17. Chapter 17
Why did Liam have to come in and put doubt in my mind by demanding I stop talking to Alexander? Things were going so well, and now, I don’t know what to believe. His story is so outlandish!
I don’t trust Alexander, but do I trust Liam? He’s jealous of Alexander. And come on, Alexander and Larry in some diabolical plan together to steal the inn and me? Why would that even be on Larry’s radar? He doesn’t even like me until he needs me to appear at his side for election events. Why would he want to steal me?
Liam was being so understanding of my need for control in my life, and now this? Was he just biding his time until he thought I was falling for him?
I need Emma.
I swing my legs over the edge of my bed and slide my feet into my slippers before shuffling down the hall to Emma’s room.
I knock lightly, unsure if she’s up this early.
“Hold on,” she mumbles from behind the door.
After a minute she opens the door. “Oh thank god, it’s just you.”
I raise my eyebrow in her direction.
“I might have just sent a guy home. I thought he might have come back, let’s just say it was a lot more fun after a few beers.” She groans.
“Oh my god, you had a one night stand!” I whisper shout.
“I was trying to make—” she pauses, “someone jealous.”
“Ohh, who?” I’m suddenly much more intrigued by her evening than mine.
“No one that matters.” She pouts. “What do I owe the pleasure of the early morning visit?”
I sigh and go throw myself on her bed.
“That good huh?” she jokes.
“It’s your brother.”
“Oh, ew. Nope. I do not give sex advice for my brother.” She covers her ears.
I swat at her arms. “No, it’s not that. Things have been going so well and then last night he blew that up, accusing Alexander and my stepfather of being in some scheme together to steal me and the inn from him. Liam has been jealous of Alexander from day one, and come on, how far-fetched does that whole scenario sound?” I spill out.
Emma stills next to me, “Wait, he said that Alexander is trying to steal the inn?”
“Yeah, isn’t that ridiculous?” I fidget with the hem of my shirt. Her face is stoic, telling me that she doesn’t think it’s so ridiculous.
“That makes so much fucking sense actually. Didn’t you say he’s here to scope out a business? Damn it, I knew he was lying to me that night.”
“What night?” I sit up straighter.
She looks toward her door, paranoid that someone might be lurking in the hallway.
“Do you have time to go get a coffee from Emerald Roasters?” she asks.
“I can make time. Especially now. I need you to shed some light on this for me.” I spring up from the bed and run back to my room to throw on my leggings and Liam’s hoodie that I stole the other night.
I meet Emma downstairs and we hop in her car. It’s much too cold to walk there in the dark before the sun rises.
Thank god, Esther and Franklin are early risers and get there in time to have coffee ready for the local farmers before they start their days.
The bell dings above our heads, and Esther looks in our direction.
“Girls! What a nice early morning surprise.”
“We have business to take care of Esther. Two double shots, with sweet cream, and two of something with chocolate!” Emma yells out, dragging me to the corner table .
“Oh I know this order. I’ll make it three and be right there.” Esther scurries to the counter to start our espressos.
We settle down at the table furthest away from all the others.
Esther walks over with a tray filled with three of everything. After placing the items on the table, she tosses the tray on a nearby table and pulls out a chair to join us.
“Okay girlies, what is the tea?” She leans in, getting comfortable to listen to the drama.
Emma dives right in, “We think that a guest at the inn is trying to get inside intel to rob the inn out from under Liam’s nose.”
“Oh that snooty suit wearing snake?” We both stare at Esther and for the first time since last night I let out a little chuckle.
“Why is he a snake?” I ask through my laughter.
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “Just a feeling I get. And I know people. Plus I don’t like him harassing my customers about ‘ wouldn’t they love to have more options in town. ’ He’s too damn nosey for an outsider.” She scrunches her nose in disgust at the thought of Alexander.
I keep the fact that I kind of feel the same way a secret. I want to see what they have to say without my bias.
“Okay. So you said he lied to you one night, tell me what you meant.” I look to Emma for an answer.
