Hope Harbor

by Jill Sanders

  Lanterns were set out around the yard and pool areas. The wedding would start an hour before sunset with the party continuing through the night.

  With the new Edison string lights they had installed around the pool house and patio area, she imagined everything would look very romantic indeed.

  Now, if she could just get the rest of the inn to the quality of the yard and pool area, they could get back in high business. With the innovative marketing she had planned, and the updates Dylan was doing to the inn, she figured that by next spring, they would be hosting a lot more weddings and events.

  Having Genie shadow the wedding coordinator was a smart move. She could tell Genie was enthralled with learning the business. If all went well, Eve could give the woman a raise and a new title of event coordinator.

  After all, since Eve had been there, Genie had stepped up one hundred percent. She’d not only taken over for Patrick during the day hours but had overseen the party last night and had handled the entire mess with the rocket and Steve’s death.

  There were a handful of invaluable employees around the inn, and Eve wanted to be able to show them how much they meant to the place.

  Walking around the porch, she watched as people strolled around the grounds and remembered her childhood. Memories of her running through the yard, sitting on the deck reading a book, and sneaking down to the kitchen for a midnight snack ran through her head as she leaned against the porch. As much as she’d dreamed of a normal childhood, she couldn’t deny that growing up around the massive place had been fun. Sure, her family had been absent, but some of the best people she knew had filled the void. People that, for the most part, still worked at the inn.

  “Are you doing okay?” Dylan came up behind her. A dark streak of grease crossed his forehead. She smiled and then laughed. “What?” he asked with a frown.

  “You have…” She reached up and wiped the grease away.

  He frowned down at her hands and then pulled out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the mess from her hands. “You’ll get your white slacks and shirt dirty.” He motioned to her outfit. “Fancy,” he said, wiping her hands. The feeling of his calloused hands running slowly over hers had a different kind of shiver racing through her, warming her and melting her heart.

  “The wedding’s tonight.” She practically sighed it.

  His eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t know you were going as the bride?” he teased her.

  “I’m not.” She smiled and glanced out over the yard and the harbor. “Everything is almost ready.”

  “The place looks great out here.” He nodded, then turned towards the patio. “Too bad the inside wasn’t kept up as well.”

  “Brandon has been head gardener for over twenty years. I don’t know what I’m going to do if he ever decides to retire.” She turned back to the inn. “Ken used to be head of maintenance.” She remembered the man and cringed. “I fired him my first day back. I caught him smoking pot in the boiler room. That and… well, you’ve seen the state of things around here.” She shook her head.

  “Yeah.” He nodded. “Is this your way of saying you have an opening?”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Are you looking for full-time work?”

  He shrugged. “There’s not a lot of business on the island. A few remodels here and there. I get enough repair requests, but when Palmer started school full time this year.” He shrugged. “My dad says that I will fully rebuild my place to fight off the boredom.”

  She smiled. “I can take a look at the books and see what we can afford. My grandfather was paying Ken pennies.”

  Dylan shrugged. “If it means staving off the boredom with the perks of getting to work around you, the pay isn’t that important.”

  She leaned on the railing and looked at him. “Then you’re hired.” She smiled at him and held out her hand for his.

  Instead of shaking it, he brought it to his lips and kissed her knuckles, and she felt her heart skip. What was she going to do now? What if what was between them didn’t work out? Could she handle working around him, being around him like she had Brent? Her heart had never felt like this with her ex. With Dylan, she didn’t think she would ever recover from the heartache of not being with him. It mattered, somehow, more than she’s wanted it to. At some point, she’d dropped her guard and had fallen in love. She was screwed.

  23

  Don’t cry over spilled champagne…

  Dylan wasn’t too keen on leaving Eve after that. He’d seen the weariness in her eyes. He was excited about the possibility of working at the inn, officially. He knew they would hash out the details of hours and pay at a later time. To him, it wasn’t about the money.

  After losing Kendra the way he had—the doctors ignoring his pleas to help his wife, watching her bleed internally for hours, not knowing what was happening, and watching her slip away without any help from the staff—he’d hastily hired a lawyer. The wrongful death case had been more for his daughter’s future than his own. The medical bills for keeping Palmer in NICU had been more than he could ever make in his lifetime. His winnings had been triple that amount. Stashing half of the extra away for Palmer’s education or future had been a wise decision. After purchasing the house on the island, he’d invested the rest. Letting it sit in some choice stocks hadn’t really been his thing, so his dad had taken the reins and showed him the ropes.

  After he’d doubled his initial investment, he’d taken over and occasionally donated chunks of it to the NICU where Palmer had spent the first three months of her life, fulfilling other parents’ dreams of paying off their children’s huge medical bills.

  He and Palmer had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. The job, as he’d told Eve, was to keep himself from boredom. That and the chance to see her each day.

  He had one last item on his list of things to finish before he could start remodeling the top floor rooms.

  He’d ordered the flooring and paint Eve had picked out, which were due to be delivered sometime on Saturday. He’d suggested they install hardwood flooring instead of carpet and then place a few high-end rugs in key places.

