“Yes.”
“I’m going to have to talk to the couple.”
Katy’s heart sunk. “You can’t do that.”
“It’s rather pertinent that I find out if they know anyone they think could do this.”
“You’re going to call a bride the night before her wedding and tell her that the hall has been destroyed?”
“Do you want my help with this or not?”
Katy really debated the answer to that. On one hand, she wanted to find the person who did this and make them suffer. On the other, she knew the longer she waited to start to clean up, the harder it would be to get things presentable in time.
“All right. We’ll go to my office and I’ll make the call with you on speakerphone.” She could break the news gently while offering her assurances that even if they didn’t have the chairs, linens, and centerpieces that the couple picked out, the food would be great and the flowers were still safely in the cooler. She would make this wedding work. This couple would have a once in-a-lifetime experience, even if the inn made absolutely no money.
Her head pounded as she realized how absurd the thought was. Of course the inn wasn’t going to make any money. They were going to lose thousands after she had to cover the damages to the vendors and make sure the Carriage House was back to normal. Insurance covered natural disasters and theft, not vandalism. When she’d picked the policy, she’d seen no need for anything more.
“Have there been any other incidents like this?” asked Dan as they approached the inn.
“Of course not. I would’ve called you first thing if someone had hurt the inn.”
“What about something more subtle? Annoying things you never thought about but didn’t make sense.”
Katy rolled her eyes. Dan needed to realize that she knew everything about her baby and if anything had gone wrong... “Wait.” She stopped and turned to face the sheriff. “There was a leak in the roof today. It was strange because we just had the roof redone two years ago. The construction people came out tonight to take a look and give an estimate. They didn’t say anything seemed off about it.”
Dan raised a brow. “Maybe it would be worthwhile to ask them again.”
She added it to her list even as the implication hit her. Was someone trying to sabotage the inn? Why? They had been in sync with the town and the locals for decades. There had never even been one disagreement. So what the hell was happening?
Katy should be tired. It was twelve thirty and she was never up this late anymore. A sad state for someone in their twenties, but it was what it was.
But instead of going to bed, she was just getting started with a long night of work. The tables had been cleared. The ruined tablecloths were separated from the tablecloths that managed to avoid the destructive path of the red paint.
Same with the silverware. Once she had everything separated, it didn’t seem as bad. Five of the twenty tablecloths had been ruined. The silverware was probably salvageable. But once the tables were clear, she’d needed to move all the tables and chairs aside. The good news was that the tile floor had an intense clear coat over the tiles and grout, so it was possible to scrub the red away. The bad news was that it took some elbow grease.
In fact, the only part of the building that got hit that she couldn’t wash the red out of was the windows. Those would take the longest to work on and would need the most precision, so she decided to leave the floors for later and headed over to the first of the windows that had gotten sprayed. There were ten windows on each side of the Carriage House; one side was untouched while the other side had gotten sprayed on seven of the panels. She worked on setting the supplies in front of her. The supply closet was pretty well stocked. There was a drop cloth that was about a hundred square feet, a few used paintbrushes and, most importantly, the extra white paint that had been used to paint the trim.
Unfortunately, the gallon paint can had been used at some point and was caked shut with white paint. Katy ran the screwdriver along the edge and tried to pry the top loose, but all she managed to do was send the screwdriver flying upward with the momentum of her failed attempt as she fell back on her ass.
“Want me to help?”
Katy was on her feet in a heartbeat, not sure whether she actually stood or whether she had jumped up in fright. Nathan didn’t look the slightest bit guilty for sneaking up on her. Even though it was well past midnight, he wore the same jeans and green sweater he’d been in earlier. His hair was slicked back as though he’d run some water through it, and she had no idea how she was going to deal with him and the mess in front of her.
“I don’t want...” She didn’t want him to help, but damn, the idea seemed nice. She had called Sean and Sheila and a few other staff members, but no one had answered. It was either too late or they weren’t around their phones.
Luckily Nathan didn’t wait for her to swallow her pride and beg him for assistance. He simply got onto his knees and grabbed the screwdriver. After a few good pushes and a curse word or two, the lid popped off for him.
“I would’ve been embarrassed if it was too easy,” said Katy as she watched him gingerly set the top of the paint can on the drop cloth, dry side facing down.
“So where do I start?” He glanced at her over his shoulder.
She wasn’t going to let her pride get in the way. He was offering to help and a couple’s wedding day was at stake. “I don’t have time to tape off the windows, so I should do the painting. It needs a steady hand, and if white paint gets on the windows, I’ll have no one to blame but myself. Can you get started on the floors? The coating is strong, so scrub as hard as you need to. I grabbed some of the industrial scrubbers from the closet. They’re over there.”
“All right.”
For a few seconds, Katy just watched as Nathan obediently got up, grabbed a sponge and the bucket of soapy water she had all ready, and immediately got on his hands and knees and started to scrub. It was so strange to think of Nathan Farrell scrubbing her floors. Had Nathan ever scrubbed floors before? Maybe that was a classist thought to have. But it wasn’t as though she judged Victoria for being rich. Even though Nathan and Victoria were in the same income bracket, they couldn’t be more different...
