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He leveled a glare at her. “Why did you do that?”
She pretended as though she hadn’t heard him.
“Now that we have the two of them, I just want to say how impressed I am with their room designs. They both did an outstanding job. Let’s give them a round of applause.” After the clapping quieted down, Mayor Banks unfolded the paper. Every muscle in Lane’s body tensed. This moment would decide so much. His gaze strayed to Jo. He could see the worry reflected in her eyes. She didn’t have anything to stress over. Her room was definitely the winner.
The mayor cleared his throat “I want everyone to know the difference between the votes for the two rooms came down to only a handful of votes. They were practically tied.”
“Who’s the winner?” someone in the crowd called out.
“And the winner is… Lane Johnson with his boardwalk room.” The mayor glanced over. “Congratulations, Lane. Would you like to say a few words?”
Lane shook his head.
He had won? How was that possible? Jo’s room was so beautiful and cozy. Not to mention those cookies were out of this world.
He turned and walked away. This was what he wanted and yet he felt awful. People stopped to congratulate him. He wasn’t sure what he said. His thoughts were on Jo and how devastated she must be. And then he remembered the list of jobs in his pocket. He would leave it on her desk. It didn’t feel like enough, and yet that was all he had.
She’d lost.
Josie was crushed.
She’d lost not only the contest but also the inn. She’d previously spotted Lane showing a prospective buyer around the grounds. It would sell quickly. Her beloved employees would most likely be out of a job in the near future.
She blinked repeatedly as tears stung the backs of her eyes. She moved away from the stage. As people shared their condolences with her, she forced a bit of a smile and nodded. She didn’t speak as she was afraid of letting out a sob. She felt this loss clear down to her soul.
She made her way to her office and closed the door. It was there that her forced smile morphed into a frown. Her emotions rushed forth. What had she been thinking to let herself care about Lane? He was an absolute grump. What made her think she could change him?
Knock-knock.
Before she could say anything, the door swung open. Josie turned her back and swiped at her cheeks. Hoping she did enough to hide her distress, she turned around.
Sara stood there with a worried look on her face. “Josie, I’m so sorry.” She rushed forward and gave Josie a quick hug. “I thought your room was the best.”
Josie tried to smile but failed. “Thank you.”
“Did something happen between you and Lane?”
She shook her head. She refused to acknowledge the fact that she’d once again fallen for the wrong guy. “Why would you think that?”
“Because you two have been avoiding each other the last couple of days. In fact, a little bit ago when he was here, I told him you were out back at the awards ceremony, but he said he just wanted to drop something off for you and then he left.”
He’d left her something? She glanced around, not seeing anything out of place. “What was it?”
“A white envelope.”
Josie moved around her desk and saw the envelope with her name on it. She picked it up and pulled out a piece of paper. She wondered if he’d written her some sort of apology letter or perhaps he’d changed his mind about selling the inn.
She unfolded the paper to find a list of inns and hotels with job openings. The information felt like a stab to her heart. Fresh tears stung the backs of her eyes.
She crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it into the garbage can. She didn’t need his help finding a job. She could take care of herself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Thecontestwasover.
It was time to leave Bluestar Island.
Lane was so tempted to toss the remainder of his aunt’s items into the trash. But his assistant had been kind enough to retrieve everything from the attic. The least he could do was to give it a cursory review.
