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Her mind raced with a way to fix this awkward situation. And then a thought came to her. There were the unfinished guest rooms. As soon as the thought came to her, she dismissed it. There wasn’t even any furniture in the rooms.
“What is it?” Lane’s voice drew her from her thoughts.
“Excuse me?”
“You thought of something. I could see it on your face. Out with it.”
She didn’t want to tell him about the rooms. It was a very bad idea. And yet, if he was the inn’s new owner, he would soon find out about the rooms, and then he would hold it against her for not telling him about them sooner. What was she supposed to do? Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
She swallowed hard. “The thing is there are some rooms not being used because they need some work.”
“They can’t be that bad. Show me them.”
She bristled at him ordering her around. “Yes, sir.”
His brows briefly arched at her surly tone of voice, but he didn’t say anything about it. When she didn’t move, he asked, “What are you waiting for?”
“I can’t leave the front desk unattended.” She glanced around, anxious for Sara to return.
Lane frowned. “Are you always so short-handed?”
“No. The flu has been going around.”
Did his frown just deepen? The man certainly wasn’t happy to be there. She couldn’t help but wonder about his relationship with Sandra. Was he a distant relative? If so, Sandra had never mentioned him.
While they waited, she might as well make some conversation. “Are you a relative of Sandra’s?”
He arched a brow as though he weren’t used to being questioned. As the silence stretched on, she didn’t think he was going to answer her. At last, he said, “Yes. I’m her nephew, um… I was her nephew.”
Nephew? She immediately grew suspicious. Sandra had never mentioned him. Nor had Josie ever seen him at the inn. Immediately she grew suspicious. She’d heard of people reading obituaries and swooping in on those without family, claiming to be a long-lost relative. Could this be his ploy?
“I can see you don’t believe me,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’d be suspicious too. It’s why I brought these. He withdrew some papers from the side pocket of his carryon and held them out to her.
She hesitantly took them. The one document listed the ownership of the inn being split between Sandra and Margaret.
“My mother was Margaret. She was Sandra’s twin sister, though they hadn’t spoken in many years.”
All the while Josie’s mind was whirling with all this information. Sandra had a sister? A twin sister? And a nephew? How had her dear friend failed to mention any of this?
She continued to thumb through the pages. There was Margaret’s death certificate as well as some other documents. It certainly looked official.
Gathering herself, she said, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t be. I never knew my aunt.” He hesitated. “You probably knew her better than I did.”
That was sad. She wondered what had happened that Sandra’s family had become divided. But now that she knew he was a relative of Sandra’s, this totally changed things.
At just that moment, Sara returned to the desk. Josie turned to her. “I’ll be back shortly.” When Sara nodded, Josie walked around the reception desk. “I can show you those rooms.”
When she automatically reached for his luggage to take it for him, his hand came down over hers. Immediately, the warmth of his touch sent a shiver up her arm. The sensation settled in her chest, and her heart pitter-pattered. At the same time heat rushed up her neck and settled in her cheeks.
His gaze met hers. “I’ve got it.”
The words clogged in the back of her throat so instead of speaking, she merely nodded. She slipped her hand out from under his. She led the way, thankful he could no longer see her face. Now she just had to calm her heart rate and hope her cheeks weren’t beet red.
In silence, they made their way through the old section of the inn before entering the newer section. And by newer, it was fifty or so years old. Nothing about the inn was “new.” It was all about varying degrees of oldness.
She noticed that Lane was quiet behind her. She wondered what he made of the inn since this appeared to be his first visit to the place—a place he now owned. The wide hallway had royal blue carpet with white wainscoting and chair rail, while the upper wall was painted a lighter shade of blue with various framed beach paintings as well as brass lanterns.