Katy snapped out of it and remembered there was a massive job ahead of her. If Nathan was on his hands and knees scrubbing, she needed to get to work too.
After a few minutes, the white paint was all mixed and she was using the small brush to go over the small wooden borders of the panels of the windows. The coating of paint didn’t completely cover the red, but it made a huge difference. Katy bet that if she did one more coat, it would look great. If she could get the two coats done by three or four in the morning, then it would be dry enough for her to wash the red paint off the glass itself without the water interfering with the drying too much, and it wouldn’t be noticeable at all.
After about thirty minutes of silence, she heard movement behind her and glanced over to see Nathan standing and stretching. She was about to go back to painting when she realized he’d hooked his fingers in the hem of his sweater and was pulling it up and over his head.
Of course, right as she was truly enjoying the way he filled out the t-shirt that had to be one size too small for all those muscles, he looked over and met her eyes. She whipped her head around so fast she came an inch away from running her paintbrush completely across the window.
“It’s too quiet,” said Nathan, thankfully not calling her out for staring.
“I can’t really talk while doing this.” She went back to painting as though she never stopped.
“I know. But can we put on some music or something?”
“Uhhh... I have some music on my phone, but nothing you would like.”
“What makes you think you know what I like?”
“Uhhh...” Katy carefully stepped off the stool she’d been standing on and set the paintbrush and can on top of the stool. “Well, I have eclectic taste. There’s pop and electronic and metal—
”
“Metal?”
“Not a lot but a song or two.”
He shook his head. “Just put it on shuffle. If I don’t like a song, I’ll tell you. This will help us work longer. I read a study about working late nights and music was a big factor.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s why all the employees got headphones and a small desk speaker as a Christmas present from corporate last year. We started a music-friendly workplace. As long as it’s not loud enough to interfere with anyone else’s workspace, it’s encouraged.”
It was a strange reminder of how much things had changed since the last time she’d been around Nathan. He wasn’t a carefree kid who had just graduated from a prestigious high school. He was a business owner. After his father had died, he’d inherited part ownership of the company. It was hard to imagine that kind of responsibility. Katy ran the inn, which had twenty-five employees between full-timers, part-timers, seasonal help, and a few contractors she dealt with. Nathan dealt with thousands of employees and clients.
She pulled out her phone and put her entire playlist on shuffle. There would probably be something embarrassing that would come on sooner or later, but there was much less shame when someone was doing her this big of a favor at one in the morning.
Once again they fell into a rhythm. He worked diligently on the floors while she went over the windows. She’d gotten the hang of the pattern and strokes, so it seemed to go faster. Maybe Nathan was right. She was almost painting in time with the music, making the work just flow by. Soon enough she was done with the entire first coat.
She set the paint down as she stepped back to admire her handiwork.
“That looks great.” Nathan stood.
“It’s amazing what a difference something so small can make.” It was dark, so the red on the glass was barely visible and the Carriage House was beginning to look like its old self. “How’s the floor coming along?”
“I think it’s going well. There were a few stubborn spots, but the rest has come off really easy.”
She pivoted around to look at the floor, and there was hardly any sign of the destruction that had been there earlier. “That’s amazing,” she breathed. She tried to imagine doing all that scrubbing herself in between coats, and the very thought made her exhausted. She still had to get into the basement storage to find some suitable linens to put on the tables that were now naked. There was a chance she could get the vendor to deliver a few of the same tablecloths that had been stained to replace the ruined ones, but she wanted to have an option B ready. Same with the chairs. Then she’d have to place all the tables back and redecorate them.
Yep, it was a damn good thing that Nathan had shown up.
The song switched from an upbeat pop song to the gentle strumming of a guitar as the gravelly tones of a country singer started to sing a love song.
“I never pegged you for a country girl,” said Nathan with a sideways smile.
“Don’t make fun of my country,” she said even as she crossed to her phone to skip over the song.
“No.” He reached out and set a hand on her upper arm. She turned to him and he moved in closer. “I like it. It fits the mood.”
“Stressed and exhausted?”
He let out a small laugh even as he smoothly hooked an arm around the small of her back. “I was thinking...intimate,” he said softly into her ear as his other hand caught hers.
Katy didn’t know whether she was too tired to think straight or whether she was being seduced by the romantic song and setting, but when he started to rock to the music, she moved with him, letting him take her into the slow dance. When was the last time she’d slow danced with a man? Really slow danced...not with a relative or friend but with a man. Someone she knew wanted her? Someone she knew was touching her because they wanted to?
“I’m probably getting paint on you,” she said even as she rested her head against his chest. She’d long since kicked off her shoes, and barefoot, the height difference between them was even more noticeable.
“My white shirt can handle a little white paint.”
“What about the blue jeans?”
“Well, I suppose that’s the risk I take of having a beautiful woman in my arms.”
