Frankie: I think someone has a crush on the hot asshole.
Mattie: He wasn’t an asshole the other day! And no comment…
Frankie: You should go for it! You need to get over you-know-who. And what better place to have a fling than in a romantic remote mountain town?
I rolled my eyes.
Mattie: I’m here for work, remember?
“How’s it going in here?”
Bev’s voice caused me to jump and drop my phone on the green carpeted floor.
“Oh, hi, Bev. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Are you cleaning the rooms again?”
I nodded solemnly.
“Damn that Howie. I swear things used to be better when his father was running the company.”
Shrugging, I gathered up the sheets into a bundle. “Maybe it’s time we look at other options,” I said carefully.
The last time I had brought this up, Bev had snapped at me. She said I wouldn’t understand small-town loyalty, and you didn’t just go and replace someone you had been working with for years.
She sighed and extended her arms for me to hand her the sheets.
“I hate to admit it, but maybe you’re right. It feels like it’s too often now that I’m cleaning my own damn rooms.”
I tried not to look too excited at her change of attitude. “That’s great to hear. I have the name and number of a company the next town over. They said they're taking new clients.”
She snickered. “You sure waste no time, don’t you?”
“I-I just wanted to be prepared. You know. In case you changed your mind.”
“Of course you did.” She eyed me up and down. “You know Mattie, you’ve been a big help since you got here. Especially with that computer work you’ve done. Assigning rooms and taking new reservations is pretty much all automated now.”
My chest flooded with warmth at her praise. “It’s what I’m here for.”
“I just wanted to make sure you knew that I think you’re doing a great job.”
“Thanks, Bev, I appreciate that.”
“And since you’ve been doing such a great job with automating tasks, I figured it would be okay if you wanted to dedicate more time to the lounge.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Really? That would be amazing, Bev. I have so many ideas. And I already talked to Erin, and she’s excited to help in the kitchen. I figured we can start with just opening on weekend afternoons to make sur—”
“Whoa there.” Bev laughed. “Let’s walk and talk.”
We finished grabbing all the sheets on the first floor as I chattered away about my ideas. A fresh coat of paint and some wall decor would be first on the list. I had noticed some vintage ski posters in the basement that were dying to be framed and given a new life.
At the end of the hallway, I could see that Johnny and Erin had arrived and were waiting by the front desk. They turned around when they heard our footsteps.
“Hey, Mattie,” Erin called.
“Hey,” I called back.
She rushed over to me. “You’ve got to come with us.”
