Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
T here was nothing so iconically Jonathon Island than a horse-drawn carriage ride through Blueberry Hill Park.
Even if there was only one horse instead of two. And a four-wheeled contraption that hadn’t been used in probably a decade.
All she needed now was Liam.
Oh, Liam.
“When is he supposed to get here?” Mia pushed Maggie on the park swings beside the path where Pegasus—who was one of the only horses still on the island and had been personally loaned to her by the reclusive Quinn nephew, Asher—waited patiently.
Meanwhile, Finn ran hooting and hollering along the playground set with another boy about his age. Dani had been surprised when her cousin had shouted a hello a few moments before, but then again, lots of families were at the park today, enjoying the sixty-degree weather that had decided to show its face.
“Any minute now.” Dani took a sip of her coffee.
“Okay, so then there’s not much time for you to spill. What happened between the two of you in the Twin Cities? You look different. Almost nervous.”
“I do?” She dug the toe of her tennis shoe into the playground sand. “I don’t know, Mia. He gave me a tour like we’d planned. We ate dinner and ice cream like we’d planned. He told me a little bit about his family, about his goals for the future.”
“Ah, so you got personal?”
“He did.”
“And let me guess.” Maggie squealed as Mia pushed her extra high in the toddler swing. “You stayed close-lipped because ‘he’s an outsider’?”
“I guess. Or maybe I just didn’t want to go into it. To bring the whole mood down.” She sighed. “But then there was this moment at the end of the night when I swear he wanted to kiss me. But I panicked and basically ran away.”
“And how do you feel about that now that it’s a few days later and you’ve had time to process? How do you feel about him?”
Dani stared into her coffee, gathering her thoughts. “I think…I think I want to tell him about my past. About my family and what this town means to me. I want him to understand.”
Mia reached out and squeezed Dani’s hand. “I think that’s a great idea, Dani. It’s time to take a chance and let him in. Really in.”
“Stop it. This isn’t about romance. It’s about getting him on my side. We’re just business partners.”
“Are you sure?” Mia pointed to the horse-drawn carriage. “Because you sure picked a heck of a romantic ride for a business meeting.”
An hour later, Dani could see Mia’s point so clearly.
Because could the man look more handsome and carefree beside her on the bench, the sunlight bringing out the lighter bits of his hair as it filtered through the hole in the carriage’s white canvas top? Today, Liam had worn his navy suit but no tie, and he’d discarded the jacket on the back of the red leather front seat and even rolled his sleeves up his forearms. And every time a breeze rustled his hair, it carried the scent of his spicy cologne her way.
What had she been thinking?
Thankfully, Dani had been able to launch into tour guide mode until this moment, which had led them back to the park after traversing one end of Main Street to the other. The information she gave him this time around was much more complete as they clopped along at a snail’s pace.
“I must say, you’re really bringing your A game today, Ms. Sullivan.” Liam took a swig from his own Good Day Coffee cup. “I feel like I know all the secrets of every family and every building on Main Street now.”
“To know the people of Jonathon Island is to know the island.” She waved at two moms and their jogging strollers as they passed. “During the busiest parts of the season, we use this park for everything from food and art festivals to farmers’ markets to summer concerts. On the weekends in the summer, this place bustles with townspeople and tourists.”
“It’s a really beautiful park.”
“I think so too. And that”—she pointed to Pinnacle Drive, which overlooked the northern edge of the park via a ridge—“is the public school. See? Even our schools are quaint.” The one-story brick building was surrounded by trees and ideally located just south of the Blueberry Hill neighborhood where a large majority of kids on the island lived. Not that anyone lived all that far from anything, since the entire island was only about four square miles.
“It’s definitely cozier looking than the school I went to in the city. How many kids go there?”
Pegasus stopped to munch on a dead bush. Asher had warned Dani that if she didn’t know how to control the beast, the beast would control her. Dani flicked the reins and tutted, and Pegasus finally started moving down the path again. “It serves kindergarten through twelfth grade, and I think there are about twenty or twenty-five kids right now. It was at least double that when I attended.”
