The Christmas Inn (15 page)

He wanted another chance at happiness. “Would you like to stay
for Christmas?”

She remained perfectly still. “I…I’m not sure.”

“Is there anything I can say or do to convince you to stay here
with us? I realize you have a family back in Boston, and they’ll be expecting
you. But if there’s any chance you’d consider it…” He shrugged, his dismal
attempt to say what was on his mind and in his heart falling flat as a
pancake.

She squinted at him. “Would I be expected to do anything?”

Luke glanced from Jack and Lindsay, who both smiled and
shrugged, then back at Marnie. “No, definitely not. You would have absolutely
nothing to do. Unless you wanted to do something, that is, like snowshoeing, or
cross-country skiing, or downhill skiing at one of the downhill skiing resorts
nearby, or playing with Ethan.... I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

“You are.” A huge grin lit her face. “But you’re in luck. I’ve
never had a responsibility-free Christmas since I was a kid.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Then, as far as I can tell, you deserve a Christmas here at
the inn.”

His words were met by clapping from Lindsay and Jack, which
made Marnie giggle, and happiness flooded over him. Yep, he was happy and he
intended to stay that way.

* * *

M
ARNIE
’
S
FEET
BARELY
touched the stairs as she all but floated up to her
room. She felt absolutely wonderful, delighted and happy, the excitement of
Luke’s invitation hovering in her mind. An invitation that had made it
impossible for her to concentrate. She changed into her best pair of jeans, in
honor of a day that suddenly held such promise.

During lunch, the plows had done their job, and everything was
back to normal. All she had to do was decide if she would stay another night
here tonight—Christmas Eve. If she was staying, she had to explain her change of
plans to her parents. It wouldn’t be easy, but somehow she had to find a way.
She was as much a fixture at her parents’ house during the holiday season as the
eight-foot tree in the living room.

She sighed. She didn’t mean to be ungrateful. But this chance
to be with Luke was important to her, and yet she still felt a responsibility to
her family around their Christmas celebration.

And what if Luke had made the offer as a thank-you for
babysitting? Maybe he was simply being nice? She shook her head at the thought.
She was picturing the way he’d looked at her when he’d asked her to stay when
her cell phone rang.

Shane?

“Hi, how are you?” she asked.

“When are you coming home?” he said, not responding to her
question.

“We’ve had a storm up here, and they’re just getting the roads
cleared today, so I’m not a hundred percent sure when I’ll be back in
Boston.”

“I got your fax, but I need to talk to you about the
business.”

“Shane, it’s no longer my business—”

“I know,” he said. “But, you see…a bit of a problem has
developed since you left.”

She really didn’t want to hear about his problems with Gina,
but he was still her friend, and she cared about him. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve… A few employees have quit.”

So Julie was right. “Quit? Why?”

“Between you and me, I think it’s because Gina’s being a
little…bossy. She doesn’t mean to be. It’s just that she’s new at the job, and
she does things a little differently from you. I tried to convince them to give
her a chance.”

“Did you talk to Julie about this? She’s really good at dealing
with people.”

“I did. She’s been great.” His long sigh filled the line. “I
had no idea how much Julie knows about this business.... Guess I hadn’t given it
much thought before because you were here.”

“You’re really lucky to have Julie there, and she really wants
you to succeed.”

“Yeah, she told me that, but she says it’s for me to decide how
to manage the place.”

The silence on the line was punctuated by the sound of Shane
tapping his pen on a desk, clear evidence of his anxiety. “Marnie, I realize we
spent hours working out the agreement between us, but I assumed that Gina would
be good at managing the place, the way you were, and I’d be able to concentrate
on styling. I was wondering if we might rewrite the agreement to have you stay
on and manage the salon.”

God himself couldn’t work with Gina, and everyone in the salon
had come to that conclusion about three weeks after she’d arrived. And sure,
she’d like to help Shane. They’d been good partners, but now he had another
partner. And with his new partner came a new set of problems.

