Moonlight Cove (21 page)

“Maybe it’s time for you to think about adding to your family,” Jess said, broaching a subject that almost no one else had dared. “I know Trace would love to have a baby or two of his own. Have you considered it?”

Abby’s expression froze. “Now it’s my turn to tell you to butt out,” she retorted.

The unexpectedly sharp tone of voice told Jess that she’d stumbled into something very touchy. “Will, why don’t you wait for me outside?” she suggested, de
termined not to drop the topic now that it had been raised.

When he’d gone without comment, she turned a penetrating look on her sister. “Okay, what’s going on?”

Abby frowned. “Didn’t I just tell you to leave it alone?”

“You know I never do what I’m told. Sit down and talk to me. Is there a problem?”

Abby sat, but she avoided Jess’s gaze. “Not with me getting pregnant, if that’s what you mean. We haven’t been trying.”

Now Jess knew she was treading on tricky turf. It might be easier to back down, but she thought about what Abby would do if the situations were reversed. She’d push until the other person got a troubling subject out into the open.

“Why not?” she asked her sister.

“You know what happened when I had the twins,” Abby said. “Wes immediately wanted me to quit work and stay home.”

“And you’re scared Trace will do the same thing?”

Abby nodded, looking miserable. “No matter how many times he swears to me it will never happen, I’m scared to death he’s kidding himself. I’m afraid that once a new baby’s here, he’s going to balk at me going off to work in Baltimore every day. And then what? We start fighting all the time? Wind up divorced the way Wes and I did? I love my career. I’ve worked hard to get where I am.”

Jess gave her sister’s hand a squeeze. “Of course you have. I don’t think you’re giving Trace half enough credit, though. He actually likes being a stay-at-home dad to the girls. He can do his work at home. There’s
no reason for him to insist that you be there, too. He’s not Wes, and the situations just aren’t the same.”

Abby sniffed, found one of the ever-present tissues in her pocket and blew her nose. “That’s what he says,” she conceded.

“Oh, sweetie, I certainly have a mountain of trust issues of my own, but even I can see that Trace has never given you a single reason to doubt him.”

“I do know that,” Abby said.

“Then keep talking. Don’t let this drag on until it’s too late and all the options are gone.”

“Yeah, the ticking of my biological clock is pretty loud these days.” When she met Jess’s gaze, her expression remained troubled. “I can’t help wondering if it’s more than the whole Wes thing.”

Jess regarded her with surprise. “Such as?”

“I was just seventeen when Mom left. I took over with all of you. In some ways, I feel as if I’ve had not just the twins, but four other kids. Maybe that’s enough for me.”

Jess had never considered the toll Abby’s sense of responsibility toward all of them might have taken on her. “Then you need to talk that out with Trace, too. Here’s what I see, though. You’re a great mom despite your career. Trace is a fantastic stepfather, but the two of you should have at least one kid together.” She grinned. “But, hey, my opinion isn’t the one that counts.”

“Actually, your perspective is helping. Trace and I have been over this so many times, I feel as if we’re talking in circles.”

“Then I’ll add one more thing. Maybe once you have one baby and see how smoothly it goes, you’ll even have a couple more. That big old house he bought for
you should be filled up with kids.” She touched her sister’s cheek. “I know from experience how blessed they’d be.”

Abby gave her a watery smile. “Thanks for the pep talk. You’re pretty smart.”

“I’ll bet I’m not telling you anything your husband hasn’t already said. Listen to him, big sis. Trace loves you, and he would never, ever do anything to take your work away from you. He understands that it’s a big part of who you are. Better yet, he’s going to be right there with diaper duty and all the other demands of raising a family. You’ll have a partner.”

“I know you’re right,” Abby said. “
He’s
right. I just get these flashbacks, you know?”

“Believe me, I know,” Jess said.

Abby sighed heavily. “Okay, your work here is done,” she said, waving Jess off. “Go with Will and do whatever it is the two of you are going to do.”

