by Angel Moore
“I have not agreed to hire you, Mr. Taylor.”
“Nathan. You must call me Nathan. I fear I’ll never be able to think of you as Miss Green. Not after all the years of calling you Charlotte.”
“Nathan.” The name rolled of her tongue with ease. She liked the sound of it. It was a strong and manly name. “I don’t see how I can offer you the job. Not with our history.”
He leaned over and lowered his voice. “Our history is that we were children together. Surely, as adults, we can overlook the things we did to one another in school. Maybe you could even find it in your heart to forgive me for tormenting you with my incessant teasing—and a frog.”
Michael’s voice drifted from the settee. “It’ll be fun, Sarah. You’ll see. Charlotte will take care of us. We won’t be orphans. Not like the ones who came through on the train last month.”
Nathan’s face blanched. “Go to them. Let me help you.”
She nodded and pointed to the corner of the parlor. “The journals are in the cabinet under the window. You may take everything except the black ledger on the top of the pile. That one contains our personal finances.”
He opened the cabinet door, and the journals tumbled onto the floor. He cut his eyes at her as he knelt and stacked them in some semblance of order.
“Sorry. I was in a hurry to find something and shoved them back into the cabinet when the registration desk bell rang.” Let him disapprove of her methods all he wanted. She didn’t have time to make the inside of her cabinets look like a museum of orderliness. She pointed to the lobby door. “You can leave that ajar and call me if you need anything.”
He picked up the journals and went through the doorway. “I’ll close it. You need some time with your family.”
The door closed, and she sank onto the settee with her sad brother and sister.
After hearing Gilbert Jefferson’s proposal, she was grateful anew for Momma’s constant protection from various suitors. She’d refused many young men who’d come to call on Charlotte. Anger had been Charlotte’s response on most of those occasions. Now that she had the responsibility for her siblings, she wondered if God had prompted her mother to issue those rejections. For so long, Charlotte had longed for a man to capture her heart and whisk her away to a romantic life filled with adventure.
Death and responsibility for two small children had turned her focus. She had no time for anything but Michael and Sarah and the hotel. Nothing would distract her. Nothing—and no one.
Sarah climbed into her lap, and Michael snuggled close to her side. They were a family. Even though their parents were gone, Charlotte wouldn’t let these two ever want for love and protection.
She’d protect the kids. And their future. Even if it meant letting Nathan Taylor manage Green’s Grand Hotel. But only long enough to teach her how to run the place on her own.
Chapter Two
“You look exhausted.” Nathan said the first thing that came to mind when Charlotte entered the lobby—and immediately regretted it. The afternoon had turned to evening while he’d studied the hotel records. He closed the last journal and added it to the stack on the shelf under the registration desk.
“Thank you.” She sidled up beside him and looked at the registration book.
“I’m sorry. I plead fatigue as the excuse for my lack of manners.”
“You’re forgiven because I don’t have the energy to argue with you tonight.”
“Are the kids asleep?” He didn’t see how she’d be able to handle the business and the children. His mother had always cared for him while his father worked. If Charlotte insisted on being both mother and father to the kids and keeping the hotel in top-notch order, he didn’t know how she’d manage.
“Finally. Poor Sarah cried herself to sleep. Again.” She closed the book and drew in a deep breath that echoed out as a sigh. “Michael is angry. He goes to sleep with the edge of the blanket clutched in his hands. Tension fills his little body. I think I’m more concerned for him than her.”
“It’s been a tough week. They’re young. They’ll adjust in time.”
“If only they didn’t have to.” Her brow furrowed in an expression she was much too young to wear. “Pa wanted the hotel to provide for us, but we’d give it all to have him back.”
He didn’t have an answer for her. He’d missed his mother terribly for months. Even after five years the scent of lilacs or hearing her favorite hymn in church brought back the pain of losing her.
He checked his pocket watch. Ten thirty. He snapped the cover shut and slid it into his vest pocket. “So, are we settled?”
“Huh?” She frowned. “Settled on what?”
“On my position as hotel manager.”
“I’ve been thinking about it all evening. I don’t like it.” She walked around the desk in the direction of the kitchen and turned back to face him. “After praying over it, I don’t know that I have a choice. Mr. Freeman apparently has the power to take possession of the hotel. My father wouldn’t be pleased if I gave away what he worked so hard to build.” She pulled her bottom lip inward. “Since you helped Pa make the arrangements for the changes, you’ll have a leg up on anyone else I could hire.”
“I know my business, Charlotte. You won’t regret it.” He knew she didn’t like him—in fact, could barely tolerate him. He wouldn’t let that keep him from helping her. “Your parents were excited about the changes they planned and the furnishings they ordered. I thought about how rewarding it would be for them to come back to Gran Colina and realize their dreams. I had no idea I’d be on hand to oversee it.” He knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he’d provoked her.
She bristled. “You will be here as the manager. I will have oversight of any changes.”
“Of course, I only meant—”
She held up one hand. “It doesn’t matter. As long as we understand each other.”