She and Shane were friends. He’d help her out if she needed
him, but she couldn’t get caught between Gina and him, no matter how much she
cared about Shane. No, she couldn’t go back there regardless of what he offered.
It was over for her. A few days ago, she couldn’t have said those words with
such certainty. But today…she had plans for a different life.

“Shane, I’m flattered that you’d want me to come back—”

“I take it you don’t want the job,” he interrupted, sounding
defeated.

“Shane, if I were you, I’d run this whole management thing past
Julie.”

“Meaning?”

“She’s very bright, and she really cares about you and your
success.”

“You don’t think she’d leave me, do you?”

“I can’t speak for Julie, but why don’t you talk to her, get
her input?”

“Now that you say that, Julie has been so great these last few
days. She’s been such a good friend through all this—the whole changeover with
Gina and everything. I had no idea that Julie and I have so much in common. Did
you know that we both like country music?”

So they’d been talking—that was a really good sign. Dare she
hope that there was still time for Shane to come to his senses and see how Julie
trumped Gina in every category that mattered? “There are a whole lot of really
nice things you don’t know about Julie.”

“She’s pretty special.”

“Maybe it’s time you really paid attention to her. She’s one
smart lady.”

“I couldn’t agree more, but let’s get back to you. Is there
anything I can say to change your mind?”

“No, sorry. But it has nothing to do with you or the salon. It
has to do with me. I’m thinking I’d like to manage another kind of
business.”

“Have you been looking?”

“No. I’ve been having a break, and I discovered something. I
don’t want the life I have in Boston anymore.”

“You’re kidding! What will your family say?”

“I haven’t told them, but I will, as soon as I know for sure
what I’m going to do.”

“So you’re about to break away from the family. I’m so proud of
you.”

“Yeah, I love my family, but they need to let me be for a
while.”

After a moment’s pause, he said, “Love ya, gal. You know that.
I wish you’d come back here with me, but you deserve to find your place in this
world.”

Tears blurred her vision. In all the time that she and Shane
had discussed business, argued and sometimes fought, there had always been room
for honesty between them. Maybe she should have told him what a pain Gina was to
work with, but would he have listened? She didn’t think so. “I’ll come see you
right after Christmas. I promise.”

“Can’t wait. We’ll do dinner, maybe a movie, like old
times.”

Had Shane begun to see Gina for who she really was? And if he
had, would it change anything? No. She and Shane were friends, but only friends,
not business partners. And that wouldn’t change. “Like old times. And Shane,
have a great Christmas.”

“You, too.”

“I plan to.”

She hung up the phone, and pushed the questionnaires aside to
make room for her to stretch out on the bed and consider what she’d said to her
ex-partner. She’d told Shane the truth. Her plans no longer included being
involved in the hairdressing business, not his or anyone else’s. All she wanted
now was to spend time with Luke, get to know him better and see if they had a
future together. And his invitation to spend Christmas with him was a great way
to start. Wow! She still couldn’t believe that he’d asked her....

She’d stay for Christmas, offer him any help she could to get
his whole operation running even better than before, and she would come clean
about the survey and about Advantage’s plans to sell the inn. He deserved to be
prepared, and he might find someone to finance an offer to buy the inn if he had
the opportunity. She was still thinking about how she’d tell him, what she’d say
and how she’d say it when someone knocked on the door.

She opened the door to Luke, who was standing there, smiling
that smile of his that did it for her. “Hi, come on in,” she said, happy to see
him, to smell his cologne and, most of all, to see that he had come alone.

This was a day for celebration, and never more than this
instant. Was he about to share his plan for how they’d celebrate Christmas?

“I came to ask if you could help out at the reception desk for
a couple of hours.”

Not exactly what she’d wanted to hear, but
then again, he could have called, and instead he came all the way up the
stairs to ask her in person
....

