"Wait," Linda spluttered. "Have the two of you finally gotten together?"
"What?" Michael and Maggie said in unison.
"You have, haven't you?" Linda gaped at them. "Oh my word."
She squealed and rushed forward scooping her brother and Maggie into her arms. “Finally.”
"Wait," Maggie said, pulling back. "Linda. You knew? You knew about us?"
"Oh, good grief," Linda said. "Who do you think set the two of you up to go to prom together?"
Maggie and Michael went very still.
"What does that mean?” Michael asked, his brow furrowing.
"Yes, Linda, what do you mean?" Maggie looked at her questioningly
"I mean," Linda answered, "that I paid Trevor Collins to drop you on the day of the prom, then bribed Janie Reilly to take Trevor back so they could go to the prom together.”
Maggie was staring at her, open-mouthed.
"You did that?" Maggie asked.
“And here I thought Maggie was the most creatively manipulative one here,” Michael drawled.
“I wanted the two of you to get together,” Linda finally admitted. “You were both clearly madly in love with each other, and I thought it would be awesome to have my big brother and best friend as a couple.”
Michael stared at his sister with such an intense look that she felt as if he were physically making her crumble into dust. “You set that whole prom thing up from the start?”
“I did,” Linda said proudly. “I learned how to scheme from the master,” she grinned pointedly at Maggie.
“Why do I suddenly feel like the hunter that’s become the hunted?” Maggie stated.
“You haven’t directly answered my question,” Linda pointed out. “Are the two of you finally a couple?”
“We’re in an exclusive relationship,” they said together.
“So dating!” Linda clarified.
“Yes,” Michael answered her honestly. “I hope you can give us your blessing.”
“Have you not been listening?” Linda asked her brother. “I’ve already given you my blessing. Heck, I nearly bankrupted myself trying to get the two of you together.” Her eyes went from Maggie to her big brother. "I am so happy for both of you. It seems like you’ve truly had a big day today.”
Before they could say more, there was a sharp knock that landed on the office door before any of them could say anything else.
Martin popped his head through the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but you need to urgently check the news,” Martin told her, and the desperation in his voice put her on instant alert. “This is important, and it can’t wait. It’s about the hotel.”
“What is it?” Linda asked, looking at the document in Martin’s hand.
"The Wayne Group is trying to buy up our outstanding loans," Martin told them. "They have an offer at the bank on one of the construction loans from a few years ago as well as the mortgage and another loan.”
Linda's mouth went dry. "What do think they’re going to do?" Linda asked.
"If they have all three loans in a few days, they walk into our meeting holding every piece of debt this hotel owes. They can call for a strict performance review of the loan covenants. They can issue payment demands within the schedule allowed by the original loans. They can apply pressure your uncle never would have faced from places that hold the original loans like First Coast, because First Coast has been doing business with George since the seventies and would never have pushed," Martin explained.
"Son of a," Michael started, then he stopped himself. He set the leather folder down on Linda's desk and leaned on it.
"What does this mean?" Linda asked. "Michael. What does this actually mean for the hotel?"