“I can’t even fathom going to a school that small.” Liam adjusted in his seat, and his leg brushed up against hers. The warmth seared through the material of her jeans.
“It wasn’t so bad. Actually, it was kind of cool. You know all the teachers, they know you. Kind of like this town in general.”
Liam laughed and took a sip of his coffee. “I’m just a visitor, and yet I feel like everyone knows me already.”
“It’s spring. There isn’t much else of interest going on. So when a handsome guy from the West Coast comes?—”
“You think I’m handsome, do you?”
Oops. She jutted her chin up and focused on the clip-clop of Pegasus’s horseshoes against the pavement. “Some might say that.”
“ You said that.”
“I was speaking for the other ladies of the town.” She peeked out of the corner of her eye and found him smiling against his drink as he took another sip. Why did he have to be so adorably good-looking? He made it kind of hard to remember this was supposed to be a business meeting. “Anyway, I think part of the charm of the island is the close-knit bond that residents have. People here help each other out. They watch out for one another. It’s not just a place to live. It’s a community. A family.”
Liam’s thumb stroked the edge of his black coffee lid. “That sounds really nice, actually. Kind of like my dad’s company.”
Interesting. “Your dad’s company? Not yours?”
“Well, yeah, it’s mine too. But he put his blood, sweat, and tears into building it from the ground up.”
“He sounds like an accomplished man.” Dani eased the reins to the right so the horse turned down the winding sidewalk. They were now heading south along the eastern loop of the park, the one that faced Lake Huron. Today the sun sparkled off the water, almost inviting despite how cold she knew it to be. She pulled the horse to a halt so they could enjoy the view.
“He’s a good guy. Does a lot so that the employees and our clients have the best.” Liam sighed and stared at the calm waters. “But he works himself to death—almost literally.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.” Dani nudged Liam.
But he didn’t laugh at her teasing. “I only work hard because I want him to be able to retire. And he never will if he doesn’t think there’s someone capable enough to take over for him.”
Oh, wow. “You said something about wanting him to retire for his health?”
A quick nod. A sigh. “Two years ago, I was home from a business trip and came out of my room for a snack. Found Dad on the couch sleeping. His laptop had fallen off his lap onto the rug below, and I came over to right it. But something just seemed off, so I tried to wake him up and…” He shuddered. “Turns out he had extremely low blood sugar because he hadn’t eaten in hours. He’s diabetic and doesn’t take care of himself like he should. If I hadn’t been there…”
“Oh, Liam. How scary.” She turned, rested the reins in her lap, and set her free hand on his. “But you were. There, I mean.”
“Thank goodness. But I can’t always be there, which means the only real solution is to take things off his plate so he retires and lives his best life, away from the stress of work.” Liam glanced down at her hand, then back up, into her eyes.
He was such a good son. Still…“Don’t you think you’re taking too much on yourself? Your dad’s an adult, after all.”
“Of course, but with Mom gone…well, family takes care of each other, right? And that means it’s up to me to make sure my dad’s okay.” His gaze explored hers, as if searching for something there. “That’s why I couldn’t let someone else take this project. Why I’m pushing back on things. Because…”
“Because if it fails, then your company will be in the red. I know.”
“But it’s more than that. If the company is set back, my dad won’t hesitate to use his own retirement fund to make sure everyone is taken care of. To turn things back around. Which means he won’t be able to retire.”
Dani sat back against the bench and blew out a breath. She hadn’t realized just how much of a risk Mr. Stone was taking in agreeing to this deal. Still, didn’t Liam understand? “This deal means a lot to me too.”
“I know. You want your family to come back.”
She licked her lips, glanced away. A breeze off the water blew through, and the horse’s tail flicked at it as if it were a fly. “Like you, it’s more than it seems.”
Now Liam’s hand covered hers. Squeezed. “Tell me.” His voice, like honey, filled the empty spaces in her heart. Warm and soothing, and sticky in a good way. Like it wasn’t going anywhere.
