They ate, settling into the familiar routine, just like thousands of meals they’d eaten before. It was as if nothing was wrong, and Maxi again wondered if she was just being overly sensitive. Emboldened by their closeness, or maybe by the wine, she asked, “I was wondering, were you at one of the beach cottages the other day?”
James glanced away, taking a sip of wine. “The cottages? No. Why would I be at a cottage?”
Maxi studied him for a second, her heart breaking. After thirty years, she knew all his tells. James was lying.
“Oh, no reason.” She focused on her pot roast, trying to keep tears at bay as she moved the pieces from one side of the plate to the other. Her appetite was gone. An awkward silence fell.
Why hadn’t she asked him point-blank about Sandee? What was wrong with her? Didn’t she have the guts to confront him?
But she had no evidence. Even Jane was now saying that it wasn’t James that she’d seen. And a business card was hardly proof of anything. What if she accused him and was wrong? Infidelity was a pretty serious accusation, and it would definitely put a wedge between them. No, she’d watch and wait until she could get solid evidence. Meanwhile, she’d use the time to get all her ducks in a row, make sure he didn’t control the finances so he could cut her out.
Once she had evidence and things were set so that she’d come out of this with her fair share, shewouldconfront him. She had no intention of turning into one of those wives who just ignored her husband’s infidelities.
Chapter 24
“I’m almost done with these spindles on the main stairs. What do you think?” Sally stood back, admiring her handiwork.
Jane was impressed. The turnings in the spindles matched exactly. “Nice job.”
“Shane helped.”
“Seems like he’s doing great work.” Jane turned back to the paintings she’d been studying. They were similar to the ones in the living room and just as old. They did have a lot of them, and maybe if they had to sell just one, it wouldn’t be so bad.
“Ah-yuh.” Sally lingered instead of going back to work. “Those are nice paintings. Always liked those.”
“Me too. Chandler Vanbeck said the ones in the living room are really valuable.”
Sally scowled. “You’re not thinking of selling them?”
“We might have to. Without another bathroom, the wedding will probably fall through, and we’re running low on funds.” Jane hated to admit it, but she supposed she was going to have to say it out loud at some point.
“Didn’t Andie say she had a plan?” Sally asked.
Did Sally hear everything that went on around the inn?
“Yeah, but then she took off, and I haven’t heard from her.”
Sally started picking up her tools. “Have some faith. That girl will come around. You’ll see.”
Jane turned back to the painting. She wasn’t so sure about that. If Andie followed her usual pattern, she was probably booking a flight back to New York right now.
The front door flew open, and Andie rushed in. “Big news! I’ve just been to the town hall. I talked to the building inspector, the town clerk, even the town attorney.”
“And?” Jane asked. Andie’s face was flushed with excitement, her body nervous with energy.
“It turns out that we can put two more bathrooms in, and we don’t need a special variance.” Andie fist-bumped Sally then turned to Jane, her fist out.
Jane was skeptical but bumped knuckles with her anyway. “We can? How did you wrangle that?”
“I didn’t really have to wrangle anything. Something you said about the existing bathrooms triggered a thought in my mind. Remember the three-seater outhouse that we use for storage?”
“Yeah, I remember we used to play there as kids. Yuck. But it’s all run-down and gross. It’s worse than a porta potty. That will never fly with the wedding client.”
“We’re not going to use the outhouse. The town clerk said that you needed a special variance if you wanted to add more than theexistingbathrooms. Well, come to find out those bathrooms in the outhouse count as existing.”
“They do?” Jane was having a hard time believing it could be this easy. “But they’re not hooked up to plumbing or anything.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s a loophole because the bathrooms existed originally with the house. I’ve run into similar things in my business. Not with bathrooms but with existing laws and things grandfathered in. That’s what made me think of it.” Andie pulled a piece of paper out of her bag. “I have the permit to renovate the outhouse with a functioning bathroom right here. No special variance necessary.”
