Free Return to Pearl Island, Bonus Chapters by Julie Ortolon Page A

camera to be on a nation-wide morning show.”
    “True.” Coming up behind the chair where she sat, he rested his hands on her shoulders. He looked as calm and confident as ever with his neatly trimmed hair and buttoned-down shirt tucked into khaki slacks. He may have left his suit-and-tie days behind, but his Chancellor breeding would always shine through.
    “I wish Adrian were here,” she said, contemplating various shades of lip gloss and feeling lost. “He has tons of experience in front of TV cameras.”
    “Considering he’s sailing somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean right now, might be a bit tough for him to swoop in and save the day.”
    “I know, which is why I asked Alli to do it, but she refused. Can you believe that? Something about not wanting to look fat on camera.”
    “Aurora...” He squeezed her shoulders as if wanting to shake her. “She’s eight months pregnant.”
    “They could shoot her from the shoulders up.” When the squeeze turned into a massage, her whole body sagged in gratitude. “Oh, that feels good.”
    “They don’t want Adrian or Allison,” he told her.
    “Why not?”
    “Because your brother and sister are not the ones who launched a whole Website and blog to help bring tourists back to Galveston.” He regarded her reflection with a look of wonder. “Do you have any idea how proud I am of you? When we started out, you didn’t even own a computer. Now look at what you’ve done.”
    “Thanks to you.” She laid one of her hands over his. “I never could have accomplished so much if you hadn’t taught me how to use a computer.”
    “Not hardly.” He scoffed. “I may have given you your first lap top, but I didn’t teach you how to do any of that graphic stuff. And I’m sure not the one who made you so business savvy about the Internet.”
    “Now, there’s something I didn’t think I’d ever hear.” She laughed as she swiped on pink lip gloss. “A banker calling me business savvy.”
    “Former banker.” He kissed the top of her head. “You want to know the main thing I admire about you?”
    “What?”
    “The fact that you never let anything, not even your own fear hold you back. So, you might be nervous, but you’re going to do great.”
    “Chance, I don’t know.” Prickles of fear moved through her chest like an electrical current, the first warning sign of a panic attack. “I really, truly don’t think I can do this.”
    “You’ll find a way,” he said easily.
    She stared at him in disbelief. Had he forgotten how her panic attacks nearly made her pass out? Maybe so, since she hadn’t had one in years.
    “Now, stop worrying about your makeup. You look fine,” he said. Moving to her side, he took both her hands and drew her to her feet. “Better than fine.” Holding her arms out to the side, he took in the light blue dress that fell to just above her knees. “You look amazing.”
    “You’re sure? About the makeup, I mean. You know I normally wear only a little, but the production people insisted I do it really bold.”
    He cocked his head, studying her with a teasing gleam in his eyes. “I suppose you’ll do.”
    “Okay, then.” She took a deep breath, then released it in a rush trying to force the anxiety out. She didn’t have time to panic.
    Glancing at the small, high window of the master bedroom, she saw the morning sunlight pressing around the draperies. Since she and Chance had moved into the basement apartment beneath the inn six years ago, after Allison and Adrian had moved out, she could hear voices out on the front lawn. People had started arriving before dawn to get everything ready for her live interview on
Good Day USA
. Not just the news crew, but many of the business owners who had benefited from her Website. She’d had high hopes when she’d started, but she’d never dreamed it would reap such results. Other tourist areas were touting her site as the model to follow. But to have a national cable channel