“Not that we need your permission,” Jess said wryly, “but thanks.”

Jess found Will waiting patiently for her just outside the kitchen door. “How much did you overhear?” she asked.

He didn’t bother trying to deny that he’d heard most of it. “It’s a complex situation,” he said carefully. “But you gave her good advice.”

“The same thing you would have told her?”

He smiled. “Pretty much. Not that she asked me. You have good instincts when it comes to other people, Jess. You should start listening to some of your own advice, especially when it comes to choosing the people you can trust.”

She lifted her eyes to meet his. “Intellectually I know I can trust you, Will. It’s just this gut of mine. It hasn’t quite made the leap.”

“But you did make some kind of progress today with your mother, didn’t you? I saw it on both of your faces when you came inside to dinner. You looked lighter, and whenever Megan glanced your way, she looked happier than I’ve seen her in a while.”

Jess nodded. “It was kind of huge, actually. I had this big argument with myself about letting go of the anger, or holding on to it and never having the kind of mother-daughter relationship I’ve been missing all these years. I decided I’d been punishing not just her, but me, by withholding my affection and forgiveness.”

He smiled at her. “So you let it go.”

“I did. It was pretty amazing, actually. I made the decision, and it was like it all just vanished in a puff of smoke. I’m sure it’s not really going to be that easy, but it was a start, Will.”

“A great one,” he agreed. “One of these days I hope you’ll be able to do that with me, just decide I’m one of the good guys and open up your heart to me.”

“Maybe I’ll try having another one of those stern talks with myself and see what happens,” she said, not entirely in jest. “In the meantime, I like where we are.”

“Which is?” he asked.

She frowned at the question. “You don’t know?”

“I want to hear your interpretation.”

“Together. A couple. Friends finding our way toward something more,” she said. “I don’t know how else to put it.”

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. “That’ll do for a start.”

The kiss, chaste though it was, stirred something inside her. It went way beyond friendly.

As they got closer to the inn, she slanted a look toward him. “This friendship thing,” she said casually. “I’m thinking it still needs to have benefits.”

Will regarded her with amusement. “Is that so?”

“What do you think?”

“Since you’ve lured me over here and I haven’t objected, I think the benefit package is definitely open for discussion.”

“Then isn’t it a good thing that my room is even closer than the attic?” she said. “Better yet, it has a very comfortable bed.”

“All an important part of the negotiations,” Will agreed. “One question, is the bed an antique?”

“No, why?”

“Squeaky springs.”

Jess laughed. “It doesn’t matter. The last of the guests checked out hours ago. If we change our minds and decide to make love on the staircase, there’s nobody left to be shocked by our behavior.”

Will looked a little too intrigued by the idea. “The staircase, huh? And the foyer? What about the kitchen?”

“All to ourselves,” she said, laughing. She met his gaze. “What on earth do you have in mind?”

“You’ll see,” he promised, a wicked glint in his eyes.

“It’s going to be quite an afternoon, isn’t it?” she asked, her breath catching in her throat and her pulse kicking up a notch or two…or five.

“I most definitely hope so,” he agreed, grabbing her hand and leading her inside, then locking the front door behind them. “No point in taking chances on the arrival of unexpected guests.”

Jess laughed. “Who knows? It could draw in an entirely different clientele.”

“The door stays locked,” he said firmly, but that was the very last cautious thing he did.

From that point on, he showed a reckless abandon that matched anything Jess had ever aspired to, proving yet again that they were an astonishing match, even without a Lunch by the Bay computerized stamp of approval to back it up.

J
ess was in her office Monday morning, daydreaming about her incredible night with Will, when Gail came in, her expression tense. Since Gail was the kind of woman who rarely let anything rattle her, Jess immediately sat up straighter.

“Something’s wrong,” Jess said at once. “What is it?”

“Apparently our order for this week slipped through the cracks,” Gail said, her tone filled with annoyance. “What happened?”