Even though it was.
But for right now, Liam was here. And he wanted to know. She didn’t have the heart to get into all of it—Dad burning down the hotel, and the aftermath that ensued—but she could still share her heart without all of that. Tell him why this mattered so much.
She turned her palm up, and his fingers slid around hers, locking them together solidly. “My parents split up when I was fourteen because my mom had an affair.”
“Oh, wow. I’m sorry. Is that why you aren’t close with her?”
“That’s part of it.” She sighed. “When I was eighteen, the hotel burned. My dad left for Florida at that point. He started over with a new hotel there. Mom and my stepdad at the time moved to Port Joseph. Mom is still there, divorced again. And my older siblings—all six of them—left one by one. Now they’re scattered across the country, and I’m the only one left.”
“That must feel lonely.”
“I have Uncle Seb, Aunt Elise, my cousins. But it’s not the same.”
“I understand loneliness.”
She believed him. “I think the first time I was ever lonely was when I was eight, and my oldest brother, James, went away to college. Out of all my siblings, I was always closest with him, even though he’s ten years older. But he was never too cool for me, you know? He let me tag along everywhere, even when his friends were there. And then he left for Boston. I know that’s not that far, but for a girl with as small a world as mine, it might as well have been another country.”
Liam’s thumb moved along the curve of hers, drawing delicious shivers down her spine. “I always wanted a sibling. I’m glad you had that.”
Poor Liam. His mother had died in childbirth, which meant he must have lost the sibling he so desired.
She pressed her shoulder against his and nodded. Her gaze took in the rocky shore, the expansive lake, the trees that were dead but would one day soon be brought back to life. “I’m glad I had that too. But sometimes I wonder if my heart would be whole if I didn’t.” Dani bit the inside of her cheek. “That probably sounds so silly. But after James left, and I cried and cried buckets of tears, my mom took me aside, dried my eyes, and said, ‘When people leave us—whether temporarily or for good—they take a piece of our hearts with them every time.’ And I know she meant it to comfort me, but I have never been able to get that picture out of my head.”
“What picture is that?” Liam’s warm breath tickled her ear. He was solid, and here—so close.
“The image of my heart, breaking off little bit by little bit every time someone leaves. Scattering to the corners of the earth, following them wherever they go. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever be whole again. This project feels like my only chance to be. And that’s why I need the hotel to be rebuilt exactly the way it was. Don’t you see? If it’s anything but that…”
“Thank you for telling me all of that, Dani. I’m sure that wasn’t easy.” It took Liam several long moments before he spoke again. “I’m not trying to disrespect your memories or your dreams, but shouldn’t the hotel rebuild be about what’s best for the island?”
“Well, yes. But the two aren’t mutually exclusive. I really do believe that changing things won’t be good for the island.”
Liam sighed. “And I still believe you’re wrong.”
Dani sat up, inched away from him. “Isn’t there any part of you that wants to see the grandeur restored?” She tugged her hand free.
“Of course I do.” Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. “But in my mind, that means making improvements.”
“You mean changing it. And we don’t want it changed. We want to keep what’s special about it.”
“Dani, I’m not discounting how special it is. How special this town is. It’s like Mayberry, caught in time. It’s an escape. It’s the thing that people always long for, a dream really, something that people can have for a brief moment in time. I get that.”
“Then if you truly see how special it is, what’s the problem?”
“The problem is, my firm specializes in the tourist of today, and somehow, I have to figure out how to create a hotel that caters to people from today’s world who want to step back into the past. The problem is that we can’t live in the past. We have to step into the future to prosper, even if our hearts long for the world that you have here.”
His words sliced through her. Lips pursed, Dani picked up the reins and flicked them. The buggy made its way around the final bend of the park.
“Dani? Would you say something, please? Please tell me you understand my predicament here.”
