Chapter 10
HOLLY
“This can’t be happening,” Holly said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Not now. Not when we’re so close.”
Jack knelt on the floor beside Logan, both men examining the damage with grim expressions.
They’d pulled up the old carpet that morning, expecting to find solid wood underneath that would just need sanding and refinishing.
Instead, they’d found wood that was riddled with holes, crumbling in places, clearly compromised by some kind of infestation.
“How bad is it?” Holly asked, though she could see the answer written on both their faces.
“Bad,” Logan said bluntly. He poked at one of the boards with a screwdriver, and it crumbled like soft cheese. “This isn’t surface damage. This goes deep.”
Holly felt tears prick her eyes. They had worked so hard.
For weeks, they’d been renovating room after room, pouring their hearts and time and what little money the inn had into making it beautiful again.
They were so close to the finish line. Room Eight was done and gorgeous.
Rooms One through Seven were all ready for guests.
But they still had Rooms Nine, Ten, and Eleven to finish. And most of the guests had arrived that morning, filling up the completed rooms. They couldn’t afford to turn anyone away. They needed every booking, every dollar they could get to keep the inn afloat.
Even if the three of them didn’t sleep tonight, there was no way they could get three rooms finished in time for tomorrow’s arrivals. Not with this kind of damage.
“What is this?” Holly asked, moving closer to examine the wood. “Termites?”
“Looks like it,” Jack said, his voice tight with stress and anger. “Look at these tunnels. That’s classic termite damage.”
“But how?” Holly demanded. “The inspector, George, came through just last week. He told us Rooms Nine through Eleven were in good shape. That they just needed some cosmetic work.”
Jack ran a hand through his hair, his frustration evident. “I don’t know. Maybe he missed it?”
“We need to get pest control in here,” Logan said. “Have them verify if it’s termites and assess how bad the infestation is.”
“And if it is termites?” Holly asked, though she already knew the answer would be bad.
“Then we have a serious problem,” Logan said grimly. “Termite infestations have to be reported. The whole building might need to be tented and fumigated. That means evacuating everyone and possibly canceling the Winter Ball. Everything.”
Holly’s stomach dropped. The Winter Ball was in three days. They had guests arriving tomorrow. The entire town was counting on this event.
“Let’s check the other two rooms,” Jack said, standing up. “Maybe it’s isolated to just this room.”
They moved down the hall to Room Ten. Jack unlocked the door, and they stepped inside. The room still had its old wallpaper and needed painting, but at least the carpet was already removed, giving them a clear view of the floor.
“The floor looks okay here,” Holly said with relief, moving to examine it more closely.
“Wait,” Logan said, moving toward the windows. “Look at this.”
Holly and Jack joined him at the window. The wooden frame around the glass panes was damaged, but not with the same tunneling pattern as the floor in Room Nine; instead, it showed visible rot and deterioration.
“Water damage,” Logan diagnosed, pressing his finger against the soft wood. “This frame is completely compromised. And look.” He pointed down. “The floor near the window has damage too.”
Holly bent down to examine the floorboards closest to the window. Logan was right. The wood was discolored and soft in places, clearly affected by moisture.
“How did George miss this?” Jack asked, his voice rising with frustration. “He was supposed to check everything. Windows, floors, walls. That’s what we paid him for.”
“Let’s check Room Eleven,” Logan said quietly.
Room Eleven told the same story. The windows showed significant damage to their frames, and the floor near them was soft and rotting. Not as bad as Room Nine, but bad enough that the boards would need replacing.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Holly said, staring at the damaged window frame. “George was here for hours. He went through every room with his equipment and his checklist. How could he have missed all of this?” She rubbed her temples.
“We paid him to check this!” Jack said again through gritted teeth. “He knew the tight deadline we were on, and that’s why we asked him to assess these three rooms.”
Before anyone could answer, Christopher’s voice came from the doorway. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for the three of you.”
They turned to see Christopher standing in the hallway, looking concerned.
“Sorry,” Christopher said. “Isabella sent me to ask if the three of you would come to the food tasting at lunch. It’s at noon in the ballroom. We need to test the final dishes for the Ball, and Jane wants to check the lights and music while we’re all there.”
“I don’t know if we can make it, Christopher,” Holly said, exchanging glances with Jack and Logan. “We have a situation up here.”
