Undercover Billionaire Boss: A BWWM Contemporary Romance (15 page)

She knocked lightly, heard a voice call out, “Come in!” and pushed open the door. She was met by the delicious smells of bacon and fresh bread. Her stomach groaned in reply. She hadn’t eaten anything the previous night and had left the house without having any breakfast.

A wide hallway had been converted into a reception area, but at the moment, there was no one manning it. Muted voices could be heard from further inside and she assumed that guests were having their breakfasts. She stood uncertain for a few moments, and then heard footsteps coming her way. An older woman greeted her with a smile on her face.

“Hi, I’m Martha. You must be Raina?” she said with a motherly smile.

Raina liked her immediately, and smiled in return. She stuck out her hand and wished that she hadn’t dressed so formally. Martha herself had on an apron over a simple dress and her hair was held back in a loose ponytail.

“That’s right, I’m Raina McMillan,” Raina said matching Martha’s grin.

“Welcome to Cliff West Inn. Would you like a cup of coffee?” she said.

“That would be lovely,” Raina said, eager to see the dining room.

The room was square in shape, a light brown carpet covered the floor and the tables were decorated with pink and white table clothes. There were about ten tables, arranged with a differing number of seats. At the moment, three quarters of the tables were occupied, which pleased Raina. Martha hurried to what Raina assumed must be the kitchen and returned moments later bearing two cups of coffee.

I haven’t had any coffee myself, so this is a welcome break,” she said, sitting down opposite Raina.

“It gets very busy in the mornings?” Raina said.

“It’s crazy right now, and I hope I’m not putting you off, but if I can do it, so can you.”

Raina smiled. “How many employees do you have?” Raina said.

“Well, let’s see …” The woman started to count off the people on her fingers. “There’s Maggie who is the cook and a
Godsend
, then there is Rita who is the receptionist part-time, and Abigail who takes care of the cleaning with my help. Do you have any background in this type of work?” Martha asked.

“Well, yes, I’ve been working in a hotel as the manager, but I started as a housekeeper,” Raina explained.

Martha’s eyes widened. “So you’re not afraid of hard work. I’m impressed. When I bought this place, my only experience had been baking cookies. You’ll do well if you do decide to take it on.”

“Why are you selling, if I may ask?”

“Oh, I’m getting on in years and I want to enjoy the rest of my life. My children are all grown now with lives of their own and I figure that it’s my time to travel and see the world. But this little B&B has been good to me—and she’ll be good to her new caretakers too, I’m certain.”

Raina nodded, sharing a small smile with her. She and Martha sat and chatted like people who had known each other for years and years, and they soon lost track of time.

Martha offered Raina a tour of the property, which Raina gladly accepted. The downstairs held the dining room, kitchen, and a washroom. The guest bedrooms were on the second floor, as well as another common room, which had a wall mounted TV and a few comfortable sofas.

“And I live on the third floor,” Martha explained, leading Raina towards the stairs. “There’s an efficiency apartment accessed through the stairs behind the receptionist’s desk. It’s a bit of an inconvenience, but also secure if you have kids. I always liked being right on the property to keep an eye of things.”

The third floor was a tiny three-bedroom apartment. The kitchen was equally small and looked unused.

“As you can imagine, I’m rarely in here, even when my kids are around,” Martha quipped. “There’s always so much to do on the main floors of the B&B, it never felt cramped.”

The bedrooms were more spacious than they had first appeared from the landing, and in Raina’s mind, she started seeing the three kids and herself living here happily.

The girls could share one of the bedrooms and she and Jeremiah would take the other two.

Then she remembered her own house. She loved it and didn’t want to move. It was near the kids’ school and so close to the Del Mar … and then with a jolt she remembered then that she was no longer an employee of Del Mar hotel.

The management had been cruel enough to deny her a severance package, saying they had fired her for “cause.” She seethed inwardly at the unfairness of it.

What had she done to deserve being fired? Raina knew that it was all Roger’s slimy schemes, but she wondered how he had done it.

“So, what do you think?” Martha said, interrupting Raina’s musings.

Raina looked up, grateful to have been jolted out of her reverie.

“I love everything,” Raina enthused. “I just … I just don’t know if I can move from my present home. It’s close to the kids’ school.”

“That’s what I thought too, initially. But there’s a wonderful private school—one of the best in the country—nearby. It’s just a short bike ride away, and if your kids are anything like mine, they’ll enjoy living here. My kids loved that I was always nearby for them, and I always worked with ease knowing that they were safe upstairs.”

“I can see how convenient it is,” Raina said.

She left the B&B minutes later and spent the rest of the day looking at other properties that had piqued her interest, but none impressed her as much as Cliff West Inn.

Every other property just had something wrong with it. Too few rooms or a run-down building or just a bad atmosphere.

When Raina drove into her driveway later that day, she felt upbeat on the realization that throughout the morning, her thoughts had only drifted to Christopher twice.
That was an improvement
, she thought to herself.

Although,
she wondered,
If I’m thinking about not thinking about him, does that count as thinking about him?
She snorted out loud at her ridiculous, circular logic.

