Read Here to Stay (Where Love Begins Book #2) for Free Online

you behind a desk.”
    “Oh.” Shouldn’t surprise him. He’d suffered through grade school about as well as a grounded bird. But that was then. He’d changed, right?
    “I could probably put you at the front desk a few days a week, though, if that’s what you want,” Dad finished.
    Blake’s gaze circled the lobby as they passed through. It shined with contemporary fixtures and an upscale aura—slate-colored walls a match for the slew of suits that passed through the hotel on a daily basis. May not have the lakeside view of the Kingsley Inn, but it made up for it in modern appeal.
    And when the revolving doors spit them outside, it was like stepping into another century. The cobblestone Main Street echoed old-world, with corner flowerpots and old-fashioned lampposts. The downtown made up of colorful buildings wrapped in perfect right angles around a faded-green town square dotted with trees.
    Whisper Shore had quaint in the bag.
    Except, in the light of day it all seemed a little . . . tired. And what had Dad said about the dying tourist trade?
    “You coming?” Dad was several steps ahead, the short walk to the city offices barely a two-block span. Blake tugged up the zipper of his jacket and picked up his pace to match his father’s, sandals he still hadn’t traded for shoes slapping against concrete.
    “So do you want me to stick you on the front-desk rotation?”
    “Not if it means cutting someone else’s hours.”
    Dad shrugged. “Actually, we’ve been a man short ever since Casey’s wife had a baby. He’s going to be a stay-at-home dad, and—”
    Dad broke off as they neared the teal blue historic building that housed the city offices, its brass sign swinging in the wind from a horizontal post overhead. A voice Blake recognized rose with each beat of the sign’s movement.
    “Georgie, you can’t do it to us. We’re barely a month from the festival.” Blake would have known his on-again, off-again high-school girlfriend anywhere, even without her telltale Kawasaki parked at the curb. Hilary Gray—arms folded, lips pursed, and hair as black as the leather jacket zipped to her neck. “You can’t just leave us in the lurch like this.”
    She faced off with another familiar face—Georgie Snyder, longtime director of the Chamber of Commerce. Known as much for her penchant for lawn decorations as her militant-like leadership of every community event since, like, the dawn of time.
    What was Hils doing arguing with the Flamingo Lady?
    “I have given this town my undivided attention for years.” Georgie shoved a stack of folders toward Hilary. “I’m not calling off my plans just so I can coordinate a festival nobody’s going to show up for anyway.”
    Dad exhaled an “Uh-oh” before stepping up to the ladies. “What’s the trouble?”
    Hilary turned to Blake’s father. “Oh good, you’re here. Maybe you can talk some sense into her.”
    “You won’t change my mind.” Georgie pulled on the belt of her coat. “I’m eloping on Sunday and leaving town Monday. That’s all there is to it.” She spun on her heels and disappeared around a corner before Dad could say a word.
    Blake let out a whistle. “The Flamingo Lady’s getting hitched?”
    Hilary saw him then, eyebrows lifting and arms tightening around the folders Georgie had thrust at her. “So the rumors are true. Blaze Hunziker’s back.”
    Her voice held little welcome. Even less pleasure. Ooo-kay.
    Dad still stared down the sidewalk. “No wonder you called me to meet with you, Hilary.”
    Wait, Hilary was the city council member Dad had come to meet? The girl who’d worn the label of rebel like a badge of honor in high school was now in local government?
    “We’re out a festival coordinator, which basically means we’re out a festival, which absolutely means we can say good-bye to our final tourist boost of the year.” Hilary’s dark hair swung as she shook her head.
    Blake chanced a comment. “Couldn’t you