Chapter Four

Eli wiped sweat from his brow as he swung the door back and forth. The cool breeze from outside felt good against his skin. It had been a long time since he’d done something as simple as replacing a door hinge, but after seeing Leanne’s poor fiancé stuck in that wheelchair while she worked on making arrangements to house Eli’s film crew, how could he not offer to help when the front door suddenly stuck and wouldn’t close? He wasn’t used to feeling useful—like he was needed. It turned out that he liked it. A lot.

At first Leanne had said no when Eli offered to run to the tiny place they called a hardware store—like he was above mundane errands. That had only made him insist harder that he should go. So what, he made a lot of money making movies. He was tired of being treated like he wasn’t capable of more than that. The people he worked with were good at making him feel needed—like he was irreplaceable. Like he deserved all the pampering he received. And Eli had worked hard to ensure his success. Harder than most people knew.

But lately it hadn’t seemed like enough.

That was how he’d gotten the crazy notion that he wanted to produce his own movie. He wanted to do something he’d never done before. Do something that challenged him. He just hadn’t expected so many legalities and piles of paperwork. Eli had spent the past week visiting various parts of town and scouting out locations that would be just right for the film. Leanne had directed him to a hike that took him to Starlight Ridge, the town’s namesake. The location was perfectly romantic for the final scene of the movie, and Eli had immediately known he wanted to use it, but figuring out who he needed to talk to so he could request permission to film on the ridge had already been a headache. Starlight Ridge—the town—was so small that it didn’t even have a mayor. It was overseen by a county government, and he’d been on the phone, transferred from one person to another, all morning. Fixing the front door of the bed and breakfast had been a welcome relief.

Eli breathed in a lungful of cold air. This—right now—wearing jeans and holding a hammer…it reminded him of home and made everything bearable. His dad would be proud.

“That looks great,” Leanne said, walking in from the dining room. “Who knew Eli Hunt would be so handy?”

Eli stepped inside and closed the door, making sure nothing weird had happened since two minutes ago when he’d last tested it. Knowing his luck, it could have broken again in that amount of time. “I’m not sure I can do much beyond this, so hopefully nothing else in your place breaks, or my reputation will be on the line.”

Leanne smiled and grabbed her purse from behind the front desk. “What do I owe you for the parts?”

“Nothing. It’s on me.”

She raised an eyebrow, though she seemed more amused than anything. “You sure? I’d hate to receive an online review claiming I make guests earn their keep by fixing stuff around the place, and having to pay for the repairs out of their own pockets, no less.”

Eli laughed. “It really wasn’t a big deal, and in fact, I should pay you for allowing me to fix your door. I haven’t had that much fun in ages.”

“Then you need to get out more.”

Leanne had no idea how true that was. And he wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.

“I’ll tell you what,” Eli said. “You point me toward somewhere good for dinner, and we’ll call it even.”

Leanne placed her purse back behind the counter. “That I can do. There’s a small diner on the edge of town that has fish tacos to die for.”

“A fish taco that’s worth risking an early demise? Sign me up.” Eli pulled up the GPS app on his phone. “What’s the address?”

Leanne laughed and shook her head, then motioned for him to put his phone away. “Haven’t you learned by now that that thing is useless here?” She pulled out a piece of paper and leaned over the front desk, making quick sketches with her pen. She extended it toward him. “Here’s a map, but basically, you go straight down this road, turn left, then stop when you see a building that says Diner. I drew some landmarks on the map. You can walk there in twenty minutes or take the bike that’s in the garage and get there in ten. It’s brand new, never been ridden before.”

Eli still had a lot to do and several store owners he needed to speak with, but it was already getting late, and putting it off until tomorrow sounded nicer. “I think I’ll walk. Thanks for the recommendation.” He grabbed his jacket from the floor where he’d tossed it halfway into the repair, then headed out.

Eli’s steps were slow as he took in the palm trees and the brightly colored shops set against the background of the ocean. Since arriving in the small town, he had been questioning his decision to produce his own movie—missing being able to just show up on set and have everything taken care of—but he wasn’t questioning his decision to come to Starlight Ridge. Everything about it was slow, and beautiful, and perfect. Exactly what had been missing from his life. Except he couldn’t even enjoy it because he was so busy with the technical details of bringing Leanne’s story to life.

There was one shop in particular that was integral to the story—Starlight Chocolate Confections. And Eli had yet to secure the location. In Leanne’s story, Benjamin’s love interest, Katrina, was the owner of a small chocolate shop, and Leanne had undoubtedly had her own town’s chocolate shop in mind when she had written it. If Eli wasn’t able to secure permission to film there, it was possible that Leanne could rewrite Katrina’s scenes. If all else failed, she could be the owner of a bed and breakfast and they could film at Leanne’s place. But there was something intrinsically charming about a chocolate shop, and Leanne had written the characters in her screenplay so vividly that Eli couldn’t imagine Katrina as anything other than the chocolate-obsessed and strong-willed yet sweet and quick-witted woman he’d come to know as he’d pored over the script.

Eli had stopped by the store twice already, and curiously enough, it had been closed both times. He wondered how the shop stayed in business with how little the owner seemed to be there. When Eli had left to purchase the hinges for Leanne’s door, he had intended to step in and speak with the chocolate-shop owner at the same time, but a sign on the door had once again stated that she’d gone out.

Hopefully he’d have better luck tomorrow.

Eli reached the boardwalk, then turned left onto a narrow path that paralleled the road leading away from town, per Leanne’s instructions. As he walked, trees towered over him, obstructing his view of the ocean, but he could still hear the waves and the cries of seagulls. They would definitely need to use this stretch of road in the scene when Benjamin first comes to town, feeling as lost and troubled as Eli had felt when he’d first reached the small town of Starlight Ridge.

