The Christmas Inn (18 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

M
ARNIE
COULDN
’
T
GET
her legs to move fast enough as she rushed toward
the library. She had to see what these men looked like. During the years she’d
spent running the salon, she’d come to accept that you could learn so much
simply by observing a person without them knowing—how they sat in a chair, how
they stood, their expression, whether they made nervous hand movements, how
easily they smiled.

She rounded the corner, her mind intent on her mission, and
stopped short. The library with its fireplace bracketed by poinsettias and with
the sun streaming through its tall windows, looked like something out of a fairy
tale.

Except for the three men standing near the windows with their
Brothers Grimm expressions.

Wouldn’t you just know? Not a smile or a soft angle among them,
and it appeared as if they were all wearing the same tie. She squinted into the
sunlight to get a better look. They
were
all wearing
the same tie. Talk about slavish obedience to the man—the man being Angus
McAndrew. The triplets of Wall Street—Boston-style.

How she wanted to go in there and say something, do something,
anything, to relieve her worry over what they were about to do to Luke.
Indignation burned in her chest, and her jaw tightened at the prospect. Was
there anything she could do? Anything she could say?

She peeked in at them again, and saw that each man held a
BlackBerry in his perfectly manicured hands....
Nice
manicures,
she admitted grudgingly. She was staring at the three of
them when, from down the hall, she heard Luke’s deep baritone voice.

She stood perfectly still…there was something she could do.
Something that might help Luke.

She retreated into the alcove by the stairs and waited for Luke
to go by, and was about to head up to her room when he moved back down the hall
to his office with the suited threesome in tow. The four men walked in silence
toward Luke’s office, Luke walking in front with the alpha dog, Angus McAndrew,
while the Ken dolls brought up the rear, leaving behind a cloud of expensive
colognes.

She waited for them to enter the office before scooting down
the hall behind them. When she reached the office door, she hesitated, torn
between wanting to listen at the door and wanting to get upstairs so she could
put her plan into action.

She was about to move on when she realized the door was
slightly ajar, and she could hear the men’s voices quite clearly. She glanced up
and down the hall, only to see Mary coming her way.

Darn! She didn’t want to be seen as a nosy
eavesdropper, but she couldn’t resist the opportunity, either.

“Hi, Marnie—”

Marnie held her fingers to her lips as she moved a few feet
from the door. “Luke’s in there.”

“With the three men?”

She should have known that the inn grapevine would be working
double time on this one. “Yes, and I’m worried,” she whispered.

“I am, too,” Mary whispered back.

“What should we do?” Marnie asked.

“I’ll keep people away from here, and you see what you can
hear,” Mary murmured so quietly Marnie wasn’t sure if she’d heard her right.

A woman after my own heart.

“Thanks,” she mouthed, and moved closer to the door, while Mary
took up her post farther down the corridor.

* * *

L
UKE
LED
THE
MEN
INTO
his office, and realized too
late that there were only three chairs. Oh, well, he might be better off
standing for this meeting, anyway. “Gentlemen, please have a seat,” he offered,
moving to the filing cabinet at the back of the room. “Can I get you anything?
Coffee? Tea?” He could use a drink of Scotch right about now.

“No, thanks,” two of them said.

“I’ll have a wee dram,” Angus McAndrew said with a pleasant
smile on his face.

“Certainly.” Luke took a bottle of single-malt Scotch and a
crystal glass from the top of the credenza that rested along one wall, and
poured Angus a drink.

Angus took a sip, an appreciative gleam in his eyes.
“Wonderful. It’s been a long drive up here,” he said, settling into the best
chair in the room.

“Yes, I hear the roads are still pretty snow-packed, but the
plows are working to clear them.”

“I should hope so, because we had a couple of narrow misses on
our way here. But that’s winter in the northeast,” Angus said, his gaze moving
about the room. “Do you not have another chair? I’d like to get right down to
business since we have a long drive back, and no one wants to miss Christmas
Eve.”

Idly, Luke wondered what Christmas Eve would be like at Angus’s
house. Would he treat his family like employees? Or did he have a whole other
side no one in his company would ever see? “I’ll stand, if you don’t mind.”

