Seeing they might have figured out their clue, Hattie rushed over. “That can’t be right. Why would they be discovered and blunder? What does that even mean?”
Hattie looked to Grant for approval. It was indeed correct, but he wouldn’t give it away. As soon as they extracted the blue tiles from the natural ones in order, they would have an important key.
“The clock!” Emily yelled out in her excitement at finally placing her tune. “Westminster chimes.” She rushed to the grandfather clock next to the library French doors and began inspecting every inch. Eventually, she found a hidden keypad in the back of the clock. None of the codes they’d found so far worked to open it, but when Jaden figured out their code, she was able to open the casing.
Grant checked the time rigged into the grandfather clock that ran backwards in a countdown. They were clipping right along at a pretty good pace. This was going to work.
Using the code, Emily and Finn accessed the clock’s hidden compartment. Inside, they found a battered journal tied with a strip of leather, scraps of yellowed paper, actual door keys instead of padlocks and codes, and a sheaf of manila folders with paper-clipped photos and bios. This was Grant’s favorite part of the challenge, where participants discussed the various characters, pairing the dossiers with the clues they pulled together from around the room—like the map, if they paid any attention to it. Easter eggs from his books were hidden as well.
The group weighed their options. Finn argued for the library, as Grant and his planning team assumed most players would do, but Emily put forth a compelling-enough debate that the group chose one of the two “boring” doors. It opened into what looked like a mechanical room in a warehouse. Even though it was like stepping into a whole different world, it was the best choice they could have made.
“Nice job, son.” Mr. Wood clapped Grant on the shoulder as he passed by. “Just the right balance of spy thriller and party game.” His voice turned grave. “But you are certain we will be safe in there? I don’t want Mrs. Bates to catch pneumonia.”
“Yes, Mr. Wood. I made sure the temperature would be comfortable, and there’s a sitting area as well.”
“What about chemical or biological warfare?” Mr. Wood’s voice was teasing. “Should we be concerned?” Was that a laugh Mr. Wood covered up with a cough?
Grant’s eyes flicked to his and found mirth and mischief there. Had he been teasing him this whole time? “Well . . . there might be.” Was it possible that Mr. Wood’s hypochondria was a cover for other, real concerns—say, a bit of paranoia? His concern about everyone’s health might just be his way of protecting them. “There is that one place,” Grant joked back. “If they choose to open the wrong door, there might be some red smoke.”
“Nice.” Mr. Wood nodded appreciatively. As he walked from the doorway toward the sitting area, he still didn’t put any weight on his cane.
“I picked up on something myself,” Grant said quietly enough it was just between the two of them. Mr. Wood stopped, eyebrows raised, and Grant nodded at the cane. “You don’t need that.” It wasn’t a question, but he paused in case he might comment. He didn’t. “I noticed at the St. Patrick’s Day parade that you were more concerned about observing the crowd than health problems or weather issues.” Mr. Wood’s polite and interested expression never changed—which told Grant he was right. Grant gave a significant nod. “Eureka Springs, Arkansas isn’t a bad place to remain hidden from the world, if you take certain precautions.”
“Sounds like you know a thing or two about being recognized.” The flicker in Henry’s eye told Grant he’d hit the nail on the head. A lifetime of working CIA might have made Mr. Wood some dangerous enemies. If pretending to be worried about health kept him out of public spaces and big crowds—for his own sake as well as for his family—Grant couldn’t fault the man.
They made it to the seating area, and Mr. Wood sat down with a loud sigh. “Ah! Thank you,” he said loud enough to include the two Bates women. “You’re very considerate to have thought of this.” He waved to the couches so out of place in a warehouse setting.
“He is so very considerate.” Miss Bates took up the subject like it was a ball of yarn he’d let go of. “Mr. Robbins is so thoughtful. Just as your Emily is, of course. That was fun when she brought by movie theater popcorn for our favorite show the other night. She is always so kind, so generous with her time and patience. I’ve never met a woman so big-hearted as your Emily—well, except maybe my niece, Jaden.”