“One night, I caught him trying to get into the office. It was locked, obviously, so he couldn’t get in. But he was too flustered, and he said he was looking for the bathroom. I didn’t believe him but it was locked, and we do have cameras in there, as you now know.” My cheeks heat at the memory .
“And then, one night he was just walking around looking at everything. I mean everything. Every inch of the inn. Every room that wasn’t locked, and was writing stuff down in his notebook. When I confronted him he slammed it shut, and made some excuse about being tired and needing to sleep.”
I agree with her. None of these things sound casual, or plausible. But still him working with Larry is way less believable than this!
The bell over the door rings and all three of us snap our heads in that direction.
“Did I miss a meeting?” Gran asks the three of us.
“No! We’re trying to figure out what’s going on with that nosey newcomer.” Esther gets up to get Gran her usual order. Even when the bakery is open she still comes over to enjoy a coffee and pastry with her bestie.
“Oh, he’s annoying everyone, trying to make us think there is something wrong with Balsam Cliffs because we don’t need any big box stores.” Gran takes the empty seat at the table.
“So, what are we doing about it?” I ask them. “I think that I should maybe just go ask Alexander.”
“Direct. I like it.” Emma nods her head in approval.
“But what if he tells me what he told you. Obviously he’s rehearsed this answer.” I bring up what he told Emma prior when being caught.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to see if we believe his reason, and you’re going to have to push him to answer. Poke all the holes, trip him up if he’s lying. And I’ll have to do the same with Liam. I think dividing and conquering is what’s going to work best. ”
“Good plan, girls. You’ll let us know what happens?” Esther asks.
“Yes, of course!”
Gran puts her hand in the middle of the table. “What are you doing Gran?”
“Isn’t this what people do when there’s a plan to be executed? We put all our hands together and then yell go team or something?”
Emma and I laugh but add our hands to hers, so does Esther.
“Go team!” we all shout.
As soon as I’m done cooking for the day I will go find Alexander and confront him about what Liam said. Then maybe I’ll be able to make sense of this mess.
I’ve just pulled my last batch of cookies out of the oven and set them on the cooling racks. And now it’s time to search for Alexander and find out what is really going on.
I don’t have to look too far because I find him in front of the fire on the couches, his phone to his nose and his laptop open on the table.
I creep up behind him, trying to read his screen, maybe whatever he’s doing will shed light on the situation.
“You know, if you want to know what I’m doing, all you have to do is ask.” Shit. Guess I’m not as quiet as I thought I was.
“Do you work for my stepfather, Larry Archibault?” I spit it out faster than my brain can think about it .
“Larry Archibault? The state commissioner?” He stares at me open mouthed.
“Yes.”
“I wish. I’d love to meet him. He’s doing amazing things as our comissioner, I could only be so lucky to get a job for his office! Where is that coming from?”
He pats the seat next to him for me to join him on the couch. Instead I take the seat next to him in my favorite chair, sitting on the edge.
“Liam said he overheard you on the phone last night. That you’re trying to buy the inn, and that you’re working for my step-father.” I twist my hands in my lap. I feel awful for betraying Liam like that, but maybe if Alexander trusts me, and thinks that I’m on his side, he’ll tell the truth.
“I see. He did overhear a phone call yesterday and I’m sorry to say he very much misunderstood. He huffed past me and wouldn’t let me explain.”
I lean forward in my seat, urging him to go on. Getting angry and huffing past someone does sound like Liam.
“My company is buying a local farm. The farm is failing and the family reached out to us for help. So while it’s true that he heard me say we want to build condos or a boutique hotel, it isn’t on this property. We are only here to help. And part of that is assessing the property itself. And the area.” Shockingly he closes his laptop to turn and face me. Letting me know he’s sincere about clearing up the misunderstanding.
“But what about him overhearing you talking to my stepfather? ”
“I imagine it’s because my boss’ name is Larry. Although, certainly not Larry Archibault. I assure you, I’m not here to do anything iniquitous.”
I stare at him. Everything he says sounds plausible. Many farms in the area are strugglings after losing most of their crops this summer due to an unseasonable amount of rain.