He swallowed his apology and tried to attribute her shortness to grief. “We do, as long as you realize that I know the hotel business better than anyone else you could hire. I commit to you that I’ll use all my knowledge and experience to help you fulfill your parents’ plans.”
“Fine.” Her curt nod was in time with the single-word response.
“Fine.” He lifted his jacket from the back of a chair near the desk. He’d removed it after the restaurant had closed and all the guests had returned to their rooms for the night. He slid his arms into the sleeves, hating the warmth of it on the hot August night.
Charlotte pointed over her shoulder at the kitchen door. “I’ve got some baking to do.”
“I have a question before you go.” Nathan came from behind the desk. “I’ll need to make living arrangements. Would you be interested in a suggestion that would save money for you?”
She clasped her hands together in front of her. “I would.”
“After looking over the journals and knowing the amount of the banknote—” Her breath caught on this revelation. “I only know the exact amount because your father noted it in the journal as a liability. He had shared much of the information with me when we were working on the orders.”
“I see. I hadn’t fully reviewed the journals. Every time I started to read them something distracted me.” She shrugged. “You probably already had an idea of the amount because of helping him order everything. I’m just not accustomed to anyone knowing our private business. It’s not the sort of thing Pa shared.”
“I promise you have my full confidence and discretion.”
“Thank you.” She twisted her hands. “What is your idea for saving money?”
“If there is a space in the hotel that could be allocated as my lodging, the amount I will need to earn can be greatly reduced.” He held up one finger. “On the provision that as the income increases my salary will move up incrementally. An event I expect to occur within two months of the renovat
ions.”
“What are the amounts that you have in mind?”
He took out his notebook, opened it to the page where he’d done his figures and passed it to her. “I would like the first amount to be my starting salary.” He pointed to a number on the next page. “This is the first raise in pay I propose.” She nodded, and he turned the page. “This is the salary I received at Turner Hotels. I’d like to reach that amount within the first four months of my employment.” Telling her everything up front was his preferred way, so he pointed at the final figure on the page. “This is my goal by the end of the first year.”
“That amount would be considered by most to be excessive.” She looked up from the notebook. “I can agree to the first amount. Maybe even the second, but these last two numbers are not justified for a place the size of our establishment.”
“You are correct. But by the time these later numbers would go into effect the hotel will be on a more stable, and profitable, footing.”
“I don’t want you to misunderstand, Nathan. I’m agreeing to let you manage and teach me the business, but I’ve made no commitment about a long-term arrangement.”
“Look at this.” He turned the page of his notebook to another section. “This profit is wholly achievable by the end of the first quarter after the changes I will propose are implemented.” Near the middle of the next page was another number. “This should be the profit at the end of the first year.”
Her eyes grew wide. Their blue color shone with the first glimmer of hope he’d seen in her. “How certain are you of this?”
Nathan nodded. “This is my field of expertise. When the hotel has grown this much, you’ll need me to stay.”
“That’s not a decision I can make right now.”
“I’ll make you a guarantee. If we are not within fifteen percent of these figures by the estimated dates, I’ll leave without contest.”
“And all I need to do is give you a room?”
“Yes. And agree to these amounts for my compensation.” He tapped the notebook and slipped it back into his pocket.
She leaned her head back and looked up the staircase. “Hmm... There’s a room at the top of the second staircase. It’s in the corner of the hotel. It’s part of the attic.” She pointed in the general direction. “Pa cleared it out a few weeks ago. Said he had something in mind for it, but he wouldn’t tell me what. It’s not much, but you’re welcome to it.”
“I’m sure it will do.” He reached behind the desk and retrieved his valise. “The rest of my things are at the train station. Not knowing where I’d be staying, I arranged for them to be stored. I can have them delivered tomorrow.” He began to climb the stairs.
“Wait.” Charlotte called him back. “The room is empty. You can’t stay there tonight. We’ll have to make arrangements for a bed and other furnishings tomorrow. I daresay we’ll find everything you need in the attic.” She pulled a key from the board behind the registration desk. “Stay in room eight for a couple of nights. It’s not our biggest room, but it’s one of our best. It will give you a sense of the lodgings through the eyes of a guest.”
He raised his brows. “That is the kind of thinking that can turn you into a successful hotelier, Charlotte Green.”
“If I don’t get to the baking, there’ll be no bread for tomorrow.” She handed him the key and let her hand rest on the post at the bottom of the stairs. “Please remember that I’m not making any promises about the future.”
“I won’t forget.”
“Good night, Nathan.”
“Good night, Charlotte.” He tossed the key into the air and caught it. “I hope you rest well. I know the happenings of today did not go as you expected, but I trust you won’t be sorry in the months and years to come.”
He watched her walk into the kitchen, and then he headed up the stairs. Room eight was nice. Not fancy or new like the rooms at Turner Hotels, but well cared for and clean.
Green’s Grand Hotel had the foundations of a good business. A lot of hard work and some savvy changes could make it into a fine establishment capable of holding its own against any competition that could choose to make Gran Colina its home.