“It wouldn’t be right for you to have to stand while we discuss
business,” he said, his bushy eyebrows flexed over his eyes. When Luke refused
to budge, the man sighed and continued. “Luke, we’re here to discuss the future
of The Mirabel Inn and its relationship with Advantage Corporation. After a full
review of our assets, and in light of our shift away from smaller holdings—those
under one-hundred rooms—the board has come to a decision.” His tone was urbane,
congenial and without a hint of personal involvement, with words that were code
for changing the landscape of the company. Words used by people who cloaked
their callous behavior in socially polite language. “So, you’re planning to sell
The Mirabel.” A spasm knotted Luke’s stomach.

“We have a potential buyer who has begun to put limitations on
his bid. It’s the main reason we felt we needed to come up here today.”

“Go on,” Luke said, suddenly interested. If the buyer they had
was backing out, he might have a chance at putting in a bid. He didn’t know
where he’d find the money—there having been no return call from his father—but
he’d wait and see what Angus had to say.

“While we’re negotiating with the buyer, we need to discuss
your place within our organization.”

They were about to disassemble the life he’d made for Ethan and
himself with one short speech to him about his value to the organization.

His anger toward these people who didn’t give a damn about him
or his life threatened to get the best of him, and he realized he had to get
away from them, if only for a few minutes. “I’ll get a chair and be right
back.”

Pushing open the door, he nearly ran headfirst into Marnie, her
eyes huge with surprise. He closed the door quietly behind him. “What are you
doing out here?”

“Nothing. I was just on my way to the—to my car.”

“Without a jacket in this weather? You were listening at the
door, weren’t you?” he accused her.

“Well, someone left it open a tiny bit, and I couldn’t help it.
I’m worried about you.”

He couldn’t look into her imploring eyes, aware of how much he
loved her, and how their future together could now be in jeopardy. He had to
focus on finishing the meeting, and getting these men back on the road to
Boston.

“Marnie, please do not get involved in this,” he said.

“Did they tell you who the buyer is?”

He shook his head, longing to hold her, a reprieve from all the
harsh reality playing out in his office. “I need to get a chair from the
reception desk,” he said, gathering all his reserves to walk past her down the
hall.

On the way back, she reached for him. “Luke, I’ve got to do
something, but I’ll be right back, I promise. Wait for me, and please don’t
worry. I’ve got a plan.”

“A plan?” he whispered. “The only thing that will save the inn
is if we can find a buyer.”

“There has to be someone out there who would see the inn as a
great investment,” she whispered back. “Let me work on it.”

In the midst of this unsettling event, he’d found an ally, a
friend, and someone he could rely on. He no longer felt isolated from the world
around him. “I love you,” he whispered.

“Ditto,” she whispered, her smile consuming her face.

Inside his office, the room felt stuffy. The scent of men’s
colognes was overpowering. “So, you were saying that you’re going to sell the
inn.” He set his chair down along the wall near the door.

“Yes, we are, but we want you to know that your position is
safe here until the purchase is finalized.” Andrew crossed one long leg over the
other, and checked the knife-sharp seam on his pants.

No one’s position was safe during a transition, regardless of
what these men said. “Do you have an offer pending?”

The man hunkered in the corner—his nervous gaze flicking from
his BlackBerry to a spot on the wall behind Luke’s head—spoke up. “In the event
our buyer doesn’t go ahead with the deal, a photographer will be up—” the man
grimaced “—January second.”

“Well, that answers most of my questions,” Luke said, angered
that these people couldn’t wait until after Christmas to come up here. If they’d
waited until after Christmas, thus giving him and the staff a chance to enjoy
the holiday, this decision might be easier to accept.

“There’s so much going on within the company at the moment. I
felt we needed to come here and see you personally,” Angus said.

How could these three men sit there with their smug expressions
and not care what they’d just done to him and the rest of the staff? They might
be able to ruin his Christmas, but that didn’t mean they could take up any more
of his Christmas Eve. “I understand, but right now, I have a Christmas Eve
celebration to host, and as you said earlier, you need to get back to your own
families.” He rose and started toward the door.

Angus caught up with him. “Luke, I’m sorry to have dropped this
news without giving you a heads-up first, but the company is going through so
many changes at the moment, many of which I’ve had to address rather
quickly.”

Your stupid excuse doesn’t cut
it.