She smiled at the compliment. Apparently, at the moment, she was also much more susceptible to flattery. “This doesn’t mean anything,” she said. “I still can’t be with you.”
“It means a lot to me.” He rested his cheek against the top of her head.
Katy pressed her eyes closed and tried to memorize the moment. The heat of his body. His rough hand in hers. The faint smell of his soap and him. Maybe the situation wasn’t impossible. Maybe if they gave this whole couple thing another chance, they could actually—
The song switched to a thumping electronic beat and the dance stopped abruptly. “I bet some of the paint from earlier is ready for a second coat.” She untangled herself from him.
He didn’t try to pull her back, but he didn’t move either. “Back to work then?”
“Lots to do and not much time.” She moved the stool so she could reposition the drop cloth back where she’d started painting. No more slow dancing. No more fantasizing about what-ifs. This was the here and now, and she couldn’t afford to live life with her head in the clouds.
Nathan groaned as his phone buzzed on the nightstand. The damn thing was on vibrate. It shouldn’t be able to wake him up. Nothing should be able to wake him up at—he cracked open an eye to look at the digital clock next to his bed—eight thirty in the morning. That was early for him on a normal day, but he’d just crawled back into his room at five a.m. That meant three extremely short hours of sleep.
But all the annoyance in the world wasn’t shutting his stupid phone up. Nathan silenced the call, but it was too late. He was already up. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. The date hadn’t gone as planned, but he couldn’t help but feel satisfied. He’d done something. He’d made Katy see something she didn’t think she’d see. When he’d first gotten there, she’d seemed so closed to the idea of getting back together with him that he’d thought he might be packing it in sooner than he ever thought. Now he knew there was a chance.
And not just a one-in-a-million chance. A good, plausible chance that he could make this into something. No matter how many years had passed or how different they were, the electric chemistry was still there. Maybe once things calmed down, she’d be willing to go on an honest-to-goodness date.
Considering what happened yesterday, that wasn’t likely. From what Katy had told him, she had no clue why someone would trash the reception hall. And if she didn’t know anything, he was willing to bet the sheriff didn’t have anything to go on either.
The whole thing made him uncomfortable. Mainly because whoever had done this had made Katy’s life a lot harder, and Nathan took that as a personal offense against him as well. Except Katy wasn’t worried about herself. She was worried about the happiness of the couple and the happiness of the owner she kept on mentioning. The owner who also kept Katy so busy...
Nathan unlocked his phone and saw that it was Robert who had called. It was early, so that meant his brother was probably back in New York City instead of Hawaii where he lived most of the year these days. But that would have to wait. Instead, he called Deanna, Robert’s personal assistant, who was based in New York.
“Hello, Mr. Farrell,” she said after her phone had barely rung once. But that was Deanna. She was always at work at eight on the dot and had her shit together. She didn’t have a college degree but Nathan was pretty sure she was one of the smartest people in the building.
“Hey, Dee. I need some research done. Do you think you can squeeze in a project for me?”
“Of course. Just tell me what it is.”
“I’m staying at a property right now and I want to get in touch with the owners. Can you get me the name and contact information of the owner of the Seal Cove Inn? It’s right next to Bath, Maine.�
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“Not your usual neck of the woods.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Okay. Let me do some digging and I’ll get back to you soon.”
“Thanks. I owe you a lunch when we’re back in the city.”
She scoffed. “Don’t you owe me a few of those?”
“How about we make it one really expensive lunch?”
“Sounds like a deal. I’ll call you as soon as I have something.”
“Thanks.” He hung up and set the phone down. He was wide awake now, so he might as well get up. Katy probably hadn’t gone to bed at all.
After a quick shower, he pulled on his clean pair of jeans and a new sweater. He had brought enough casual clothes for a week and absolutely no suits. If he did have to get work done, it would probably be over the phone.
His room, the Blue Room, was on the third story. The views weren’t as good as the original suite that had been water damaged, but it still had a private balcony that overlooked the lawn and water. To his left, he could see the Carriage House, but not well enough to know whether there was anyone inside.
If he wanted answers, he’d have to go downstairs. Nothing seemed amiss as he made his way down the stairs. There was a kid he’d seen briefly yesterday behind the counter. Considering Nathan had barely spoken to him, he couldn’t start asking for information.
But if he could find Sheila... He turned to go deeper into the first level, but there wasn’t long to walk before he reached the restaurant. The main level was devoted mainly to the dining room, which he hadn’t tried yet, and there was one suite. It was always smart to have at least one room on the ground level.
He hadn’t seen any sign of Katy, and his growling stomach told him that it was past time for breakfast, so he decided to grab something real quick. Maybe he could get a table on the patio so he could keep an eye on the Carriage House.
The server was quick to give him the seat he wanted. There were more tables than rooms at the inn, which made him wonder how many outside diners they got a night. He couldn’t turn off the real estate side of his brain. He was so used to coming into places like this and evaluating every single aspect. This was small potatoes compared to the deals he normally brokered for the family.
Relentless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 5) Page 5