As difficult as the changes would be to implement, he knew the hardest part of his new job would be working with Charlotte. She’d intrigued him when they’d sat near each other in school, but the Charlotte he’d encountered today carried the weight of newfound responsibilities. And he’d grown out of his boyish ways that teased a girl to get her attention.
All his time and concentration had to be spent on his job. Women were a distraction that could keep a man from attaining his goals. His feeble attempts to court the Turners’ granddaughter had left him without a deserved promotion and stuck in a job surrounded by people who no longer wanted him there.
He wouldn’t make the mistake of mixing work and his personal feelings again. No. He was convinced God didn’t want him to marry. And he was fine with that. Love was painful. He wasn’t willing to expose himself to the inevitable hurt and shame that he’d experienced by pursuing a woman. Any woman.
Not even one with blue eyes as clear as the noon sky in summer.
* * *
The gentle babbling of the river that ran beside the cemetery faded away. The shadowy stranger who held her hand and walked with her disappeared into the morning mist. The sounds of hammering that nailed tight the lid on her father’s coffin pounded into her brain. She clutched her ears and screamed. Relentless knocking dragged Charlotte from her dream.
Sarah ran into her room. “Charlotte!” she cried, and climbed onto the bed.
Charlotte pushed her hair out of her face and shushed her little sister. “It’s okay, Sarah. I’m sorry I frightened you. It was just an old dream.”
The knocking started again. Nathan’s muffled voice sounded in the distance. Charlotte jumped out of bed and tied on her robe as she sailed across the parlor to the door connecting to the hotel. She eased it open only enough to see him.
“Is everything okay? I heard screaming.”
“Yes. I’m sorry. It was a bad dream.” Sarah came up beside her, thumb in her mouth, and tugged on Charlotte’s robe.
Nathan bent at the waist and eyed the girl through the narrow opening. “Are you okay, Sarah?”
Her sister didn’t speak but nodded her head.
“I’m glad. Dreams can be scary, but I always feel better when I wake up.” Nathan was being kind. Charlotte had no intention of telling him that the screams he’d heard were hers.
Sarah shook her head from side to side in an exaggerated motion. “I didn’t have a dream.” She pointed up at Charlotte. “Sissy did.”
Nathan tilted his head up to her and then back down to Sarah. “Did you go to her room and make sure she was okay?”
She nodded, the thumb back in her mouth.
He looked back at Charlotte and stood without losing her gaze. “I’m glad to see you’re in such good hands.” He lifted one hand to the middle of his chest and pointed in a way that only she could see. “Do you think you could get dressed and help me with this crowd?”
One glance over his shoulder revealed a large group of people in the lobby. Her eyes closed. “Oh, no. That’s the group of mayors that Oscar Livingston invited to town. I’m sorry I overslept. I’ll be ready in a jiffy.”
“Um...” He pointed up at her head with the same hand. “You might want to do something with your hair.”
“Oh! You!” She gasped and closed the door in his face. The sound of his laughter echoed through the door.
Fifteen minutes later the kids were sitting at the table in the hotel kitchen with a stack of pancakes to share. Charlotte left them with Inez Atkins, the cook, and her daughter.
“You children listen to Mrs. Atkins and Bertha. I need you both to be dears today.”
Sarah swirled her bite of pancake through a lake of ca
ne syrup. “Will you let us have candy today?” She lifted her fork, and syrup dripped down the front of her dress as she tried to poke the oversize bite into her mouth.
“No promises.” Charlotte wiped the child’s mouth, laughed and left the room.
Several of the mayors were seated in groups around the lobby. Nathan stood behind the desk listening to a rather stocky man with a loud voice who held a fat cigar between two fingers.
“I’m sorry, sir. The room you requested is occupied. I’m happy to put you in a similar accommodation and guarantee no dissatisfaction to you.” Nathan’s voice was measured and professional. None of the emotion she imagined he felt carried into his tone.
“I don’t want a similar room. I want that room. I’ve stayed in that very room on every visit to Gran Colina since this hotel opened twenty years ago. Charles always gave me room eight.”
Charlotte recognized the guest’s voice. “Mr. Thornhill, it’s so good to have you back with us.” She smiled at the man when he turned to her. Nathan looked over the guest’s shoulder and mouthed an apology. “Please forgive me for not having your room ready. I gave out the key to that room just last evening. I will personally see that things are moved around and your room is ready within the hour.” She tucked her hand into his arm and turned him toward the restaurant. “Won’t you come and enjoy a late breakfast while you wait? Our treat for the inconvenience.”
Mr. Thornhill patted her hand. “That sounds wonderful. Does your mother still make the lightest pancakes a man ever could eat?”
His question was innocent, and sweet, but her pain was deep and sharp. “I’m sorry to have to tell you that my parents were killed in a train wreck on Monday.”
He stopped in the middle of the lobby. “Oh, my dear. How dreadful for your family. Is there anything I can do for you or the young ones?”