“You do what you have to do.”

“And I mean it, Luke, this job is yours at least until the new
owner takes over. And you have my word that I will personally recommend that you
be retained as manager in one of our hotels.”

And you expect me to believe
you?

“I appreciate that,” Luke said, holding the door open for
them.

Watching them troop out, his courage deserted him. He suddenly
felt completely exhausted and bereft. He was certain the staff would be waiting
to hear the outcome of the meeting, but he didn’t have the heart to break the
news to them right now. He simply didn’t have anything left to give anyone.

All he wanted was to find Marnie and make love to her, to
forget everything that had happened in the past hour. Closing his office door,
he picked up the phone and called her room. No answer.

Where was that piece of paper with her cell-phone number on it?
After searching for what seemed like forever, he found the scrap of paper,
dialed her number, his spirits lifting at the expectation of hearing her voice,
a voice he needed to hear more than anything in the world.

The call went to voice mail.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

M
ARNIE
HAD
BEEN
ON
HER
WAY
to her room, her hand on the newel post, about to ascend the stairs, when Jack
intercepted her.

“Mary just told me what’s been going on. Can we talk?”

She didn’t want to talk right now. She had to come up with the
money to buy the inn. “I can’t. I mean I have to get to my room and call my
brother.”

He frowned. “What for?” he asked, his tone wary.

Marnie could understand him being suspicious. Jack had to know
about the survey by now. “I… We need to see if we can line up some financing for
this inn. Do you think Luke’s parents would help out?”

“Luke’s parents have been indifferent all of Luke’s life.”

“Indifferent?”

“Yeah, you know. Luke spent most of his childhood away at
boarding schools, and even now, with Christmas here, there hasn’t been a peep
from them. Not so much as a card.”

“No gift for Ethan?”

“Not unless it was held up by the storm.”

“When was the last time they were here to visit?”

“They were here for about two weeks after Anna died.”

“That was three years ago.”

“And they kept talking about Anna’s accident until Luke
couldn’t listen anymore.”

They sounded like a totally useless set of parents, but if they
could help in other ways… “Do you think there’s any chance they’d be willing to
loan him money?”

“According to Luke they live beyond their means. No spare cash,
I assume.” Jack gave her a grim look. “Marnie, you’re a smart woman with lots of
business experience, but a piece of advice.”

“And that would be?”

“Don’t go messing around in Luke’s life. He doesn’t like it.
The inn may be for sale, but Luke will make it through this. He’s tough.”

“But if I know someone who might be willing to back him, should
he decide to put in a bid, would that be a problem? He can’t lose this inn, it
means everything to him.”

Jack touched her arm. “You don’t know the half of it.” He
shrugged. “If you know someone…”

“When Luke comes out of his office, tell him I’m in my
room.”

“Doing dirty deeds?” He winked.

“The dirtiest of dirty. I’m going to see how much cash I can
wheedle out of my family.”

He looked at her with a mixture of skepticism and amusement.
“You know what?”

“What?”

“I see why Luke likes you so much. You’re pretty damn special,
going out of your way like this to help him.”

“He told you he likes me?”

“Luke’s a changed man since you came on the scene. We’ve all
noticed how much happier he is, how much more engaged. And I’ve been told that
you and Ethan are buddies.”

“Best buddies. He is the cutest little boy.”

“He’s a huge favorite around here. Of course now that we have
James, he’ll have some competition.”

“How is James, by the way?”

“He’s great! Lindsay is spending all her time either sleeping
or feeding him. I’ve been relegated to errand running and grocery procurement.”
He smiled. “But I’m about to be granted a reprieve. Lindsay’s mother arrives
tomorrow.”

“It all sounds wonderful…”

“Hey. Is that a sad tone I hear? It better not be,” he teased.
“With a man like Luke ready to beat down your door you’ve already gone where few
women have gone before.” Jack moved to the bottom of the stairs. “Marnie, trust
me about Luke, will you?”

“I will,” she said. Somehow she had to convince her brothers to
do what they could to help her. If she succeeded, it would be the miracle of all
Christmas miracles.

* * *

B
Y
THE
TIME
SHE
REACHED
the third floor, she was
even more determined to do what she had to do. Her family would reproach her for
being impetuous, but she was ready for them.

