AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She bit her lip and released the ornament into my hand. “Well, I guess I don’t know exactly, but when I spoke to him on the phone, he said, ‘Your sister and I have some unfinished business.’”
Unfinished business? What did he mean by that? I swallowed hard. “So, he does know we own the place?” I kind of figured he might since our faces were plastered all over the inn’s website.
Charlotte nodded.
“Did he sound excited?” The prospect had me a tad giddy.
“Well ... I mean, he’s kind of in a bind. He wants his kids to start school before Christmas break, and his house got flooded. Not to mention he’s starting a new job and moving states in the middle of winter. It’s enough to make anyone cranky.”
I let the ornament slip before catching it at the last moment. It was so hard to imagine him even remotely cranky. “What you’re saying is, he isn’t happy about coming here. About seeing me,” I said, my voice strangled.
“One can’t really tell about these things.” She smiled nervously.
I leaned my head against the ladder. I knew it. He hated me. “So how is this you returning the favor of endless happiness?”
She reached up and rubbed my arm. “Iz, he could have chosen to stay somewhere else.”
“Where? I’m sure every other place around here is booked this time of year.”
“That’s not true. I checked this morning and found a few Airbnbs up for grabs.”
“They probably all have bad reviews.”
“Nope.” She gave my arm a little squeeze.
“Then why did you say he could stay here?” I whined.
“Like I said, I’m returning the favor. Remember how disgruntled Drake was when he came here and found out about Jameson? But it all worked out.”
“That’s all great for you, but I don’t have a cute kid to offer up.”
“No, but you have some sexy legs,” she sang.
“I haven’t shaved in like a week.” Who had time?
“You might think about getting that razor out.” She squinted. “He’s coming today.”
I dropped the ornament and it came crashing down on the ballroom’s hardwood floor, shattering into a hundred tiny pieces while make an earsplitting sound that had Charlotte covering her ears. I muttered and climbed down the ladder, feeling numb and overwhelmed.
Several of our guests ran in to see what the commotion was all about.
“Sorry for the noise,” I apologized, while internally hyperventilating. I had thoughts of fleeing back home to Florida or to a real tundra in the Arctic.
Irma, our head housekeeper, came rushing in. She was the feistiest lady I had ever met. It’s probably why we got along so well. She was pushing seventy but could run circles around anyone. She also claimed to drink a shot of whiskey every morning. I had never smelled anything on her breath or seen her intoxicated, so maybe she was just pulling our legs. But it wouldn’t surprise me if that was her breakfast beverage of choice.
“What do we have here?” Irma shook her weathered face framed by short, spiky gray hair. She looked like she was the leader of a granny biker gang. She had crosses and dragon tats on her biceps, hidden under her long-sleeved shirt. They were wrinkled and faded, but still kicked butt if you asked me.
Maybe I should get a dragon tattoo. My mother would kill me, but I would get it in a place no one would ever see unless ... well ... at the rate I was going, no one would be catching a glimpse of it. Perhaps, for my birthday coming up in a couple of weeks, I would throw caution to the wind and get inked. The big four-one. Ugh. I didn’t have time to mourn my youth. I had a sort of crisis on my hands. I was probably for sure going to lose my ish at this rate.
“I had a little mishap,” my voice shook.
Irma looked down her nose at me, I’m sure noting how unhinged I appeared. So unlike myself. I was usually calm, cool, and collected.
Irma tried to make me feel better. “Nothing a broom and dustpan can’t fix.”
If only that were true.
“I can clean it up.” I headed toward the galley, but Charlotte grabbed my hand.