  Actually, he’d convinced Eve to replace all the outdated carpet throughout the inn with the same flooring. All except the marble tile on the main floor, which would be cleaned.

  The four suites her family had occupied, several grouped rooms on the top floor, would only take him a few weeks to finish. Then he would go room by room, starting with the main rooms on the main level. The dining hall needed a lot of work too. The old wood paneling was so outdated and stuffy. Even the stained-glass window could stand to go. He figured on replacing it with large glass sliding doors so that the room could open to the patio for indoor-outdoor events. The view was something that shouldn’t be blocked by a stained-glass window. Besides, it made the room feel like a church instead of a dining hall.

  He planned to resurface the dark wood floors, trying to lighten the room with fresh lighter paint.

  The more he thought about the place, the more plans surfaced in his mind. There was enough work to keep him busy for a few years. Even then, he doubted he would get tired of working around the inn. Especially if Eve remained there.

  He knew he was already deep in his feelings for her. He couldn’t deny how he felt any longer. Not after finding her last night, what it had done to him to see her like that.

  She was slowly becoming as important as Kendra had been in his life. That thought had him scowling for the rest of the day. He didn’t want to feel like he was betraying the memory of his first love, the woman who had died giving him Palmer.

  But the truth was, he’d loved Kendra and now he loved Eve. Even if they were two different kinds of love, they mattered just the same. The same way that his love for Palmer differed from his love for his father.

  He didn’t know how Eve felt about him, but he knew that he needed to find out, and soon. If he was going to accept her offer of working at the inn, then he needed to make sure she was
just as committed as he was.

  Seeing everyone bustle around the inn, getting things ready for the big night, he called his dad and arranged for him to watch Palmer for a few hours that evening. After getting off the phone with his dad, he hurried to Eve’s aunt Ramona’s room to cross off the last item on his list.

  Someone had placed a small convection oven in the older woman’s room. Whoever had done it had been an idiot and used the wrong amp outlet for the thing, which meant it had never worked properly.

  “Thank you,” Ramona said once he got the thing working properly. She held out a plate of cookies for him to take one. “Since I can’t get around much anymore, I like to bake up here.”

  “It’s no problem.” He took a couple of cookies.

  The woman’s rooms were neat and tidy, unlike what he’d seen from Eve’s other family members.

  “You used to take care of the inn’s books?” he asked, before leaving.

  “Yes.” She smiled, causing the lines on her face to deepen. “Reggie and I were quite the team back in the day.” She sighed and her smile slipped slightly. “Before…”

  “Before?” he prodded.

  Her eyes turned to him and she shook her head. “Before the family started to run amuck and destroy everything.” She glanced around. “The inn used to be so marvelous. In it’s heyday.” She sighed. “Did you know we had more than one president stay here?” she said with a chuckle.

  “Really? Which ones?”

  She waved him off. “Oh, their visits were not official.” She winked and leaned forward. “It isn’t nice to profit on men’s extracurricular activities.”

  He chuckled. “Okay.”

  “Still…” Her eyes grew sad. “It will be nice to have the place restored.” She turned to him. “You and Eve are seeing to that, I can tell. The best thing my brother did in the past twenty-some years was leave this place to her. She’s the only one who can turn it around.” She shook her head. “Of course, if her family has anything to say about it… That lawsuit is ridiculous. I told the lawyers so just this morning. Reggie had made it clear to me for years that none of them would get their hands on this place.”

  “You did?” he asked, finishing off the cookie she’d given him.

  “Of course.” She smiled up at him. “Eve deserves it. She was my brother’s little shadow.” She chuckled. “I used to call her that all the time.”

  He couldn’t stop the smile at the thought of a little Eve following her grandfather around the place.

  “I won’t keep you long.” Ramona touched his arm. “You’re good for her. Not like that other one. When she brought him around…” She waved her hand and hissed. “He was no good, just like…”

  Dylan waited, then when she didn’t finish, he asked, “Steve?”

  Ramona was smart enough that she chuckled instead of answering. “I was going to say the lot of them, but yeah. Now, it’s my nap time.” She reached up and slapped him lightly on the cheek and smiled. “Good-looking man. I had a handful of you in my heyday.” She wiggled her eyes.

  “Yet you never married? I would think all you would have to do was bake them some cookies and they’d fall all over you.” He chuckled.

  Ramona laughed, a full-body laugh that had her shaking. “Here, then, take a few more for the road. You cheeky thing.” She held out the plate and he took two more cookies.

  “Thank you,” he said to her as he went to leave.

  “No, thank you. Eve deserves happiness. You and your daughter do as well. That sweet child deserves love.”

  He didn’t know if she was talking about Eve or Palmer, but after he left, he figured the statement was true no matter who she’d been talking about.

  Rushing home, he showered and changed into black slacks and a button-up shirt, since he didn’t know what the official attire was for someone who crashed a wedding. He knew he would most likely be put to work helping, so he kept it simple.

