But for now, I would give him space.
Pointing my car toward town, I drove straight to the inn. I wanted to check on the new sign that was supposed to go up this past week before I returned to Juneau to meet with Tina.
My thoughts wanted to swirl and run through all the events of the past twenty-four hours. I, however, didn’t want to dwell on them, so I turned on the radio, found my favorite blast-it-to-the-rafters playlist, and sang along the entire way down the mountain and into Parker’s Landing.
When the inn came into view, a wide grin split my face at the sign now installed by the road. Hanging from a rough-hewn log post and beam assembly, the white sign featured a line drawing of the inn on the rocky shore with silhouettes of pine trees on either side. The words: “The Overlook at Parker’s Landing” were beside it. It was beautiful.
I pulled into the inn’s parking lot, frowning at the sight of Mina’s car. What was she doing here? Did we have work scheduled I forgot about?
Still frowning, I parked next to her and got out, going inside. Light streamed through the windows, illuminating the entryway, but Mina was nowhere to be seen.
“Mina?”
“Kitchen!” she yelled.
Turning in that direction, I wandered down the hallway and entered the enormous kitchen. We’d knocked down a wall to create the industrial space. It now featured a row of commercial ranges, oodles of stainless-steel prep space, and enough storage to make even the most famous TV chef cry with jealousy.
“Hey.” Mina looked up from one of the worktables with a smile. “Glad to have you back. And in one piece.”
“It’s good to be back in one piece.” I tipped my head toward the contraption on the counter, not wanting to go into how I was doing, because I knew her, and that would be her next question. “What are you doing? What is that?”
“This is the fancy espresso machine I convinced your brother to buy for this place.” She waved her hands at the machine and all the bits and pieces lying around it. “It got delivered today. I mean, what sort of luxury hotel doesn’t have an espresso bar?”
“You’ll have to show all the staff how to work it.”
“Of course. Can’t have it just sitting here with only one or two people able to use it. Defeats the purpose.”
I chuckled. “True.”
Mina unwrapped a wand of some sort and attached it to the machine. “So how are you doing?”
I bit back a groan. I should have filled the silence with other conversation. “I’m fine.”
She hummed. “Sure. That’s why your face is pinched and your jaw looks like a rock. Ozzie and that wildlife officer will catch the guys who ran off. You can count on that.”
“Oh.” I frowned, taking a second to register what she was talking about. “Yeah. Right. Of course.”
Mina’s brows dipped. “That’s not what’s causing the frown on your face,” she stated, drawing a quick circle in the air, pointing at my head. “What is, then? That wedding you were supposed to have today?”
“No.”
Dammit. Why did I say that? I could have agreed with her and pretended that was all that was bothering me.
She frowned harder, studying me. Suddenly, her eyebrows winged upward. “Oh my God. You fell for him.”
My gaze darted away, and I moved over to one of the stoves, looking at the dials. “Fell for whom?”
Mina rounded the table. Stopping in front of me, she grasped my forearms. “Don’t give me that. You know perfectly well who I’m talking about.” Her blue eyes pinned mine with a stare for a moment before they widened. She gasped. “You slept with him, didn’t you?”
My mouth dropped open. “How did you get all that from just looking at me?”
“So, it’s true?” Her voice rose an octave on the last word.
I groaned and shook off her hold, crossing my arms. “Yes, it’s true.”
She squealed. “Oh, this is fantastic. Maybe we’ll get you to move to Parker’s Landing after all.”
I chuckled. “You’re excited I slept with Toren because you think it’ll make me move here?”
