Page 8 of Meet Me at the Grand

Uncle Seb let loose his hearty chuckle. “Come on, Danielle. It’s a party! No need to get all healthy on me.”

“I wonder what Aunt Elise would think of that.” Taking a silverware set from the cheery yellow bucket at the end of the table, she removed a fork.

Uncle Seb did the same, cutting a tiny meatloaf in half. “I’m swearing you to secrecy.”

“Duly noted.” She winked at him before clearing her throat and sitting up straighter. She set her fork tines-down on her plate. “I’m sorry to interrupt your party. This will be quick, I promise.”

“You’re never an interruption. I enjoy spending time with my niece.” He took a bite of the meatloaf, studying her thoughtfully while he chewed. “You know who else would enjoy spending time with you?”

“She knows where I live.” Dani didn’t mean for it to sound so immature, but really. The woman who had thrown a grenade into their family fourteen years ago had no right to complain to her older brother about the fact she never saw her children.

Not that Dani’s secret wish didn’t involve Mom. It did—especially the deepest part of it. The part that was less likely to happen than the Leaning Tower of Pisa to suddenly straighten.

She sighed. “I hate that look of disappointment you’re giving me, Uncle Seb. And the bitter taste in my mouth when I think about Mom, about those years I was forced to live with her and Ryan. About the fire. All of it.”

“I know, sweetie.”

“Can we please just leave it in the past?” Her eyes wandered away from Seb and over to Jack, the scruffy terrier that belonged to the whole town and that was just now trotting from booth to booth seeking scraps of food. Martha often tried to keep him locked up when it was her turn to take him in, but maybe she was simply too busy bustling around that she hadn’t noticed his boldness tonight.

Oh, to be a dog whose biggest problem was choosing whether to first scarf down the sausage or hamburger he was currently being offered by one of Patrick Kelley’s boys.

“Dani…”

Dani rubbed her right temple and refocused on Uncle Seb. “I’m just saying, I haven’t gone anywhere. Mom’s the one who left.”

“You know that people here don’t look at her the same way anymore. She feels judged everywhere she goes.”

“Yeah, well, for good reason.” Dani’s lips tightened. This conversation was going off the rails. “As much as I respect you and your position, Uncle Seb, that’s not what I wanted to talk with you about today.”

He pursed his lips but silently took a chip and dug it into the artichoke dip. “All right. What’s up?”

Dani’s heartbeat accelerated. Which was dumb. This was her uncle. But right now, he was the head of town, the main holder of real estate on the island. If he didn’t think this idea had potential, nobody else would listen. “So as you know, I’m taking over for Myrtle as the director of tourism.”

Uncle Seb’s mouth twitched beneath his mustache, but thankfully he didn’t say that she was stating the obvious. After all, he and the town council had appointed her. “Go on.”

“I’ve found myself thinking over the last week or two about how Jonathon Island used to be so much more than this. I know we’ve had a rough few years, but I believe we can recover.” She paused to make sure Uncle Seb was tracking. His nod was a good sign. “We just need to do something radical to make it happen.”

“I’ve long agreed with that sentiment. Do you have something particular in mind?”

She smiled. “I do.” Dani launched into an explanation of Italy, of what they had done to relaunch their economy. “And we have all of those empty houses just behind Main Street. All of those empty storefronts just waiting for new business owners—business owners who would surely be enticed by essentially free housing, as well as extremely affordable rent for the first year or two.”

“I suppose that’s where I would come in?” Uncle Seb flashed her a wry smile.

“Exactly. I know renting the storefronts for super cheap wouldn’t be ideal, but it’s better than them sitting empty, right?”

“Indeed.” Uncle Seb nodded, slow, steady—just like him. But he didn’t say anything else. Just sat there, blinking at her.

Dani’s heart pitched to and fro, her muscles tightening and coiling until she could hear the pounding of her own pulse in her ears. “So, what do you think?”

“I think it’s brilliant, Dani. Simply brilliant.”

She was just about to leap to her feet and join Lyle—who, incidentally, was doing yet another jig across the diner—when Uncle Seb spoke again and deflated all hopes.

“But…”

Her shoulders tucked down. “But what?”

“It won’t work.”

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