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He nodded some more. “How’s Lane doing? I haven’t seen him today.”
“I don’t know.” She felt guilty for saying that. She should have stayed at the hospital in case he needed anything. “He insisted I go home last night while he was still at the medical center. When I called to check on him this morning, they’d already released him.”
“Sounds like a good sign.”
“Agreed.”
The mayor glanced to the side and noticed the contestants returning from the beach with seashells in their hands. “Looks like it’s about time to judge the competition.” He turned to her. “You’re still going to be in the decorating contest, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it all depends on Lane. If he drops out, I will too.”
“I hope you both stay in the contest. It’s nice having a local in the competition. The town is behind you.” The mayor said goodbye and moved on.
After the winner was announced, they were awarded a certificate to select one item for their room from any store on the island, including those not on the pre-approved list. Josie wished she could have won that particular award. There was a white conch shell lamp at Seaside Embellishments. Not that she needed to win if Lane was willing to admit he liked the inn and wanted to keep it.
As she waited around to visit Lane, she decided to see her room with the pale gray wood flooring
installed. As she reached the door to the room she was decorating, Lane came down the hall from the other direction. With the aid of crutches, he moved a bit awkwardly. She longed to go to him, but he wasn’t smiling. In fact, he looked miserable. Did he feel that awful? Her heart clenched. She should have stayed at the hospital with him.
She took a moment and really looked at him. He had some ugly scrapes and dark bruises on his face and arms. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and tell him how sorry she was for not stopping him from getting up on the rocks, but the cold look in his eyes stopped her. It was as though he’d put up a wall between them.
Or maybe she was just nervous about seeing him after the incident. Her stomach shivered with nerves, but she didn’t let that stop her as she made her way over to him.
She smiled at him. “How are you?”
He didn’t smile back. “I’m okay.”
He didn’t look okay. In fact, she was surprised to see him out and about. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” She glanced down at the walking boot on his left leg. “How bad is it?”
“Just a sprain.”
A sprain? Must be severe to have crutches and a walking boot. “Would you like to go somewhere and sit down so we can talk?”
He shook his head. “I don’t have time. I have a room to finish.”
“Oh.” Disappointment flooded her body.
“You sound surprised.” His gaze probed her. “Is it because I was injured or because you thought I’d call off the contest?”
“It might be a good idea.”
“I’m not going to let this”—he gestured to his leg—“stop me. And I know you had your hopes up I would like the island so much that I’d want to keep the inn, but that’s not going to happen.” His tone was very much matter-of-fact.
His pointed words poked her in all the wrong places. She willed him to tell her that he was just giving her a hard time and that, of course, he was keeping the inn, but his expression remained serious. There was absolutely nothing jovial about his mood.
It was the accident that had him saying these things. Of course, it was. It shook him up. Why wouldn’t it have? It had certainly shaken her up. He just needed time to calm down. That was all.
“I need to get to work.” He moved past her toward his room. He paused to glance back at her. “You should work on your room too. I don’t want to win out of default. When I win, I want it to be a fair contest.”
She stood there, not sure what to say. Maybe continuing with the contest was the best thing. After all, it would give him time to reconnect with the island—to realize the accident was just that, an accident.
He opened his door. “What is this? No. This is wrong.”
She rushed toward him, but then stopped short because they weren’t supposed to see each other’s rooms. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s the flooring. It’s not what I picked out. It’s not even close.” His gaze moved to hers. “Have you looked at your room?” When she shook her head, he said, “You might want to check your flooring.”
She rushed to her door and unlocked it. When she pushed it open, she found a deep blue carpet instead of the pale gray wood flooring. “Oh no! This is all wrong.”