“I do.” Dani pulled the buggy to a stop in front of the livery, where Asher had helped her lug the contraption from storage earlier today. “But I just can’t see a way forward. While I appreciate you hearing me out, I clearly haven’t convinced you to change your mind, and you haven’t convinced me to change mine. I think…I think we’re at an impasse.”
Liam just sat there, staring at her. “So what now?”
She inhaled a trembling breath. “Now, you go home.” The thought shouldn’t hurt the way it did. “And I’ll see if I can find another developer willing to help me make my vision come to life.”
* * *
Why couldn’t he just get on that ferry?
Liam stood on the dock and watched the last ferry of the day pull away. It wasn’t even that late—just two o’clock on this Friday afternoon—but at this time of year, the schedule was still very limited.
He should have been on it. But something had kept him here.
With one hand rolling his suitcase behind him, Liam strolled the shoreline that would lead him back to his inn. Bicyclists whizzed past him on the lakeside path, and joggers waved hello and flashed him curious looks—maybe because they recognized him and wondered why he was walking away from the ferry landing with his suitcase.
You and me both, guys.
Sighing, he continued trudging along until he approached the bustling marina. Boats were going in and out. People were grilling and dining together on the back of boats still tied to the dock. Families took advantage of the walking path, and some gathered beside a small dog run where they allowed their pets to play. Everyone seemed to be enjoying this week’s warm snap, likely afraid the weather would decide to change its mind and go cold again.
Maybe Liam should try enjoying it too.
As he took one of the docks out toward the water, Liam inhaled deeply, struck once again by the differences between the Pacific where he lived and the lake here. The scent wasn’t briny at all, but instead emitted a faint earthy smell mingled with a hint of fish. Closing his eyes, he listened to the lapping water, the hum of a motorboat, the cawing of seagulls somewhere overhead.
No angry honking of cab drivers. No hawking of food by vendors crowded along a busy street. No hissing and groaning of oversized buses blowing plumes of exhaust into the air.
Dani was right. Jonathon Island was the perfect place to think. Maybe they should use the location to their advantage. Maybe if they could each swallow their own vision for how things should be—swallow their pride—they could come up with some compromises that would work for them both.
The trouble was, Dani didn’t want to seem to do that. Yesterday, she’d made up her mind that they couldn’t work together, and he’d given her a full twenty-four hours to change it.
He hadn’t heard a peep from her since.
“Liam! Hey!”
Liam turned his head and shielded his eyes against the sun. Not five feet away stood Cody Hart on the deck of a fishing boat with peeling white paint. He wore faded jeans, an old flannel shirt, and a backward baseball cap. “What’s up, man?”
“Just working on something.” Cody cocked his head, squinted. “You headed to the ferry?”
“I missed it, actually.”
“Bummer. Although I’m hurt you weren’t going to say goodbye.” Cody placed a hand over his heart in dramatic fashion. “After all the things I’ve fixed for you.”
Liam grinned. “You never did get to the squeaky ceiling fan.”
“Was planning to come by in the morning to fix that one.” Chuckling, Cody cocked his head. “Do you need to go work right now?”
“Nope. I’m free as a bird, considering Dani fired me yesterday.”
“Ouch.” Cody winced. “Well, wanna help me with something then?”
“Sure.” Better than holing up in his room with nothing to do but think about why he wasn’t on the ferry. He walked to the boat landing and climbed on board, suitcase in hand. From here, he could see that the back end was damaged. Not that he knew much about boats, but the splintering looked fairly extensive.
Cody stood at the top of a descending staircase. He had a dirty rag tucked into his back pocket and waved Liam after him. “This way.”
Liam left the suitcase on deck and followed him down the dark space, ducking so his head didn’t hit the top of the stairwell. “This boat yours?”
“Nah, a client’s.” Cody led him through a small kitchen galley, which was covered with a fine layer of dust, and a dark dining area with two large tables and a wall mounted with a TV suffering from a cracked screen. “He’s off island at the moment and bought this at a steal off Sam Caruthers, a guy who moved to Arizona last year.”
