Chapter 3 #3
The front door opened beside us, and a waft of cool air came in with a new customer. Aaron from breakfast locked eyes with me and my stomach did a little flip. The rest of my tablemates, however, seemed to react differently. Their smiles deflated and morphed into immediate scowls.
“You again,” he said to me with a glint in his eye.
Holly’s eyes snapped to mine. “You know this chump?”
“Uh, we met at breakfast this morning,” I explained, confused by her sudden hostility. “At the Christmas Creek Inn.”
Holly folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, so now you’re staying at the Christmas Creek. Did the Holly Jolly Inn throw you out?”
Aaron took a deep breath and stayed calm. “I’m staying a few nights at several establishments to get a taste of the local—”
Holly cut him off. “Whatever, Mr. Wall Street.”
“I’m not a stockbroker. I’m a hotel manager.” He kept his voice low, like he didn’t want a scene.
Holly, however, didn’t mind. “Okay, corporate guy, then.”
“It’s a family-owned business,” Aaron said flatly.
Ellison muttered, “Yeah, of thirty-four hotels.”
Aaron narrowed his eyes at him. “Our success doesn’t make us bad.”
“No, just a bad fit for Christmasville,” Holly said. “We are the home of holiday-themed independent businesses. This is no place for an impersonal, generic hotel chain that you could find off any highway.”
“It won’t be generic. We will—”
She put a hand up. “Don’t want to hear it, Suit Man.”
He sighed, turned on the heel of his designer loafers, and left the bakery. Poor dude didn’t even get to grab a sandwich.
“That was kind of mean,” I said.
Ellison shrugged. “I don’t know. Suit Man has a nice ring to it. And why does he wear suits all the time? Is he in the world’s longest business meeting?”
“He probably just wants to appear professional,” I said, though I didn’t know why I was defending him. I barely knew him.
Holly gave me a look. “You’re just sticking up for him because he’s a fine-looking man.”
Welp, she may have had me there. Between Ellison and Aaron, this town was like a hot guy buffet.
Carol spoke up. “As you may have been able to put together from that embarrassing scene, Mr. Chambers is in town to determine if a land buy in Christmasville is the right move for his family’s chain of hotels.
And you, Mr. Shaw and Ms. Hernandez, should be ashamed of the way you treated him.
Everyone in the café overheard that, and it may taint their feelings about the supposed friendly magic we have in Christmasville. ”
“Sorry, Mayor,” Ellison said, properly chastised.
“Oh, Carol,” Holly said with a sigh. “You know how protective I get of this town. And I feel like he’s bad news.”
Carol fiddled with her coffee cup. “You know, a big hotel could bring even more people to town.”
I thought about the Christmas Creek Inn and Grace, the sweet owner. “Or it could bankrupt the small inns that give Christmasville its charm.”
“See?” Holly pointed a finger at me. “New Girl gets it.”
Carol nodded along like she’d heard this argument a thousand times before. “Well, we don’t even know if they’ve decided to buy or not.”
In an awkward attempt to change the subject, Ellison turned to me and asked, “So, how are you liking the Christmas Creek Inn?”
“Oh, it’s lovely,” I said. “Though I’ve only been there one night so far.”
Holly gasped like she’d just realized something. “You’re the woman who found the body!”
“What?” Ellison said. “What body?”
Carol waved her hand dismissively. “An older gentleman passed away at the inn.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “We’re not really supposed to be talking about it. The sheriff wants to notify the next of kin first.”
“Is that what Kris said?” Holly snorted. “Oh, don’t worry. I already heard it all from my husband. He was the officer on duty with the sheriff.”
I connected the dots and realized her husband was Officer Hot Bod—um, Nick.
“Who was the man who died?” Ellison asked.
Holly huffed. “A rude bastard, if you ask me.”
Carol gasped. “Holly!”
“What?” She put her hands up. “He ate his entire sandwich before he came up to complain and ask for his money back. He was running that kind of scam all over town. Rude to everyone he came in contact with.”
“Still, we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead,” Carol admonished.
Holly rolled her eyes. “Why even come to Christmasville if you’re a grinch?”
“He wasn’t a tourist,” Carol said. “He was a salesman here on business.”
I tilted my head to the side. “How do you know?”
“The sheriff keeps me up to date on any possible controversies in town so I can head off small issues before they turn into real problems. This man was in town attempting to sell reservation software to local inns and hotels. He was only here for a couple days when he had his accident.”
“What happened?” Ellison asked.
Holly said, “They’re saying he slipped and broke his neck in the shower.” She leaned toward me and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “But here’s what doesn’t make sense. If he slipped in the shower and died, why wasn’t the water still running when you got there?”
Ellison leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table. “What are you saying?”
Holly raised her perfectly arched eyebrows. “I’m saying that man was murdered.”