Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Leaving Angelica the night before had been one of the hardest things Hope had ever done.
But she’d had to go back to Eva and be a parent.
They’d gotten through the afternoon of filming, with adjustments, after Hope had thrown her weight around and luckily had both Cadence and Rex to back her up on it.
But still, it had been so hard to sit next to Angelica, continually refocusing her so that they could finish the scene and move on.
And it had taken twice as long as it normally would have—at least.
Hope stared at the ceiling of the hotel room, her eyes dry from how long she’d lain there awake, listening to Eva rustle around and sleep in the bed next to her.
Another sleepless night. Certainly not the first that Angelica had caused, and probably not the last either if Hope was being honest with herself.
Their relationship was unconventional at best.
But Hope wanted so much more between them, and then they ran into moments like this.
Where Angelica didn’t choose to lean on her in hard times but instead ran away to attempt to deal with them on her own.
Angelica had been grateful that Hope had gone out to find her, sure, but Hope had been the one chasing. Again.
Was that all they were to each other?
Hope chasing a love and trust that Angelica wasn’t willing to give her?
Eva rustled even more. Hope furrowed her brow and glanced at the clock.
It was time for them both to wake up for the day, far too early and with not enough sleep—at least for Hope.
Eva moved around again, her eyes popping up as she stared directly at Hope.
Smiling, Hope moved the blanket to the side as a silent invitation.
Eva shimmied out of the bed, took the two steps between beds and crawled under the blankets with Hope, sliding against her and half falling asleep again.
Hope stayed right where she was, brushing her fingers up and down Eva’s arm and reveling in her warmth and in the fact that on a good morning, she was still willing to do this.
“What time is it?” Eva mumbled into Hope’s chest.
“Almost time to get up for the day, but we have a few minutes.” That was a lie. They didn’t. But Hope wasn’t ready to give this up, not right now anyway. She needed this connection and grounding, and she wanted to soak up as much of her little girl as she could while Eva was willing.
“Did you and Ange break up?”
Hope tensed. “What?”
“Because of yesterday.” Eva wasn’t budging from her spot. She wasn’t moving to look up at Hope, and she was barely even asking the question. The hesitation, the quietness in her tone, told Hope exactly what she needed to know.
Eva was scared.
And she didn’t want to be hurt.
“No, we didn’t break up.” Hope squeezed Eva a little tighter and dropped a kiss onto the top of her head.
“But she was crying,” Eva argued.
“She was, but not because of anything I did.” Hope kissed Eva’s head again. “She had something happen in her family and that’s what made her sad.”
“What happened?” Eva asked, a little more confidently than before.
Hope shook her head. “I’ll let her tell you that when she’s ready, because I really don’t think she is yet. Okay?”
“I guess,” Eva mumbled.
“But we haven’t broken up, I promise. I wouldn’t tell you we were dating just to turn around and tell you that we broke up.” Hope tickled Eva’s side a little.
But Eva didn’t really move or react. “But you and dad broke up. Was it because of Ange?”
Hope’s heart sank. Because it looked like it was because of Angelica from an outside perspective, and they all knew that.
But the three of them also knew the cracks were there well before Hope had even met Angelica, before she’d fallen hopelessly in love with her.
Hope breathed slowly, taking her time to find the right words to answer Eva, because this was important.
And she didn’t want to mess it up—again.
“No, we didn’t get divorced because of Ange.
” Hope brushed her fingers against Eva’s skin, using that touch to keep herself centered.
“Dad and I had a lot of problems, and instead of working on them, we avoided them. And when we started working together on the same show, on this show, we couldn’t really avoid them any longer. And everything just kind of blew up.”
Hope paused. Eva really didn’t need any more details, that was for damn sure. And she needed to focus on emotions. And dissecting the emotions of a ten-year-old who didn’t quite have the words to explain what she was feeling, and Hope having no frame of reference to help her figure that out.
“I love your daddy, I promise you. Just because we stopped being married doesn’t mean that I love him or you any less.
My love for him is just different now than it was before, and we show each other how we love each other differently.
” That was absolutely true, and yesterday was a perfect example of that.
“And I love Ange. Just because I love Ange doesn’t mean I love you or Dad less.
Love isn’t finite like that. There isn’t a limited amount—” Hope changed her phrasing, remembering that she was talking to a kid and not herself “—it just grows and grows. No limits at all.”
“Okay,” Eva said, wriggling against Hope’s side. “But Ange was really sad yesterday.”
“She was, and she still is today, I’m sure. But she’s not sad because of me.”
They fell into a silence that lasted a few more minutes, so Hope assumed the conversation was over. She tickled Eva’s side to get her moving. “Come on, time to get up and dressed for the day.”
“Will you marry her?” Eva asked, pushing herself until she was sitting on the bed.
Hope stilled. “I… I don’t honestly know. It’s not something Ange and I have really talked about.”
“Because if you love someone, then you marry them. That’s what you and Daddy always tell me.”
“Right.” They had told her that. Because it was the fairytale that they perpetuated rather than the truth and reality of life. Hope was cursing herself for that one right now.
“Do you want to marry her?” Eva asked.
Curse Eva right now and her damn pointed questions. Hope wanted to say no, she really did, but she couldn’t. Because she wouldn’t ever lie to Eva. “Yes, that’s something I’d like.”
“Does Ange want to marry you?”
“Eva!” Hope laughed a little. “Like I said before, it’s not something we’ve really talked about in depth. And lately, all we’ve talked about is filming.” Hope started to push Eva toward the edge of the bed. “Now, get up, get dressed, we’ve got a full day ahead of us.”