“What kind of situation?” Christopher frowned, looking from one to the other.
“The kind that might just derail all our plans for the next few days,” Holly told him, glancing around the room.
“It seems that the inspector Jack paid to help us get ahead just put us days behind,” Logan elaborated and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have no idea how the three of us are going to get this done by tomorrow.”
“It’s impossible,” Jack said, his voice low, shoulders tense, and eyes narrowed. He looked at Christopher. “I’m sorry, Christopher. Tell Isabella we’re sorry but…”
“I understand,” Christopher said, nodding before adding, “Oh, Jack, Charlie asked me to tell you that she needs to speak with you urgently about something that she just received.”
Holly and Logan exchanged a look with Jack. They all knew what that was. The offer from Simon on behalf of Victor Martin.
Jack’s jaw clenched. “Tell Charlie I’ll be down shortly.”
“Will do,” Christopher said, sensing the tension in the room. He gave the area one more glance before turning and leaving the room.
“The two of you should take a break at noon and go to the tasting,” Jack said, turning to Holly and Logan. “I’ll deal with Charlie and the offer, and then we can regroup and figure out what to do about these rooms.”
“No way,” Holly said firmly. “We’re not leaving you to deal with this alone.”
“Holly’s right,” Logan agreed. “The guests are here tomorrow. This was supposed to be a quick fix.” He gestured around the room. “Finish pulling up the carpet, sand and refinish the floors, and hang some new curtains. How did we miss damage this extensive?”
“Because we trusted the inspector,” Holly said, anger rising in her voice.
“We thought we’d get a miracle done,” Jack said, sighing. “We cut a corner and…”
“I don’t understand it,” Logan hissed, interrupting Jack. “George is the best in his field. There is no way he’d make such a huge mistake.”
“This is why I don’t trust inspectors,” Holly growled, her hands clenching into fists.
“We need to figure out how to get these rooms done in time for tomorrow,” Logan said, pulling out his phone to start making calculations. “Even if we work through the night, replacing floors and window frames in three rooms...”
“We’d need more hands,” Jack said, rubbing his face with both hands. The exhaustion and stress were written clearly across his features. “And more materials. And more money we don’t have.”
They stood there in silence for a moment, the weight of the situation pressing down on all of them.
“Let me go speak with Charlie,” Jack said finally. “I need a few minutes to clear my head.”
“We’ll figure out how to get this sorted,” Holly assured him, though she had no idea how they would actually accomplish that miracle.
Jack nodded and left the room, his shoulders bowed under the weight of everything. Holly watched him go, her heart aching. He looked like one more problem would break him completely.
After Jack’s footsteps faded down the stairs, Logan turned to Holly with a thoughtful expression.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Logan asked in a hushed tone.
“That Victor or my ex…” Holly used air quotes around the word, “bribed that inspector?”
Her brow furrowed as another thought occurred to her. “Did Jack call George? Or did he call Jack?”
“I don’t know,” Logan said, his expression growing more concerned. “I just remember Jack telling me that George would be coming to do another inspection of the inn and he’d paid him to assess rooms 9, 10, and 11 to help us move more quickly.”
“So you’re thinking this is sabotage,” Holly said, not quite making it a question.
“Oh, absolutely.” Logan nodded. “But I didn’t want to say it out loud to Jack. I know that’s what he’s thinking too, but he has enough on his plate right now.”
Holly felt anger and helplessness war inside her. If this was deliberate sabotage, if Victor had sent a fake inspector to give them a false sense of security while knowing these rooms were damaged...
“We need to come up with a plan,” Logan said, pulling her from her dark thoughts. “We don’t have enough hands to get this done in the time we have. Even if we called in every contractor in St. Augustine, it’s two days before Christmas. No one’s available.”
“We can help with that.” Gabe’s voice came from the doorway, making both Holly and Logan turn in surprise.
Holly’s breath caught as she saw not just her son, but a crowd of people behind him.
Christopher stood there with Isabella. Jane was next to Gabe, with Trinity and Maddy flanking them.
Behind them stood what looked like most of the inn’s staff—waiters, kitchen workers, the groundskeeper, the housekeepers.
Tears sprang to Holly’s eyes. She glanced at Logan and saw his eyes had gone dark with emotion as well.