The Sunset Cottages: A Willa Bay Novel Read online

  The Sunset Cottages

  Nicole Ellis

  Leaping Rabbit Press

  Copyright © 2021 by Nicole Ellis

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  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

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  1

  Tia

  Laughter from down the lane echoed through the thin windows of the cottage as two people approached the front door, gravel crunching under their feet. Tia sat up and peeked through a narrow gap in the curtains to see who it was, then hurriedly lay back down.

  “Shh,” Zoe said in a low voice, just outside the door. “The lights are off. I don’t want to wake Tia up.”

  “Okay.” Shawn’s soft reply was barely audible.

  They stopped a few feet away from the cottage. With the moon shining brightly behind them, the lacy veil of curtains covering the front window did little to conceal the shadow of their embrace. Feeling like a peeping Tom, Tia closed her eyes and burrowed deeper into the blankets, wishing she could disappear into the couch.

  A few minutes later, the doorknob turned and Zoe’s footsteps sounded on the hardwood floor. She tiptoed past Tia and into her bedroom, then closed the door. Tia moved the oppressive weight of the covers off of her face and took a deep breath of the fresh, pine-scented air that Zoe had trailed in with her.

  Tia was thankful that Zoe had offered up her couch when Tia’s apartment flooded, but sharing such a small space wasn’t always easy. Tia reminded herself that she’d soon be moving into a different cottage with her friend, Meg, and would have her own bedroom again – an event that couldn’t come any too soon.

  Zoe’s door opened and Tia squeezed her eyes shut, feigning sleep. After Zoe was done in the bathroom and safely ensconced in her own room, Tia relaxed again. Nearby, the thin windowpanes that let in the cold and unwanted noises from outside also allowed the sound of waves lapping on the shore of the bay to pass through, easing her into sleep like a sweet lullaby.

  The next thing Tia knew, the room was bright with morning light and Zoe moved through the kitchen, making a pot of coffee. Tia yawned and brushed her thick dark hair away from her face, then swung her legs over the side of the couch and touched her feet to the floor.

  “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Zoe sang out.

  Tia just stared at her, blinking. She felt like she’d swallowed a mouthful of cotton and there was a crick in her neck from sleeping at an odd angle. She checked her watch and sighed. Zoe had been out late last night. How was she so chipper at seven AM? By now, Tia was used to Zoe’s habits, but her friend’s perkiness in the morning still confounded her.

  “Good morning,” Tia finally managed. She grabbed her robe and plodded into the bathroom. After a long shower and freshly brushed teeth, she would feel better-equipped to face the day.

  When she emerged, Zoe was sitting at the small table eating scrambled eggs and toast, and drinking a cup of coffee. She grinned at Tia. “Feeling better?”

  Tia nodded.

  Zoe finished off the last bite of eggs and carried her plate to the sink. “I’m going to go check in with Shawn before work. I’ll see you later.” She dumped fresh coffee into an insulated mug, threw on her jacket, and hurried toward the front door.

  “See you later.” Tia filled her coffee mug to the brim and brought it over to the table. In a few minutes she’d make some toast, but right now she just wanted an infusion of caffeine.

  She sat at the table, gazing out the window over her sofa bed. Across the lane, a breeze swept through the trees, some of the remaining red and orange autumn leaves breaking off their branches to float lazily down to the gravel, where they’d be raked up later by the grounds crew. The barren trees gave the Inn at Willa Bay’s cottages a better view of the bay than they had in the summer. Tia couldn’t wait until she was settled into her own place and could see the water every day from her second-story bedroom.

  After draining her coffee, Tia reluctantly got up to make breakfast, washing it down with more of the hot brew. She cleaned her dishes and set them in the drainer to dry, then bundled up in her winter coat. Although it would warm up a little later, she doubted the temperature would exceed fifty degrees. In El Paso where she’d come from, cooler nights in the winter were common, but the daytime chill in the Northwest was taking some getting used to.

  She arrived at the Inn a few minutes before eight to meet with Zoe, Shawn, Meg, and Celia for their morning briefing. In the entry hall, Celia, the elderly co-owner of the resort, sat in a comfortable armchair behind the front desk. Nearby, the chatter of happy guests and the clinking of silverware against glass plates drifted through the closed French doors to the living room, where the continental breakfast served every morning was in full swing.

  “It sounds busy today,” Tia said to Celia. “How are you doing?”

  Celia smiled at her. “Doing well. We only have one guest checking out today, so it should be pretty easy.” Next to her on the floor, her little dog, Pebbles, glanced up expectantly.

  Tia knelt on the floor and patted his head. “Is everyone else in the kitchen already?”

  Celia shook her head. “No, Meg’s not here yet. She said she had some car trouble, but she’d be here as soon as possible.”

  Tia frowned with concern. She’d had her own share of car problems in the past. “I hope everything is okay.”