Miss Bates continued her chatter to Mr. Wood as she situated her mother’s wheelchair and sat down again. So much for getting more than one age group’s feedback on the escape room experience. They weren’t participating much.
After his three older guests were situated, Grant managed to get next to Emily. Finn had rushed over to the grandfather clock to help her figure out the code, and from then on, he’d been stuck like a barnacle on her side. Now, miraculously, Emily stood alone, inspecting the notches on a pipe that weren’t as random as they were supposed to appear at first glance. She was quick. And she smelled amazing—coconut, pineapple, and carefree summer days. If only he could whisk her off to some tropical island away from distractions and deadlines and bad memories.
He took a cleansing breath and pulled himself together. Finn and Jaden had their heads together in a conversation that likely had nothing to do with the escape room. “Do you think there’s something going on between them?” He nodded toward the couple.
Emily looked over, and the lines around her eyes hardened. She pressed her lips together and gave her head a terse shake. “No,” she said decidedly. “I don’t think so. Why wouldn’t they just show it if there was?”
“Shy?” Grant lifted his palm in question. “Afraid of rejection? Maybe they enjoy the intrigue and mystery? It’s fun to have a secret relationship.”
“So you’re trying your hand at matchmaking now?” She wrinkled her nose at him as if blaming him for something, but he couldn’t imagine what. “I guess I could see Jaden crushing on Finn, but I don’t think he feels the same.” She shook her head again, and then laughed dryly. “You might want to stick to setting up your characters where you can control the outcome.”
From what he observed, Jaden and Finn were falling in love, and nothing Emily said about it would change his mind. Obviously, Emily didn’t want to see it. If she did, she’d have to give up on the idea that Finn was hers.
Giving the folders and paper clues to Mr. Wood and Miss Bates to comb for pertinent information, the rest of the group fanned out again to take inventory. They gathered a few things and brought them to the seating area to go over what they’d collected.
“Now that everyone’s had a chance to look at the clues, let’s brainstorm what we need to do next.” Emily waved the stack of dossier folders. “Who do you think we should trust? Who do you not trust at all?”
Finn took the folders from her hand, and she flushed, looking down where their hands must have touched. She had it bad for him. Grant’s heart ached. It was unfortunate that he’d never felt a spark of interest in Jaden. It would have made things so much easier for everyone involved.
Finn did little more than glance at the top sheet in the first folder. “I think I know who did it and who to trust, but I want to hear your thoughts before I tell you.” Finn’s authoritative tone sounded like he didn’t actually want any input. He just wanted to prove he was right.
“Exactly,” Emily agreed. “Finn and I solved all the puzzles in the last room. I want the rest of you to have fun too. So, we’re going to go around the circle. When it’s your turn, contribute one point that no one else has said. If you can’t think of one, then reiterate the two facts you think are most compelling and why.”
“Because if you don’t have anything to contribute—” Finn took over where she stopped.
“—then why are you even here?” Emily jumped in quickly to finish his question. But would Finn have actually said that?
They laughed, t
he sound so out of place in the silent company, so loud it echoed in the cavernous space. They had to be joking, but that didn’t take away the sting. It felt like a betrayal. The comment hadn’t been directed at him personally, but high school rejections he’d thought he’d been over stabbed him in the gut once again.
Frozen with horror, Grant ought to intervene. Escape rooms weren’t supposed to make anyone feel dumb. They should be the opposite—a way to build up a team, make each player feel smart, and foster good relationships between friends and family. This was backfiring.
Across the circle from Emily, Miss Bates raised a trembling hand. “Umm . . . Miss Emily?” She pressed her shaking fingertips to her lips. “I’m sure I don’t have anything intelligent to say.” She swallowed, her eyes filling with tears. “Should I go back upstairs?” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t be here. I just came because I thought— Mr. Robbins—” She gave up and clamped her mouth shut, her lip quivering as much as her hand had been.