Pushing open a door on the opposite end, Cody ducked into what looked like a storage pantry of sorts. Half-empty Costco-sized boxes of various food items—round crackers, beef jerky sticks, nuts, and more—filled the shelves. A few individual packages of cheesy chips lay on the ground near Cody’s feet. “Anyway, the new owner hired me to get it season ready for him.”
“How can I help? I know absolutely nothing about fishing or fishing equipment, but I’ll do what I can.”
Cody lifted a hand and knocked against a big plastic container of pretzels. “Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to help swab the poop deck or anything like that.”
“Ah, good. I would have worn my ratty shoes if so.” As it was, his white sneakers probably weren’t the best thing to wear on a dusty old ship, but it was better than his work loafers.
At that, Cody laughed. “At least you’re not wearing a suit.”
“It was supposed to be a travel day with no client meetings. I do own other clothes, you know.”
“I didn’t, actually.” Cody laughed. “Anyway, what I could use some help with is clearing out this storage. All of this food has been here a while. Might even be salvageable if the due dates haven’t passed. We can donate that stuff to the church. Or we can junk it all. Whatever you think.” Cody leaned against the doorway. “You sure you don’t mind?”
“Put me to work.” It would be good for him to focus on something other than his failed hotel plans.
With a nod, Cody left for a moment, returning with a box cutter that he handed to Liam. “So you can break down any of the boxes.” He started to turn toward the door again.
Liam pushed up the sleeves of his sweater. “And what are you going to do?”
A grin curled the edges of Cody’s mouth. “I’m gonna go swab the poop deck, of course.”
“Ha ha. What are you really doing?”
“Working on the engine.”
“Oh, sure. Leave me with the pantry cleaning while you get to do the cool, manly stuff.”
“Sorry, man. You wanna join me?”
“I’m just joking.” Liam held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’d be looking over your shoulder completely confused and asking dumb questions. Plus, I could use the manual labor. Leave me to it, Captain.” He saluted Cody, but instead of a laugh, he got a frown in return.
What had he said? Seemed like he was doing a lot of unintentional hurting lately.
Like Dani.
Sweet, beautiful Dani, whose sad, disappointed eyes had gut-punched him yesterday. He hated that he’d hurt her.
And maybe that was why he hadn’t been able to leave. Because deep down, this island was starting to mean something to him.
She was starting to mean something.
Liam hauled a stool over, climbed up, and snagged a box of ramen packets from the top shelf. Checked the expiration dates. Started organizing boxes in the galley into piles of things to keep, things to toss. He sneezed when he pulled down a particularly large box and a pile of dust fell from above, going everywhere.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out. Travis.
Ugh. His friend had been calling him all day for an update. Liam was supposed to be working on the Bertram proposal, but he hadn’t had any spare time.
And now that he did, he hadn’t been able to get his mind back to L.A.—not when Jonathon Island had it so thoroughly captured.
He hit ignore and stuffed the phone back into his pocket.
Before he knew it, an hour had passed, and it was time to break down the pile of boxes littering the galley. He grabbed the box cutter and started hacking away at the tape, ripping the seams so he could fold the boxes flat on the counter.
One box gave him more trouble than the others, the tape thick, the cardboard unyielding. Why wouldn’t it just lie flat like the others? Why did it insist on being so difficult?
With a grunt, Liam leaned heavily on it in an attempt to put it in its place.
“What’s got you so riled up?”
Liam turned as Cody strode toward the galley sink. His hands were covered in dirt and grime, his face dripping with sweat. “Just a dumb box that won’t cooperate.”
With a lifted eyebrow, Cody washed off his hands and dried them on some paper towels he found nearby. “Uh huh. It’s a woman, isn’t it?”
“What? No, dude, it’s just a box.”
Cody tsked and moved toward a small cooler on the ground near the fridge. He popped the lid and pulled out a couple of water bottles. Tossed one to Liam. “You sure about that?”
