Chapter 10 #2
Jacob and Marcia Wallace were gushing about how wonderful their stay had been.
Marcia was looking at Jacob with stars in her eyes, and Jacob looked at her as if she hung the moon.
The Wallace’s had gotten married at our resort twenty-five years ago, and they came back every year to celebrate their anniversary.
They always got our couples package, which included a weekend rate at one of our one-bedroom cottages with a Jacuzzi tub and a romantic gift basket with specialty cheese and crackers, meats, a couple bottles of a chocolate stout from the local brewery, and a bottle of wine from the local winery.
“We’ll have to hope the brewery has more of that stout in stock before we head back to the city,” Jacob said, putting his arm around Marcia and tugging her closer.
“And the Amour Au Chocolat was delicious. Is that new?” Marcia added.
Nellie looked a little confused, so Charlotte stepped in. “Yes, the Amour Au Chocolat is newer, made by a local winery on the outskirts of town.”
“I love how you support local businesses,” Marcia gushed.
“We love spreading the love.” Charlotte winked.
We had arrangements with the owners of Elderberry Amour Winery and Klaus Bauer, the owner of the brewery to include their product in our couples package.
Klaus had been supplying The Choco Temptation stout for a few years now, but the Amour Au Chocolat from Elderberry Amour Winery was a recent addition.
Both the stout and the wine included Hazel Hartley’s Spanish chocolate, one of the rumoured ingredients in the infamous Tout de Sweets love latte.
The Love Latte was infamous in town for getting couples to “fall in love” with each other.
It was a latte variation of the original Hartley love elixir spell that had been handed down from generation to generation.
My ancestor’s older brother, Alexander Wood, consumed it when Morgana Hartley slipped him a pastry with the elixir baked into it.
The Wood’s were related to the Hartley’s through Alexander and Morgana’s marriage, which meant my family was related to the mischievous Hartley triplets.
Alice, Dorothy, and Betty were technically distant cousins through marriage.
My brothers and I had grown up hearing all sorts of lore about that side of the family, so we knew to stay away from any whispers of the love elixir and made sure we were aware of anything sold in town that contained it.
I’d always veered far from anything containing the love elixir, so I’d never tasted Amour Au Chocolat or the Choco Temptation myself, although I’ve been known to trick the occasional friend into drinking it.
Like Nix, when he was trying to set up the perfect first date with Sage.
I’d recommended Choco Temptation with a straight face.
Nix had been all but in love with Sage since we were all gangly teens, and I’d wanted to help him out a little, and see how well the Choco Temptation worked on couples who hadn’t yet proclaimed their love for one another.
I had no doubt the Choco Temptation helped push things along for Nix and Sage, solidifying their inevitable fall. I had zero regrets playing matchmaker there, but I’d let the Hartley triplets take the credit for that one.
“We’re happy to hear you enjoyed yourselves,” Nellie said, printing out copies of their receipt. “Would you like to book next year’s trip now?”
“Why not! We know we’ll be coming back,” Marcia giggled.
Nellie smiled and set to booking their next reservation for the same cottage a year from now. Jacob and Marcia paid the deposit, took their receipt, and all but skipped off together.
Happy guests were what I loved to see, but more than that: I loved to see Nellie in action. She was a natural and looking at her, I couldn’t help but feel she fit in perfectly here. That should scare me, but it didn’t, it balanced me.
“Mind if we have a chat before lunch, Nellie? I want to go over your hours for next week.”
“Yeah, sure,” Nellie looked a little nervous, but she smiled at me and made tentative eye contact, something we’d both been avoiding the last few days. I felt a jolt, like there was a live wire connecting us and surging with energy every time her gaze connected with mine.
“Normally, we wouldn’t have asked you to work weekends, but I wanted you to get a few consecutive days in a row for training, and your work week is interrupted next week due to New Year’s Day.
So, you’ll be off Tuesday and Wednesday, and back at work Thursday and Friday.
After that, your typical work week will be Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. with a half hour for lunch. Sound good?”
“Yes, that sounds great,” she nodded.
“Speaking of lunchtime! I’m starving,” Charlotte said, standing up and stretching. “Watching other people work makes me hungry, and Nellie’s been doing everything!”
“I haven’t been doing everything,” Nellie said as she stood, smoothing away imaginary wrinkles on her black dress pants.
The action caused my gaze to follow the path of her hands along her upper thighs, and I had to force myself to look away.
Charlotte caught me and smirked. I narrowed my eyes at her.
The three of us made our way into the kitchen to grab our lunches, then to the dining room to sit down.
Nellie and Charlotte sat beside each other, and I sat down across from them.
The pull to be near Nellie was difficult to ignore when she was right there.
But I’d promised her we’d keep things professional between us, and I didn’t want her to regret taking this job.
I had to keep telling myself she was here for the job, not me.
A few minutes later, Damien joined us. Easton was off today, and so were Rhonda and Denise.
Damien strolled over to Charlotte and pressed a kiss to her lips and sitting down across from her beside me.
“I texted your mom, the girls are having so much fun tobogganing with your dad.” Charlotte told him, holding up her phone so he could see the picture Mom must have texted her.
“If you guys want to head out after lunch, you can. We have two more checkouts to deal with.”
I was sure after watching Nellie with the Wallaces that she had checkouts covered, and if she didn’t, I’d be nearby to help.
Damien’s brow furrowed, and he sent me a distrustful look.
I cocked a brow back at him, challenging.
Did he think I was going to spread Nellie out on the desk and have my way with her?
I mean, the idea of having my way with her again was enticing.
If I wasn’t careful, I’d get myself worked up over the thought alone, but I wouldn’t do that when I’d promised not only my brothers I’d keep it professional, but Nellie too.
It bothered me that he thought I’d treat Nellie with anything less than the respect she deserved. I wasn’t used to feeling so bad about my previous reputation, or wishing I could change the narrative on it, but I found myself wishing I could do that.
Maybe my reputation had everything to do with Nellie’s reluctance toward me. The thought coiled around me like a dark shadow.
“What do you think, Nellie?” Charlotte asked our new employee, tilting her head.
“It’s up to you, I’m okay either way,” Nellie replied. She was careful not to look at me while she took a small bite of her pasta salad. I didn’t like that she avoided gazing at me; I wanted her eyes on me all the time.
“Hmm. Well, I do think you can handle those checkouts without me hovering over you. Besides, Noah’s right, Damien. It is quiet today, and we’re not supposed to get more snow until tomorrow.”
“Alright, sounds good.”
Damien and Charlotte left after they finished eating, and I tried to ignore the quiet tension that bloomed the moment Nellie and I were alone. I played it off, smiling and doing what I could to put her at ease.
We made it through the rest of the day without incident. The pull between us was a constant companion, and I didn’t know if it was due to my realizations or Nellie’s avoidance, but it sat heavily between us.
Finally, the workday was over. I felt like I was suffocating on all the things I knew I couldn’t address. Nellie wasn’t ready to hear it, and I didn’t want to push her or make her feel uncomfortable.
Nellie gathered her things while I locked up the back door, then we left through the front office, and I locked that too. I almost started walking her to her car, then realized that wasn’t a very boss-like thing to do.
“Well, have a good night.” I said, awkwardness sweeping over me as she paused, her gaze gliding to me. My hands itched to reach out and touch her, but I kept them at my side, sliding them into my coat pockets.
“You, too. See you later, Noah,” she smiled tentatively as she opened her door and climbed in.
I tried not to watch as she drove off.