A Simple Twist of Fate by Helenkay Dimon

up.
    Leah patted the space on the tabletop across from her. “See, Beck wants you to sit, so do it.”
    Right.
This from the same man who turned down a sure thing. No ego hit there. “He didn’t actually say that.”
    Leah slapped six color photos in front of Sophie. She glanced at them before her gaze slipped back to Beck. He was whistling now. Flipping eggs and moving the pan around.
    “Uh-huh. Earth to Sophie.” Leah stabbed her finger at the top of one of the photos. “I need your help.”
    “What?”
    “Which one do you prefer?”
    Sophie blinked a few times at the change in topic before looking down. The photos trumpeted Sweetwater’s proximity to the mountains and the water. Each had a logo and photos of downtown and the park. Well, on some of them. Others had photos of the ocean and the historic Severn Motel on Main Street. Then there was one with a sign that said Rutledge Farm and Inn, whatever that was.
    Tall trees, haunting ocean views covered by a layer of fog. Pretty photos but confusing in the context of a lazy breakfast morning. “What am I looking at?”
    “Potential ads for Sweetwater.”
    Sophie sat down and took a longer look at each photo. “I’m not sure what’s happening here.”
    “You know I do marketing for the town, right?” Leah plowed ahead without giving Sophie time to answer. “Well, I’m putting an ad campaign together for travel magazines, most of them regional. I’ll use a version in online ads and for tourist sites.”
    “Okay.”
    “See, the plan is to lure folks here, to our stores and restaurants and all that stuff, during their vacation excursions. Have them love the place and spend money here.”
    That sounded like a good idea, in theory, but Sophie had trouble figuring out the practical application part. “I really don’t think of Sweetwater as being open to new people.”
    Beck snorted as he scraped the eggs out of the pan and onto a dish. “No kidding.”
    “But everyone likes money.” Leah sat back with her arms folded over her chest, as if daring anyone to disagree.
    Sophie didn’t. “I can’t argue with that.”
    “Not that Leah would let you anyway.” Beck placed a small glass of orange juice in front of Leah then one in front of Sophie. The last one went to the empty space at the head of the table.
    Leah waved him off. “You had your turn to be helpful and blew it. I’m listening to Sophie now.”
    Between the homey breakfast scene and the bickering sibling-like conversation, Sophie’s head spun. Before she could point out she didn’t need juice, the conversation jumped again. The back-and-forth proved dizzying and more than a little welcoming.
    “You already picked?” Something about the vision of Beck hovering over photos, studying them for Leah, made Sophie smile.
    “He told me they all looked the same.” Leah ended her comment by sticking her tongue out at Beck.
    He responded with a wink.
    “Well, to be fair, they sort of do,” Sophie said.
    Leah spun around in her seat and stared. “What?”
    Sophie was about to explain how they had the same tone and all but two really popped, but she stopped when Beck shot her a wide-eyed, hand raised, finger slicing through the air signal behind Leah. Sophie took the hint. She picked the photos up and held them closer to her face. “Oh, now I can see them. Let me try again.”
    “Women tend to plan family vacations anyway, so your view might be more helpful than Beck’s.”
    The toaster dinged and he was off again, moving around the kitchen with ease even though his cooking choices were somewhat limited to dairy.
    “Just being practical,” Leah mumbled.
    He piled the pieces on a plate. “Funny how when you asked me to look you talked about me being so helpful because men wanted a say in family vacations.”
    Leah made a
la, la, la
sound. “I can’t hear you.”
    “Number four then one. Two and five look the same to me.” Sophie shuffled the other two off to the side. “These don’t stand