And everywhere, it seemed, people were engaged in one activity or another.
“Damn.” Ford whistled under his breath. “Mom wasn’t kidding when she said they’d made a lot of changes since I left.”
He got out of the car and looked around. While so much was different, the inn still somehow felt the same. Of course, he reminded himself as he gathered his bags out of the trunk of the car, it was still home.
Home. He stared at the building that loomed before him, where a seemingly endless stream of people came and went through the door to the back lobby. No amount of paint or landscaping or added features could change the way he felt when his feet touched ground at Sinclair’s Point. The restlessness he’d felt when his plane landed that morning began to fade, but it was still there, under the surface. He knew that the sense of peace he felt would be fleeting, and could not be trusted.
He barely made it across the parking lot when his sister flew out the back door.
“You’re late, you bugger! We’ve been waiting for hours!” Lucy threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
“My plane was late.” He dropped his bags and returned the hug for a moment, then held her at arm’s length. “But look at you. You’re all tan and your hair’s long again.” He tugged on her ponytail. “When I left, you had that short do and you were working your tail off out in L.A., and now you’re—”
“Working my tail off in St. Dennis.” She laughed.
“Business is good?”
“Business is great. If we were any busier, we’d be double-booking dates and holding weddings in the parking lot.”
“Well, you must be doing something right, because you look a million times better than you did the last time I saw you. I’m guessing marriage agrees with you.”
“Totally. Work is good, home life is fantastic. I never thought I’d come back to St. Dennis to live—and me, live on a farm? Ha! But I guess it just goes to show, never say never.”
“I’m glad you’re happy, sis.”
“Never happier.” Lucy took his arm. “Let’s go inside. Mom has been pacing like you wouldn’t believe.”
“I would believe. Mom never changes.”
“I hope not. She’s amazing, with all she does here at the inn, and still she keeps the newspaper going. Of course, that’s her baby.” Lucy chatted away as they walked to the inn. “She still does the features and most of the photographs—though sometimes someone in town will have a great shot of something or other and she’ll use it. She did hire someone to do the ads, though, and someone to handle the books. And of course, the printing and mailing …”
Ford frowned. “Mailing? Since when has she mailed out the paper? Who’s she mailing it to?”
“You have been gone awhile. Gone are the days when you could only pick up a copy at the grocery store or the gas station or Walt’s.” Lucy grinned. “The St. Dennis Gazette now has out-of-town subscribers, mostly summer people who want to keep up with what’s going on so they’ll know when to plan to come back. She mails the paper every week to places as far away as Maine, Illinois, Nebraska. In your absence, little brother, the family business has become the go-to spot on the Chesapeake. We’re big doin’s, kiddo.”
He paused and looked around. “The place looks amazing. And busy! I don’t remember ever seeing so many people here, especially this late in the summer. And I see there’s been a lot of work done on the grounds. I don’t remember a gazebo there.” He nodded toward the structure that sat between colorful flower beds and the water.
“We had a professional landscaper in last summer and he suggested the new gazebo and designed the new gardens at my request,” Lucy explained. “I had a big-ticket wedding here and the bride wanted the ceremony out on the lawn overlooking the bay. Since she was dropping a bundle, we did what we had to do to make the area as gorgeous as we could.”
“Well, you succeeded. It’s really beautiful.” He took one more look around before reaching for the door. “Who’d have ever thought the old place could look like this?”
“Dan, that’s who. That brother of ours was determined to make the inn shine, and he did.”
Ford opened the door and held it for his sister. Once inside, he gazed around the lobby, then whistled.
“Nice.”
“Pretty cool, huh?” Lucy grinned. “Not fancy, but just … upscale and cool.”
“Like me.” Dan emerged from behind the reception desk. “Hey, buddy …”
Ford dropped his bags and hugged his older brother. “I can’t believe what I’ve seen here so far. You’ve done a great job. Dad would be so proud.”
“I like to think so.” Dan gave Ford one last pat on the back before releasing him. “But the inn’s old news to us. How are you? Glad to be home?”
“I’m dazzled by the changes, but yeah, glad to be here.”
“I hope you can stay for a while.” Dan picked up his brother’s bags.
“I don’t have any plans right now. I’m just glad to be back in the States, glad to see you guys again.” Ford glanced around the lobby. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’s in her office. She’s been pacing like an expectant father since dawn. Come on.” Dan headed across the lobby, Ford and Lucy following behind.
“Mom has an office here?”
Lucy nodded. “She still has the newspaper office, but she likes to work here sometimes. Says she likes to keep an eye on things, likes to see the comings and goings.”
“There sure seems to be a lot of that going on,” Ford observed.
“Never been busier.” Dan rapped his knuckles on a half-opened door, then pushed it open. “Mom, look who’s here.”
Grace was out of her chair, arms around her son, in the blink of an eye.
“Well, then,” she said as she stepped back to hold him at arm’s length, “let me have a good look at you.”
Grace’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve lost so much weight. Your face is so thin. Are you feeling all right?” She looked around him to address Dan. “Tell the chef he’s going to be working overtime until we put a few pounds back on your brother.”
Ford laughed. “Mom, I’m fine. I might have lost a few pounds, but you know, where I’ve been, fine dining was only a dim memory. A very dim memory.”
“And where have you been?” Grace forced him to look into her eyes.
“Here and there,” he told her. “Africa. Mostly.”
“That covers a lot of ground, son,” she said softly.
Ford nodded. He knew she was fishing for details, but right now he wanted nothing more than to savor the experience of being home. He knew there’d be questions to answer, but the longer he could leave the past behind him, the better off he’d be.
“Well, we can get the whole story from Ford over dinner.” Dan stood in the doorway. “Right now let’s get you settled in, then we can get together in the dining room and have a great dinner. We managed to snag a phenomenal chef from a fine D.C. restaurant last year. He’s part of the reason we’re such a hot destination venue for parties and weddings.”
“Ahem.” Lucy coughed.
“You didn’t let me finish.” Dan smiled at his sister. “Lucy’s skills as an event planner are what really made our name, but the chef has turned out some pretty spectacular meals.”
“We gave him the menu for tonight.” Grace took Ford’s arm as they walked into the lobby. “All of your favorites.”
“That’s great, Mom. Thanks.”
“How ’bout you and I go out to your car and get the rest of your bags?” Dan offered.