Sweet Heat at Bayside(40)

"We know," Mira said. "Serena told us what happened. I'm sorry she  couldn't be here. She was so bummed. But don't worry. She gave us strict  instructions on what to put where, and she said you'd put the black  streamers out front. Too depressing." She bumped Drake with her hip, and  he stumbled back. "Let us do this part, big brother. You're supposed to  set up the sound stage."

The sound stage was a new addition to their grand openings, one Serena  had insisted upon. She'd even spoken to the local police and arranged  for a traffic cop so the event wouldn't cause road issues. They'd argued  about that. Drake didn't think they'd have enough customers to warrant a  traffic cop, but Serena had been in a stubborn mood, and she hadn't  given in.

"You're all here to help?" Drake turned as Violet's motorcycle roared into the lot. "Who's watching the inn?"

"We forwarded the phones to the service and put up signs for the  opening," Desiree said. "Customers can track us down here if they need  us."

Violet climbed off her bike and whipped off her helmet. "'Sup, dude? I'm ready for a major party, so where do you need me?"

"Uh … " Overwhelmed with their support, he stammered.

"Serena said Drake shouldn't do the decorating," Emery said as their  friend Leanna's old Volkswagen van pulled into the parking lot. "The  balloons are here! Vi, why don't you help Drake since you know more  about sound stuff than we do."

"You got Leanna to help?" Although Drake was good friends with Leanna  and her husband, Kurt, he hadn't seen them in weeks. "I could have  picked up the balloons."

Chloe set her hand on her hip with a get real expression and said, "In  your truck? Please. Leanna actually wasn't able to help. She's picking  up her sister, Bailey, at the airport. She just lent us her van."

Harper and Daphne climbed out of the van as Dean's truck pulled in and parked beside it.

"Balloon girls, ready to help!" Harper announced.

"I'm babyless for a few hours. This is going to be so fun!" Daphne waved to Dean and Rick. "Hey, guys."

Drake turned to Rick and asked, "Did you know they were all coming?"

Rick smirked and shrugged in response.

"Who's watching the resort?" Drake asked. He didn't know if he should be  thankful or feel like an idiot for pulling everyone away for the grand  opening. He thought they'd all stop by at some point, but he'd never  expected them to put their lives on hold.

"We took a page from Des and Vi's innkeeper's book, turned the phones  over to the service and hung up signs for the opening." Rick patted  Drake's shoulder and said, "Relax, bro. The grand opening of your Cape  store doesn't happen every day. It's reason to celebrate."

Violet grabbed Drake and Rick by the arms and dragged them away from the  girls. "If I were you, I'd lie low and keep my mouth shut. Serena gave  an hour-long how-to session over FaceTime this morning with all sorts of  pictures of the layout and stuff." She looked at Dean and said, "C'mon,  muscles, you're with us."

Drake pulled out his phone. "I need to call her. We usually set up with  just us and a few employees. We don't need this many people."

Violet shoved his hand down. "Of course you don't, but Serena called  Desiree and Mira, and they rallied the troops. Take it like a man. Your  woman wants to help from afar. If you make her feel bad for watching out  for you, I'll break your arm."

"Darn, girl," Dean said. "You're vicious."

"What? I've got newfound respect for the woman. It takes guts to move  away from everyone you know and start over." Violet waved toward the  girls hustling around the front of the store, setting up signs by the  road, tying balloons to every railing they could find. "Look at them and  tell me it didn't take guts. I spent my whole life moving from one  place to the next as fast as I could, and I'm not sure I could leave  these neurotic, noisy, naive hen partiers for anything." She headed for  the trailer with the stage equipment. "Enough sappy stuff. Let's get  this show on the road. We're setting up the sound stage beside the  building."         

     



 

Hours later, a local band was playing on the stage, the parking lot was  packed, and there was standing room only inside and outside the music  store. Drake, Rick, and Dean had kicked off the celebration by playing  the first song on the stage. It had sent Drake's mind back to their  early days as a band, when they'd had dreams of going off and cutting  record deals and living the high life. Those dreams had been  short-lived. Losing their father had changed everything.

The police had set up barricades around the area behind the stage and  blocked the rear entrance from the back road to keep the flow of traffic  moving in only one direction. Brandy had set up the food in a tent on  the grass, which was also overflowing with people. She'd shown up with  two catering vans, and a second shift had brought more food and supplies  about twenty minutes ago. Drake had never seen so many people turn out  for a music store opening. Serena must have anticipated the inordinate  number of sales they'd experience, because she'd given Mira instructions  on how to handle incoming stock, and a truckload of deliveries had  shown up right before the opening. Drake thought it had been a mistake,  but Mira assured him that it was on Serena's list.

Brandy sidled up to him with a plate of food. She was a vibrant,  big-boned redhead with a mass of corkscrew curls that were currently  trying to escape from their tether at the base of her neck. "Hey,  handsome. Serena said I was supposed to make sure you ate and didn't  spend all day taking care of everyone else and stressing out."

"I can't eat. Look at this turnout, Brandy. Have you ever seen anything like it?"

"Not for a retail opening. You know, Serena should be an event planner. I  might have to pick her brain." She nudged the plate into his hands and  said, "Eat the sandwich. You need to stockpile energy for the next time  you see her."

He smiled, imagining Serena telling her to say that. "She knows how to get me to eat."

"Actually, she didn't say that," Brandy said with a mischievous grin.  "But you're male and, you know, that makes you pretty easy to figure  out."

He sighed and bit into the sandwich. "Mm. This is fantastic."

"Roast beef with horseradish, tomato, watercress, arugula-all the things you love."

"Thank you. I appreciate all that you're doing today. Do we have enough food?"

She peered in the direction of the catering tent. "We do. It's two now and you're closing down at six thirty, right?"

"That's the plan, but I honestly can't see us kicking people out. I don't mind paying more to keep from running out of food."

"We won't run out," she said as Rick joined them. "Serena expected this  big of a crowd. I've got to get back to the tent. Rick, make sure he  finishes that sandwich, will you?"

"Killer turnout, bro," Rick said as she walked away. "How are you holding up?"

"I have no idea," Drake said honestly. "I think I'm in a state of shock.  I wish Serena were here to see it all. She must not have told me  everything she did for advertising, because we've never had a turnout  like this."

"She loves you, Drake. You know that, right? She said as much in the card she left me when she moved."

"She left you a card, too?"

"She left one for me and one for Dean," Rick said. "I figured she left  you one, too. She thanked us for being good bosses and said she  appreciated everything we did for her. But in mine, she also said not to  let you get so wrapped up in life that you forget your first  love-music."

Drake shook his head. "Like I could ever forget that?"

"That's the point, man. I was thinking about why she'd tell me that, and  then it dawned on me. Remember when we first opened the resort, how  busy we all were with the renovations and all the paperwork and crap  that went into getting it off the ground?"

"Man, that was a crazy time." There had been months of digging through  paperwork, hiring contractors, meeting with attorneys and insurance  professionals to make sure they understood the ins and outs of the  business and liabilities. Serena had been with them in the trenches. In  fact, she'd been the one to suggest meeting with insurance reps to find  out what they didn't know.

"Then you remember how she used to traipse up to your apartment and grab  your guitar in the middle of all the stuff we were dealing with."

The memory brought a wide grin and a wave of longing. "I remember. We'd  be complaining about how exhausted we were or about whatever mess we  were dealing with, and she'd hand me the stupid guitar, sit on her butt,  cross her arms like the stubborn, beautiful woman she is, and say she  wasn't going to move until I played."