Oh, how she’d love to wrap all her limbs around this man and
let him carry her to her bed—but there would be lots of time for that later.
She’d see to it. “Absolutely. Just give me a minute.” She ducked into the
bathroom, pulled a comb through her short hair, touched up her lipstick and
checked her appearance in the mirror. She opened the door, ready to walk as
seductively as her jeans would allow, right to the spot where he stood, and
breathe in his sexy cologne before she headed down to reception.

“What’s this?” he asked, anger simmering behind his words.

She stopped, blinked and stared at the papers he held in his
hands. Survey forms. Oh. No. This was it. No turning back. No way out now.
“They’re questionnaires.”

“Who asked you to fill them out?” His voice was eerily
quiet.

“Scott. It’s a contract he has with Advantage Corporation.”

“You’re working for the owners. You went behind my back and
collected this information without telling me. Your brother’s marketing research
company is being paid—and so are you—paid to spy on me.”

“No! I never meant to spy on you. I was only doing a favor for
Scott. I didn’t want to do it. I told Scott that, but he needed me. It was all
last-minute, and he really needed me,” she repeated.

“And you never stopped to think that I might lose my job here
as a result of this, have to give up my friends and move my son from the only
home he’s ever known?”

She shook her head, gasped for air, tears spilling over her
cheeks. “I never meant to hurt you, or Ethan or anyone else. I didn’t know you
when I came here, but if I had I never would have taken this job, I swear. You
have to understand that. I would never do something to hurt you. I—”

“Have the results gone to the owners?”

“No. Scott’s been on my case to send them to him, but with the
storm and all that’s been happening, I haven’t had a chance to send him
anything—”

“I can’t believe you’d do this to me. I don’t see any reason
why you should remain here any longer. And you don’t have to worry about your
bill. Your brother left his credit card number when he made the
reservation.”

“Don’t! You need to listen to me. Luke, I didn’t do this to
damage your career. I could have sent those results, but I didn’t.”

“You will, but that’s not really the point. The point is you
deceived me. I trusted you with my work. I allowed you access to my office, and
all the confidential information in there. I even trusted you with my friends
and my son.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Why would you do this to me? To
Ethan?” The hurt in his eyes pierced her.

She’d made a terrible mistake and now there was no way out.
“Luke, please let me explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain.” With that, he walked out of the
room and slammed the door.

The door rattled in its frame, the sound shattering Marnie’s
hope. She’d never felt so awful in her entire life—so scared, so afraid that she
had lost everything she’d ever dreamed of. She’d let her need to please her
brothers and her family, to return their kindness, and to prove herself worthy
of their respect, keep her from telling Luke the truth.

She stared at the door, at the room, at the window framing the
mountains outside and knew without hesitation that this was where she wanted to
be; here, with Luke and Ethan. She’d finally found what she wanted, and in one
swift act of cowardice, she’d let it go.

But there was still a chance, wasn’t there? If she explained
why she did what she did? If she could make him see that she cared for him, more
than she’d ever cared for any man in her life…

She yanked open the door, and took the stairs two at a time,
nearly knocking over another guest as she raced to Luke’s office, determined
that he should hear her side of it before he kicked her out—or before her
courage deserted her.

When she burst into his office, he was sitting behind his desk,
his head in his hands. When he glanced up at her, his eyes were hard. “What do
you want?” he asked, his voice devoid of all feeling.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

B
ETRAYAL
BURNED
THROUGH
Luke as he stared up at
Marnie—the woman he’d allowed to get so close enough to him, to who he was and
what he cared about that she’d made a fool of him. And he had been a fool. A
fool to believe what she offered—her sweet, sexy presence in his life, her
companionship and helpfulness. All of it a sham while she spied on him. But
worse of all, he’d let himself believe that there was someone out there for him
who cared about him, and in whom he could trust.

She closed the door softly behind her. “Luke, I came to
apologize.”

“Apology not accepted.” The boulder trapped in his chest barely
allowed him to get the words out.

