Page 35 of Meet Me at the Grand

Harsh, but Dani couldn’t agree more.

“And you.” Janine turned and glared at Dani. “You let it happen.”

Dani opened her mouth to respond. But what could she say? How could she defend herself?

But the bigger question was—how could Liam have thoughtthiswas what she’d wanted?

Seb frowned. “Now, Janine?—”

“Janine’s right.” Patrick pointed at the rendering. “That is a very nice hotel, young man. But it does not belong on Jonathon Island. And frankly, Dani, I’m surprised you support this.”

“I…” The words got stuck in her mouth.

Liam’s brow furrowed. “My primary concern here wasn’t preserving the history. It was creating a luxury hotel that will be irresistible to the right tourists—the kind who will gladly spend thousands of dollars in your shops and restaurants during their stay.” He turned to Dani and looked her purposefully in the eyes. “The kind that will get people back to this island.”

Her insides squished together, her stomach bottoming out, and she honestly wondered if she was going to be physically ill. “But at what cost?Thisis not what we discussed.”

Liam took a step backward, blinking as if to clear away a cobweb from his eyes. He glanced at the projector screen, frowning. His jaw ticked tight.

“I, for one, think it’s a fabulous hotel.” Martha glared at Patrick across the table. “Mr. Stone is right. We need something big and flashy to draw people back to the island, and this is exactly the kind of luxury visitors will be looking for.”

Beside her, Tara turned in her seat to look at Martha. “Yes, but nothing about this hotel is special or unique. I’d love to see a hotel that marries the desire to appreciate our past with the recognition that the future is upon us as well.”

“That’s a very political answer,” Martha said. “Which is typical of someone in your position.”

Tara’s lips pursed.

“I agree with Tara.” Patrick stroked his mustache.

“Surprise, surprise.” Martha didn’t do much to hide her comment under her breath. “You always have to fight me.”

“Not everything has to do with you.” Patrick shot her a glare. “It’s very reasonable to ask to see plans that are more in line with history. That place is unrecognizable.”

“Hear, hear.” Janine rapped her knuckles on the table as if she held a gavel. “I am all for bringing our economy back to acceptable standards, but not if it means compromising our morals.”

“Oh, please.” Martha rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing immoral about Mr. Stone’s drawing.”

“I most certainly think there is?—”

“Ladies, please.” Uncle Seb held up his hands. “Calm down, everyone. I know you are all very passionate about our home, but Mr. Stone has done great work here, especially given his background.”

How could Uncle Seb say that? Was he just being nice? Then again, there was a certain gleam in his eye, one Dani almost didn’t recognize. Mia sometimes talked about Uncle Seb’s fast-paced job as a lawyer back in the day. About how ruthless she’d heard he could be. At the end of the day, he was a businessman first. It made sense that he would be all in favor of “progress”—if that’s what this could even be called.

If it were up to her, Dani would call itmurder.Hotel-cide. History-cide. That was a thing, right?

“Dani, you’ve been awfully quiet.” Uncle Seb patted her arm, and she jumped. “Any questions for Mr. Stone here?”

Her gaze met Liam’s. His was full of questions.

She sighed. Maybe he meant well, but in the end, he was justan outsider. How could she expect him to understand what this meant to them all?

Still, she couldn’t stand to see her family’s legacy reduced tothis. And her brothers and sisters would never in a million years come back for a hotel like the one in the rendering. Certainly her father wouldn’t. As far as they were concerned, this would only serve to put her family legacy in the ground once and for all.

“No questions.” She felt everyone’s eyes on her. “Just…I’m sorry, everyone.” What else could she say? In the end, it was her fault for relying on someone so different, with different values, from a different world for help.

“No need to apologize, Dani,” Uncle Seb said, the compassion—and maybe pity—clear in his eyes. “Look, everyone, it’s clear we don’t agree on this plan, so what we’re going to do is take a breather and revisit things next week. How’s next Monday?” He studied each person, waiting for their nods. “Meeting adjourned. See you all then.”

His words were the death knell to all of Dani’s dreams. Because there was no way to find a new developer to create plans by next week.

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