Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
Hope wiped her hands on the dishcloth and looked around the kitchen.
This was one of the best run kitchens she’d dealt with since starting filming Hotel Bombshell.
Elsie had everything in its proper place, she kept up to date on all of the food items that came in and managed to keep everything fresh even though business was abysmal.
In the few days they’d been there, Hope had barely even seen one customer walk through those doors. And Elsie worked alone in the kitchen because it didn’t make enough to pay for a second employee. So if Elsie wasn’t there, then the restaurant wasn’t open.
Hope wiped down the steel counter and then leaned down on it, eyeing Elsie. “What’s your take on why River Vista Inn is failing?”
Elsie’s entire back went ramrod straight, and she didn’t turn around to face Hope. Instead, she leaned over the large pot of soup that she’d made for the crew that day, seemingly happy to just have someone to cook for again.
“People just don’t like it here,” Elsie finally said, setting the ladle to the side. “The soup should be done soon when the crew is ready for a break.”
“I’m sure they’ll love some good home-cooked food.” Hope stood up straight, trying to figure out the best way that she could approach whatever that was. “But I’m surprised by the lack of business, especially with food that tastes so good.”
Elsie tensed again.
“You do realize that we can’t help you if we don’t know everything.” Hope crossed her arms, taking a bit of a harder stance than she typically would.
“Ronan got into some trouble before, that’s all. The townsfolk tend to steer people away from here.”
Hope hummed her understanding. She was curious just what that trouble could have been, but Elsie didn’t seem like someone who would take kindly to the prying. Perhaps Angelica had managed to get it out of Ronan already.
“I’m going to let the crew know that lunch is ready.”
“Sure.” Elsie tossed a smile over her shoulder at Hope, seemingly relaxed now that she knew the conversation wasn’t going to continue.
Hope left the kitchen and headed out into the dining room, telling the crew she saw along the way that the soup would be ready in a few minutes.
She would have to make something else for Angelica, and she might as well cook something up for the both of them while she was at it, since Angelica was decidedly allergic to half of what Elsie had put into that soup.
Crossing her arms, she stepped into the small conference area and stopped short.
Angelica was staring at the iPad in front of her, squinting at it, a scowl on her face.
Eva sat next to her, an iPad of her own in front of her with math homework on the screen.
Of course Eva would find Angelica to get some of that work done while she could.
“Are you and Mom dating?” Eva’s voice rang through the quiet room.
Angelica jerked suddenly. Hope tensed, everything in her body telling her to step in and stop the conversation while she was ahead, but she couldn’t force her feet to move. She couldn’t drag her body forward and do something—anything.
“Why would you ask that?” Angelica said, her tone a whole lot softer than Hope had expected it to be. Perhaps it was her familiarity with Eva now compared to when they’d first met all those years ago, or perhaps it was because she understood just how delicate a situation this was.
“All the people outside with the cameras are asking if you are.” Eva clicked another answer on her math work.
“Have they asked you directly?” Angelica asked, flicking her gaze up and meeting Hope’s as she stood in the doorway.
Hope put her hand out to indicate that she wasn’t planning on stepping in immediately. Eva might just tell Angelica more than she’d tell Hope, and right now, that’d work to everyone’s advantage.
“No, but that’s what they’re saying.” Eva pursed her lips together and frowned, looking directly at Angelica. “So are you?”
Angelica flicked her gaze up to Hope, begging for assistance in this conversation.
Stepping into the room, Hope shut the door behind her and squatted down next to Eva’s chair. “Would it upset you if we were in a relationship?”
Eva shook her head. “No, I like Ange.”
“I like her too.” Hope’s lips pulled tight as she forced a smile onto them.
She hated that she was, but this conversation with Eva also made her incredibly nervous.
She’d had such a turnover of her life in the last two years, and while she was resilient in so many ways, change was always a struggle for her.
“Ange and I have been getting to know each other even more in the last year, since we filmed last season. Remember? She’s been over at the house a lot more. ”
Eva frowned. “Not really.”
Hope’s stomach dropped. Most of the time that Angelica had spent at the house had been when Eva wasn’t there.
To try and protect her—at least that had been the reason they’d come up with at the time.
And now, Hope really regretted that choice.
Eva didn’t know Angelica as well as she’d thought, which meant they were going to have to start spending time together in a different way than they had before.
“So you’re girlfriend and girlfriend?” Eva asked, looking from Hope to Angelica.
“Yeah,” Hope said, nodding. “We are.”
The silence in the room was nearly deafening, and all Hope could hear was her heart pounding loudly.
“I didn’t know you liked girls.” Eva wrinkled her nose slightly.
Hope shook her head, keeping her gaze locked on her daughter’s face. “I didn’t know I did either until a few years ago.”
“Did you figure it out when you met Ange?” Eva asked.
