, I’ll give
them your name.”
“That would be great. It would give me a reason to come more
often too.” She closed the menu and set it aside. “I’ve got to be better about
that. Nana is not getting any younger, and I feel so awful for letting so much
time slip by between visits. I don’t know how I let that happen.”
“Well, you’re here now.”
“It was good timing. That pier is looking right pitiful.”
“Yeah. It’s not good. I’m so glad you were able to raise money
to help fix the shops,”
Pam said. “They’re part of the tradition around here.”
“One quick mention on social media that I needed someone good
with a router to help engrave the planks in exchange for room and board here, I
had no less than half a dozen responses.”
“I’m not surprised. I’m using social media for a big part of my
marketing campaign for the resort, and it’s paying off big time.”
“I thought I’d end up with someone local, but the guy who is
coming is from California.
He’ll be here this week to start personalizing the boards in
exchange for room and board at
Sol~Mate.”
“Your grandmother will be in seventh heaven with someone to dote
on.” “Nana loves fussing over people.”
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