Page 76 of Rebuilding Friendship Inn

“I don’t get along with my mother,” Robin said, her voice almost a whisper. “She’s…I don’t know what. I need to talk to Clara, but I don’t want to.”

“Clara?” Jean asked.

“My mother said she offered to invest in Friendship Inn,” Robin said. A storm started in her soul. “I don’t know why it bothers me, other than she’s never offered to invest in me. When a tsunami hit the island, we got a loan to replace Duke’s boat. If she had money to give to Clara, why couldn’t she offer it to us?”

She wept, and she hated the heat in her eyes. The weakness in her heart. She’d thought she’d worked through these feelings already.

Apparently not.

“And why Clara? How could Clara take her money and not say anything to me? To the rest of us?”

Jean said nothing. She put her arm around Robin and let her lean into her, which Robin did.

After a minute or two, she said, “Kristen invited me to lunch at her condo today. Let’s go.”

Robin sniffled and shook her head. “No, I’m not going to encroach on that. I’m okay.” She tried to step away from Jean, but the other woman held her.

“She won’t mind,” Jean said, her dark eyes burning. “Maybe she’ll have some answers for you.”

Robin searched Jean’s face. “What do you mean?”

“Clara’s her daughter,” Jean said simply. “Maybe she can help you know how to talk to Clara.”

“I don’t want to push Clara away,” Robin said. “She’s just started to participate.”

“Clara’s her own person,” Jean said. “She gets to make her own decisions.”

Robin wasn’t sure why this stung so badly. All she knew was that it did.

Maybe she should go talk to Kristen. Perhaps she could learn more about Clara, get more information about the investment, and find some peace.

ChapterTwenty-Six

Kristen had just set down a bowl of Caesar salad when the doorbell rang. “It’s open,” she called.

“Mom,” Lena said.

“I bet it’s Aunt Jean,” Kristen said to her granddaughter.

Sure enough, Jean came through the door, her slight frame doing nothing to hide the woman behind her. “And Robin.”

Kristen smiled and went to say hello to both of them. “Robin,” she said.

“I hope it’s okay I came,” she said. “I was…”

“She was at the lighthouse when I was leaving,” Jean said. She stepped into Kristen and hugged her. She didn’t say more, but Kristen heard some unspoken words.

“The lighthouse?” She raised her eyebrows at Robin.

“I just ended up there,” Robin said. “I don’t know why.”

Kristen knew why, but she didn’t say so. “Come in. I’ll grab another plate.”

“I don’t want to crash your lunch.”

“Nonsense.” Kristen would welcome Robin into her home at any time. “Clara is out at the Cliffside Inn right now, so I thought a nice lunch was in order.”

“Clara’s at Cliffside?” Robin asked, her voice sharp.

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