Every Little Thing
“I just, uh, I didn’t want to have a conversation with him, you know?” She turned away, fiddling with tools on one of her workshop tables. “All of that was in the past. I’ve worked hard to start over here and I don’t want to dredge all that crap up. I wonder how he knew I was here.”
“He didn’t. He was just as surprised to see you as you were to see him. Plus, he asked me what you were doing here.”
She whirled around, clearly afraid. “What did you say?”
“I told him you were here on vacation and that you were leaving today.”
Her shoulders deflated and she slumped onto a nearby stool. “Thank you.”
“It was weird him being here, though, right?”
“Yes.” Her expression darkened. “And a little too coincidental.”
I thought of the letters she sent to Boston once a month. “Someone pointed him in this direction?”
“Someone definitely did.”
“Maybe you should talk to him then. You can’t hide forever.”
“Bailey, I love you, but this is one of those times where saying what’s on your mind is just going to piss me off.”
Duly warned, I held up my hands in surrender. “Shutting up. And leaving. But I’m right next door, and if I see the Closed sign on the shop tomorrow, I’m coming back.”
“I told you to shut up,” she grumbled, grabbing her purse. “Not to go away. Do you think Mona could make me one of her famous grilled cheese sandwiches? I haven’t eaten since last night.”
Relieved that my friend wasn’t pushing me away entirely, I slung my arm around her shoulder. “Grilled cheese sounds good. And she made scones this morning. I hid two from the guests. Want one?”
“Uh, like you even need to ask.”
Dahlia locked up behind us and we wandered toward the inn. Just as we were climbing the porch steps I got up the courage to say, “Since you don’t want to talk about your problem, maybe we could talk about mine.”
“Of course. What happened? You didn’t end things with Vaughn, did you?”
“No.” My belly fluttered at the memory of last night. “You would not believe the night I had. The things that man did to me and where.”
“So what’s the problem?” She pushed open the inn door.
I can’t bring myself to tell him I love him and I don’t know why. “Well.” I exhaled as we stepped inside, preparing myself to tell my friend about how big a coward I was, when the sight of my sister leaning against the reception counter stopped me in my tracks.
Mona stood behind the counter, her arms crossed, and her eyes narrowed behind her thick-framed glasses. “Look who decided to grace us with her presence.”
Vanessa merely quirked an eyebrow at the dry comment, and that itself put me on alert because since arriving here my sister hadn’t let a moment go by when she didn’t admonish our employees for something. Mona’s attitude would have made her blow a gasket a few weeks ago.
Now she just smirked at me. “We need to talk.”
“Hello to you, too. How are you doing? How am I doing? I’m very well, thank you. As is the inn, in case you were wondering.”
She ignored my sarcasm. “I don’t have time for this idiocy. I leave for New York in a few days and I’ve got to get my things in order.”
I felt a mixture of disappointment and relief. The relief I understood. The disappointment was a surprise. But I guess, underneath all my irritation with my little sister, I’d kind of hoped that being home would miraculously change her. “Found someone new to play with?”
“No. But I will.” She shrugged.
“What happened to Jack? Did you finally see the light?”
“What? That Jack was using me?” She grinned and I tensed at the wickedness of it. “You always thought you were smarter than me, but, sweetie, I knew exactly what Jack Devlin and his band of merry brothers were up to. But I’ve had a crush on Jack Devlin since I was fourteen. I saw the chance to sleep with him and I took it.”
“So you didn’t get hurt?”
“No.” She smiled. “I played him. He thought he had to wine and dine me and give me multiple orgasms to get what he wanted. When the truth is I would have taken less than what he and his father offered for my share in the inn.”
“What?” Dahlia snapped.
Dread consumed me and my blood buzzed in my ears. “What?” I echoed Dahlia, praying we’d both heard wrong.
Vanessa explained. Happily. Gleeful in fact. “When Mom and Dad left us the inn and we agreed on signing that contract where you got a higher stake in the place, no one put anything in the contract about limitations on selling our share.”
Fury overtook the dread. “Because it’s our family business!”
“Now, now, rule number one, Bailey, no disturbing the customers with a family spat.”
I lunged at her and Dahlia grabbed my arms, pulling me back. “What did you do?” I bit out, my nose and eyes burning with tears.
“Not what I’ve done but what I’m about to do in . . .” She checked the gold cocktail watch she was wearing. “Five hours. I have a business dinner with Ian, Jack, and Stu at the Grand. Our lovely lawyers will be joining us for drinks afterward. And upon signing a contract I’ll have sold them my thirty percent share in the inn.”
“If you do that, Devlin will find a way to take this place from me. Do you get that?”