Damn her for being so intuitive sometimes, but at least she felt comfortable enough to ask the questions. “Yeah, that’s about the time I started to figure it out.”
Hope’s knees ached, and she wanted to get up and move, but she also wanted to stay right where she was and make sure that Eva had her undivided attention.
“Does Daddy know?”
Hope nodded. “He does, yes.”
“So you told everyone before me?” Eva accused.
“Not everyone, no.”
“But the people outside keep asking—”
“Because they don’t know and they want to know.” Hope settled her hand on Eva’s to connect with her even more. “We haven’t told them yet.”
“But you’ll tell them soon?” A furrow formed in the center of Eva’s brow.
Hope looked over her shoulder toward Angelica to see her reaction to all of this. “I don’t know.”
“Soon,” Angelica said, her voice cracking on the word. “I’m not sure how much longer we can keep it in the family.”
Eva bit her lip, looking directly at Angelica. “Does this mean you’re going to help with my math all the time now?”
“If you want me too, I can.” Angelica seemed must steadier saying that.
Hope’s lips curled upward genuinely this time.
Her heart fluttered lightly. She hadn’t exactly been sure how Eva would react to this information, but she seemed to be taking it in stride.
She squeezed her daughter’s hand and moved to stand up and stretch her legs.
“Daddy’s still going to be in your life. ”
“I know,” Eva said, though she did sound a bit despondent this time.
Maybe she was just trying to cover everything up for Hope so she’d feel better in the end.
It would be like Eva to do something like that.
“But I like having Ange around.” Eva threw Angelica a smile, but then she was focused back on her iPad and the math.
Hope wished she could tell if Eva was accepting of this or not, of knowing if this was just it didn’t bother her at all or if she was avoiding actually telling Hope what she was feeling because she was worried about her reaction.
Angelica slipped out of her chair and put her hand on Hope’s shoulder, pulling her toward the door and away from Eva.
Hope bit her lip as she followed, not wanting to let Eva out of her sight.
She wanted to know what Eva was thinking and feeling, she wanted to help her work through all of this.
But Eva didn’t seem to want that right now.
“Give her some time,” Angelica said, running her fingers down Hope’s shoulder and arm to her fingers. “I’m sorry about how this came up.”
“I’m not.” Hope frowned slightly. “I wanted to tell her.” Hope stared down into Angelica’s eyes.
“I want her to know that I love you.” Her breath hitched at that sentence.
The distance between them since they’d started filming had only seemed to increase instead of decreasing, and this was why.
They hadn’t really spent time together, not as a couple. “I do love you.”
Angelica’s lips quirked slightly.
Hope moved in and pressed their lips together.
It wasn’t anything beyond a simple kiss, a simple touch of lips, a simple moment of shared understanding and hope for whatever was going to come next.
Angelica stayed there, lifting her hand up to cup Hope’s cheek.
Her fingers caressed. Hope closed her eyes, sinking into the comfort that she found here before Angelica pulled away.
“She’ll be fine,” Angelica whispered.
“Yeah, she will.” Hope smiled and straightened her shoulders. “We’ll figure everything out.” One more quick kiss and she stepped away.
She reached for the door and froze when it jerked open.
Rex stood on the other side, his eyes wide with fear, and his cheeks pale.
“What’s wrong?” Hope asked.
“The kitchen’s on fire.”
“What?”
“The kitchen…” Rex grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door.
Hope ran behind him as they raced through the hallways and into the dining room and then the kitchen, which was filled with smoke.
“Where’s Elsie?” Hope shouted.
“Outside!” Rex responded.
Cadence already had a fire extinguisher in her hand and was aiming it at the stove. Hope moved quickly to a second one and pulled it off the wall and started to join in the fight.
“Fire’s on the way!” Rex yelled through the smoke.
Hope had to squint her eyes to see anything, but she hadn’t seen any flames yet, so maybe they managed to get it out. Her heart raced as she reached Cadence’s side. “Do you see anything?”
“I think we got it.”
“Let’s get out of here.” Hope took Cadence by the arm and pulled her toward the outside door. They were going to need fresh air, not the smokey air that had been captured inside the dining room. She coughed a little as she reached outside and sucked in her first breath. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know. I went in to get some soup, and everything was on fire.” Cadence leaned down, hands on her knees as she bent over to catch her breath. “Holy fuck.”
Others from the crew piled outside. They brought Elsie with them just as the fire truck arrived. Hope straightened her back and rolled her neck. She glanced at Rex and then straight to Angelica, who was already pointing at different people and giving orders.
“Rex! Make them sit down!” Angelica tossed that one his direction before focusing back on Florence who joined them. “We need an ambulance to check them out.”
Hope leaned against the wall of the restaurant, knowing that she was in good hands. Angelica would take care of everything.
This was the last thing they needed, though.