Jess felt her stomach sink. “What are you talking about? I know I called it in. I always call it in on Friday.”

“Well, you didn’t last week,” Gail said. “When the truck didn’t turn up first thing this morning, I called the food distributor. They had no record of an order being placed on Friday. I know I filled it out for you before I went home on Thursday and left it here on your desk. You were supposed to place it first thing Friday.”

“I did,” Jess insisted, trying to sort through the papers on her desk to find it. The clutter was so disorganized
it was almost impossible to find anything. “I called it in, then put the original back in the kitchen afterward, like always. I’m sure of it.”

“It’s not there,” Gail said, not even trying to hide her increasing impatience. “Keep looking. I’m sure it’s buried there somewhere.”

Just then Jess found the order, without her usual checkmark and initials to indicate the task had been completed. She uttered a curse. “I’m so sorry, Gail. I’ll call it in right now. Maybe they can still get it here this afternoon.”

“They can and they will. I always keep my own copy, so I gave it to them when I called.” The tension in her shoulders finally eased and she sat down opposite Jess. “I’m sorry for coming in here so angry, but I was just so darn frustrated when I had to scramble to figure out what I could put on today’s lunch menu with what we had in stock.”

“You shouldn’t have to do that,” Jess told her apologetically. “This was my fault, Gail. It won’t happen again.”

“Yes, it will,” Gail said more gently. “Look, Jess, I know we decided a while back it would be best if you actually placed the orders, but maybe that’s not such a good idea. Maybe we should go back to the way it was in the beginning, with me handling it, then giving you a weekly report for the accountant.”

Jess hated retreating to the system Abby had initiated after the threatened foreclosure disaster, but how could she argue? “That would probably be best,” she conceded. “I thought I’d developed my own system for keeping track of things. I thought it was working.”

“It has been until lately,” Gail agreed. “I don’t know
if it’s this thing with Will that has you distracted or if you’re getting bored with all the details around here or what. But this isn’t the first time you’ve slipped up.”

“It’s the first time I’ve forgotten to place an order,” Jess protested.

“True,” Gail said. “But the maid had to scramble a couple of weeks back because the laundry service hadn’t been notified we needed extra linens because of a heavy guest turnover. And Ronnie had to pacify a guest who’d asked for a room on the first floor, only to find he’d been put upstairs. You’d taken the reservation, but hadn’t made a note of it. Remember those incidents?”

Years of hearing a litany of her mistakes didn’t make it one bit easier for Jess to hear these. The same acid churned in her stomach. “I’m sorry,” she apologized yet again.

“I know that,” Gail said. “And we’ve all tried to make allowances—”

Jess cut her off heatedly, “Because of the ADD. I don’t want anybody making excuses for me, Gail. I should have a handle on this. It’s not rocket science, for heaven’s sake, and I’m the one in charge.”

Gail immediately looked alarmed by her frustrated outburst. “We’re not judging you.”

“Of course not,” Jess said bitterly. “Nobody ever judges poor, messed-up Jess. They just cover for her or work around her, whatever it takes to get the job done.”

“Nobody’s judging you, Jess, or covering for you, for that matter. It’s not as if Abby’s been over here questioning us to see if you’re doing everything perfectly. She has confidence in you these days, and so do we.”

Though Gail sounded sincere, her words didn’t make Jess feel any better.

“I swear to you I’m only bringing this to your attention because you didn’t seem to be aware of it,” Gail said, clearly trying to smooth her ruffled feathers. “I thought maybe you could fix it, maybe make an adjustment of some kind before something more serious happens.”

Jess sighed. “I’m sorry. Again. I shouldn’t be taking my frustration out on you. You’re only the messenger. I will deal with this, Gail. And, yes, take over placing the orders yourself again. I have no idea why I’ve gotten so lax recently. It’s not Will. I am sure of that.”

“May I ask you something then?” Gail asked hesitantly.

“Sure.”