Work was the key
, she now thought. Still, the reminder of what she had lost hit her with fresh pain.

She went in, busied herself preparing the kids’ snacks. She glanced at the time and saw that they would arrive in just a few minutes.
Thank God for the kids to keep me in a routine
, Raina thought as she ushered them into the house.

“My team won the game, Aunty!” Jeremiah cried jubilantly, dropping his book bag as he ran to her and wrapped his chubby arms around her waist.

“I don’t like Shanise anymore,” Crystal said dropping her bag near her brother’s and slumping into a dining room chair.

“Well done Jeremiah! Why, Crystal? I thought Shanise was your best friend forever?” Raina said, amused by the skills she had gained as a new parent—the magical ability to hold two conversations at the same time.

Chantal followed her siblings into the house and shut the door behind her before sitting down with them to share some goodies.

They chattered over their snack and then settled to do their homework. Raina took that time to prepare dinner and to think. She had a
lot
on her mind.

Martha had shown her where the B&B stood financially as well as the profits she made every month. The money would provide her and the children with a good life and if she sold the house, with the settlement she had received, she could buy off the property and also put away some money for college for the children. She looked around the kitchen and imagined someone else there.

Another family.

She would feel a little sad at having to sell the house, but then again, it would be a fresh start for all of them. As she glanced around her home once more, she realized that there weren’t any spaces in her house that didn’t carry a memory of Christopher.

Her skin rose in goosebumps as she remembered some of the events that had transpired right there on that kitchen table.…

* * *

W
hen dinner was ready
, Raina went for the mail and saw an official looking letter bearing her name. Her stomach clenched. She was so used to bills and threats of legal action, that every official looking letter gave her the jitters.

As she read the letter, Raina grew more puzzled and her brow furrowed.

It was a notice telling her that the children were the recipients of the “Better World” Children’s Scholarship fund. The letter was from an accounting firm but contained very little information beyond that. It stated that each child’s tuition and all other school expenses would be covered by the fund for the rest of their lives. If they wanted to go to college or graduate school, that would be covered as well.

The letter was puzzling and her initial instinct was to toss it in the garbage, thinking it had to be an elaborate scam. Still, she started searching online for more information, and while she couldn’t find any information at all about the “Better World” Scholarship fund, she did find information on the accounting firm of Parker & Pierson, and her eyes widened at the impressive clients they represented.

The Del Mar group was one of their clients.
Suddenly it was making a bit more sense. Was this the hotel’s version of hush money? Something to make her go quietly, but without having to admit they were wrong about accusing her of theft.

Raina shook her head, balling the letter up in her fist with anger. Her instinct was to toss it directly into the trash. But, suddenly, the thought of the private school Martha had mentioned near the B&B floated into her brain.

Raina pinched herself back to reality. She was getting ahead of herself. She hadn’t even made an offer on the B&B yet.

Yet.
The corner of her lip lifted at that word.
Yet.
She realized her subconscious was telling her that she was indeed planning on making an offer.

The future for them seemed so bright—if only Christopher could have been a part of it ... But no. Raina shoved that traitorous thought aside. What was wrong with her that she was still so hung up on that jerk? She sighed heavily.

“What’s wrong Aunty?” Chantal was watching her with big eyes, playing with her long black braids.

“Nothing, sweetie … just a lot of things I’m thinking about.” Raina decided to broach the subject on her mind. “How would you feel about moving houses?” She said with a degree of nervousness.

She looked at her nephew and nieces and felt as though she would drown in the love she felt for them. If they were opposed to the idea, she would have to scrap it. There was no way she could uproot them again so soon after their parent’s death without their permission.

“Where to, Aunty?” Chantal asked.

“Why?” Crystal said in the same breath as her sister.

“Well, I’m thinking of buying a bed and breakfast. I saw one today that I think might be a good home for us. It has an apartment on the third floor. We could all live there and I would be downstairs all the time while I worked.”

“What’s a bed and breakfast?” Jeremiah asked.

“It’s like a small hotel, where guests pay to sleep and eat,” Raina explained, “but instead of being big and grand like the Del Mar, it’s small and cozy, and there are only a few people who stay there, and I would be running it almost all by myself.”

“Would I have to help out?” Crystal said, making a face.

“Only if you want to,” Raina smiled.

“I would like to help out over the weekends,” Chantal said. “
If
you pay me,” she added.

Crystal shoved her. “We will help Aunty Raina. You don’t have to pay us.”

“You might have to change schools again,” Raina warned. The twins shrugged in unison.

“There’s way too much drama at the school we’re at now.” One of the girls said by way of voicing her approval.

“As long as the new school has a soccer team,” Jeremiah said.

“And I would get a
new
best friend,” Crystal said. “Shanise can go jump off a bridge.”

“It would be wonderful if you made up with Shanise, sweetheart. It’s not good to leave without making up with her. She was your first friend here when everyone else was unfriendly.”

Crystal had the grace to look ashamed and Raina patted her head. Still, she was glad that her little family approved of her plan.