Sanctuary Island by Lily Everett Page B

empty plate to the sink, she couldn’t help saying, “What on earth is your problem? This is Jo’s house, not yours.”
    It was Ella’s great-aunt Dottie’s house. It had been in her family for generations.
    The memory of that letter from the county floated in front of her eyes as she ran the faucet to wash the crumbs off her plate.
    “My problem,” Grady growled, “is that you keep bringing up this damn B and B idea, and eventually Jo might decide it’s a good way to keep you and your sister on the island, helping her out with it.”
    Ella froze. She hadn’t considered how Merry might react if she knew Jo was in trouble.
    But Grady wasn’t done. “Your mother would die if she actually had to spend all her time cooped up in this house playing hostess to a bunch of vacationing mainlanders, no matter how much money she might make. What is it with you and money, anyway?”
    The scorn in his tone raised the small hairs at the back of Ella’s neck, and she whirled to face him.
    “First off, I don’t have a thing about money.” She hated the way that sounded, as if she were shallow and mercenary, or judgmental of people who didn’t wear the right clothing brands or something. That wasn’t it at all. “But I don’t think it’s somehow wrong to expect stability and security in return for hard work. What have you got against the hospitality industry, anyway?”
    Shaking his head, Grady stretched his long, denim-clad legs out under the table and regarded her contemplatively. “Hospitality isn’t an industry. Around here, it’s a way of life … a dying one, maybe. But it’s how we still look at the world, down in backwater places and small towns like Sanctuary. And the last thing hospitality ought to be about is making money.”
    “I still don’t get why it’s such a big deal to you,” Ella protested. “Surely the island attracts plenty of tourists. You said yourself, your family used to come for the summers!”
    He tipped his head back and blew a sigh up at the ceiling. “It’s hard to explain in words.” Tilting his chin in her direction, he smiled. “But I could show you.”
    Ella narrowed her eyes. “I was kidding before, but maybe I was right—you are here to babysit me. Did my mother put you up to this?”
    She expected him to hedge, but instead he said, “I’ve ridden over every inch of this island, and I love it. So, yes, your mom asked me to play tour guide because she wants you to get to know Sanctuary. And she’s smart enough to accept that you’re not ready to see it with her.”
    Deep down, Ella wasn’t at all sure touring the island with Grady instead would pose less of a hazard to her heart, but she had made that promise to learn about her family’s legacy on the island.
    And unlike some people, Ella took her promises seriously. Plus, this would give her time to figure out what to do about the letter.
    Not that she owed Jo anything, but now that she’d spent time here, she found she hated the idea of the house leaving the family. After years of convincing herself she didn’t need anything from her absent mother, the magnetic pull she felt toward her family history surprised her. This house was a part of it, and so was Sanctuary.
    “Fine,” she decided. “Show me what’s so special about this island of yours.”
    Surprise and delight fired Grady’s gaze with a brilliant light, and as the smile stretched across his face and crinkled at the corners of his eyes, Ella couldn’t help thinking that no matter how picturesque Sanctuary might be, it would be hard to find a more appealing view than the one right here in her mother’s kitchen.

 
    CHAPTER 11
    Jo fiddled with the truck’s climate controls, trying to find the perfect temperature to stop Merry’s teeth from chattering.
    Early April mornings were still pretty nippy, but she’d made sure they were both bundled up before they drove away from the house in the gray predawn light.
    Forty-five minutes and one