But I couldn’t forget.
I was a mother, a caregiver, and I had a business to run with a lot of people depending on me. I came last, because that was how it had to be. I didn’t have time for a fling. Because for a man like him, that was all it would be.
Dylan Maxwell was a guest.
A rich tycoon here to buy the property and nothing more.
He was sexy, handsome, and charming when he chose to be. Cold and blunt at other times.
And he would be gone in the next couple of days, returning to his life. I would remain in Pinegrove, trying to pick up the pieces, and find mine.
The strange attraction that sizzled between us would mean nothing. He wasn’t the sort of man looking for a relationship. I wasn’t the sort of woman that had flings.
No matter how attractive he was.
I pushed off the door, knowing I needed to stay busy.
At least here in the inn, that was never a problem.
I touched my lips, wishing they didn’t still feel his touch.
I ignored the voice that whispered they wanted to feel it many times over.
MY MIND WAS REELING AS I went back to my room. I paced the small space, going over what George had told me.
Alex and Noelle were his family. The inn was their home.
Alex, he had explained, had always been an old soul and had
few friends her own age. Her best friend, Tami, had been fifteen years her senior. When she died of breast cancer, Alex took in her son Seth, vowing to care for him as if he were her own. He became hers, and therefore, part of George’s family as well.
After George’s accident, and the death of her husband, Alex had cared for the children and him, plus ran the inn. She gave up the little house she and Eric lived in, and moved in to the hotel on the second floor. She renovated George’s room on the main floor to accommodate his needs. Two years later, when Seth joined them, she made another room into his.
Between the medical bills and the constant need for repairs, as well as the dwindling guest bookings, George finally admitted they could no longer ignore the facts. He needed more care, and Alex needed to find her life. He had a place in Halifax that would meet his needs, but his greatest worry was Alex and her family.
He leaned forward, his tone earnest, honesty rolling off him in waves. “I need to look after my family, Dylan.”
“Why are you telling me all this, George? How do you know I won’t use it to lowball my offer?”
“I checked you out. You’ve always been honest in your business dealings. And . . .”
“And?” I prompted.
“I spoke several times with your Mrs. Carson. She, ah, has a very high opinion of you.” He met my gaze. “I don’t think you’re going to try to screw me.” He chuckled. “Besides that, Dylan, I’m infirm, not stupid. I know what the property is worth. I know you want it. If I don’t like your offer, I’ll accept another one and you can fight with them to buy it.”
“What will Alex do? Will she move to the city?”
For the first time, he looked uncomfortable. “No. Alex went to the city once. The girl who left here and the one who came back were two completely different people. The big city and all the trappings there aren’t for her. She likes, she needs, open spaces and friendly faces around her.” He sighed. “My biggest regret is that the one thing she has always wanted, dreamed about, the one thing I struggled for so long to give her, will never happen.”
“And what is that?” I asked, every nerve in my body on edge. I needed to know. I had no idea why, but I had to know what Alex’s dream consisted of. It felt important to me.
“She wants to live on the bluff. In a house that lets her see the ocean everywhere she goes. The very tip of the property is her favorite place in the world.”
My mind flipped through the scope of the property. “You can’t sell it and leave that piece intact. There’d be no access without resurveying it. Changing the entire lay of the land, dividing it—and giving up the most valuable piece.”
“I know. She knows it too. It can’t be done and have the land hold the same value. She tells me it was simply a dream, and not one she ever expected to come true. She knows I have to sell. She’s a smart woman and she’s seen the numbers—but sometimes it doesn’t make it any easier. I feel as if I’ve failed her, failed my son, by not being able to look after her.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t agree.”