She stood at the door, her hands clasped in front of her. “When
I came here, I was doing a job for my brother. I owed him a great deal because
of my accident. My whole family has always seen me as needing protection. They
mean well, but it has made my life difficult at times, especially when I’ve felt
inadequate around them. I was determined to prove that I could do the survey
work to please my brother Scott. And I admit, in the beginning I didn’t give any
thought to who might be hurt by how I answered the questionnaires, or what sort
of purpose the answers might be used for.”

He waited, keeping his eyes trained on his desk.

“I hadn’t expected to care about anyone here. Then I met you
and Ethan. I was here for James’s birth, and you needed me—”

He heard her sudden intake of breath, but he couldn’t look at
her and feel something he knew to be false. He had already spent the past three
Christmases mourning the loss of Anna; he refused to let himself feel any more
loss…any more pain.

“And so now you’re saying you care.” He gripped the desk to
keep from lashing out at her.

“Yes, I do. Very much.”

He heard the quiet sincerity in her voice, and wished the
circumstances were different between them. “So, if you cared, why didn’t you
tell me what you were doing?”

“At first it was because my brother said he really needed
Advantage as a client, and I felt I had to help him.”

“At first? And now?”

“I was going to leave here the day the storm started. I was
going to go home and tell Scott to find someone else to do the survey. But when
the storm came, and I couldn’t leave, and then I spent time with Ethan, and got
to see the new baby, I started to feel part of something so special. Like I was
accepted here, not as someone’s daughter, not as someone’s sister. As me.
Everyone was so good to me. I was going to tell you about the survey and maybe
we could use what I found to improve your operations. I wasn’t going to send it
to Scott.”

“Why?”

“Because I care. Because I know what this place means to you.
And now it’s special to me, too. The Mirabel Inn is the most beautiful place
I’ve ever been. I never suspected that coming here would be the happiest time of
my life....” Her words faded to a whisper.

He looked up, his eyes meeting hers, the worry and sadness he
saw there tearing at him. He was mad as hell at her, but would he have done
things any differently? Like her, he would’ve tried to do his job, as she had
done. And hadn’t he asked her to stay even when he knew Scott had lied about the
husband and wife thing? So why did he blame her? He didn’t want Advantage to get
a report about his management skills, and she said she hadn’t sent it. Besides,
what did it matter what the owners found out? If Angus McAndrew and his team
intended to sell The Mirabel Inn, the new owners would have their own plans for
it, which may or may not include him.

He shook his head to remove the memory that flashed across his
mind. Three years ago, he’d sat in this same office, struggling to come to grips
with his pain. The funeral for Anna was over and he was faced with the reality
that he was alone with his son because of his wife’s behavior.

“Are you all right?” Marnie asked.

“Funny how women can turn the world on its end.”

She came across the room and slid into the chair beside him.
“Not just women do that,” she said gently.

“Meaning what?”

Marnie took a deep breath, her eyes searching his face.
“Fifteen years ago I had an accident, a careless mistake on my part that
resulted in two really difficult surgeries and months of rehabilitation. My dad
warned me about my driving, but I didn’t listen.”

“What’s your point?”

“Francine told me about Anna, and how you wanted her to stay in
Boston, to not try to drive home in the storm. How she didn’t listen and you
blamed—”

“Damn! Does everyone have to weigh in on my life? This is none
of your business.” He closed his eyes. He didn’t want to yell at her. “My life
is not what we’re discussing here.”

She tilted her chin up in defiance. “She didn’t listen, in the
same way that I didn’t listen. The same way so many people don’t listen to the
advice of the people who love them.”

“So, what’s your point?’

“Did you ever consider that maybe Anna drove home in that storm
because she couldn’t bear to be away from you and Ethan for another moment? That
maybe it was her love for her family that made her do what she did? Not her
disregard for your warning about the roads? Did you ever consider that until you
forgive Anna, you won’t be able to love someone else?”

