Page 40 of Meet Me at the Grand

“Hey, Dani. Do you have a minute to talk?”

Once outside, she leaned against one of the porch posts, where a flowerpot hung just overhead. Right now, the plant inside sat dormant, but come summertime, it would bloom into something beautiful.

“Okay.” A breeze filtered in off the lake, and she shivered. It may have been warmer than usual lately, but it was still chilly when the sun went down. “Go ahead.”

“Thanks.” Liam cleared his throat. “I’ve been figuring some things out all day. And frankly, working up the nerve to call.”

“I figured you’d be long gone by now.”

“Then you don’t know me very well.”

“I guess not.”

“That’s not…” He groaned. “Look, I know we’ve hit a snag. But I think there’s still a chance we can fix this.”

“Are you saying you’re willing to redo the plans?”

“I’m not going to say no to that, because it wouldn’t be fair in light of what I’m asking of you.”

“And what’s that?”

“I want you to take a trip. With me. Tomorrow.”

“What?” Was he asking her out? “That’s not what I expected you to say.”

“Let me explain. I have a client meeting at one of our luxury hotel projects in Minneapolis. I thought I could show you around. Maybe explain my vision for a modern hotel a little better?”

Oh. “But I don’twantyour vision.” She pressed her lips together, making sure to school her tone into something professional. Because despite what she’d thought, she and Liam weren’t becoming friends. They were colleagues—colleagues with different opinions. But she was the client, and wasn’t the client always right? “Why can’t you just draw up the plans for the hotel the way I see them?”

“Because as I’ve told you, my company has a lot at stake here too. And two of the five people at that table today loved the plan I presented. They—and I—believe it would be in the best financial and economic interest of the town to go the more modern direction.”

“You need a majority though.”

“Seb thinks with a few tweaks, Patrick and Tara can be convinced to approve my plan.”

And then Dani would lose all control over the project that was hers to begin with.

Unacceptable.

Her left hand formed a fist, but she released it slowly along with a breath. “Let me make sure I have this right. You want me to come to Minneapolis so you can convince me that modern is the way to go?”

“Essentially, yeah. My secretary booked us flights for tomorrow. But if you don’t feel comfortable with that, I understand. I just thought it would be a good way to show you my perspective instead of trying to explain it with words.”

“You have a lot of nerve after what happened at that meeting. Maybe it’s just best to let this whole thing go.”

“Is that really what you want? I thought I was the only developer even willing to touch this project.”

She frowned. “Maybe Uncle Seb didn’t look hard enough.”

He sighed. “Look, Dani. I’m not asking for a commitment here. I’m just asking for you to give this one more shot. Let me show you what I do—what I can really do, if you give me a chance—and if you want to can the project after that, fine.”

“Why are you doing this? I got the impression that you’d gladly wash your hands of this project and walk away because it was too risky to your bottom line.”

It was a moment before he answered. “To be honest, Dani, I’m asking myself the same question. But basically, it comes down to the fact that I promised my dad—and I promised you. There’s a disconnect somewhere between us, and I want to see if it’s possible to bridge the gap.”

“You mean bring me over to your side.”

“If you want to phrase it like that, fine.”

---