“Will suggested…”
“For a man who doesn’t mean anything to you, you sure do seem to be taking his ideas to heart,” Mick said.
“It was a good idea,” Jess said defensively. “It hardly matters whose it was. He thought I could build another house on the property sometime in the future. I’m thinking maybe in that grove of trees at the top of the hill out back.”
“Definitely something to think about,” Mick agreed. “Did Will have any other ideas I should know about?”
“None,” she said flatly. “When can you get that estimate for me so Abby and I can discuss it?”
“I’ll pull something together by this weekend. The three of us can talk about it after dinner on Sunday. How’s that?”
Jess threw her arms around him. “Thanks, Dad.”
He held her tight and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I think maybe I’ll doodle around a little and see what I can come up with for that separate house, while I’m at it.”
Jess gave him a dismayed look. “You don’t need to do that. It’ll be years before I’ll get around to needing that.”
“You never know,” he insisted. “It never hurts to think ahead.”
“Not that far ahead,” she told him.
“Sometimes the future’s closer than you think, if you keep an open mind. Won’t hurt to see what Will thinks of my sketches, either. He seems to have some excellent ideas. I’ll make sure he’s invited to dinner, too.”
Jess stood perfectly still as Mick walked off. Heaven help her, but she’d obviously just kicked her father’s matchmaking tendencies into high gear. Just as clearly, Sunday dinner was going to be a tense few hours.
8
Jess opened her email on Thursday morning and found a contact from a Lunch by the Bay client, who was interested in asking her out for Friday night. Rather than stirring even mild curiosity or anticipation, the invitation sent a chill down her spine. She stared at the words on the screen and saw them for what they were, proof positive that Will was moving on. Why else would he suddenly set her up on a date with someone else? Apparently he’d lost patience with her hesitancy and her refusal to acknowledge even an impromptu picnic as a date.
She was so annoyed by that, she barely noticed a single thing about her prospective date. Instead, she wrote a reply indicating that she was very sorry, but a date was out of the question. Nothing personal, of course.
She winced as she imagined being on the receiving end of such an email. She modified her words to express more sincere regret, though she didn’t so much as hint that he should try again.
Of course, as soon as she hit the button to send the email, she was swamped by misgivings. She should have accepted, if only to prove to Will that he meant nothing to her, that she was still open to dating other men. Which she was, she told herself adamantly. Just not one who’d been handpicked by Will and his stupid computer game.
She sighed at her logic. Even she recognized she wasn’t making a lot of sense. If Laila or even Connie, who understood having conflicted feelings for someone, knew about this, they’d be all over her for rejecting someone without a single meeting.
“Oh, well, it’s done now,” she said, shutting down the computer and heading to the kitchen to discuss menus with Gail.
To her surprise, she found flaky Ronnie in there wearing an apron and following Gail’s directions for making a mango-papaya chutney to be served with tonight’s grilled fish. He looked up guiltily when Jess walked in.
“I had the front desk calls forwarded in here,” he told her hurriedly. “And I’ve taken three reservations. I swear I’m not blowing off my job.”
“He’s not,” Gail confirmed. “And he’s been a huge help to me in here.” She gave Jess a look that pleaded with her to give Ronnie a chance. “Actually,” she added, “I’ve been trying to convince him he ought to take a few courses at one of the culinary schools in the area.”
Jess regarded Ronnie with surprise. “Seriously? Are you interested?”
He nodded, his expression sheepish. “I’ve always liked to cook, but my dad had a cow every time I mentioned it. I think I’d like to give it a try, if we can work out my hours here. What can he say if I pay for it myself, right?”
Jess was so impressed by his enthusiasm, she said, “You should definitely look into it, Ronnie.” She, of all people, knew how important it was to discover a passion for something. Maybe this would be the same kind of turning point for him that the inn had been for her. How could she not encourage that?
Impulsively, she added, “Find out what the classes cost. I’m not making any promises, but if you’re as good as Gail thinks you are, maybe I can find some way for the inn to help foot the bill for at least some of the tuition.”
Gail looked as startled as Ronnie by the offer. “Abby?” Gail protested quietly.
“Abby will understand,” Jess insisted, but added a clarification to be sure Ronnie understood the limitations. “We may not be able to cover all of the expenses, okay?”
“Anything would be a help,” Ronnie replied eagerly.
Jess tried to think of what might convince Abby to find some money in the budget. Only one thought came to mind. She held Ronnie’s gaze. “If I can pull this off, you’ll have to guarantee us that you’ll work here for a year or so as Gail’s sous-chef or whatever she needs once you’ve graduated.”
For the first time since he’d come to work at the inn, Ronnie demonstrated genuine enthusiasm. “Awesome! I know I haven’t been the best employee up until now, but I promise that’s changed. Whatever you need me to do around here, I’m on it.”
Jess smiled at his unexpected display of eagerness. “I’ll have to see how it fits into the budget,” she