  Celia shrugged. “It didn’t sound too bad.”

  Tia nodded, gave Pebbles one more scratch behind the ears, and stood up. “Are you coming to the meeting this morning?”

  Celia glanced at the list in front of her. “I’ll try to join for a few minutes. I promised a guest that I’d get them dinner reservations for tonight. It sure will be nice when Meg’s restaurant is up and running.”

  A flutter of guilt ran through Tia. Meg was not only Tia’s friend, but one of the co-owners of the resort and a talented chef. She had planned to renovate the old barn on the property into a seaside restaurant. However, when Tia’s apartment flooded, Meg had generously offered to put the cottages ahead of her restaurant on the renovation schedule, so there was no way it would open before spring at the earliest.

  She smiled meekly at Celia. “That will be nice. I’ll see you in there, okay?”

  Celia nodded and went back to her list as Tia continued on down the hall. The morning meeting was mostly for the management, but since Tia was the only other event staff at the resort, they included her as well. In the kitchen, Zoe and Shawn sat at the table, reviewing something on Zoe’s beloved iPad. They both looked up when Tia entered.

  “Morning.” Shawn raised his coffee cup toward her before taking a huge slug from it.

  “Morning.” Tia pulled out a chair at the table. “Celia said Meg had some car trouble?”

  “Yep,” Shawn replied. “She said the check-oil light came on. With any luck, that just means it needs oil.�
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  Tia nodded. That didn’t sound too bad, though Shawn’s tone seemed to suggest it could indicate something else. She turned to Zoe, who’d gone back to analyzing her tablet screen. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

  “We’ve got the Torlen & Berger wedding tonight. It starts at four PM, so I’m going to need you back here around two o’clock.”

  “Sounds good.” Tia’s hours as an event coordinator were often split, depending on the needs of the resort. Now that she was living on the property, it was no problem to come in for a few hours in the morning, then finish out her day with a longer evening shift.

  The kitchen door swung open and Meg rushed in, strands of dark hair slipping out of a high ponytail and settling around her face. “Sorry I’m so late!”

  “No worries.” Zoe pulled out a chair for her. “We just started a few minutes ago.”

  “Oh good.” Meg sighed dramatically. “My car keeps going through oil like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet. I just added more last week and it took another quart today.”

  Zoe raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like it might be time for a new car.”

  Meg wrinkled her nose. “When I can afford it. For now, I’ll just have to make do. Besides, soon I’ll be living here and I won’t have to commute to work.” She grinned at Tia.

  Tia smiled back, then turned to Shawn. “Speaking of which, any idea when Cottage Twenty might be ready?”

  “I’m hoping it will only be a few more weeks.” Shawn gulped his coffee. “I need to do some repairs to the roof. I’d hoped to put it off, but that rainstorm we had last week caused more leaks than I’d expected.”

  Tia’s heart sank, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. They’d offered her an inexpensive rental at a seaside resort. If Shawn said it wouldn’t be ready for weeks or even months, she’d just have to grin and bear it.

  She offered him a small smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Me too.” Meg had filled a mug with coffee and grabbed a bagel and cream cheese from the fridge. “I still can’t believe we’re going to be living there.”

  Zoe had gone back to her lists, and now she frowned at them. “Can we get back to business, please?”

  Meg saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Zoe sighed and rolled her eyes. “Make fun of me all you want, but someone has to keep us on track.”

  Meg nodded solemnly, then breathed, yes, ma’am! – and dissolved into giggles when Zoe made a face at her.

  “We’re listening,” Tia said, smiling. Working at the resort wasn’t always fun and games, but times like this one reminded her of how grateful she was for her job at the Inn and the people she worked with.

  “So, as I was saying…” Zoe continued telling them about the wedding later that day and gave all of them their assignments.

  After the meeting ended, Tia went to her desk in the small back office of the Inn and sorted through her work, returning client e-mails and phone calls, and confirming event personnel. When she’d finished, she decided to take a walk down to Cottage Twenty to check on the progress.

  As she got closer to her future home, construction noise assaulted her ears. A saw buzzed in the backyard, and the banging of hammers against nails echoed through the trees. A few workers stood in a group nearby, conferring about something.

  Everything seemed to be coming together, but she wasn’t sure Shawn’s estimate that it would be complete in a few more weeks was accurate. Then again, she didn’t know much about construction timelines. She turned away from the cottage and made her way back to the beach path in front of the Inn.

  Although they often held weddings on the sand during the summer, the bride and groom getting married later that day had wisely opted for a wedding on the bluff overlooking the water. If the nice weather held up, the ceremony could take place in open air on the grassy lawn in front of the gazebo. If it started to rain, they would set everything up inside large party tents. Tia stared up at the blue-gray skies. She wasn’t good yet at predicting Pacific Northwest weather, but so far it looked like things would be fine.

