Page 110 of Juniper Hill (The Edens 2)

The bell at the front desk dinged and we all looked over to see a guest at the counter.

Eloise wiped at her eyes and rushed away.

Mom shook her head. “That went well.”

“You were right.” Dad sighed. “We shouldn’t have brought it up today.”

“Brought what up?” I asked.

“We had a conversation with Mateo this morning. He’s moving.”

“What?” I sat up straight. “Where? Since when?”

Mom dabbed the corner of her eye. “He’s been looking for jobs in Alaska. He came over this morning to tell us he was hired as a pilot.”

Shit. We were finally all in Quincy and now he was leaving.

“Mateo’s a pilot?” Memphis asked.

I nodded. “He got his license in college.”

“We came to tell Eloise,” Dad said. “She said she knew. He told her about it but asked her not to say anything. I got frustrated and might have said something I shouldn’t have said about her communication skills.”

“It digressed from there,” Mom muttered.

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sp; And in it all, they’d told her that they’d asked me to take over the hotel.

“Come on, Anne.” Dad stood from his seat. “Let’s go home before I get myself in more trouble.”

Mom stood and followed him away from the fireplace, but he stopped before he could go too far, turning to look at Memphis.

“We’re so glad you’re here. I don’t know if Eloise has told you that or not.”

Memphis nodded. “She has. Almost daily.”

Dad glanced over at my sister, who looked as happy and cheerful as she did any day. Like this argument had never happened. Later, when the guests were gone, she’d let down her façade. But right now, she would smile for the guests because this was her place.

“I think maybe I haven’t been in here enough,” he told Mom but his gaze was locked on Eloise.

“I think we’ve both missed a few things.” She took his hand, then pulled him toward the door.

“Damn.” I rubbed my hands over my face. “Didn’t expect that today.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you made the right decision.”

“I do too.” I watched my sister hand the guests their room keys. “Are you done for today?”

“Pretty much. I’ll see what Eloise needs. Do you still want to stay here tonight?”

“Yes.” Maybe I wouldn’t wait until Christmas to give her this ring. Maybe I’d just do it tonight. “See if Eloise will let you go home early. I’ll skip out too. We’ll go to the house and pack for tonight. I haven’t talked to Mom about babysitting yet, but I think after all this, I’ll call Talia instead.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “We can postpone it.”

“I’m sure.” I stood and retrieved our coffees. “Roxanne is handling the restaurant tonight. I’ve got the wedding and dinner tomorrow. Let me just talk to my staff. Make sure everyone’s good.”

“Okay.” She walked with me to the counter, waiting to talk to Eloise while I returned to Knuckles.