“Thanks.” The dirt on his hands left behind streaks in the cold bottle’s condensation. “And yeah, maybe I’m frustrated, and maybe it has to do with a woman. But not like that. ”
“So what’s it like?” Twisting the cap on his own bottle, Cody settled back against the counter and waited. “Is this about you getting fired?”
Liam tore into his water and took a few long drinks before answering. “Partly.” Maybe it was unprofessional to talk with Cody about this, but maybe it would feel nice to unload on someone who wasn’t involved. He couldn’t very well tell Dad about his worries. That would only stress his father out and make him question his faith in Liam. He’d rather have that conversation face-to-face. “Guessing the whole island probably knows by now that things did not go well with the town council on Monday.”
“Heard something about that, yeah.” Cody took a sip of water.
“Despite my best efforts, I really messed up that meeting and came up with plans that more than half the council—plus Dani—hated. So I thought I could get her on my side by showing her a hotel my company’s renovating in Minneapolis.”
“And did you? Get her on your side?”
“No. In fact, when we returned, she went right back to trying to convince me to rebuild an exact replica of the hotel that she used to know and love. I just wish she would trust me, you know? Trust that I know this business, that I can get her the tourists she needs, that I could have them eating out of the palm of her hand, if only she would accept my vision of things. But she is so stuck in the past.” The plastic bottle crunched beneath his tightening fist. “Yesterday, she realized we’re at an impasse, and I guess she’d rather fire me than even consider compromising.”
“Does compromising mean doing everything your way?”
“What? No.”
“Does she think that’s what it means?”
Oh. “Well, I’m not sure.”
“Okay, then.” Cody finished off his water and crushed the plastic down flat with the palm of his hand. “Look, from what you’re telling me, and from what Mia’s told me?—”
“Dani’s cousin? Why would she tell you anything?” Liam set his own water down. “Wait, are you guys together?” Maybe Cody was an interested party after all.
Cody blanched. “No, it’s not like that with us. She and I…we’ve been friends since we were kids. She married my best friend.”
“Oh, wow.” Liam chuckled. “Didn’t mean to make that weird.” Except, wait. Hadn’t Dani told him…“I thought I remembered hearing her husband d—” He winced.
“Yeah, he did.” Cody turned a one-eighty and looked out the galley window. “He died.”
Shoot. He’d gone and made things awkward. But the thing about grief was, a person couldn’t ignore it. When Liam’s mom had passed, some people had tried to pretend like things were normal. They never even said they were sorry for his loss. Liam had asked Dad about that once, and his father had just said, Some people think that bringing up your mom will make our pain worse. What they don’t realize is that pretending she never existed is the worst pain there could ever be.
Liam stepped forward and clapped a hand on Cody’s shoulder. “Sorry for your loss, man.”
Cody’s frame shook with a few deep breaths. “Thanks.”
Liam dropped his hand. “Guess I’ll get back to work. Thanks for the water.” He started back toward the pantry.
“Liam.”
Liam turned. “Yeah?”
“You going to the bonfire tonight?”
“The bonfire?”
“It’s kind of last minute, to celebrate the nicer weather. Don’t tell me nobody’s invited you.”
“I haven’t really talked to anyone today.” Liam shoved his hands into his pockets.
“You should come.” Cody grinned. “I have it on good authority that Dani will be there.”
“I don’t think she wants to see me.”
“And I think you owe it to both of you to see if compromising is an option. That is, if you’re willing.”
“I’m not sure what that would look like. Or if she’d even be willing.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t ask.”
“And what if she just ignores me?”
“She might. But she loves Jill’s peanut butter cookies. Haven’t you ever heard that the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach?”
Liam crossed his arms over his chest. “Pretty sure that’s dudes.”
“You must not have had Jill’s cookies yet.” With a wink and a light punch to the shoulder, Cody sauntered out of the galley.
Huh, okay. Liam had never used cookies as a persuasive tool before, but there was a first time for everything.
Although, maybe Cody had a point.
Maybe it wasn’t so much about persuading Dani over to his side of the table but figuring out a way to meet her in the middle.