Page 28 of Winds of Change (Secrets of Mackinac Island 3)

The man was aging. There was no telling what this kind of interaction might do to him.

Elise’s shoulders felt heavy with sadness. She’d wanted to explain it all to him. She’d wanted him to say her mother’s name.

“It’s been a lovely evening,” Elise said, mostly toward Alex. “I was just leaving.”

Alex stared at her strangely as she gathered her purse. She turned back toward Dean and said, “Thank you again.”

“Yes. Of course,” Dean offered. His voice sounded far away.

Elise rushed toward the hallway. As she tore down it, she heard Alex’s words sizzling behind her.

“Don’t you realize? There’s an open investigation about the fire. There’s a possibility she did it.”

“Why would a girl like that want to burn down the Willow Grove?” Dean asked. His voice faded slightly as he spoke. “She seems perfectly lovely.”

“You should stay away from her until the investigation is complete, Dad,” Alex returned. “You remember the others who tried to take advantage of us. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Oh, Alex... you’ve had a hard time, but that doesn’t mean that you should blame just anyone...”

Elise didn’t catch the last of what her father said. She rushed out into the chilly night, whipped out the gate, and then rushed to the edge of the Pontiac Trail Head. She blinked out across the wild waters, her heart flipping.

There was so much of this that didn’t add up.

So many unanswered questions.

Elise breathed slowly, trying to steady herself as she returned to Wayne’s house. When she entered, she found Wayne standing at the counter with a beer in-hand. He beamed at her and lifted his other hand, which was swaddled in bandages.

“What did you do!” Elise cried.

Wayne laughed. “Just man stuff, Elise.”

“Oh, you mean, just being an idiot while doing hard labor stuff?” Elise teased him.

Wayne chuckled, then glanced down at his hand again. “I had this weird feeling that you weren’t coming back tonight.”

“I wasn’t supposed to,” Elise said. “Dean Swartz arranged for me to have another room in a bed and breakfast.”

Wayne tilted his head. He gave Elise a sneaky smile, then said, “You were going to keep that from me, weren’t you?”

“It’s not like it went anywhere,” Elise said. Her voice cracked a little, proof of the drama of the day.

Wayne opened the fridge, grabbed a beer, and passed it over to her. She cracked the top off and then collapsed in a heap on the couch.

“What do you mean?” Wayne asked.

“We spent all night talking about everything else, except for the stuff I wanted to talk to him about,” Elise said. “And then, right at the perfect time to ask him, Alex stormed in and demanded that I leave.”

“Shoot. That guy knows how to track you down, doesn’t he?” Wayne said, joining Elise on the couch.

When he sat, Elise was again reminded of these potential “playboy” ways, which he’d spoken of. She scooched a bit away from him. She had to guard her heart, even if she did plan to go back to California.

“I guess so. He told his father I’m under investigation for the fire, which is insane,” Elise said.

“You’ll get out of that easy,” Wayne said. “The strange thing is—didn’t you just kind of get what you came to Mackinac for?”

Elise thought for a moment. “It’s almost perfect. It just isn’t quite there yet.”

“You want him to accept you.”

---