Emily’s face paled, her expression pained. “That’s not what I meant, dear Miss Bates. We want you here. I just meant to say . . .” Though her tone had started out bright and shiny as brass, by the end, her tone dimmed and her words eventually faltered.
“We were joking.” Finn didn’t sound as apologetic as he should have. “Everyone can participate. Share what you’re thinking; you never know what might be helpful.”
Though Grant wasn’t sure that was what either of them had actually said, it was a fairly decent save. And Grant wanted so much to think the best of Emily.
Tensions high but unwilling to quit the game, the group pressed on. Jaden offered an idea first, and Hattie reiterated a couple of the major points with common-sense observations. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Wood pointing them the right direction, they all might have gone home right then.
They broke from the circle, Finn with Emily, and Jaden with her aunt. Between working with Emily or Hattie, the choice was easy. Grant left Emily to stew alone and followed Hattie to a series of cogs and circular door locks. She twisted a knob around. Over and over, it slipped without catching.
“If clockwise doesn’t work . . .” Grant said, not finishing the suggestion.
Despite his words, she continued turning the knob the same way. The lack of clicking or pressure should have been her clue that something was wrong. The knob was important, but she had to do something different.
“. . . maybe try something else?” Because she hadn’t figured it out on her own, he finished the suggestion.
“You mean, if I go counterclockwise?” With the flick of her wrist, the crank grabbed the gears underneath and started a mechanical chain reaction they couldn’t have done without.
Eventually working together, the group solved the puzzle, saved the prince, and climbed a hidden stone staircase. When they emerged from behind a bookcase, they met Mrs. Bates and her wheelchair in Grant’s main-floor library.
“That was so fun!” Jaden gushed as she exited the eerily lit stairwell back into reality. She rushed to greet her grandmother in a hug. “What did you think, Granny? Did you like it?”
Mrs. Bates didn’t respond, of course. No one expected her to. Miss Bates, however, answered in her place. “I never could have done this on my own. I’m not as clever as you are, my dear Jaden. But I did have fun. Yes, and it was so kind of Mr. Grant to invite me, was it not? And so kind to Mother.”
“I don’t know if any of us could have done it alone,” Jaden said. “I think that’s the whole point. Just when you assume you have it figured out, some twist throws you off, you know?” Jaden smiled at Finn, and then turned away. “It makes me want to read Grant’s books now, too. I bet there’s a lot I missed.”
The guests began to leave, most of them piling into the car Grant had hired to take the Bates women and Mr. Wood downtown.
“I’m sorry it’s so late.” Grant held the car door open. “If you give the driver your exact address, he’ll take you home,” he reassured Miss Bates. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Does anyone else want a ride?” Finn looked specifically at Jaden. “Can I drop you off?”
“Sure.” Jaden blushed. “You might as well drop Hattie too. She lives a block from me.”
A light that had been on Finn’s face faded. “Sounds good.” Maybe it took a guy to hear the disappointment in his tone, because the women didn’t seem to notice. “You ready?”
In less than five minutes, and without a word of goodbye to Emily, the guests left. Left Grant alone with her. How could they pick up the pieces of their fractured evening?
Grant hadn’t had the chance to offer refreshments. He hadn’t had the opportunity to hear their thoughts about the escape room. He’d hoped they would hash out all the details, excited about their narrow escape in the race against time. But they hadn’t felt that. Was the scenario and setup that bad? Was it too long or too hard, and they didn’t want to tell him, or had Emily made them feel that uncomfortable with her comment? If only she’d been more considerate. If she’d weighed her words before spewing ill-timed, clumsily worded jokes.
Grant rounded on her, knowing he wore his frustration and disappointment for her to see. “How could you say that, Emily? How could you make poor Miss Bates feel so bad about being here? You may not have wanted her, but all she wants is friends. She’s lonely taking care of her mother all day. The only interaction with other people she ever gets is when she goes to Highbury. When she talks, she’s trying to make a connection, and . . . she admires you.” He’d been about to say “for some reason,” but that wasn’t kind, right, or even true. “She was my guest.” And he hadn’t protected her.
