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Also by Bree Baker The Seaside Café Mysteries Live and Let Chai Thank you for downloading ! this Sourcebooks eBook You are just one click away from… • Being the first to hear about author happenings • VIP deals and steals • Exclusive giveaways • Free bonus content • Early access to interactive activities • Sneak peeks at our newest titles Happy reading! CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP Books. Change. Lives. Copyright © 2019 by Bree Baker Cover and internal design © 2019 by Sourcebooks, Inc. Cover design by Adrienne Krogh/Sourcebooks, Inc. Cover illustration © Trish Cramblet/Lott and Associates Internal design by Lin Miceli/Sourcebooks, Inc. Internal images © Oleksandr Desiatkin/Shutterstock; Alex Mosiichuk/Shutterstock Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. 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Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60563-4410 (630) 961-3900 Fax: (630) 961-2168 sourcebooks.com Contents Front Cover Title Page Copyright One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen Twenty Twenty-One Twenty-Two Twenty-Three Twenty-Four Recipe: Blushing Bride Recipe: Pineapple Chicken Wraps Recipe: Sweet Tea with Jasmine Acknowledgments About the Author Back Cover To Judy and Craig Miller One “Congratulations, Mrs. Miller,” I said, embracing my childhood friend, Judy, who was still glowing from her recent exchange of wedding vows. “You look beautiful. Has anyone told you that today?” “One or two people,” she said, beaming back at me. “I can’t thank you enough for doing all this, Everly. When you agreed to cater the wedding reception and be the local liaison, I never dreamed you’d manage all of this.” She motioned at the crowded beach behind us, where half the town and a handful of her new husband’s guests mingled and danced in bare feet on the sand. I’d worked diligently for weeks with a local rental company to create the elaborate beach wedding of Judy’s dreams, and I’d even petitioned the town council to close the portion of beach outside my home for the entire day to accommodate the big event. Everything had come together seamlessly. A blank check from Judy’s new husband had definitely helped. Judy had grown up in Charm with me. Her family lived on the more rural end of the island, near the maritime forest, and they’d struggled financially more than most. I hadn’t been especially close to Judy as a child, but I remembered hearing her say in high school that she’d leave the island—and North Carolina—as soon as she graduated, and never worry about money again. Marrying Craig Miller, one of Entrepreneur magazine’s Wealthiest Thirty Under Thirty, basically guaranteed she would accomplish that goal. Judy smiled and bopped her head to a Beach Boys song rising from the DJ booth positioned outside my home and newly opened iced tea shop, Sun, Sand, and Tea. A salty summer breeze tousled the light-brown hair at the base of her neck. Her elegant chignon had loosened significantly during an enthusiastic round of the chicken dance. “I never thought a single day could be perfect, but this one really is. I’ve even eaten whatever I wanted since I got here Wednesday, and my dress still fits.” She patted her perfectly flat stomach, which was currently wrapped in a designer white lace gown. Barefoot in the sand, under waning sunlight, she looked like an angel who might break into a graceful pirouette at any moment. My fitted coral sundress, on the other hand, hugged all my many curves. I’d briefly considered a more flattering A-line, but Judy had insisted I looked like a shorter Jessica Rabbit in this dress, and I didn’t hate that idea. Judy’s bright blue eyes sparkled as she watched her new husband limbo beneath a striped pole several yards away from my iced tea tent. “Can you believe he’s brilliant and silly? How did I get lucky enough to find both in one man?” “Well,” I said, handing her a Mason jar filled with crushed ice and my newest sweet tea creation, “he married you, so you don’t have to convince me about the brilliant part.” She turned the full force of her smile on me and accepted the tea. I popped a coral-colored straw into the jar and folded my hands while I waited for the verdict. “This is delicious.” She took a long pull. The ice rattled as the tea line neared the jar’s bottom. “Oh my goodness, what it this?” “Hibiscus tea, cinnamon sticks, a dash of sugar to taste, lemon for garnish. I call it the Blushing Bride. It’s a signature creation for your special day.” I bobbed a goofy curtsy, then stood with a casual shrug. “Or the J. C. Miller, for Judy and Craig, if Blushing Bride seems like too much. What do you think?”