Second Time Around by Beth Kendrick Read Free Book Online

need.”
    “Fine, I will. And before I go, I’ll be sending the deandocumentation accounting for every single dollar I spent from that honorarium fund.”
    He inclined his head. “I applaud you.”
    “And don’t expect me to come crawling back, begging for tenure. I have other offers.”
    He templed his long, smooth fingers beneath his chin. “Indeed. Like what, pray tell?”
    She got to her feet and regarded him with all the icy hauteur she could muster. “I just found out I’m a recipient of the very prestigious Arden Henley Literary Fellowship. Keep your eye out for my name on the National Book Award short list.”
    Then she turned on her heel, stormed back to her office, and started piling textbooks and file folders into cardboard boxes. When she yanked open her desk drawer and glimpsed
The Captain of All Pleasures
, she smiled for the first time all day and slipped the novel into her handbag.
    Twelve hours later, Cait pulled her battered old Honda hatchback up to the curb in front of Henley House, which now featured a small white clapboard sign hanging from the eaves of the front porch:
Paradise Found Bed-and-Breakfast
    “Come in, come in!” Brooke greeted her at the front door with a mug of hot cocoa. “Do you like the sign?”
    “Yeah, but you’re not open for business yet, are you?” Cait glanced over Brooke’s shoulder into the house, the interior of which was obscured in shadows. She had driven through the night, fueled by adrenaline and a six-pack of diet cola, to arrive almost exactly halfway between dusk and dawn. But theporch light provided enough illumination to see that the front room was empty and the walls bare.
    “Not yet.” Brooke covered her yawn with her hand. “But I got caught up in a whirlwind of enthusiasm when I thought of the name, and commissioned the sign from a local artist. Isn’t it perfect?”
    “It is.” Cait stepped into the foyer and all her worries washed away in a wave of nostalgia. “Wow. Do you smell that? It smells like …”
textbooks and stale beer and a potpourri of snack foods ground into industrial carpeting
“… college.”
    “The painters are coming this weekend.” Brooke turned up the collar of her fluffy pink robe. “Then on Monday, I’ve got the zoning board hearing and a meeting with an attorney about applying for a business license.”
    “Jeez. You’re not wasting any time.”
    “There’s a lot to do. A lot to know. A lot to pay for. And I’m trying to get it all done so I can open before prime leaf-peeping season.” Brooke nibbled her lower lip. “I’ll be happy when I get to the part where I can relax and pick out Laura Ashley duvets and brew afternoon tea for the guests.”
    “Well, don’t worry about any of that right now. Go back to bed. I’m sorry to wake you up like this in the middle of the night.”
    “It’s no trouble at all.” Brooke flashed her dazzling charm school smile. “Here, let me take your bag. Once this place is up and running, I’ll have to accommodate new arrivals at all hours. Oh, I’m so glad you came, Cait.”
    “Me, too. I need a change of scenery. Badly.” Cait hadn’t gone into the details of her abrupt departure from teaching when she called earlier, but Brooke didn’t press her.
    “Stay as long as you please. It’ll be just like old times.”Brooke handed her the mug of cocoa. “Want me to rustle up a bite to eat?”
    “No, I’m fine.” Cait sipped the hot chocolate and announced, “I’m finally going to do it. I’m starting my novel tomorrow. No more excuses.” This was the second time she’d voiced that goal in the last twenty-four hours. Saying it aloud made it real. Now she couldn’t take it back.
    Brooke clapped her hands together. “Excellent. We’ll have a bona fide writer-in-residence at Paradise Found. How rarefied.” She turned off the porch light, locked the front door, and led the way up the stairs. “I’ve ordered furniture for the bedrooms, but it hasn’t been