me to carry some of these bags for you?”
“Would you?” she asked, not questioning why he’d appeared just when she needed him. She was too grateful to have an extra pair of hands.
“Not a problem,” Mick told her. “Where’s that Forrest kid? I thought this was his job.”
“Don’t get me started,” she muttered, then smiled at the couple who’d just finished registering. “Mr. And Mrs. Longwell, you have a room on the second floor with a view of the bay. Dad, can you help them with their luggage?”
“Of course,” Mick said, grabbing the two small suitcases and heading for the stairs.
He was back by the time she’d finished registering the next guests, two women who’d come from New Jersey. Within an hour, all of the guests had been checked in, and several were already relaxing in the lounge with the inn’s complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres. Jess had just taken her first deep breath of the afternoon when her father reappeared.
“Everyone’s settled,” he assured her. “Looks like business is good.”
“It should be like this at least through the end of October,” Jess told him. “We’re almost full for Thanksgiving, too.”
“Good for you,” he said, beaming at her. “You should be proud, Jess. This place is every bit the success you thought it could be. Your mother and I are so happy for you. You’ve done a terrific job.”
“Thanks, Dad,” she said, genuinely appreciative of his praise. “What brings you by, anyway? I’m sure you didn’t come over here to carry suitcases for me, though you were certainly a godsend this afternoon.”
“Happy to pitch in,” he said.
“Would you like a glass of wine or some of Gail’s hors d’oeuvres?”
“Not for me. I wanted to see if you’d like to join your mother and me for dinner at Brady’s tonight, if you’re not busy.”
Jess stilled. “Why?”
“Why not?” he countered. “You deserve a night out, don’t you? Unless you already have plans, of course.”
“Dad, you and Mom are practically still in the honeymoon phase. I know these dinners at Brady’s are your official date nights. Why would you suddenly want me along?”
He flushed guiltily. “We haven’t seen much of you lately, that’s all.”
“I was at the house for dinner last Sunday,” she reminded him. “And I stopped by the gallery for coffee with Mom earlier this week.”
He shrugged. “She didn’t mention that.”
Jess studied her father with a narrowed gaze. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that you saw me take off from Panini Bistro earlier, does it?”
Mick frowned. “You heard me calling you?”
“They could have heard you in Ocean City, Dad.”
“Well, why didn’t you stop? You looked upset. I just wanted to make sure everything was all right.”
“I’m sure Connor and Heather filled you in.”
“They didn’t tell me a blasted thing,” he grumbled. “I think I figured out a few things for myself. You want to tell me if I got it right? Did it have anything to do with Will being there with that woman?”
Jess tried not to let it show that his question had thrown her. “Why on earth would you think that?” she asked, hoping to keep a tremor out of her voice.
She had no idea why seeing Will with another woman had shaken her so badly. In fact, she’d told herself initially that her annoyance had been aimed solely at Connor and Heather. Only after she was well away from the restaurant had she conceded to herself that seeing Will on a date, especially one likely arranged by that online dating service of his, had infuriated her.
She forced herself to meet her father’s gaze. “You do know there’s nothing going on between Will and me, right?”
“Is that so?” he said, sounding skeptical. “I’ll admit it was guesswork on my part, but when I ran the theory past your mother, she didn’t deny it was a possibility.”
“So you and Mom have been speculating about this already?” Jess said, having no problem at all making her tone icy. Just the thought of it chilled her. It was a little late in life for the two of them to suddenly start caring about her feelings.
“I’m worried about you,” Mick said unrepentantly. “That’s what fathers do.”
“You didn’t worry all that much when I was seven, did you?” she said accusingly. “Mom had just left, and you were running all over the country on various jobs. Neither of you spent a lot of time taking my feelings into account back then.”
Mick frowned. “Different time,” he said, not even trying to defend the indefensible. “I’m right here now, and I care about what’s going on in your life.”
Jess knew the only way to get him to back off was to tell him some kind of tale that would reassure him. “Look, Connor and I had words earlier, that’s all. It was no big deal. We’ve been fighting since we were toddlers. We always get over it.”
Mick didn’t look entirely convinced. “And that’s all it was, just a spat with your brother? It had nothing to do with Will?”
“Nothing at all,” she insisted. “Everything’s fine with me. I promise I’ll even be speaking to Connor by the time Sunday dinner rolls around.”
“Okay, then,” Mick said, accepting the explanation with obvious reluctance. “And you’re not interested in dinner tonight?”
“I wish I could, but I don’t like to leave here when we’re swamped. One of the guests might need something.”
He pulled her into an embrace, then kissed the top of her head. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”
She let go of her irritation, glad to have the matter settled for now. “I will, Dad. I promise. Thanks for helping out this afternoon.”
“Anytime, kiddo.”
She watched him leave, then breathed a sigh of relief, only to jump when she heard Gail’s chuckle right beside her.
“You fibbed to your daddy,” Gail taunted.
“I did what I had to do to throw him off the scent,” Jess told her. “If he had any idea I was annoyed about Will, neither one of us would be safe from Dad’s meddling.”
“Are you scared he’d meddle, or are you terrified he might be good at it?” Gail asked. “Meaning?”
“The way I hear it, once Mick O’Brien sets his mind to something, things usually work out the way he intended.”
“My father can meddle from now till doomsday, and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference when it comes to Will and
