The Inn on Harmony Island (Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman #1)(7)

Luckily, she was in a good mood, and a few seconds later, she followed me through the door. It didn’t take me long to get the dishes loaded and for the hum of the dishwasher to fill the air. I grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and pulled the wrapper off.

The distraction of cleaning up after breakfast gave me a break from thinking about Shelby. But now that everything was taken care of and Belle was coloring a big blob of purple on the whiteboard I’d installed to keep her from drawing on the walls—my mind returned to our conversation and the will that was going to be read in just a few short days.

That was, if she decided to come at all. I picked up my phone from off the counter and glanced down at it. No new messages. No missed calls. She hadn’t called back to cancel. I was cautiously optimistic that she might actually come.

“Give it time,” I muttered as I slipped my phone into my back pocket, bringing myself back down to reality. I knew better than to get my hopes up. Especially when it came to Shelby.

Belle glanced over at me for a moment before returning to her masterpiece.

I folded my arms and clicked my tongue a few times. Then I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. So many memories flooded my mind, and it was hard to process them all. I wanted to be stronger. I needed to be, for my daughter and for this inn. But I felt like I was failing.

I felt a small hand land on my leg, causing me to open my eyes. Belle was standing in front of me with her eyes wide. I shoved down my feelings and shot her a big smile. “What’s up, pumpkin?”

“Daddy sad?” she asked in her small toddler voice.

I knelt down in front of her and pulled her into a hug. “I’m not sad. Not when I have you.” I buried my face in her neck and blew a raspberry.

She shrieked and wiggled away before she wrapped her small arms around my neck and squeezed. I held her tight as I stood. When Tamara, my ex, left Belle on my doorstep three years ago, I thought my world had ended. I wasn’t the father type. I had issues of my own.

But I couldn’t just abandon Belle. Tamara said she was in no condition to raise a child and her future was up to me, and then she left. I went from a bachelor to a father overnight.

Thankfully, Charlotte saw my predicament and gave me a job and a place to stay. Even though her daughter had divorced my father years ago, she still saw me as her grandson. We’d been close before, but after Belle came into our lives, we were like a real grandmother and grandson.

Which was why I had no idea how I was going to make it through the ups and downs of fatherhood without her support. She’d been my rock, and with her gone, I was alone.

Realizing that I was spiraling, I pushed away my pain and pulled back, glancing down and giving Belle a big smile. “Wanna go for a ride in the car?” I asked as I hoisted her up.

She giggled and nodded, gripping onto my shirt as I bounced her a few times.

I locked up the small office off the side of the kitchen and left a note at the front desk for the guests. The only guests we currently had were an older couple who were here visiting their kids and a business man who spent most of his time in town. I let them know I was out and that they could call me if they needed anything.

Once Belle was buckled in her car seat, I climbed behind the wheel and started up the truck. I needed to go somewhere or I was going to go mad.

My gaze drifted over to Charlotte’s cottage as I drove past it. My throat tightened, and I cleared it as I focused my attention back onto the road in front of me. Belle needed me to be her rock, and that started with me getting my crap together.

Truth was, I’d known that Charlotte would pass away eventually. She’d been ninety-three and had numerous health issues. I just never thought that it would really happen. She was such a force in my life that death never seemed like an option for her.

Until it was.

I blinked a few times with the inn in my review mirror, clarity returning. Even though I’d never emotionally prepared for Charlotte’s passing, she had. Her only regret, one that she mentioned on numerous occasions, was her relationship with Shelby.

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as Belle’s preschool songs blared on the radio. She was holding her doll by one arm and staring out the window as she bobbed her head to the beat. I smiled as I brought my attention back to the road.

Once we got into downtown Harmony, I zeroed in on Godwin’s grocery store. Belle was almost out of applesauce, and there was no way I wanted to be on the receiving end of her temper tantrum if we ran out.

I pulled into the nearest parking spot and turned off the engine. Once Belle was out of her seat and into the shopping cart, we took off toward the sliding doors. Cool air conditioning washed over me as I pushed inside. It was busy for midmorning on a Friday.

Betty Godwin was running the only open register. She looked up when I came in and gave me a wide smile.

I nodded in her direction as I pushed the cart into the produce section.

“Let me know if you need anything, Miles,” she called after me.

I raised a hand to let her know I heard her, but kept my focus forward. It wasn’t until I was down the cereal aisle that Belle started to get cranky, so I used my elbows to steer the cart so I could peel her a banana.

“Ow,” a soft feminine voice followed the cart’s sudden halt.

I straightened and glanced up to see a woman, not much younger than me, standing there, rubbing her ankle. Heat pricked the back of my neck as I shot her a sheepish look. “I’m so sorry,” I said as I handed the banana to Belle. “She was desperate. I should have parked this thing instead of multitasking.”