Page 28 of Meet Me at the Grand

Back on solid ground. Good. “Tara is kind of known as the island mom. She’s this former dignified debutante from Boston and came here on vacation with her rich family. She met poor seminary student Arnie Chamberlain, and that was it. She moved here to start a new kind of life.”

“That’s such an interesting story.” Liam removed his feet from the chair and sat fully upright. Leaned forward. “I wonder what would inspire someone to give up everything like that.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” But apparently, to Liam, it wasn’t. “She fell in love.”

His brow furrowed. “With the man or the place?”

“Both, of course. Eventually Arnie took over the pastorate here, and Tara stands by and supports all the ministries the church offers, especially the women’s ministry and several charities here on the island for the less fortunate. She knows practically everyone and is kind of the representative for the ‘every man’—or every woman, as it were.”

“So, will she pose any problems?”

“I don’t imagine so. I’m sure you’ll charm her easily enough.”

A grin stretched across Liam’s face, and he placed his hands behind his head. “So, you think I’m charming then. I was beginning to wonder.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous look on his face. “I’m going to chuck this piece of pizza at your head if you don’t quit.”

“You’re just so fun to tease.”

Dani finally picked up her pizza and wagged it at him. “I’m serious. This is no laughing matter. Because by far your biggest obstacle is going to be Janine Dirks.”

The smile left Liam’s face—and rightly so. “In what way?”

“She’s old school, completely against anything modern. Like me, she wants to maintain the historical integrity of things on the island.” Dani blew on her pizza slice, though it was far from hot at this point. “But unlike me, the only reason she wants things to stay the same is because she hates what technology has done for the world. She’ll probably request that we remove the air conditioning that was installed in 2007 and would even be crazy enough to ask that we revert back to kerosene lamps instead of electricity.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Liam’s eyes widened.

“Nope. In fact, when one of the underground power cables between here and Port Joseph was damaged—that’s how we get electricity to the island, you know—she sent around a petition to have it retired instead of repaired, which would have reduced electricity to seventy-five percent of its current usage.”

“But why would anyone want things to be so…backward?”

Dani shrugged and put her pizza back down. “She just firmly believes that we’re better off staying in the past.”

“Wow. I don’t think there will be any pleasing her with my plans. Might as well write her off as a no and work on getting the other votes.”

“Show me the plans and I can help see if you’ve kept things historically accurate enough for her.”

“There it is again. You don’t trust me.” Leaning forward, Liam snagged Dani’s hand. “I’ve got this, Dani. I’ve presented to heads of major corporations before. I know how to make a persuasive case.” His palm was warm, and there was something comforting in it. And his eyes—they were earnest. Like he really believed what he was saying.

“I know you do. But this is my home, Liam. If we don’t do this right…” She couldn’t even fathom what came next. Because without this, there was no hope for more.

“We will.” Liam squeezed before letting go of her hand. “Look, I know what it’s like to feel like you’re alone, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. But we’re in this together, okay?”

She swallowed hard. “Okay.”

“One question though.”

“What’s that?”

“You said that unlike you, Janine wants things to stay the same because she hates technology. I assume you mean that you want things to go back to how they were before. So why is that important to you?”

She sat back in her chair, turned her eyes to the white-washed ceiling. How could he even begin to understand? But he had shared something personal with her the other day. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to tell him why this meant so much to her. Or an inkling of the reason anyway.

“Because something about Jonathon Island calls to me—has always called to me. This is home. In addition to my uncle, aunt, and cousins, I’ve got a big immediate family—six siblings—and they’ve all left the island for one reason or another. But here…here is where we were a family, you know?”

“And you’re not a family anymore?”

“It’s not the same.”

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