Her words stung. His breath stopped. “You don’t know anything
about my relationship with Anna, and of course she wanted to get home. I wanted
her home, but—”

“It’s about more than getting home. It’s that feeling that your
day isn’t complete until you feel someone’s arms around you. That your life
isn’t whole if you’re not with them. It means that sometimes we act
irrationally. And sometimes we need forgiveness.”

Was she right? Was his unwillingness to forgive Anna standing
in his way of him finding happiness with another woman? And if so, was Marnie
asking for forgiveness for what she’d done? Was she waiting for him to forgive
her, as well as Anna? He wasn’t sure about anything anymore. “It might be better
for everyone if you went back to Boston.”

Her eyes shiny with tears, she got up slowly. “You want me to
leave?”

“If what you say is true, I’m not ready for a
relationship.”

Marnie smoothed her hair from her face, and touched the neck of
her shirt nervously. “Luke, there’s something else I didn’t tell you.”

He sighed, bracing his hands against his desk. “Out with
it.”

“One of the reasons Advantage wanted the survey done was to
satisfy a potential buyer. It seems the purchaser wanted to know that there were
no problems, either financial or operational. I assume that they’d seen the
profit and loss statement for the inn, and wanted to have an outside party
on-site to evaluate the facility.”

“So they’re selling The Mirabel,” he said, sadness and dread
filling his heart.

“It would seem so, but since I’m not completing the survey,
they’ll have to get someone else to do it.”

“Given what I know about them, they won’t waste any time.”

“Well, at least, they can’t do it while you have no
vacancies.”

* * *

S
OMEHOW
M
ARNIE
MANAGED
to
make it to her room and close the door before she lost it—tears streaming down
her face, her chest hurting as she forced air into her lungs.

What a mess! She’d made Luke angry, and lost her chance with
him. Now, she had to tell Scott what she’d done, she owed him that much. He
answered on the first ring.

“Tell me you’re finished and you’re on the way home.”

“I’m coming home, but the survey isn’t finished.”

“What? Why not? You’ve been snowed in with nothing but time on
your hands.”

“I can’t finish it.”

“Look, Marnie, we’ve been through all this. You don’t want to
report on the inn because you have…feelings for the manager. I understand, but
as long as he doesn’t know what you’re doing—”

“He does. I told him.”

She waited while Scott huffed and puffed about the need for the
survey and his shrinking client list, but she couldn’t care less. Her life was
in tatters, and she had nothing to look forward to except coming home and being
part of Christmas, minus the Christmas spirit. Scott’s problems paled in the
face of what she’d lost.

“Mom’s going to call you today. I couldn’t hold her off any
longer.”

“Tell Mom I’m on my way, but tell her I’ve turned off my cell
phone.”

“She won’t believe me. You never turn your cell phone off.”

“I will now.” With that she clicked the phone closed and began
to toss her clothes into her bag, dumping the underwear out of the drawers and
pulling her laundry bag from the bottom of the closet. Her cosmetics were next,
and she was about to zip the bag when someone knocked on the door.

Her pulse slowed. Luke? She hurried to open the door. Mary
Cunningham stood there with Ethan at her side. “He’s been asking for you.”

“Luke?”

Mary looked startled. “No. Ethan. He wants to play outside with
you.”

She tried not to look at the sweet little face peering up at
her. “But I…I can’t.”

Ethan reached up and took her hand. “I want you!” he
demanded.

At least one of the Harrison men wanted her. And how could she
possibly resist those eyes? “Okay, but I can’t play very long.”

He pulled on her hand. “Now!”

The kid was beginning to sound just like his father. “Okay, let
me get my jacket and stuff on.” Ethan and Mary stood in the doorway while she
got dressed.

“Are you leaving?” Mary asked, glancing around Marnie’s
room.

“Yeah. I’ve got to get back to Boston this afternoon.” She
couldn’t believe how close she’d come to spending Christmas here—a dream with no
chance of coming true.

