Page 23 of Meet Me at the Grand

“I wouldn’t assume anything one way or another. I would talk to him immediately.” Seb fixed his eyes on her, his gaze intent. “Then, once he’s got his plans drawn up, if there’s any way to get a peek at them before Liam presents them to the council, do it. It’ll ease my mind, and yours too, I suspect.”

“Right. Good idea. Don’t worry, Uncle Seb. I know what’s at stake here. I won’t let you down.” Dani glanced at the old ticking clock over the door, then stood. “Do you think it’s too early to pay Mr. Stone a visit?”

* * *

Liam really wanted to like this town, but at every turn, he was reminded that Jonathon Island was stuck in the past and just plain worn out.

And, judging by the broken showerhead in his hand, the Island House Inn was no exception.

Really? Just what he needed.

Groaning, Liam placed the broken showerhead onto the white marble counter. Then he stepped from the white tiled bathroom into the small bedroom, with its white king bedspread and shabby beige carpet and light blue walls decorated with floral paintings. In the corner, under the curtained window, sat a little round table with wicker chairs that hadn’t done his lower back any favors after spending hours up late working on the Grand remodel plans.

At least the place was clean and the bed somewhat comfortable. But it was no Vail or Napa resort, that was for sure.

He glanced at the retro wood clock on the bedside table. Eight-oh-two. Hopefully a handyman would be on call by now. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Liam picked up the phone receiver and dialed. A middle-aged female greeted him. “Goooood morning, Mr. Stone! I hope you’re enjoying your stay. This is Sarah. How can I help you?”

“Hey, Sarah. I hate to bother you so early, but the shower in my room wouldn’t start, and when I jiggled the showerhead, well, it popped off. Any way we can get that fixed sooner rather than later?”

“No problem, Mr. Stone. I’ll get our handyman on it at once. He’s already on the premises, and I’ll divert him to your room right quick, for sure and certain. Alternatively, we could switch you to another room.”

The peppy woman must have had her coffee, unlike Liam. “No, as long as the fix is quick, that should be fine. Thanks. I sure do appreciate it.”

“Abso-too-da-lutely!”

Liam chuckled—small towns had all kinds of characters, didn’t they?—and then quickly got dressed in his black suit. His cell phone rang on the small table just as he was deciding on what tie to wear—though maybe he could ditch one just for today?

He strode across the room and glanced at the caller ID. “Hey, Trav.”

“So, how’s Podunk, USA?” His friend’s tease furled over the phone.

“About how you’d think.” Liam opened the floral curtains and glanced out his window, which overlooked Blueberry Boulevard. That road intersected Main Street one direction, but in the other, it kept going south until it hit the curving waterfront. Even from here, Liam could see the sparkling water courtesy of the sun that had decided to make an appearance. The light filtered in through the large picture window and across the paper on which Liam had sketched some of his ideas last night. “I mean, it’s a gorgeous setting, but dude, this backward town is stuck in the eighteen hundreds.”

“Seriously?”

“Case in point: they don’t allow motorized vehicles on the island at all.”

“Thatisbackward. But does it have any cute girls?”

“Not interested. I don’t need another Tiffany.”

“So that’s a yes then.”

He could practically hear the smile in Travis’s voice.

“I’ve met exactly two women since arriving on the island—a waitress who could be my mother, and the director of tourism.”

“And what’s wrong with the latter? She’s not cute enough?”

“Sure, maybe in a small-town kind of way.” Liam touched the paper’s curled edge, examined the bold strokes, the lines that he’d been so inspired to draw. “But she clearly thinks I’m an idiot, and I don’t blame her. I showed up thinking this was going to be a three-month remodel, and it’s a full-scale rebuild that’s going to take two or three years.”

“Yikes. Where did the disconnect come from?”

“See, that’s what I wondered too, so I called my dad when I saw the place. He said Seb—the guy who hired us—told him it would be a ‘big project,’ but he didn’t know exactly what that meant since that’s such subjective language. I guess Seb told Dad that he needed us to assess it and help them establish a timeline for the renovation. I tried telling Dad it’s too big of a project, too big of a risk, but he’s determined to keep his word and move forward with it.”

Travis whistled. “So what does this mean for you?”

“I’ll be here at least until Monday, when the town council meets. If I can get them to approve the plans, I’ll be able to brief Rob and skip out of here.”

---