**A hardworking single mom returns to her seaside hometown and stumbles into a fake dating situationship with a wealthy, workaholic scion, from the <New York Times <bestselling author of <Nora Goes Off Script<

&ldquo;This book is like a spicy margarita&hellip; sweet and a little salty, tart and hot&hellip; I have fallen in love with Dolly and with funny, fizzing Annabel Monaghan!&rdquo;&mdash;Catherine Newman, <New York Times< bestselling author of <Sandwich<**

<If they start by pretending, can they end with something real?<

Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn&rsquo;t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.

So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield&mdash;annoyingly handsome scion of <the <Whitfield family&mdash;with a flat tire and&nbsp;at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it&rsquo;s in her nature to help. But Stewart&rsquo;s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She&rsquo;s never relied on anyone besides herself, can she really start now?

Autorentext

Annabel Monaghan

Klappentext

**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

A hardworking single mom returns to her seaside hometown and stumbles into a fake dating situationship with a wealthy, workaholic scion, from the New York Times bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script.

“A luminous story of love, duty, and the tension between the two, Dolly All the Time is less like a novel and more like a place I never wanted to leave. This might be my new favorite!” —Carley Fortune, #1 New York Times bestselling author**

If they start by pretending, can they end with something real?

Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.

So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high-society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself—can she really start now?

“This book is like a spicy margarita…sweet and a little salty, tart and hot…I have fallen in love with Dolly and with funny, fizzing Annabel Monaghan!” —Catherine Newman, New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich

Leseprobe
Chapter 1

"GOOD SPORTS. THIS IS A RECORDED LINE. HOW CAN I help you?” I tuck my phone between my shoulder and my ear, scoop a handful of shrimp off the bed of crushed ice onto the scale, and nod to Gus to let him know I’m going to need a sec. I step out from behind the counter and smile apologetically at the line of waiting customers. It’s the three‑ o’clock rush and no one, including me, is thrilled that one of the only two people working behind the counter needs to step out to take a call. The brass bell tinkles as I swing the door open to Main Street, the briny ocean air mingling with the salt‑ sweet smell of the scallops we just unloaded on the dock.

I sit on the little cedar bench outside the store, and it feels great to be off my feet. “Yes, the weighted vest. Our best seller. Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. No, it will only improve your bone density if you put the weights in the vest. Otherwise, it’s just a vest.” I wince because this is a recorded line and they don’t like sarcasm. “I’d suggest starting with N292 ANNABEL MONAGHAN the lowest level and working your way up.” I wrap it up with my standard “Is there anything else we can do to be of assistance?” I stumble over the “we” every time. I am not in a big office building with a team of trained fitness enthusiasts. It’s just me out here, taking all the calls.

I take one more gulp of the fresh air before heading back into the fish house. “Dolly, you’re home!” says Mrs. Holbrook, catching the door behind me and taking a spot at the end of the line. “I heard there was a fire.” She’s a good‑ natured busybody who lives at the top of Goose Lane. Ours is the kind of street where you can hear your neighbor’s TV if you turn yours off; she wouldn’t have missed the firetrucks.

29N “Yes,” I say, looking up from the worn wooden floors, still damp from my midday mop. “I haven’t seen it, but my dad says the damage wasn’t too bad. Mrs. Goldberg called it in right away.”

I was sound asleep in Boston this morning when the call came in that there had been a fire at my dad’s house. It seems like a lifetime ago. The fire alarm hadn’t sounded, which is on me. This is something I should have checked when I was here last month. It was on my list, but there was a problem with the kitchen faucet and there were flying squirrels in the attic. Precautions against problems he didn’t yet have took a backseat, so I let the alarm battery slide. Thankfully, Mrs. Goldberg had her windows open to the June night air and smelled the smoke coming from the sleeping porch out back. She got my dad and my brother, Christopher, out of the house to safety and called to assure DOLLY ALL THE TIME 3 me that everything was fine. She was kind enough not to give me any more details about the rescue. In addition to his meds, Christopher has to be specifically reminded to wear pants.

The hours since that call have been a bit of a blur. Biking across town to get my car and then packing a summer’s worth of clothing for Gus and me. Normally our monthly trips to Rhode Island are just for the weekend. We leave Dad and Christopher with a clean house and empty laundry baskets and return in time to make sure nothing’s at a tipping point. We usually stay two weeks in the summer, but this time I decided to pack for longer. I’ll need time to repair whatever the fire has done and assess their overall living situation. I don’t see any way to get that done in a couple of weeks.

I sent a rambling message to the Bad Teachers group text before we left. It’s just my friends Kim and Layla from work, and none of us are actually bad teachers, though we do use that particular thread to unleash on our tyrant principal and make inappropriate comments about the hot new janitor. Between them they’ll be managing my mail and my beast of a fern. I’ll miss Kim’s thirty‑ fifth birthday in July and Layla’s daughter’s dance recital. I’d planned to surprise my landlord by re‑ staining both front doors on our two‑ family house. The good thing about a surprise is that no one’s let down if it doesn’t happen.

Gus and I came directly to the store because my dad is short‑ staffed today. His one full‑ time employee has gone to Florida indefinitely to care for her mother. And Rikki Clark, N294 ANNABEL MONAGHAN 29N his best bet for summer help, was a no‑ show. For today, we&r…