  When he pulled into the parking lot again, the entire building was abuzz.

  Finding Eve in the main lobby, he smiled when she noticed him. She’d changed into a soft cream dress with a see-through embroidered flower overlay and a matching pair of cream heels, which made her only a few inches shorter than he was. She’d done something different with her hair. It flowed in curls around her face with her signature off-to-the-side long bob pushed back with a flower clip.

  “Wow, you clean up nicely,” Genie said after she gave him a low whistle.

  Even Genie had changed into a pink and blue flowered skirt and blouse.

  “I figured you could use an extra hand,” he said with a shrug as he stopped by the pair.

  “We can,” Eve said with a smile. “Did you bring Palmer?”

  He chuckled. “No. Next wedding I attend I’ll bring my daughter,” he joked.

  “Oh, you’re in trouble,” Genie said, shaking her head as she walked away.

  “What was that about?” he asked after Eve blushed.

  “Nothing.” She shook her head. “We’re short a bartender.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Tell me you can mix drinks or, at the very least, pour wine?”

  He nodded. “I can and am willing. If”—he leaned closer—“you save a dance for me?”

  Her cheeks pinkened even further. “I don’t think…”

  “Don’t say it’s not allowed.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “You own the joint, remember?”

  She smiled. “Right.” She leaned up and kissed him. “The bar by the pool. Jake’s already out there. He’ll show you the ropes.”

  He kissed her again before heading outside to find Jake and help.

  The real work didn’t start until after the ceremony was over. Until then, Jake showed him the ins and outs of the full bar.

  Since he knew how to make only a few drinks, Jake had him pouring the champagne and wine and refilling everyone’s waters.

  It had been years since he’d been to a wedding. When he thought about it, the last one he’d attended had been his and Kendra’s.

  They’d had an elaborate wedding at one of the biggest venues in Seattle. More than three hundred guests had attended, mostly on Kendra’s side of the family.

  Of course, he’d lost track of all her friends shortly after her death. He had always taken it as a sign that most of them felt the same way her parents had—her death had been his fault.

  It hadn’t been important to him then since his main focus had been his daughter. Still, it had taken him a while to trust in relationships again after that.

  He watched Eve move around and talk to guests, coordinating employees and making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be.

  She looked good and in charge. Like she belonged in the high-class situation. Then an image of her in her fuzzy pajamas had him smiling.

  “Well, well.” One of the guests walked up to him more than an hour after the party had started and took a flute of champagne from the tray he was holding. “No one told me there’d be eye candy at this event as well.” The woman practically purred. The fact that she was in a skintight skin-colored dress and spiky heels was enough warning he needed to steer clear. He could tell the woman was already a little too drunk to remain upright on those tall heels, and he glanced around for help.

  “So,” she said, leaning against his arm and almost toppling him over, “why don’t you ditch the tray and we can find somewhere to be alone?”

  She reached over and grabbed his crotch, causing him to tip the tray slightly. Several of the glasses tipped over and he just managed to save them from sliding to the ground and breaking.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I’m working.”

  “Oh, here.” She jerked the tray from his hands, and several glasses fell off and crashed to the floor, causing her to giggle as she set the tray on the table. “There, now everyone can grab their own damn drinks.”

  The woman dug her nails into his arm as she tried to pull him away with her.

  Suddenly, thankfully, Eve a
ppeared.

  “Is there a problem here?” she asked calmly, her eyes on the woman’s hand gripping his arm.

  “No.” The woman chuckled. “We were just going to find us a private place…”

  Help, he mouthed to Eve.

  “Carly? Isn’t it?” she asked the woman and took her by the arm, pulling her away from him. “I understand you’re here to party, but my staff members are not on the market,” Eve said as she pulled the woman towards the bar area.

  He wanted to laugh, but then he looked down at his shirt and realized that the woman had managed to spill champagne all over it.

  “You should go change,” Jake suggested.

  “Right.” He glanced around, unsure what to do. The least he could do was find a bathroom and try to dry it as best as he could.

  He decided to use the bathroom inside instead of trying to fight the crowd to get to the outside bathrooms by the bar and pool area. He crossed the lawn and stepped inside.

  The front hall was quiet and much cooler than the warm evening outside. He had just started down the hallway when Eve followed him inside.

  “I figured you might need some help?” She motioned to his wet shirt. “I keep a spare shirt in my office.” She nodded down the hallway. “Actually, it’s Reggie’s, but it should fit you.”

  He smiled. “I really wasn’t hitting on that woman.”

  Eve chuckled. “I know. Carla, not Carly”—she shook her head—“has been a handful since arriving. I actually think she was drunk before the wedding. She’s been flirting with everyone, even the women.” Eve wiggled her eyebrows and, suddenly, his imagination took over as they stepped into her office.

  “Damn, you can’t tell a guy something like that,” he warned as she dug in the coat closet in her office and produced a button-up shirt much like the one he was currently wearing.

  “Why not?” she asked innocently.