Trapped in Tourist Town Read Online Free PDF

on as his assistant. He was helping her stick to the timeline she’d set for herself. Yeah, that was it.
    “News travels too damned quick around here, Auntie. Who told you? Old Man Feeney?”
    “That old geezer? Please!” Aunt Cadence waved away the question as she would a hovering fly. “That pretty young nurse ... What’s her name? Tina? Her mother saw you and Romeo down at the beach. Lois, one of the part-time girls at Kayla’s Kut and Kurl, filled her in on who he was.”
    Even though she’d lived in Scallop Shores all her life, it was times like this that could really make Cady’s head spin.
    “That is just amazing. The poor man isn’t in town a full twenty-four hours and there is a surveillance team monitoring his every move. Tell me, Auntie, how’s his credit history? Any bounced checks?”
    “I can think of a better question to be asking. Like, is he married?”
    “Oh my gosh! Is he? What have you heard?”
    “Gotcha!” Cady’s aunt chortled happily, slapping her knee with a palsied hand. “Well. From the look on your face, this is one young man I want to meet. He seems to have made an impression on you. And as the men in this town have learned, that is one hard thing to do.”
    “Come off it. It’s not as if I care. I was curious, that’s all. We’re going to be working together and I thought I ought to know a bit more about him.”
    Cady shrugged off the suggestion that she had a vested interest in Burke’s marital status. She went on to explain to her aunt why he was in town. Excitedly, she filled the older woman in on the places she intended to take him. She told her about how the magazine wanted to do a whole series on Scallop Shores.
    “It’s going to be fun. He said he might even stay until October. He could get a feel for how the tourist season winds down. I can show him how the summer tourists differ from the ‘leaf peepers.’” She bounced in place. “Ooh, maybe we could do the Haunted Hayride!”
    “Sounds like you’ve planned out his whole summer—and then some.” Cadence arched a bushy white brow.
    “I told you. He’s paying me. I’ll save every bit of it. Then when autumn comes ...” She smiled inwardly.
    “You’ll ride off into the sunset together.”
    “No, I was going to say that when autumn comes, I’d move to the city. He may not even be there. He’s a travel writer, after all. He could be on to his next assignment by then. Besides, I’ll be busy settling in to the city.” Didn’t mean she couldn’t pick his brain while she had this amazing opportunity. Cady looked forward to learning what Burke's life in the city was like.
    “You’re going to have such an exciting time. Some people might see the hustle and bustle as chaotic, overwhelming, but you will do just fine. I know you’ve got big plans inside you. I can’t wait to see what you do with them.”
    Big plans. Like running her own coffee shop. There was plenty of time for that. She was only twenty-six, after all. She’d be happy to get a job as a barista and save the monumental dreams for later, when she’d had a few years of city life under her belt, and the confidence and experience that would surely come with it.
    Cady threw her arms around her aunt and pulled her close. She closed her eyes and sighed, breathing in the scent of the lilac perfume Auntie always wore.. She loved lilacs and would always associate her favorite flower with her favorite relative. It was said that smells triggered memories and Cady would wholeheartedly agree. The smell of lilacs made her think of baking cookies in Auntie’s kitchen when she was just a few years old. Her aunt had been the one to teach her to bake. She had used Auntie’s morning glory muffin recipe just that morning. It had been the first flavor to sell out.
    “Okay, enough chit-chat. I’m supposed to be winding you all up so you go to bed like good boys and girls tonight.”
    “No more Bingo! That game’s for old farts.” An elderly gentleman