Christmas in Angel Harbor - Jeannie Moon Page 0,79
hugged her dog, who had faithfully come by her mama’s feet, exactly where she was needed. Her Chloe. Her sweet Chloe, who didn’t offer any advice, leaned in quietly while Jane clutched her fur and wept.
*
Once Gary and Mariel left, Jane lost it, and Dan went to her immediately. He’d tried everything to spare her this pain, and he’d failed. He couldn’t protect her.
“God, Janie, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes, red and puffy from crying, focused on his. “I told you something was wrong. I knew it.”
“Well, so did he,” Viti snorted. He had to admire Viti’s loyalty, but her timing sucked.
“What?” Jane rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “He who? What are you talking about?”
“Viti, please…” Dan said, hoping she would let him ease Jane into what had happened. But he had no such luck.
“Your boyfriend. He knew the building was for sale. How long have you known?” she asked him. “Weeks?”
Jane’s face froze. “I’m sorry. You knew and you didn’t tell me?”
Dan didn’t even have the chance to answer. Viti kept going.
“He was at the bakery this morning with his agent. The agent guy was talking about this one’s new book, and when he was going back to Hawaii, you know, agent–author stuff. But then he started getting on Dan’s case about how he tried to buy this house so you wouldn’t go out of business. Dan knew when the bigmouth said something in front of me, it was a problem. I didn’t let him leave until he told me the whole story.”
“You tried to buy the house without telling me?” Jane was listening to Viti, but she was looking at him.
“Yes. But I was too late.”
“How long have you known?”
This was what was going to finish him off, but he couldn’t lie to her anymore. “Since the Harbor Lights festival.”
“So, two and a half weeks. Two and a half weeks, almost THREE, that I could have been working to save my store.” Rising, she shook her head. “I should have trusted my instincts. I shouldn’t have let anyone tell me it was going to be fine. It’s not fine, is it?”
Sadly, Dan knew that question wasn’t just for him. Her mother and Viti had said the same things he had. Kathleen had laughed off Jane’s worries more than once.
Tracy went to her longtime friend and wrapped Jane in a hug. “How did this happen? I just got off the phone with Elena, and she was shocked. There was no listing.”
“It wasn’t listed,” Dan said. “It was a private contract and sale. Flew right under the radar. I guess the Van Velts had a connection with Homestyle.”
“But you knew. And instead of telling me, you tried to play the hero.” Jane’s expression was flat, completely without expression.
“I wanted to help. You were going through so much with Tara’s colleges and your mom retiring, I didn’t want you to have to deal with this too. That’s all.”
“We could have done something if we’d known,” Tracy looked right at him. “Protested, brought it to the zoning board…something.”
Jane held up her hand. “It’s my fault. I had my head in the sand for weeks.”
“We can go to village hall right now,” Viti offered.
“No. I don’t think so,” Jane responded quietly.
“But Jane…” Tracy was ripping mad, but it didn’t matter. Nothing did. “You have to fight.”
“No, I don’t.” Pressing her fingers into her temples, she finally. “I can’t do this right now. I just can’t.” Her tone was sharp, wounded.
That hurt Danny was hearing in her voice? It was his fault. All his.
“It was bad enough I-I—” she stuttered. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry if you think we should storm the village hall, but you’re going to have to do it without me.”
After heading into her office, Jane emerged with her coat and bag. “I’m out. Keep the store open, close it, whatever you want. I need to get out of here.”
“I’ll take you home,” Dan said. It was the only thing he could think to do. He didn’t want her to be alone.
“No. I’m going to take a walk.” She clipped on Chloe’s leash and went to the door. “I need some time to think.”
Jane pushed her way out of the shop and turned toward the harbor. He wanted to follow her, but he knew it wouldn’t help, and it might just make it worse.
He’d made a colossal mess of the situation, and no good intentions were going to fix it. The only thing he could