Page 70 of Meet Me at the Grand

No doubt about it. He was the most handsome man Dani had ever known. And after the way he’d listened, held her, told her she wasn’t alone last night…well, he was the kindest too.

They’d spent the entire morning biking around as she showed off the best parts of Jonathon Island—Lovers’ Leap, Archway Boulder, Bones Cave—and he’d let her put on her tour guide hat without too much teasing.

He’d told her all about his dad and how he thought maybe he had a crush on the company secretary. They’d brainstormed silly ways to get them together if bingo hadn’t done the trick, and they laughed in the process.

That was the other thing—the laughter. He made her laugh more than anyone else.

If only he didn’t live on what might as well be the other side of the world. But she knew why he had to go back. The fact that family meant so much to him was another reason she loved him.

Well. Notlovedloved. She wouldn’t be so foolish as to have fallen in love with someone who was leaving. Dani shivered at the thought.

Liam bumped her elbow with his. “It’s getting a bit colder now that the sun’s going down. Should we get back?”

Dani shook away her dreary thoughts and focused on the magnificent view in front of her. “Come on, city boy. You can last a little longer.” Her knees hit against the cold wall as she leaned forward for support. “We can’t miss the best part of the show.”

“And what’s that?” Liam’s voice had grown quiet, almost husky.

She glanced up at him, smiled. She would miss him when he left. They only needed to finish their presentation, pitch it to the council on Thursday, and then he’d be gone. But for right now, she was going to enjoy every moment she got with Liam Stone. “That moment just before the sun disappears is always the most beautiful.”

He blinked at her, opened his mouth as if to respond. But instead of saying something, he turned and slipped his arm around her shoulders, and together, in the silence, they watched the last blip of light as it dropped from the sky. Just before it was gone, it seemed to radiate out, to reach beyond its bounds, like a blinding flash of shimmering diamonds.

And then…darkness.

But oh, how gorgeous it had been before the flame had gone out.

“You were right.” Liam smiled, gave her shoulders a squeeze, and stepped away, leaving warmth in his wake. “That was beautiful. Thanks for sharing it with me.”

“Thanks for being here.”

An owl hooted somewhere in the distance. The moon took over the sky, illuminating the dark even after the sun had retreated. It cast a different light over the island, and it was beautiful in its own way.

“Where to next?”

She shrugged. “That’s the end of the tour.”

“Well, it was a fabulous tour.” He cocked his head. “But there’s one more place I’d like to visit, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind. Lead the way.” Because even though he’d only been here for just under two weeks, Liam had become one of them. He knew his way around. The townspeople accepted and loved him. She couldn’t count the number of people who had approached her after church and said they were “rooting for them.”

Wouldn’t they all be surprised when he left and never returned…

Don’t think about that now.

Dani and Liam walked a little way through the trees until they reached the path where their bikes were parked. They climbed on, and Dani followed Liam the short distance to downtown. She almost wasn’t even surprised when he turned up the large drive toward the Grand. For how often the place had been a topic of conversation lately, they hadn’t spent much time here after that initial meeting.

But Liam didn’t head for the half-burned hotel building. Instead, he bypassed it and continued on the grounds until they reached the small gazebo, which stood in a little clearing of trees whose branches were sprouting back to life.

She stopped the bike, grounding herself. “What are we doing here?”

Liam climbed from his bike and reached for her hand. “I thought we might be hungry at the end of our tour.”

Hungry? She didn’t know what the man was talking about—the nearest restaurant was several blocks away on Main—but she didn’t have to know. She just had to trust him. And she did.

So she followed him toward the gazebo, which, despite the years, still stood in the exact same spot. Sure, it could use a fresh coat of white paint, but the eight pillars set in a circle, the intricate woodwork along the top, the sweetly pointed roof—all of it had remained strong.

And when she stepped up the three stairs and entered the place that had been her haven on more than one occasion, she gasped at the black-and-white, wool blanket on the ground, the electric space heater tucked neatly away, the picnic basket, the LED lanterns illuminating the place with magic. “What’s all this? How…”

“Maybe some island fairies left this here for us.” He leaned over and flipped on the space heater, which, in moments, took the chill out of the air surrounding them.

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