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Adrian didn’t know many people who were able to fully concentrate on someone, to listen as though nothing else mattered. His mum, for one, and Martin’s boyfriend Matteo when he felt like it. Eric was one of those people too—and that made sense, didn’t it? Writinga song wasn’t something you did in between checking your Instagram feed, emptying the dishwasher, and responding to a couple of messages. He must have cultivated his ability to focus deeply, blocking out all distractions.
“It’s a mix of factors.” Adrian picked up another figurine, partly for something to do with his hands. “One, we had to replace most of our windows a couple of years ago to improve insulation. This is a protected building, so there were aesthetic criteria, like same style as the originals, same manner of installation. All of that made it more expensive, of course.” He lifted a shoulder. “It was my parents who were in charge, so I didn’t realise how much that ate into our reserves until now.”
“Yeah, I imagine it isn’t easy to keep an old place like this running.” Eric’s gaze swept over the fireplace and the old armchairs and sofas, the wooden tables with their carved legs. The gentle light of a grey December morning softened the angles of his face, and Adrian didn’t realise he was staring until Eric caught him.
Since looking away would have been out of character, Adrian didn’t.
After a second, Eric glanced down with a faint smile. “What’s two?”
“Two?” Adrian asked, then pulled his mind back to the discussion at hand. “Right, yeah. The second aspect is inflation. Over the past few years, all our suppliers have been gradually raising prices. Electricity has gone up by twenty-five percent in the last five years, heating has increased by about fifty percent. The salaries we pay have gone up too. Meanwhile, we haven’t raised our prices in seven years.”
“Okay, that doesn’t sound very sustainable.”
“It’s not. I will have to raise prices, there’s no way around it.” Adrian sighed, turning the angel figurine over and over in his hand. “And then there’s climate change. What we had when you arrived—snow in early December? That’s rare now. A lot of skiers and snowboarders hesitate to book until January because there’s a better chance of good snow, so our winter high season has become shorter than it used to be.”
Eric nodded, quiet for a moment. “What about summers?”
“They’ve become better, true—some people now choose to come to the Alps rather than roast on a beach in Greece or flee from forest fires in Portugal. Doesn’t make up for the shorter winters, though.”
“Well, that sucks.” It was a simple statement, but somehow, it was just what Adrian had needed to hear. He sent Eric a wry grin.
“Yeah, it does. But I do have some ideas, you know?” He paused because he hadn’t actually discussed this with anyone yet—not with his parents, who might consider it criticism of how they’d chosen to run the Gletscherhausfor two decades, and not with Martin, who loved this place almost as much as Adrian did but wasn’t interested in the business side of things.
“Ideas?” Eric sounded genuinely curious, his gaze on Adrian even as he was arranging angels and shepherds in the lovingly detailed stable that housed the nativity scene.
Oh, what the hell.
“I want to make it more of an experience. Encourage more guest stays in the shoulder and off-season. Like…” Adrian added the angel figurine to the group Eric had arranged, then laced his hands in his lap. “We’ll always have a soft spot in our hearts for hikers who arrive on foot with just a backpack, right? There’ll always be space for that here. But would it be so bad if we also had premium rooms on the top floor, carefully renovated, and with en-suite bathrooms instead of the shared ones at the end of the hallway? It’s not like that would immediately turn us into a soulless luxury hotel.”
“No, of course not.” Eric frowned. “Why would it?”
“Because that’s quite possibly what my parents will say.”
“Offering some variety doesn’t mean you’re selling out.”
“Yeah?” It came out more timid than Adrian had planned. Somehow, even though he didn’t know Eric all that well yet, it mattered that Eric hadn’t immediately dismissed the idea. Maybe because it was the first time Adrian shared it with anyone. “I thought… Could be even two floors out of the three? That would be enough to make us an option for company retreats. But keep cheaper rooms for backpackers and others who can’t afford more.”
Eric turned sideways to face Adrian, his back against a bookshelf and legs stretched out in front of him. “Only thing is that an upgrade like that might mean the kind of guests who expect more. Like a spa area, or a bigger gym.”
“Yeah, I know.” Adrian nodded. “I wouldn’t be able to do that overnight—we’ve got the space, but it would take a bank loan to make it happen. It could be a handful of rooms at first, and then step by step, you know? Maybe start with the food. Right now, Kojo and Monika are doing comfort food, right? But I know Kojo can do more than that—it’s a big part of why I hired him.”
“Kojo would love that.” A smile crinkled the corners of Eric’s eyes.Hot. “Get a chance to prove himself, develop his own style.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Then I’ll talk to him.” Adrian chose not to ask how Eric rated the chances of Kojo staying for a while. Kojo’s contract was for twelve months with the option of extending it if both parties agreed. Adrian already knew that he’d want to keep Kojo around for as long as possible—he was a great chef and a fun guy. But if Eric returned to London at the end of winter as they’d loosely discussed, it would make Kojo more likely to leave too, sooner rather than later.
Adrian would cross that bridge once he ran out of road.
“You could even consider two menus,” Eric said into the thought. “A gourmet one for the premium package, and a simpler menu for the basic rooms.” As soon as it was out, he glanced down. “I mean, just an idea. Probably not a very good one given I don’t have the first clue about how to run a hotel.”
Again with the self-deprecation.
“To keep the basic rooms affordable, you mean?” Adrian considered it. “That’s a good idea, I think. As long as it’s not significantly more work for the kitchen. There’s just the two of them, after all.”
“Maybe it will be a great success and you can hire two more.”
