Moonlight Cove

“I’d love to have lunch with you,” he said, trying to inject a note of enthusiasm into his voice. “How about Friday?”

He chatted a little longer, then hung up. Merry Landry had sounded sweet. And from the information he’d managed to pull from the computer, on the surface it seemed they had at least a few interests in common. She was well-educated, had her own business and had the kind of large family he’d always envied. A family like the O’Briens.

Of course, there was only one huge drawback over which Merry obviously had no control. She wasn’t Jess.

On Friday at noon, Jess got a call from Heather, Connor’s wife. Heather owned a quilt shop on Shore Road, right next door to the art gallery Jess’s mother had opened.

“You busy?” Heather asked.

“It’s Friday, so we’re expecting a packed house for the weekend, but most of them won’t be showing up for a couple of hours. Why?”

Jess thought she heard a whispered exchange in the background, but it might have been customers talking.

Eventually Heather said, “I was hoping you could meet me for a quick bite. Connor, too. We’ve missed you.”

Something in her voice sounded off to Jess, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “Is Connor there now?”

“Nope,” Heather said hurriedly. “He just left to claim a table for us at Panini Bistro. Can you get there?”

“Do you two have news?” Jess asked, wondering if Heather was pregnant. They already had a son who’d been born before they’d married.

Heather laughed. “If you stopped asking questions and drove over here, you’d have your answers in less time.”

Jess sighed. “Fine. Give me ten minutes. Order a ham and cheese panini with lettuce and tomato for me.”

“Will do,” Heather promised.

Jess checked in with Gail, assured herself that Ronnie was at work in the kitchen again with the reservation line forwarded in there, then drove into town. It took several minutes to find a parking spot, then a few more to walk back to the restaurant. She immediately spotted her brother and his wife. Then, at another table way too nearby to be a coincidence, she saw Will and some attractive blonde woman who seemed to be regarding him with an adoring expression.

Though the chair Connor and Heather had left for Jess had a clear view of Will and his date, Jess grabbed the chair and shoved it between the happy newlyweds so her back was to Will.

“Please tell me that is not why you got me down here,” she said under her breath, shrugging a shoulder in Will’s direction.

Connor regarded her innocently. “Are you talking about Will? I think he’s on one of those Lunch by the Bay dates of his. Pretty woman, don’t you think?”

Jess’s temper flared. “I do not give two hoots if she’s more gorgeous than Marilyn Monroe. Why would you do this? Just to make me crazy?”

Heather started to laugh, then covered her mouth, but there was no hiding the merriment in her eyes. “Then seeing Will with another woman does make you crazy?” she inquired. Though she went for an innocent tone, there was too much amusement threading through her voice to pull it off. “Why is that?”

Jess wanted to kill them both. She really did, but she wasn’t going to give Will the satisfaction of witnessing her losing her cool in public. She plastered a smile on her face and caught the attention of the waitress.

“Could you make my order to go, please? I have to get back to work.”

“Jess!” Heather protested, looking dismayed. “Please stay.”

“Running isn’t the answer,” Connor scolded. “Don’t you see how silly it is for the two of you to go on wasting time by denying your feelings?”

“The only feeling I have for Will right this second is contempt, and, frankly, my feelings for you, dear brother, aren’t much better.” She frowned at Heather. “Why would you go along with this? I know it was Connor’s idea.”

Heather flushed. “I thought it was a good one,” she admitted, then added earnestly, “Connor’s right. You should at least give Will a chance.”

Jess decided she needed to point out the obvious. “Will doesn’t seem to want a chance. He’s right here with someone else. I’m not going to turn around and look now, but he seemed happy enough to be with her when I arrived. And not that long ago, he was here with Laila.”

Connor looked startled. “Laila? Will had a date with Trace’s sister?”

“He did,” Jess said. “Obviously he’s enjoying playing the field. Now will you please stay out of my business?” She grabbed her to-go order when the waitress came, then gave her brother a sour look. “Thanks for lunch, by the way. It’s been lovely.”

She stewed all the way back to the inn, stormed into the kitchen and tossed her food onto one of the stainless steel countertops. Gail took one look at her face and turned to Ronnie.

“Transfer the calls back to the front desk,” she ordered. “And stay there to take them.”

“Sure thing,” Ronnie said willingly.

Jess stared after him. “Did you hypnotize that man?”

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when a guy sees you wielding a carving knife,” Gail said with a laugh. “Haven’t had a bit of trouble with him.”

Jess shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s a strategy many employers could get away with, but I’m grateful.”

“Okay, so tell me why you’re tied up in knots and looking mad enough to chew nails,” Gail said. “And split that panini with me. It smells fabulous and I’m starved.”

“Need I point out that you’re a chef with an entire pantry and a freezer at your disposal?” Jess said even as she put half of the sandwich on a plate, added a few of the French-fried sweet potatoes and handed it over.

“I’m much too busy to cook for myself,” Gail claimed. “My boss—that’s you, by the way—insisted on very labor-intensive hors d’oeuvres to welcome the guests on Friday nights. I had Ronnie helping out, but you sent him on his way, so I’m on my own. Now tell me what happened. I’m pretty sure you intended to eat lunch at the restaurant.”

Jess told Gail what she’d found when she arrived. “I don’t know what they were thinking,” she said of her brother and Heather.

“That you need to wake up and smell the roses before it’s too late,” Gail suggested.

Jess scowled at her. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Because you’re the only one who hasn’t seemed to notice that Will is perfect for you.”

Jess still wasn’t buying it. “The most obnoxious, infuriating, patronizing man in Chesapeake Shores is perfect for me? What does that say about me?”

“At the moment, it says that you’re blind and stubborn,” Gail said cheerfully. She slid a knife in Jess’s direction. “Now chop those mushrooms or send Ronnie back in here. I have work to do.”

Jess started chopping, then glanced sideways at Gail. “I need to remember that when it comes to sympathy, you are definitely not my go-to girl.”

Gail laughed. “Not in my job description, that’s for sure. Now, chop.”

At least the effort to avoid cutting off her own fingers kept Jess from spending too much time thinking about Will and the pretty blonde who’d been hanging on his every word. She’d have plenty of time to relive that sight when she was lying all alone in her bed tonight.

4

Megan looked up from the canvas she was framing in preparation for an upcoming show at the gallery to see Mick heading her way, a scowl on his face.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked her husband when he’d settled on a nearby stool in the workroom behind the gallery.