  After her walk, she drove into town to run some errands, had a leisurely lunch at Wedding Belles, and then returned to the Inn to get ready for the second half of her workday. She put on a dress suitable for a wedding and slung the small event purse she stocked with essential supplies over her shoulder.

  The ceremony went off without a hitch, or a drop of rain. The guests milled around before the reception, congregating in front of bar-height tables set out on the lawn next to propane patio heaters, while the photographer snapped the customary group photos and the caterers and event staff got everything ready for dinner inside big white tents.

  When they called everyone in for dinner, they sat the newlyweds at a long rectangular table at the front, in view of all of the guests. The bride glowed with the attention showered on her by her friends, family, and new husband. Whenever the newlyweds snuck kisses, they were accompanied by hooting and hollering from a lively crowd.

  Tia couldn’t help being swept up in the exuberance of the moment. In contrast to the loud, festive atmosphere, white fairy lights strung along the seams of the tent lent a magical glow, and the dulcet tones of a jazz string quartet floated through the air.

  Every wedding was like being thrust into someone’s idea of a fairytale. Sometimes that meant surprise elements, like the bride wanting her four dogs to be the ring bearers, or doves being released into the sky – but others involved more simple pleasures, like bouquets of red roses placed strategically around the grounds. However it turned out, Tia never got tired of seeing her clients so happy on their special day.

  When the reception had ended and the last guest went home, Tia helped the event staff get everything secured for a wedding the next evening. Unless the forecast called for strong winds, they preferred to leave the tents and tables set up between events. Her feet ached as she and Zoe returned to their cottage, but her brain hadn’t yet come down from the high of another successful event.

  Zoe unlocked the door and they both changed out of their party dresses and into pajamas.

  “Ice cream?” Zoe held up a metal scoop as she stood in front of the refrigerator in her slippers and purple chenille robe.

  Tia nodded and tied the knot on the long robe she’d put on over flannel PJs. It was getting chilly in the evenings, but they hadn’t turned the heat on yet for the winter.

  Zoe set two bowls of Rocky Road ice cream on the table and dug her spoon into one. She swallowed a bite and licked her lips. “Ah. That hits the spot. I figured we deserved a treat after being on our feet all night.”

  Tia checked the fitness tracker she’d retrieved from her purse and raised an eyebrow at the step count. “Yeah, I’d say we’ve earned it.”

  She sat down across from Zoe and pulled the other bowl toward herself. While eating, she imagined looking down on the two of them from above, and laughed out loud. “We’re just like the Golden Girls, except we’ve always got ice cream instead of cheesecake.”

  Zoe looked up from her dessert and grinned. “I used to love watching reruns of that show with my grandma. I think ice cream is way better than cheesecake though.” She laughed. “Wait until you and Meg are both living on the resort. We can do this even more frequently.” She glanced down at her waist, then back at her full bowl. “But probably not every night or my clothes won’t fit anymore.” Not seeming too concerned about that prospect, she stuck a huge spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

  Tia took her phone out of her bathrobe pocket and set it on the table next to her bowl. She always liked to check her personal e-mail in the morning and again at night in case she’d missed anything during work. Tonight, only one e-mail stuck out as potentially important.

  Tia eyed the sender’s name with dread. Marta Ortiz – her mother. Tia had a tenuous relationship with her parents, who hadn’t been too happy about Tia moving cross-country last year. Leaving El Paso had been the best decision she’d ever made though, a
nd she didn’t regret it one bit – even if her parents thought she’d made a big mistake. She loved being thousands of miles away from them and having the space to find herself. Reluctantly, she opened the e-mail and scanned it quickly, freezing when she’d processed the message.

  “What is it?” Zoe asked, holding her empty spoon in midair. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah.” Tia sighed and stared up at the ceiling before meeting Zoe’s gaze. Her chest tightened as she said, “My parents want to come to Willa Bay for Christmas.”

  2

  Samantha

  “So, just sign on the line and you’ll be all set.” The matronly woman in Bayside Prep’s front office gestured to the document on the counter and offered Samantha a ballpoint pen.

  Sam’s stomach lurched, but she accepted the pen and scrawled her name where the woman had indicated. “Signing my life away,” she joked.

  The woman gave Sam an odd look as she slid the paper off the counter and into a tray on the desk behind her. She reached into the top drawer of the desk and retrieved a generic-looking house key attached to a loop of coiled red plastic. “Remember, no overnight guests in your apartment, and no smoking, drugs, or alcohol.”

  Sam nodded. She didn’t smoke or do drugs, and rarely drank alcohol at home anyway. It was weird to have someone telling her what she could and couldn’t do in her own home though. Correction, not her own home – her apartment in the girls dormitory at Bayside Prep.

  The woman passed the key across the counter, along with a pile of papers and a parking tag for her car. “Let me call Mandy, the other housemother here. She’ll show you around.”