She glanced around the room, the tall windows with the white
light coming in through the frosted panes. Her bright blue top she’d forgotten
to pack draped over a chair. All the memories this room held for her… “Okay, big
guy, let’s go.”

“Thanks,” Mary said, sighing. “Oh, by the way, Henry is waiting
to go out with you. He’s down by the patio doors.”

“Would you like me to walk him?” Marnie asked.

“No, he’s been walked, and he won’t run away on you. He always
stays with Ethan. You and Henry are best buddies, aren’t you?” Mary asked,
patting Ethan on the shoulder.

“Henry loves me.” Ethan squared his shoulders, glancing from
one woman to the other with a grin that would soften the meanest heart.

“I really appreciate this. We’re so busy today with getting the
Christmas Getaway guests settled in for the evening activities.”

“It’s not a problem.”

She took Ethan’s hand and went downstairs with him, listening
to his excited chatter about playing in the snow, and as she listened, all she
could think about was that this was over for her. This was the last time she’d
play outside with Ethan, or walk past the dining room, or greet the other staff
members she’d gotten to know.

She really should say goodbye to Francine when she came back in
from playing with Ethan. She liked her so much and would miss her, but not
nearly as much as she would miss Luke and Ethan.

She blinked to keep from crying and made a big deal out of
getting Ethan’s mitts on before she opened the patio doors. Henry barked in
canine delight as he waited, his nose pressed to the glass of the door.

“There. We’re ready, aren’t we?” she asked the dog, rubbing his
glossy coat.

“Go!” Ethan pulled on the door handle in vain. “Out, please,”
he said, turning his sorrowful look on Marnie.

“Okay, off we go,” she said with all the bravado she could
muster.

Ethan squeezed past her through the door as he and Henry raced
each other into the snow. Outside, the air was crisp and the wind swirled a
plume of snow up past the windows of the inn. The lights on the fir tree by the
corner of the patio glowed like sugarcoated jelly beans through the snow-covered
branches. Someone had cleared the patio of snow, creating an outdoor
playroom.

“My truck.” Ethan shuffled over to the huge yellow dump truck
sticking out of the wall of snow. His arms flailing at the snow, he yelled over
his shoulder. “Help me dig.”

Marnie knelt down beside him, and dug his truck out of the
drift. As she watched the little boy playing with his truck, accompanied by his
gleeful chatter about Santa, cookies and Christmas, she felt overwhelmed by a
sense of loss. This would be the last time she played with Ethan, and she was so
sorry to be leaving him. Forcing back her tears, she filled her mitts with snow
and dumped them into the back of the truck.

* * *

U
NABLE
TO
CONCENTRATE
on his work, Luke was about to shut off his computer when the phone
rang. When he answered, a voice boomed, “This is Simon Mandel.”

Luke didn’t recognize the name. “How can I help you?”

“I called to compliment a member of your staff.”

“Thank you, Mr. Mandel, we always appreciate hearing
compliments about our staff.”

“I booked a ski package at your inn the other night. A woman
name Marnie something made the reservation. Can’t remember her last name, but
her first name stuck because I’d never heard it before. Anyway, she was so
friendly and went out of her way to explain everything to me. I had planned to
book with another inn and was just calling for a price comparison, but Marnie
convinced me to book with you. That’s one smart lady you’ve got there, and I
ought to know. I’m in retail and I don’t need to tell you how hard it is to hire
good people who understand the customer’s need to feel appreciated.”

Remorse knotted Luke’s stomach. Marnie would never know how
much this client appreciated her. A few hours ago, he would have searched her
out, told her about what the man had said. But he’d made the decision that sent
her packing, and now… Now, he wished he could tell her about the compliment,
about how much he appreciated her helping them in a pinch, and doing such a good
job for him. And she had done a good job, the other staff had corroborated that,
but he hadn’t told her that, either. He’d let her leave here without ever
acknowledging that she’d made a difference to the inn and to him. “I’ll be sure
to tell her,” he lied.