“I need time off,” she blurted out.
He frowned. He pulled the reading glasses off his nose and tossed them haphazardly onto the desk. How he’d be able to find them again in the pile of all that junk was anybody’s guess. “You can submit a vacation request.”
“Actually, I need time off now. Today. I finished my cataloguing for today, and I have a family emergency at home.”
His eyebrows climbed. “I didn’t know anyone in your family was sick.”
If he’d even remotely listened to her, he would have known about her mother’s health problems. But Doug had always been all about himself. Tightly, she told him, “There’s been a decline in my mom’s health, and I have to go home.”
“Home is… where?”
“Lobster Bay. It’s in Maine.”
He grunted. Why wasn’t he consoling her? She didn’t expect him to leap over the desk or anything, especially not here at work where everyone could see, but a few friendly words would have been nice.
“That’s a long way from here. What if the Richhaven estate comes up while you’re away?”
“Text me if that happens, and I’ll fly back.”
He was treating her like she was a new, flaky employee, not a woman he’d known and dated for the past few years. When they’d started their affair, she had felt as though he had seen her, valued her. Now it was clear he didn’t.
But maybe, if she left, he would. Not as a girlfriend—now that she was seeing another side of him, she realized that she’d known for quite some time their relationship was going nowhere. And oddly, it didn’t hurt as much as it should have. Maybe she’d dated him because deep down she knew he would never be able to make things more permanent.
She hadn’t been satisfied for months with their arrangement, and he didn’t care enough about her to keep her happy. Besides, didn’t she deserve somebody who gave her his full attention, who didn’t keep her as his dirty little secret?
“Okay, fair enough. If it’s an emergency, you must go, then.”
“I’ll call you later in the week and let you know how long I think this emergency will take. Text or email me if the Richhaven estate comes up. Goodbye, Doug.”
She turned and walked out of the room, feeling lighter for having turned her back on him. She needed to get away—from all of this, but especially from Doug. And maybe, with her gone, he’d realize how big of an asset she was to this company.
After all, no kid barely out of college could do her job like Andie could. It was about time somebody acknowledged that.
Chapter 8
The sun was just about to set when Jane arrived at Splash, the oceanside restaurant that she, Claire, and Maxi frequented. Splash was casual, with an outdoor eating area on the beach. Tiny white lights twinkled from the umbrellas, and frothy waves washed up on the beach in front of them. The evening sky reflected the pinks and blues of the sunset.
Maxi and Claire where already seated with drinks in front of them. Maxi’s had a tiny plastic pink mermaid perched on the rim—Claire’s, a blue seahorse. Jane ordered a salty seafarer margarita and sat in the empty chair facing the ocean.
“We put in an order of steamers.” Claire glanced over the rim of her drink. “How are things going at the inn? Any new bookings or ideas?”
“Not too bad. I’m going to hire Sean Flannery to help Sally so we can get some repairs done.” Jane’s drink came, and she took a sip, glancing out at a dog frolicking on the beach. It reminded her of Cooper, and she smiled, craning her neck toward the end of the beach where the cottages were. But of course the section where Cooper lived was way too far down.
“Looking for someone?” Maxi asked.
Jane blushed. “No, I just ran into that dog again on the beach. Cooper, the one I told you about?”
Maxi and Claire glanced at each other, and Jane caught a look between them. What was that about? Thinking about Cooper and Mike reminded her that she also thought she’d seen James. “I guess he is staying up in those cottages at the north end. Did you say you were looking into buying one of those, Maxi?”
Maxi scrunched her face. “What? Buy a cottage? No. Why would we do that?”
Jane was confused. Maxi wouldn’t lie to her, and she seemed surprised by the question. The man probably hadn’t been James at all. Plenty of men were his height with dark hair. Jane glanced down at her drink. “No reason. I thought you mentioned that a while ago, and the cottages there are adorable. Very artsy.”
“So, this guy you met at Tall Pines and his dog live there?” Claire asked.
“Just renting, I guess. He’s from Seattle and just here to get his grandfather settled at Tall Pines.” Jane looked from the beach to her friends. “I told you guys this before, didn’t I?”
“You did. Having a dog is always nice. I wish I could have a pet.” Maxi looked out at the beach wistfully.