As beautiful as the road was, after a few minutes, Eli began wondering if he was even walking in the right direction. It didn’t seem a likely place to have a restaurant. Not if they wanted customers, anyway.

Eli pulled out the hasty map that Leanne had drawn for him. Following the path with his finger, he saw that she had indeed drawn landmarks. The boardwalk, and then trees. And more trees.

Some help she was.

He supposed that probably meant he was going the right way, though.

As he moved to fold the paper and slip it back into his pocket, a voice startled him. “It looks like you are lost, Eli Hunt.”

He whipped around and saw a woman standing behind him. She looked to be about a decade older than him and wore a bright pink jacket that could probably be seen for the next five miles.

When he didn’t respond right away, she tried again. “You looking for the diner?”

“Yes,” he said, finding his voice. He was used to people following him, photographing him, even attacking him. But this woman seemed to only want to help and maybe have a pleasant conversation. “I have a map, but I’ve already been walking a few minutes longer than I’d expected.”

“Only because you’ve been walking at a snail’s pace.” Heat rushed into Eli’s cheeks, and the woman smiled. “There isn’t anything wrong with enjoying the view.” She extended a hand. “May I see the map?”

Eli handed it to her. One glance and the woman was laughing, the crow’s feet around her eyes deepening. She handed the piece of paper back.

“No wonder you didn’t know if you were in the right place. May I ask who disliked you enough to draw a map like that?”

Eli didn’t know how to respond—he wasn’t used to people speaking to him like that. Like he was…normal. He also wasn’t used to feeling embarrassment like he was now. The people who usually surrounded him tried to protect him from that, especially if there was a chance photographers could be in the area.

The woman looked at him expectantly, prompting him to answer.

“Leanne. Warner. Her parents own the—”

“Starlight Bed and Breakfast,” the woman finished for him. “I’ll need to have a word with Leanne when I see her in the morning. She shouldn’t be sending poor unsuspecting men wandering all over town.”

She must have sensed his confusion, because she added, “I’m Jessie. I deliver the pastries you’ve undoubtedly been enjoying each morning, and I occasionally cook dinner there as well.” She nodded in the direction they had been traveling. “I’ll walk with you. It’s not much further, just a bit hidden from the road.” Jessie resumed walking down the road, as if Eli had already agreed to be her companion, and he felt he had no choice but to follow. He didn’t mind, though. Eli enjoyed her easy manner, and having company was nice.

“Why is the diner out here in the middle of nowhere?” Eli asked her. “Don’t restaurants and businesses want people to actually be able to find them? It’s all about location, location, location, right?”

Jessie’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “Sure, in the big city. But when Lars’ parents passed away and left him their cabin twenty years ago, he already had a home in town and didn’t want to move all the way out here, so he decided to turn it into a diner. Funny thing is, the diner was so successful, he ended up moving out here anyway so he could keep up with everything.” She steered toward the right, and sure enough, a cabin emerged just a moment later. It had a large sign out front that read Diner.

It fit right in with the small-town aura that he’d been surrounded by, and come to expect, since his arrival. Everything was simple and to the point, and didn’t bother with extravagance. You need to go to the medical clinic? Find the sign that says Clinic with a red cross beneath it. Need a hammer? Go to the store that says Hardware over it.

Bicycles were parked in a neat line along one side of the diner, with only one car parked in a designated dirt lot.

“I hear they have fish tacos that are to die for,” Eli said as they approached the front door. “World famous.”

Jessie grinned. “Everything in Starlight Ridge is world famous. But you’re right, you can’t go wrong with their fish tacos. You’ll want to get a plate of their world-famous fries to go with them.”

Eli held the door open for Jessie, and when he walked in after her, he saw that every booth was filled. A burly man stood behind a counter, tattoos up and down his arms, and he was handing a bag to a customer—an attractive woman who was laughing at something the man had said. The man must be Lars. Eli hadn’t met the woman yet. He’d have remembered if he had. When she turned, food in hand, their gazes met for a brief moment. Her eyes were bright, a mixture of brown and green, and she moved with the same easy manner he had noticed in Jessie.

The woman didn’t seem to recognize Eli and instead breezed past him, moving in next to Jessie, who had stopped to talk to someone in one of the booths.

Eli watched as the woman greeted Jessie with a hug. There was something about her that pulled him in—made him want to introduce himself. Maybe it was the confident way she held herself, or the way she used her free hand to gesture wildly as she spoke, laughing as she did so, like the world she lived in was the most exciting place imaginable. And it made Eli want to be a part of it.

But something held him back. Eli had never had a problem going up and introducing himself to women, and he didn’t understand the hesitancy. There was just something about her that made him feel shy.

By the time he had mustered up the courage, the woman had left, the front door swinging shut behind her.

Jessie rejoined him and Eli asked, “Who was that?” He nodded toward the window, where he could see the woman swinging herself onto an old bike, the bag of purchased food dangling from one handlebar.

Jessie glanced in the direction Eli had indicated. “Oh, that’s Adeline. She owns Starlight Chocolate Confections.” She then moved to the front counter. “Mind if I go first?”

“No, go ahead,” Eli said, distracted, as he watched Adeline push off and begin biking up the road. It was then that a few of the diner patrons realized who he was, and they began pulling their phones out and snapping pictures. It was another thirty minutes of talking with fans before he was finally able to order his world-famous fish tacos and fries.

The time passed in a blur of smiles and autographs. He couldn’t stop thinking about the chocolate-shop owner and how he really needed to talk to her. This time, it had nothing to do with physical attraction. Eli had a large contract in his briefcase with Adeline’s name on it, and he needed to get her to sign it. Eli had a deadline looming in front of him, and Adeline was one of the missing pieces.

It was something he needed to remedy, and fast.