Page 49 of Meet Me at the Grand

Dani sat up, inched away from him. “Isn’t there any part of you that wants to see the grandeur restored?” She tugged her hand free.

“Of course I do.” Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. “But in my mind, that means making improvements.”

“You mean changing it. And we don’t want it changed. We want to keep what’s special about it.”

“Dani, I’m not discounting how special it is. How special this town is. It’s like Mayberry, caught in time. It’s an escape. It’s the thing that people always long for, a dream really, something that people can have for a brief moment in time. I get that.”

“Then if you truly see how special it is, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is, my firm specializes in the tourist of today, and somehow, I have to figure out how to create a hotel that caters to people from today’s world who want to step back into the past. The problem is that we can’t live in the past. We have to step into the future to prosper, even if our hearts long for the world that you have here.”

His words sliced through her. Lips pursed, Dani picked up the reins and flicked them. The buggy made its way around the final bend of the park.

“Dani? Would you say something, please? Please tell me you understand my predicament here.”

“I do.” Dani pulled the buggy to a stop in front of the livery, where Asher had helped her lug the contraption from storage earlier today. “But I just can’t see a way forward. While I appreciate you hearing me out, I clearly haven’t convinced you to change your mind, and you haven’t convinced me to change mine. I think…I think we’re at an impasse.”

Liam just sat there, staring at her. “So what now?”

She inhaled a trembling breath. “Now, you go home.” The thought shouldn’t hurt the way it did. “And I’ll see if I can find another developer willing to help me make my vision come to life.”

* * *

Why couldn’t he just get on that ferry?

Liam stood on the dock and watched the last ferry of the day pull away. It wasn’t even that late—just two o’clock on this Friday afternoon—but at this time of year, the schedule was still very limited.

He should have been on it. But something had kept him here.

With one hand rolling his suitcase behind him, Liam strolled the shoreline that would lead him back to his inn. Bicyclists whizzed past him on the lakeside path, and joggers waved hello and flashed him curious looks—maybe because they recognized him and wondered why he was walkingawayfrom the ferry landing with his suitcase.

You and me both, guys.

Sighing, he continued trudging along until he approached the bustling marina. Boats were going in and out. People were grilling and dining together on the back of boats still tied to the dock. Families took advantage of the walking path, and some gathered beside a small dog run where they allowed their pets to play. Everyone seemed to be enjoying this week’s warm snap, likely afraid the weather would decide to change its mind and go cold again.

Maybe Liam should try enjoying it too.

As he took one of the docks out toward the water, Liam inhaled deeply, struck once again by the differences between the Pacific where he lived and the lake here. The scent wasn’t briny at all, but instead emitted a faint earthy smell mingled with a hint of fish. Closing his eyes, he listened to the lapping water, the hum of a motorboat, the cawing of seagulls somewhere overhead.

No angry honking of cab drivers. No hawking of food by vendors crowded along a busy street. No hissing and groaning of oversized buses blowing plumes of exhaust into the air.

Dani was right. Jonathon Island was the perfect place to think. Maybe theyshoulduse the location to their advantage. Maybe if they could each swallow their own vision for how things should be—swallow their pride—they could come up with some compromises that would work for them both.

The trouble was, Dani didn’t want to seem to do that. Yesterday, she’d made up her mind that they couldn’t work together, and he’d given her a full twenty-four hours to change it.

He hadn’t heard a peep from her since.

“Liam! Hey!”

Liam turned his head and shielded his eyes against the sun. Not five feet away stood Cody Hart on the deck of a fishing boat with peeling white paint. He wore faded jeans, an old flannel shirt, and a backward baseball cap. “What’s up, man?”

“Just working on something.” Cody cocked his head, squinted. “You headed to the ferry?”

“I missed it, actually.”

“Bummer. Although I’m hurt you weren’t going to say goodbye.” Cody placed a hand over his heart in dramatic fashion. “After all the things I’ve fixed for you.”

Liam grinned. “You never did get to the squeaky ceiling fan.”

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