Sally looked up at the ceiling as she did mental calculations. “Let’s see now. Mike was born the year that Jesse had Brady, so that makes him… yep, he’s forty-one. That’s only seven years.”
“That seems like a big difference to me,” Jane said.
“Not really. Mom was ten years older than Dad,” Andie said.
Jane scoffed. “I’m not in the market for a boyfriend.”
Jane sounded like she was protesting a little bit too much, but Andie decided to let it go. She glanced over at Sally. Judging by the look on Sally’s face, she agreed.
Sally shoved her screwdriver into one of the slots in her toolset and then bent to pet Cooper. “I think Cooper will be a good addition here. Are you ready to discuss some of the ongoing work? Shane is going to be here in a few minutes.”
The mention of Shane’s name jolted Andie into action. She did not want to be here when Shane arrived. She felt guilty for the way she’d treated him and didn’t know what to say to him. Should she apologize? Or had so much time gone by that it was no longer an issue? Better to not run into him at all.
“Gotta run! I’m going to go visit Mom at Tall Pines.” She quickly poured the nectar in the feeder and headed to the garden.
Out in the lobby, a man was standing at the check-in desk. She hesitated. Should she check him in? She didn’t know the first thing about the process, but it seemed rude to just walk past him.
“Andie?” The man turned, and she recognized him as Chandler Vanbeck.
“Chandler? What are you doing here?”
“I’m thinking of opening an art gallery in town. I’ve never stayed at this inn before, but the location is great, so I figured I’d try it.” He looked up at the ceiling, the wallpaper, and the broken spindles on the stairs. “It’s quaint. Are you staying here too?”
“I suppose you could say that. This is my family’s inn. But I am just visiting on vacation.” Andie glanced out nervously at the driveway. Shane would be here any minute. She didn’t want to be hanging out in the lobby like a sitting duck when he arrived.
“Oh, that’s great. Nice place. I didn’t realize you were from back East.”
Jane, Sally, and Cooper came out into the lobby. Chandler’s eyes lit up when he saw the dog. “You have a resident dog? Delightful. Now I know I made the right decision.”
Andie took the opportunity to make her exit. “I guess I’ll let you get checked in. I’ll see you later.” She hurried outside, the nectar sloshing around in the feeder and spilling out some of the holes, but she didn’t care. She was in a hurry to get it set up in the garden and get the heck out of there.
Chapter 16
Shane Flannery arrived exactly when he was supposed to. Jane had heard stories about contractors habitually being late, so this set things off on the right foot. Hopefully Shane would continue to be prompt. Sally introduced them, and Shane shook her hand.
“Jane. How are you? It’s been a while.” He had an easy, friendly way about him, and Jane liked him immediately.
The gangly teenager who had dated Andie had grown into an attractive man. Years in the navy had broadened his shoulders. He stood straight, with cropped dark hair graying at the temples and kind gray eyes with crinkles at the edges. Jane wondered what Andie would think when she saw how he’d turned out.
Shane didn’t ask about Andie, but his eyes kept drifting over Jane’s shoulder, as if he were looking for someone. Maybe he was just scoping the place out to see what he was getting himself into.
“We have a lot of projects going on here,” Sally said. “As you can see, there’s a lot of cosmetic repairs, but we have some other things going on too. Let’s walk through, and I’ll go over everything with you.”
Jane let Sally take over. She knew more of the specifics of the work that needed to be done, and she and Shane spoke the same language. Shane offered some good suggestions on some of the projects, and Jane could tell that he and Sally would work well together. He knew his stuff too. Before they were even halfway through the tour, Jane had already decided that she wanted to hire him.
Cooper stuck by her side the whole time they were walking through the house. It felt good to have him there. And every time she looked down, he would glance up with that adoring look in his eye.
She was taking a risk. Having a dog at the inn might turn off some potential guests, but if Chandler Vanbeck’s reaction was any indication, it might also attract others. And besides, there was no way she was going to let Cooper go to the kennel now.
Sally ended the tour outside in the spot where they’d decided to put the temporary dance floor should someone book a wedding.
“You think we can build something that will withstand a lot of dancing and still be able to be taken apart and stored away in the outbuildings?” Sally asked Shane.
Shane dug the toe of his boot into the sand. “It’s pretty soft, but I’ve built something similar. We may need to tamp down the area, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Good, because I think having weddings is going to be a really good business venture for Tides.” Sally glanced over at Jane. “Shane’s divorced, you know.”
Shane laughed at Sally’s blunt words. “Well, that was a long time ago. I don’t think working on additions for weddings is going to bother me.”
