AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Take your time. I’m going to keep working.”
“You don’t have to. It’s getting late.”
She waved away his concern. “I don’t mind. I know how anxious you are to empty out the house and get back to California. I’ll keep working until you get back.”
He knew better than to argue with Sylvia. She could be so stubborn, especially when she thought it was something to do with his welfare. She was more like a mother to him than his own mother had ever been.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“You know where to find me if you need me.”
Using his crutches, he moved past the piles of boxes. He’d deal with getting to them to the dock for shipment to the mainland another day. Right now, his thoughts were on the contest.
There was a possibility he hadn’t allowed himself to think about before now—he might lose the contest. The thought of having to deal with Bluestar Island the rest of his life didn’t sit well with him. But he had agreed to keep the inn if Josie won the contest. At the time it had seemed like an easy way to settle things. After all, he had a lot of experience at staging houses.
However, since then he’d witnessed Josie’s sheer will to win the contest. It was determined mindsets like hers that created unexpected results. And that worried him.
She just had to win.
Josie felt as though the weight of the island was on her shoulders. She didn’t want to let down her employees who were counting on her or the townspeople who loved the inn or her dear friend Sandra, who had entrusted her with the inn. Her stomach was twisted in a knot. She hadn’t eaten all day.
With the voting now over, Josie headed for the contest rooms. She was anxious to see what the entrants had done and most especially how Lane had decorated his room.
She enjoyed the other entrants’ rooms, which ranged from beach murals to underwater themes. The rooms were spectacular and Josie knew visitors to the inn would love to stay in them. Any one of the rooms would make a good winner.
But now it was time to see what Lane had done with his room. The day before, she’d heard a lot of hammering coming from his side of the wall.
As she made her way to his room, Lane was headed down the hallway toward her. He was still using crutches. His bruises on the side of his face weren’t quite so dark and angry. Thankfully, his body was on the mend. As for his mind and his heart, it appeared from his lack of smile that nothing had changed between them.
Originally, she’d thought it was the scare of the accident that had Lane backing away from the thing growing between them. But now that a little time had passed, he still didn’t seem as though his feelings had thawed out. The knowledge that things would remain strained between them left her with a mix of sadness and anger.
He wordlessly stared at her. It appeared she would have to be the first one to speak. “I, uh…” She searched for something to say. “You’re looking good.”
For a moment, he didn’t respond. “You are too.”
So this was what things had come to, awkward conversations in a hallway. His shoulders were rigid, and the frown he’d worn when they first met returned to his face. It was as though all the time they’d spent together had suddenly disappeared, and they were back to being strangers.
As much as she wanted to linger and remind him of the fun they’d had together, she realized that even if that were possible, in the end it would be fleeting. Because in just a short amount of time, the winner would be announced.
One of them would get what they wanted, and the other wouldn’t. As much as she wished that it was otherwise, there was no way for both of them to be happy.
“I was just going to see your room.” She should turn and walk away, but her feet refused to move.
“I was about to see yours.”
“Well, uh, good luck.” It wasn’t until after she’d spoken the words that she realized she didn’t truly mean them.
He didn’t offer her the same empty words. Instead, he started past her. And that was it. There appeared to be nothing left to say to each other. It made her very sad.
She wanted to fix this, but she knew she couldn’t. Lane had made his decision to end things between them. She continued the last few steps to the room he’d decorated.
Just as she was about to enter the room, she heard Lane say, “Did you bake those cookies?”
She smiled at the astonishment in his voice. She turned to him. “Yes, I did. They’re giant chocolate chip cookies. You should have one. I was up most of last night baking them.”
He didn’t smile back. In fact, it appeared his frown had deepened. Was it possible he was, at last, worried he wouldn’t win the contest?
He disappeared inside her room. She wanted to retrace her steps just to see if he would have one of her cookies, but instead she turned back to his room.