Her happiness was at stake.

Marnie closed the door to her room behind her and picked up her
cell phone. Scott answered on the first ring. “I want to talk to you, Liam,
Gordon and Alex as soon as possible. I’ve got something I need you to do for
me.”

“Sounds intriguing. Tell me more.”

“Not right now. I have to talk to all four of you together. Can
you line up a conference call?”

“You do realize that it’s almost time for Santa Claus to do his
thing.”

She’d completely forgotten. “Oh, sorry,” she said. “I’ll bring
my presents to everyone the day after Christmas.”

Scott whistled. “Hey, it sounds like you’re on a mission.”

“I’ll tell you all you need to know as soon as you line up the
conference call.”

There was what could only be described as a loaded silence on
Scott’s end of the line. She was just about ready to give up and say something
funny to break the awkwardness when he spoke. “Marnie, there’s something I want
to tell you before we talk with the other three.”

“What’s that?”

“I realize that I’ve sounded pretty domineering over the last
few years. And there were times when you were annoyed with me.”

“Tell me about it.” She snorted.

“I have a confession to make. You know how much we all worried
about you when you had to have heart surgery as a kid, and how the whole family
got into the whole protection racket, as you called it, after your
accident.”

“How could I forget? So what’s your point?”

“Me and Liam, and Alex and Gord… We’d been raised to look out
for you. It just became a natural way for us to think where you were concerned.
Then when the accident happened and you were sent to hospital with so many
injuries, all four of us were terrified that you wouldn’t make it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“I don’t know. Being big dumb jocks has its drawbacks, I
suppose.”

Her heart warmed, and tears welled up in her eyes. Deep down,
she’d always adored Scott, the brother who had always been there for her, who
had protected and cared for her, and who now had the grace and class to tell her
the truth about how he felt. “What happened to make you see things
differently?”

“Mom. She called me after she talked to you. In case you’re
interested, yours isn’t the only conference call we four have been on
recently.”

“Mom talked to you guys about me?”

“She did. She said we needed to cut you some slack. She even
admitted to relying on you too much, especially at Christmas. Then Dad got on
the phone and talked about how much he was waiting for all of us to come home
for the holidays, how much they were looking forward to seeing all of us. It was
a pretty teary scene. And all because of you.”

“I’m going away more often if one little vacation can produce
this kind of change in the way you all see me.”

“Yeah. We made a mistake by insisting on overseeing your life.
It’s not going to happen again.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to do a background check on
the next man I bring home?”

“Well, we might slip up now and again, but we’re going to do
our best to change.”

“I love you guys,” she said, smiling through her tears.

“Before I hang up and get the conference call organized, I want
you to know that I’ve always loved you best.”

“Scott…don’t make a confession you’ll regret,” she warned,
trying for a teasing tone and failing miserably.

“I’m serious. Now get off the phone, and I’ll call you back as
soon as I can round up your brothers. Oh, and by the way, hope you’re having a
great time. That man, what’s his name?”

“Luke.”

“I hope he’s worth it.”

“He is.”

“Well, then, I’m really pleased you’ve found someone special.
You deserve to be happy.”

A lump the size of a golf ball formed in Marnie’s throat. “The
age of miracles is not over,” she said, fighting to maintain a light tone in her
voice, all the while wishing her brother was within hugging range.

“Talk soon, Peanut. Whoops! Sorry!”

“It’s okay. Just this once,” she said, feeling closer to her
brother than she ever had in her life.

* * *

L
UKE
COULDN
’
T
STAND
it
any longer. Marnie wasn’t answering her room phone, and her cell phone kept
going to voice mail. He had to talk to her, to tell her what happened and what
it could mean for both of them. He headed for the stairs, almost running into
Jack, who was coming out of the library.

“Whoa! What’s up?” Jack asked, looking a whole lot like he had
a secret he wanted to share.

“I’m on my way to find Marnie. You haven’t seen her, have
you?”

“As a matter of fact I have. She and I chatted for a bit, and
then she took off to her room, as if she was being chased by demons. I hear that
the Advantage people were here to deliver some bad news. Sorry that this had to
happen, and especially right at Christmas. What a bunch of jerks.”