“Are you still happy running the inn? Do you think you’ve lost focus because there aren’t any new challenges to tackle?”

Jess regarded her with surprise. “What makes you ask that?”

“When I took the job here and you and Abby told me about the ADD, I read up about it on the internet. Sometimes when things get to be too routine, boredom sets in. Has that happened for you?”

Instead of taking offense that Gail had been studying her disorder, Jess thought about what she was suggesting. Was it true? Was she more distracted lately because she was tired of the same routine now that things were running relatively smoothly? It was certainly true that there weren’t the kind of daily challenges she’d faced when she was trying to get the place up and running. Back then, there’d been something new every day to
keep her on her toes. Of course, then her crime, according to Abby, had been making too many expensive, impulsive purchases without regard for any sort of budget.

“You could be right,” she admitted slowly. “I took on fixing up the attic for that very reason, but then Dad took over all the work, so I haven’t even had that to occupy my time.”

“Do you want to sell this place?” Gail asked. “Move on to something new?”

“Absolutely not,” Jess said, as sure of that as she was of anything. “The Inn at Eagle Point was always my dream. Will reminded me of that just recently. And I do love this place. Running it, seeing everything I envisioned fall into place… Gail, it’s the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“Then how are you going to keep it new and exciting for yourself?” Gail asked.

Jess sighed. “I honestly have no idea. I didn’t realize until just now that I was slipping back into my old ways, ignoring stuff that didn’t interest me, losing track of things.”

“I have a thought about that,” Gail said. “If I’m not overstepping.”

Jess had to swallow her pride, but she said, “Of course not. Tell me.”

“We could sit down sometime and brainstorm some ideas, if you want to,” Gail began cautiously, then warmed to the subject. “Maybe we could come up with some new promotions, a few events, like wine tastings, that kind of thing. I’ve been jotting down notes for a while now.”

Hearing the excitement in Gail’s voice, Jess caught
her enthusiasm. She nodded eagerly. “Let’s do that. How about first thing tomorrow?”

“I’ll meet you in the kitchen at six,” Gail said. “We’ll brainstorm over scones and coffee. How’s that? I think I can make those orange-cranberry scones you love almost as well as your grandmother now.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that,” Jess warned. “But that sounds perfect. And thank you for being understanding about all this.”

“I love this place as much as if it were my own,” Gail said. “It’s the perfect job in the perfect location. And I love working with you.”

“When I’m not making your work a hundred times harder,” Jess replied ruefully.

“Hey, I live for challenges, same as you,” Gail said. “Lunch, by the way, is going to be amazing. Apparently I do my best work when I have to be inventive.”

“Then I’ll call the family and get them over here,” Jess told her. “I know a jam-packed dining room, full of people singing your praises, will make up for a lot.”

Gail laughed. “Indeed, it will. I live for an appreciative audience.”

Jess managed to keep smiling until Gail had left, but then she put her head down on her desk and let the tears flow. Somehow she’d convinced herself that the inn was going to be her personal savior, that these episodes of slipups and distractions were under control. History should have taught her otherwise.

She allowed herself five full minutes of despair and self-recriminations, then sat up. Even though the promise of brainstorming new ideas tomorrow sounded great, she had a feeling it was going to take more than that to get herself back on track. Whatever she and Gail came
up with would be fun, but she needed a more absorbing challenge. Maybe what she needed was to expand her business, to find another small inn that needed to be refurbished and brought back to life.

She turned on her computer and, ignoring the piles of paperwork on her desk, started looking for real estate in nearby bayside communities, even a couple of available properties by the ocean suitable for bed and breakfast locations.

When she finally glanced at her watch and realized the entire morning had sped by and she’d never called her sisters, her sisters-in-law or her mother to join her for lunch, she railed against herself all over again. If she didn’t get on this, it was going to be one more thing for Gail to hold over her head.

“What the devil is wrong with me?” she muttered under her breath as she dialed her mother’s art gallery. Hadn’t this morning been a wake-up call, after all?

