Free Summer at the Shore (Seashell Bay Book 2) by V. K. Sykes

two human beings could be and as quirky and unique as Seashell Bay.
    Despite Miss Annie’s good-natured nagging, Ryan always looked forward to seeing her and Rocket Roy.
    Miss Annie eyeballed Ryan as she got out of the cart. “Well, look at what the cat just dragged in. Don’t you own a shirt, Ryan Butler? We don’t see you for a year, and then you show up looking like some hippie surfer who took a wrong turn on the way to California.”
    Despite her ball busting, Miss Annie smiled, opening her arms wide for a hug. “Come here, you rascal. Your mama and daddy must be so happy to see you. And I hear you might be staying all summer.”
    There were no secrets in Seashell Bay, especially not from Miss Annie. She knew everything within minutes of it happening. The feisty old gal was like a satellite dish, gathering and focusing signals from every corner of the island and beyond. When Ryan was growing up, the kids used to call her Sherlock Holmes because she could sniff out any and all of their misdeeds.
    “Could be, ma’am,” he said. “My plans are pretty open at the moment.”
    “From what I hear, Morgan is going to be keeping you plenty busy.” She tilted her head to inspect Morgan. “Isn’t that right, dear?”
    Morgan’s toothy grin gave nothing away. “Oh, there’splenty to do around here, that’s for sure. And Ryan is being very kind to help us out.”
    “What all are you folks doin’ round here anyway?” Roy said, his thumbs hooked into his wide belt like a Wild West lawman. The old guy was tall and rangy, so he managed to pull it off. “Maybe I could give you a hand with something. God knows it’s good to get out of the house for a while.” He pointedly rolled his eyes at Miss Annie, even though he was smiling.
    “Just a bunch of little stuff,” Ryan said. “Though I’ve been telling Morgan that she needs to get that old roof seen to sooner rather than later.” He glanced up. “The shingles are at the end of their life span.”
    As the four of them gazed at the B&B’s roofline, a car pulled into the driveway. Ryan turned around to see a red Jeep parking next to the golf cart. It was Lily’s ride, but Aiden was at the wheel.
    “Hey, how come nobody told me about the party?” Aiden said as he climbed out and strode over to join them. He exchanged quick hugs with Miss Annie and Morgan and then shook hands with Roy and Ryan. “Good to have you back, Ryan, though you might have let me know you were coming.”
    Ryan shrugged, feeling a bit guilty. “It was kind of a last-minute decision.”
    Aiden made a scoffing noise that told Ryan what he thought about that lame excuse, but his friend obviously decided to let it go.
    “You look good,” Ryan said. “Retirement must be treating you right.”
    After suffering a number of injuries, Aiden had retired as a pro baseball player last fall in order to coach a localuniversity team. He initially hadn’t been happy about taking early retirement, but it seemed to have worked out just fine.
    Aiden grinned. “Retirement? I’ve never been so busy in my life.”
    “The boy’s become a real entrepreneur,” Roy said, pronouncing the last syllable
noo-er
.
    Aiden glanced at the hardware in Ryan’s hands. “So, I guess Morgan didn’t waste any time putting you to work.”
    It seemed the entire island knew what Ryan was doing. Then again, he shouldn’t be surprised. If his mother hadn’t blabbed about it, Miss Annie would have seen to it that just about everybody else on the island was up-to-date on his movements. That was just the way she rolled.
    Ryan briefly recapped the situation with the roof, which had Morgan breathing out a weary sigh.
    Aiden gave her a sympathetic grimace. “I have to admit I’ve been thinking the same thing, Morgan,” he said. Then he turned to Ryan. “If you were up for it, man, you and I could do something about that roof. You’re good at construction, and I just finished helping build my father’s new house.”
    Roy