Ellis and Ty’s eyes met. Ty raised one eyebrow, and Ellis gave a barely perceptible nod. “Ellis,” he said succinctly, “isn’t going anywhere.” He wound an arm around Ellis’s waist, and dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Right? You wanna tell them, or should I?”

Ellis rubbed her face against Ty’s day-old beard, reveling in the casual intimacy.

“That’s not exactly accurate,” she corrected. She turned to Julia and said apologetically, “Actually, I do need to get my car loaded this morning. But I’m sure you can borrow Ty’s Bronco.”

“What?” Ty looked taken aback. “We agreed. You said last night…”

Ellis shrugged. “I changed my mind.”

Ty’s eyes darkened. “Ellis, don’t do this…”

She caught him by the belt of his robe and drew him back towards her, as though she were reeling in a particularly cooperative fish. “You,” she pointed out, “took a bullet in your thigh last night. You can hardly walk. You don’t need to be going up and down these stairs all morning. I can easily load my stuff myself, and move it down to Pelican Cottage. I loaded it in here by myself, and I can load it out by myself.”

“Now wait,” Ty started.

“You mean it?” Dorie squealed. “You’re not going back to Philly? At all? You’re gonna stay here? With Ty?”

“Well, not here at Ebbtide,” Ellis said, trying hard to suppress a smile. “We’ll be shacked up in that little hovel he rented just down the beach. For at least the next three months. Give or take.”

“Give or take?” Julia said with a hoot. “Who are you, Ellis Sullivan? And what about that cushy job in Seattle? I thought you couldn’t live without a job and a 401(k) and a parking pass. And a Kaper chart. What’s the plan, Ellis?”

“There is no plan,” Ellis said blissfully. “I guess I finally figured that out … last night. There’s nothing I need or want in Seattle.” She glanced at Ty, whose arm was around her shoulder. “I’ve got what I want. Right here.”

“Happy ever after, that’s the plan,” Ty said. “I’m going to teach her how to surf.”

“And I’m going to teach him how to read a spreadsheet.”

“If you need us, we’ll be at Pelican Cottage,” Ty broke in. “And it’s not a hovel. It’s oceanfront, and it’s quaint.…”

“It’s a dump,” Ellis said, shushing him. “Just like Ebbtide is. Was. But we can fix that. Fortunately for you, Mister Culpepper, I happen to have a weird fondness for dumps. And their landlords.”

“Ellis Sullivan,” Ty retorted, determined to have the last word. “You are a major pain in my ass. Promise me you’ll be a pain in my ass forever and ever.” He gathered her into his arms as Dorie and Julia danced around them, providing loud, inappropriate, immature smacking, smooching sound effects.

Ellis nodded, and allowed herself to be kissed, right on the lips, and right in front of her best friends. “Yes,” she said solemnly. “I promise. I do. I will.”

ALSO BY MARY KAY ANDREWS

The Fixer Upper

Deep Dish

Savannah Breeze

Blue Christmas

Hissy Fit

Little Bitty Lies

Savannah Blues

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

SUMMER RENTAL. Copyright © 2011 by Whodunnit, Inc. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Andrews, Mary Kay, 1954–

Summer Rental / Mary Kay Andrews.—1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-312-64269-3

  1.  Women—Fiction.   2.  Female Friendship—Fiction.   3.  Summer—Fiction.   4.  Vacations—Fiction.   5.  Outer Banks (N.C.)—Fiction.   I.  Title.

PS3570.R587S78 2011

813'.54—dc22                                              2011004404

First Edition: June 2011

eISBN 978-1-4299-8705-9

First St. Martin’s Press eBook Edition: June 2011