“Mom, Gail just told me our lunch menu today is going to be spectacular. I know it’s last-minute, but can you come over?”

Megan seemed taken aback by the invitation, but there was a pleased note in her voice when she responded. “Give me twenty minutes, okay?”

“Perfect. See if Heather can get away, too,” she suggested, since Heather’s quilt shop was right next door to the gallery. “Maybe she can ride over with you.”

“Will do,” Megan promised.

She called Bree and Shanna next. Shanna said she couldn’t leave the bookstore on such short notice, but Bree sounded ecstatic about having an excuse to get away from Flowers on Main.

“It’s been a zoo in here this morning,” she complained.
“Half the town’s apparently sick and the other half is sending flowers. I’ve been desperate for a reason to escape. My employee’s pretty new, but she can handle it for an hour. I’ll have to bring the baby, though.”

“No problem,” Jess assured her. Cuddling her new niece might be just what she needed.

The more the merrier, in fact. Hopefully in all the commotion, she’d be able to forget about the disastrous, frustrating way her own day had started.

Will knew there was something going on with Jess. She’d been unusually quiet all evening. The mere fact that she’d shown up at his office with dinner was proof that she wasn’t herself. After that one visit weeks ago, she hadn’t willingly come inside the place.

Once they’d finished the excellent beef stew and biscuits she’d brought and had a good start on a bottle of excellent red wine, he set his glass down on a corner of his desk, leaned forward, and looked into her eyes.

“What’s going on, Jess?”

She gave him a startled look. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He gestured around. “You came to my office.”

“I figured you’d be working late. I brought you dinner. What’s the big deal?” she asked defensively.

That defensive note in her voice only confirmed his suspicions. Of course, calling her on it might not have been his smartest move. It might fall into that category she despised, evidence he was analyzing her. Still, he hated seeing her like this. Whatever was going on, she needed to get it out.

“Something happened today, and you’re trying very hard not to talk about it,” he guessed.

“True,” she conceded, though she didn’t look especially pleased that he’d hit the mark. “And I’m still not a hundred percent sure I want to talk about it with you.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m not sure if you can separate being my boyfriend from being a shrink.”

“Are you worried about me not being able to differentiate, or are you the one with that problem?”

She looked vaguely startled by his suggestion, but then to his surprise, she nodded. “Me,” she admitted.

“Okay, let’s attack this from a different direction,” he suggested. “If I were just your boyfriend, what would you expect from me if you brought me a problem? Sympathy? Understanding? Advice?”

Her expression turned thoughtful. “Sympathy and understanding, for sure.”

“No advice?” he asked, trying not to smile.

“I think that sneaks over the line into the whole shrink thing.”

“Well, to be honest with you, I don’t give a lot of advice in my business. I just help people to work through their problems. They do all the hard work. I pretty much keep my opinions to myself.”

She regarded him with surprise. “Really?”

“Most of the time,” he confirmed. “Does that help?”

“Yes, I think it does.”

“So, what happened today?”

She launched into a description of all the mistakes she’d made, the litany filled with the kind of self-loathing that made him want to gather her in his arms, but she didn’t need consolation. She needed to find a way to restore her faith in herself.

“Why did this hit you so hard?” he asked when she’d
finally wound down. “You’ve handled much tougher slipups. Look at the whole foreclosure episode when you had to get Abby to bail you out. This was nothing by comparison.”

“I guess I’d gotten used to thinking that my system for managing things was perfect,” she admitted. “When Gail came to me about the order, then reminded me of all the other things I’d let fall through the cracks recently, it shook me up.”

She met his gaze. “More than that, it made me start to think that I need a new challenge, that I’m never going to be satisfied just to have the inn open and running smoothly. I’m always going to need something else to tackle.”

Will had some idea where she was headed with this. “By extension, are you thinking that applies to your relationships, as well? Do you think I won’t be enough for you once we get into some kind of a routine?”