She glanced over at Heather and frowned. Her cousin looked like someone had broken the magical spell and it had disintegrated into sharp tiny bits of crystal. Olivia elbowed her.“Doesn’t Jesse look great?”
Heather nodded with one slight dip of her chin toward Jesse, her face a stony look of social politeness.“Austin, nice to meet you.”
At least she acknowledged Jesse’s friend.
“I heard your mother was in charge of organizing the grand opening. This looks great. She did a good job.”Jesse’s prior warm, welcoming tone of voice now matched Heather’s perfunctory expression.
“Uh, thanks. I’ll tell her you said so.”The words sounded awkward, standing like a barrier between all of them as Heather stood like a statue beside her.
“Mom said she went on a dinner cruise on your boat and it was wonderful.”Olivia ushered the conversation along as she tried to figure out what was going on between Jesse and Heather. They used to be great friends, but now the air had turned frigid around them.
“I do like owning The Destiny. Really enjoying it. Kind of a dream of mine to be able to purchase her.”
“She said you have the boat all updated, and it looks fabulous.”Olivia continued talking while giving a quick eye to Heather to question what the heck was going on.
Heather ignored her.
Austin stood awkwardly at Jesse’s side, glancing between Jesse and Heather. So he’d noticed the friction, too.
“I should go find Mom and see if she needs help,”Heather said, still deliberately ignoring Olivia’s questioning look.“Austin, great meeting you. Hope you have a nice visit.”She spun around and hurried off without saying another word to any of them.
“So…what was that?”Olivia turned to Jesse with her hands on her hips.
“What was what?”His tone held way too much false innocence.
“You and Heather. The icy stares. The forced niceties. What gives?”
“I guess you’d have to ask Heather that question.”He sighed.“Anyway, hope you have a nice evening. Austin, let me introduce you to some more of the townspeople here.”
The two men walked away, both looking striking in their historical attire. With his quick smile and twinkling eyes, Austin seemed like the kind of guy that everyone automatically liked. Not that it mattered. She hadn’t dated in forever and had no time to think about something like that now. She took one last look over at the two men, turned, and grabbed a couple of glasses of champagne from a passing server. Something was going on between Heather and Jesse, and she planned to find out what it was. She hurried off after her cousin.
Donna hadn’t missedthe appreciative look in Barry’s eyes when she’d walked up to him this evening.
“You look stunning, Donna.”
Shedidfeel sensational. The long silvery gown sparkled under the lights of the chandeliers. The elbow-length gloves felt peculiar on her arms but fit in well with the theme of the evening and lent an air of elegance.
Barry looked dashing in a suit that was cut in a throwback 1920’s style.“You look pretty dapper yourself, sir.”
He handed her a glass of champagne.“You have to come see what your sister has done to the grand ballroom.”
She took his arm, and they walked over to the large doors lining the entrance to the ballroom. She stopped in awe just inside the room.“Oh, look. It’s justenchanting. Evelyn did such a great job.”She looked up at the massive chandeliers casting flickering light down on the crowd below. The low strains of music came from a small group at the far end of the room.
“I couldn’t have done all this without her.”Barry took her elbow as they walked deeper into the crowd. They stopped and chatted with people Barry knew, and she introduced him to more of the people from town who’d come to gawk at the hotel that had stood in ruin for so many years. The hotel now threw open her arms invitingly, welcoming all to see her in her new, restored glory.
Delbert Hamilton, the owner of the hotel, walked up to them.“Barry, Donna, good to see you. A fine turnout, don’t you think?”
“I think Evelyn did a great job with the invites.”Barry nodded as he looked around the room.
“Not to mention the open invitation she put up on the town’s website. I’m fairly certain every single person in town is here.”She laughed as she glanced around the crowd and waved to Stan Winkleman, a man she’d dated a long time ago. He was here with the town’s librarian, who was actually quite a good fit for him.
“I couldn’t have asked for a grander opening.”Delbert’s face held a wide grin. That is until he glanced over toward the open doors to the ballroom and his smile faded.
“Anything wrong?”she asked.
“What? No.”But his forehead creased in a slight frown before a carefully crafted smile settled on his features.
She glanced over at the door and saw what had caught his attention. Camille Montgomery. Making a grand entrance into the ballroom as she swept through the crowd, heading straight toward them.
