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mood.”
    “She’s having a bad day?”
    “Days,” Mariah confided, “but don’t you dare tell her I said so.”
    “Any idea why?”
    “None.”
    Jess walked back to the office that had once belonged to Trace before he’d convinced his father that Laila was the one who belonged in it. Trace had done nothing during his brief stint there to make it his own, but Lailahad painted the walls a warmer shade of cream, then added bright splashes of modern art to the walls. The paintings had horrified her father, who thought they weren’t nearly sedate enough for a community bank, but Laila had stuck to her guns. It was the most cheerful room in an otherwise dreary old building.
    Laila, however, looked anything but cheerful, at least until she looked up and saw Jess standing hesitantly in the doorway.
    “I hear the mood is dark back here,” Jess said. “Is it safe to come in?”
    Laila smiled wearily. “Come on in. I promise not to bite your head off.”
    Jess took a seat and studied her friend. “You look worn out. What’s going on?”
    “I’m trying to figure out how to keep some of our oldest customers from losing their homes to foreclosure,” Laila said. “I thought the economy was turning around, but we’ve still got people around here who are struggling. The board doesn’t want to hear their excuses. I’m arguing for compassion and a little ingenuity. I’m afraid I’m going to lose the battle.”
    “I’m sorry. Having been on the other side of a foreclosure notice, I know how awful that is. If it hadn’t been for Abby coming down here to fight for me and straighten out the inn’s finances, who knows what would have happened?”
    “But it worked out for you,” Laila said. “The bank knew you were good for the loan, just like I know these people will make good on theirs if we can just cut them a little slack. Putting families out on the street should be a last resort.” She waved off the topic. “Let’s talk aboutsomething else. Do you have time for lunch? It’s been ages since we’ve talked.”
    Jess grinned, relieved that the tension she’d been feeling had evaporated once she was actually in a room with her friend. “I was hoping you’d suggest that. Shall we have Connie meet us?”
    “Absolutely,” Laila said, placing the call and getting Connie’s immediate agreement to meet them at a new soup and salad restaurant that had opened a few weeks earlier. When she’d hung up, she said, “I would have suggested Sally’s, but Will’s bound to be there, so I figured you’d rather go someplace else.”
    “That’s why you’re my friend,” Jess said. “You know me so well. I do want to hear about your date with him, though.”
    Laila regarded her doubtfully. “Really? I thought maybe that was why you weren’t taking my calls.”
    Jess winced. She should have known Laila would recognize exactly what she’d been thinking. “It was,” she admitted, “but I was being stupid. I want to know everything.”
    “And I want to hear about Connie’s date in Annapolis the other day,” Laila said, as she grabbed her purse and they left for the restaurant. “She mentioned he was an accountant. I could have warned her about that. We’re not that interesting, but I didn’t want to scare her off.”
    Jess laughed. “I can’t speak for all accountants, but you are the least boring person I know,” she told her. “Maybe she got lucky.”
    A few minutes later, though, when they were all seated at an outdoor table facing the bay, Connie squirmed when Laila brought up her date.
    Laila regarded her knowingly. “It was a bust, right?”
    “Totally,” Connie said, though her cheeks were bright pink. She hesitated, then said, “I wound up having lunch with Thomas, instead.”
    Jess stared at her. “Thomas? My uncle?”
    Connie nodded. “It just sort of happened. We got to talking about fundraising and stuff, and ended up having lunch. No big deal.”
    But Jess could see it was a big deal.