He wasn’t surprised that Jack would be up to speed on
everything. “You’ve got that right. But maybe this will turn out better than it
seems.”

“Do you mean Marnie?”

“How did you— What have you been up to?” Luke gave him a
glowering look, eliciting a chuckle from Jack.

“I haven’t been up to much, but Marnie is. She’s on the
warpath. You’re one lucky man to have a woman like her in your life.”

Luke was on the verge of denying the implication of Jack’s
words, and then reconsidered. Why should he deny his feelings for her? “Yeah,
I’m lucky, all right.” He shoved his fingers through his hair, trying to figure
out how much he should tell his friend. “I’m lucky in so many ways, especially
in the way she loves me.”

“I knew it! You two are in love. I told Lindsay last night that
there was something going on between you two. My wife owes me a date with her,
just the two of us.”

Luke nodded his head, soaking in Jack’s words, feeling them to
his core. That was it. He and Marnie were meant to be together, to be there for
each other through thick and thin. “We are in love. All this time, I thought…”
He grimaced at the memory of all those evenings he’d spent with Jack, going over
what happened to Anna, trying to put it in the past, and be a good dad while
trying to juggle his work life. “You know what’s been going on with me since
Anna died, all I’ve had to deal with. But it’s as if I’ve been given a second
chance to be happy, and it’s so…”

“You deserve every second of it.”

“It’s as if everything is new, so much to look forward to,”
Luke went on, realizing for the first time that Marnie had set him free of the
past.

Jack clapped him on the back, a smile lighting his rugged
features. “Go tell that woman how you really feel. She deserves to know, and
you’ve both earned the right to be happy.”

“Tell Marnie what?” Marnie asked from halfway down the carpeted
stairs.

Jack winked at Luke. “It’s now or never, my friend.”

* * *

M
ARNIE
SCURRIED
DOWN
the remaining steps, trying to be cool, wishing she
had long hair to flick off her shoulders. Slowing at the bottom of the stairs,
she clutched the newel post and waited for Luke to cross the couple of feet of
carpet separating them.

This man of hers was so gorgeous, and how she loved the
expression on his face right now—half joy, half humor. “Were you and Jack
talking about me?” she asked, teasingly.

The smile in his eyes would melt icebergs. “Guilty as charged,”
he said, covering her hand with his where it rested on the post, his fingers
gently massaging hers.

“How did your meeting go?” she asked, worried for him.

He shrugged. “As expected. They made their announcement about
selling the inn and left.”

“So, what’s next?” she asked, struggling to remain calm and
poised, while his touch held the power to buckle her knees.

“Why don’t we go back to my apartment? We’ve got a lot to think
about.”

She slipped her hand into his as they walked down the corridor
past the spa to his apartment door. “Luckily, Ethan’s not here right now. Mary’s
got him helping her and Charlene to double-check all the linens for the
Christmas Eve dinner. Max has been swearing and cursing all day, which means
that the meal will be a masterpiece.”

She could hardly wait for this evening, as she hoped to be able
to tell him her brothers would back his purchase of the inn. “This is so
exciting. I’ve never spent Christmas Eve at an inn,” she said.

“There’s so much going on,” he hedged.

Her heart skipped a beat. “Want to fill me in?”

He moved so quickly he practically dragged her down the hall.
“This time I’ll be careful that all the doors are closed. Far too much of my
life seeps from beneath a door, I swear.”

“I’m all for closed doors,” she offered, feeling his fingers on
the small of her back as he maneuvered her into his apartment ahead of him.

The sun slanted through the windows in the dining room,
highlighting the row of photographs on the wall, and the pile of toys in the
adjoining living room now arranged in a path leading to the kitchen. Over in the
corner of the living room was a beautifully decorated tree covered in gold and
red ornaments and strings of popcorn. She stopped to take in the sight. “Someone
has done a lovely job decorating the tree.”

“Mary did it. She and Ethan worked here for hours the other
day. She loves him so much.”

“What a great group of friends you have in your life.”

“They really are.”

“Should I make a pot of coffee?” she asked, turning to him just
in time to be kissed. An excited kiss filled with determination, sending her
thoughts whirling over the possibilities. He led her to the sofa in the living
room, and pulled her down beside him. “First I want to tell you that I’ve come
to a decision.”