“Thank you for explaining it to me, and not being defensive.” I stand. “Would you like a coffee and pastry?”
“I would love one.” He smiles at me and goes back to his laptop.
I pull out my phone and text Emma to let her know what Alexander told me. Maybe she can investigate the farm angle more. She knows more people in Balsam Cliffs. And I can tell Gran tomorrow when she comes to take over the kitchen so I can go back to New York City. I don’t believe that story, but for now I can’t question it until I have more information.
That reminds me, one dead giveaway of working with Larry will be if he’s going to be at the re-election gala. Everyone who is in his circle, close or not will be at the gala. It’s the event of the year. If he is on the invite list he won’t miss it.
Placing his mug down on the table in front of him, I smile politely before taking my own seat with my mug. I need to play like I believe his story.
“So do you have any plans this weekend? Any big parties in the city?” I sip my coffee to hide my face. I’m a terrible liar and my facial expressions always give me away.
“I’m actually going to go see my parents. I’m driving to Portland and taking the flight to New Jersey to see them. It’s my Mom’s birthday so Dad and I are going to surprise her.” He grins and now I feel bad even thinking that he could be nefarious when he’s surprising his Mom for her birthday. That’s so sweet.
“That will be wonderful! I bet she’s going to be so happy to see you.” I smile genuinely at him and settle in with my book and coffee, the regular routine that he and I have been falling into at night.
When I finally decide it’s time to go to bed, I do one more check of the kitchen to make sure that everything is shut down for the night. A light shines from the office door and I go over to see who is in there.
Emma is hunched over her laptop and a notepad, she’s furiously switching between the two. An empty coffee mug sits at her side.
“Hey, need a refill? Maybe a cookie?” She looks up at me, not expecting to see anyone in her space.
“Oh my God, you’re an angel. Yes please.” She holds out her empty mug for me to take.
Laughing, I step forward and take her mug, walking back into the kitchen. I place her mug under the one cup coffee maker and smash the button for a fresh brew.
I grab two cookies from the cookie jar that were baked earlier and bring them back in to Emma.
“So. How was your night with Alexander?” she asks.
“I mostly read. But did you see my text about the farm explanation?” I sit across from her at the table.
“Yeah, I reached out to Mr. Peterson and he is going to ask around to see if anyone reached out to this company he claims to work for. Did he say what company he works for? Or were you able to see?” She puts her pen down and picks up the cookie .
“No he didn’t. I tried to see over his shoulder but he heard me coming so I didn’t get a good opportunity. If he’s here for work wouldn’t they be the one making the bookings for his stays?”
She answers me around a mouthful of cookie, “Already thought about that. It’s booked on his personal credit card. They must be reimbursing him because there’s nothing about a company anywhere.”
Well there goes that route. “We must be able to find out where he works.”
She nods in agreement. “Tomorrow morning it’s my mission. I should have an answer about the farms too. Then I’m digging into a deep dive on his information to find out where and who he works for.”
“Well keep me posted, Gran will be here tomorrow and I’m heading back to the city early in the morning for Larry’s re-election gala,” I roll my eyes. “But I’ll get Gran brought up to speed on all things food and the kitchen before I go.”
“No problem. I’ll text you. Do you know what time you’ll be leaving?”
“Gran should be here around seven, and I’m hoping to be on the road by eight. That way I can get there right at bedtime and I’ll be able to sneak in and sleep before I have to deal with anyone.” I stand from my spot and cross the room to the door leading to the stairs of the inn.
“Got it. See you tomorrow then. Thanks for coffee and cookies.” She smiles at me.
I nod at her and go up to my room to get ready for bed. Checking my suitcase for any last minute additions .
I can’t believe I’m not one step closer to knowing who is lying to me. Alexander had a very believable story, but I can’t shake the feeling I’ve had about him being a thief in the night. He just gives off a bad vibe. And I can’t figure out why Liam would lie to me. Beyond the jealousy, he has no reason.
I climb into my bed, warring with myself and my emotions. Feelings for Liam outweigh the logic that something is going on and I’m in the dark about it all.