Grant clenched and unclenched his fists, and set his jaw so he wouldn’t say more. A few silent seconds ticked by. He took in her beautiful green eyes, her perfectly symmetrical features, her thick, wavy golden hair. Maybe her physical perfection didn’t match the person she was inside. “I thought you were better,” he whispered.
Better than she’d been in high school. Better than the mean girls she’d hung out with. Better than a stranger who didn’t know or care about Miss Bates and her mother. Better than what she’d shown.
Neither of them looked away from the other. Neither said another word.
A single tear trickled down the side of her cheek, taking several seconds to travel to her jawline. Grant’s heart ripped in two. He hadn’t meant to make her cry. For all his venting about how she could have behaved, the compassion she should have shown, he’d done the exact same thing to her. Just before the tear dropped onto her blouse, Grant lifted his hand and brushed it away from her jaw with his thumb.
He too had known better, and all he had done was make things worse.
Without another word, Emily turned away, gathered her jacket and purse from Mrs. Hodges in the foyer, and left, the door clicking softly behind her.
17
The morning after the escape room fiasco, Emily woke wishing she had the stomach flu. That would have felt better than the regret souring her insides. Emotional hurt was so much more painful, especially when it was compounded with shame and guilt. Every single feeling that pressed upon her this morning was her own fault. She’d let herself get carried away in the excitement of the challenge and the devastation of her disappointment. How had Grant caught a connection between Jaden and Finn when she hadn’t? She hadn’t wanted it to be there, didn’t want Hattie being disappointed again, didn’t want to be wrong.
And because of that, she’d been more than wrong. She’d been cruel.
Unable to sleep any longer, she made decisions. In fifteen minutes, she was dressed, had her hair pulled back in a ponytail, had light makeup applied to cover the circles under her eyes, and made her way to the Highbury Independent Living Center, hoping Miss Bates would be there this early in the morning.
The misty spring air was heavier than her heart, which she hadn’t thought possible. Grant Robbins was right in his censure. She’d seen the disdain in his eyes when he’d looked at
her. The friendship she’d hoped was progressing to something more was gone. Every trace had disappeared during the game. She was appalled by her insensitive, uncharitable words. How had she let her pride get the better of her? She couldn’t blame Grant for wanting nothing to do with her.
Although she didn’t want to, it would be possible to avoid Grant—for the most part. But Miss Bates was another story. Every time Emily went to visit her father, Miss Bates would be there. Emily couldn’t leave things as they’d been the previous night—for anyone’s sake. She would always be uncomfortable, her father would have difficulty forgiving her, and it wasn’t fair to Miss Bates.
Emily walked into the old Highbury Hotel, relieved that at nine o’clock on a Saturday morning, the main recreation room was practically empty. Thankfully, Miss and Mrs. Bates were there.
Emily made her way around tables to where the Bates women sat near a cheery, crackling fire. She stopped and rested a hand on the back of the chair between them. “Good morning, Miss Bates.” Emily smiled tentatively, feeling like an employee about to be fired.
“Good morning, Miss Emily.” Miss Bates’s return greeting was as warm as the fire.
“Mind if I sit?” Emily motioned to the chair but made no move to do so without permission.
“He’s upstairs in his apartment talking to someone.” Miss Bates did not explain who he was, but Emily assumed it was her father.
“That’s okay. I . . . came to see you. If you don’t mind.”
“That’s so kind, but then you’re always so kind.”
The response was a punch to the gut, but a feeling she deserved. Miss Bates’s words, on the other hand, were nowhere near justified. Accepting Miss Bates’s graciousness, however, Emily walked around the chair and sat, placing her hands between her knees.
“I suppose you’re here to congratulate Jaden on getting her job.” Miss Bates twisted in her seat, probably to see if Jaden was in the room, but then sat forward again and stared into the fire with sad eyes.
The Matchmaker's Billionaire (Billionaire Bachelor Mountain Cove Book 2) Page 15