“Fine.” Eva pouted slightly, but she did step onto the floor and raised her hands above her head in a languorous stretch. Hope envied that. If she tried that, she’d surely pull a muscle or five. Climbing off the mattress, she moved to start her day.
Because what else could she do?
They couldn’t talk about marriage.
Not now.
“Kora!” Hope called Kora over to the dining hall, pulling her out of the kitchen.
She could already feel the annoyance from Kora over it, but she didn’t care.
They did actually have to sit down and talk about what was going on with the food trucks and the hotel.
Because the two were intimately connected, even if they operated completely separately.
Which, quite possibly, was the biggest problem they needed to solve that week.
“What do you need, Chef? We’re in the middle of prep.”
“They need to learn to do it without you, first. Second, you and I need to talk.” Hope led Kora over to a table that she already had set up. The purpose of meeting at this time was twofold. Hope wanted to see how the rest of the crew would function without Kora there.
“Talk about what? There’s nothing wrong with my process.” Kora pointed back toward the small kitchen and large storage area where all of the food was kept.
“Nothing is wrong with your process.” Hope tried to give her a gentle smile to ease the obvious tension she was feeling. “I’m not here to rip everything you do to shreds. There are a few improvements you can make, but they’re really minor.”
The wall of exhaustion that she had been waiting for all morning hit hard.
And she had very little patience to deal with unsteady emotions.
Because all she wanted to know was why Angelica hadn’t trusted her enough to just come talk to her in the first place.
Had she fooled herself into thinking they were a whole lot closer and more intertwined than they actually were?
“What changes?” Kora’s nervous voice reached Hope’s ears and instantly pulled her back into the moment.
“Come sit down. Please.” Hope walked directly over to a small table meant for two people and sat down.
She wasn’t sure if she’d make it through service today without a break.
Well, she knew she would because it was her job.
But if she’d had the option, she would have happily stayed in bed a whole lot longer.
Kora finally slipped into the chair across from Hope with a huff. She really didn’t want to be there.
“We need to talk about finances,” Hope started.
“Isn’t the truck making money?” Kora asked.
“Yes, it is. That’s not… that’s not really the concern.” Hope ran her fingers through her short hair and sighed. “It’s the only thing with a balance sheet in this entire hotel that makes sense. You, somehow, understand business finances. Did you study them anywhere?”
“There was a math class in high school I took.” Kora shrugged slightly. “I took that to get out of another history class.”
Hope snorted lightly at that. “I probably would have done the same thing. Maybe. Well, I probably would have taken another home ec class.”
Kora didn’t smile. In fact, she barely even responded. Hope sighed lightly. She was off her game for sure, but she didn’t really have any other way to begin this conversation.
“You have a talent with business finances, and Theo is decidedly lacking in that talent. Ms. Shields and I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening attempting to teach him the basics and I’m still not convinced he grasped a lot of it. But you seem to have that skill.”
“What are you suggesting?” Kora pulled a face like she knew she wasn’t going to like what she was about to be told.
And she probably wasn’t.
“I want you to take over the financial strategy for the hotel for a while.” Hope crossed her arms.
“But I’m a cook. That’s it.”
Hope cocked her head to the side and gave Kora a hard stare.
“No, you’re not. You are basically an owner and operator of a very profitable food truck.
The only reason the truck has succeeded in the way it has is because Theo has given you free rein to do whatever you want with it.
When’s the last time he actually checked in with you? ”
Kora shook her head.
“When’s the last time he gave you input on it?”
“He hasn’t,” Kora murmured quietly.
“Exactly my point. You can run this hotel far better than he can.”
“But I don’t want to.” Kora tightened her grasp on her arms, crossing them even tighter over her body as if to protect herself from this conversation. “I don’t want to be a hotel manager. I want to cook.”
Hope sighed. “You already do more than just cooking, and you know that.” She paused for good measure, making sure that Kora agreed with her on that point.
“If you don’t want to manage a hotel, that’s fair and completely understandable.
I have no desire to manage a hotel either.
That’s why I leave that part of this job up to Ms. Shields.
” Hope’s lips quirked slightly. “And it’s why she leaves the cooking to me.
But not every partnership is an equal partnership. ”
Hope nearly stuttered on those last words.
“Or at least it’s not always equal. Sometimes one person has to give more than the other during certain periods of time.
Theo is planning on hiring a management firm, but he doesn’t even know where to begin in telling them what to do or what needs done.
He’s also planning on hiring a financial accountant.
He needs that immediately, and you have the skills. ”
“Chef…” Kora frowned, nearly trembling. “I don’t want to do it.”
“It’d come with a pay raise, of course, since the workload is more.
And, Ange and I think that if you work the numbers right, you could score yourself a second truck for the hotel.
One that stays here permanently to run both lunch and dinner service and one that travels around town to serve the community. ”
Kora’s lips parted in surprise. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. But you’re going to have to take the lead on that, because right now Theo isn’t capable of figuring all that out.
If that’s something that you want, then you’re going to have to step up and take on more responsibility, in multiple ways.
” Hope finished the talk and stared directly at Kora, waiting for some kind of answer or indication of whatever she was going to decide.
The silence was loud but also calm. She knew that Kora was digging through all the thoughts and ideas that Hope had just handed her.
“Let me know tomorrow what you decide. All right?” Hope placed her hand on the top of the desk. “Because you could save the Montford if you want to.”
“I’m not a hero.”
“No one wants to be a hero, Kora. Sometimes, the role is just thrust upon us.” Hope stayed right where she was, listening for Cadence’s direction to tell them what to do next. Because she was done with the conversation. At least for now.