Chapter 3 #2
Vulnerable was the word that came to mind, even as she tried to shove it back down.
Her life had somehow come to involve her being surrounded by impressive, successful women, and it was starting to give her a complex.
Sydney was a former professional tennis player who was now coaching elite youth at the nearby Manhaven Tennis Center.
Reese had sold her hotel management software and then purchased The Stone’s Throw, which very quickly became the first in a line of acquisitions that would build her newest company, The Stoneport Group.
And Brynn Fitzpatrick was likely no different.
Sole heir to The Fitz Capital Group, her family’s real estate investment company.
She’d just finished her PhD, according to Reese, and she’d most recently been healing her broken heart by doing something for the less fortunate.
Hallie wasn’t sure on the specifics of that one, but it probably explained the tan and very likely involved rescuing orphaned puppies or something.
She groaned quietly, trying to make sense of the earnestness on Brynn’s face as she awaited instructions from Hallie.
Seriously, who was this woman?
For whatever it was worth—not that it felt like much in the face of the accomplishment of those around her—Hallie was the operations director for The Stone’s Throw Inn, a charming, boutique hotel that offered guests a unique experience on the beautiful New England coast. She needed to start acting like it.
Reese had trusted her, even if she didn’t have much trust in herself these days.
“Glad you made it here safely,” Hallie said effusively, already walking over toward the check-in desk. “I can get you set up in your room.”
The living situation wasn’t exactly ideal, especially from an occupancy perspective.
Since Brynn didn’t live in Stoneport, Reese had insisted that they give her one of the vacant rooms while she was helping out.
Which only made Hallie feel worse about her inability to find someone to join before the holidays.
Brynn followed her silently, but Hallie could see Brynn craning her neck and taking in the lobby as they made their way to the desk.
She didn’t let herself wonder what the Christmas decorations that Hallie had painstakingly put up by hand looked like through Brynn’s eyes.
The Fitzpatrick family homes probably had teams who assembled and disassembled their holiday decorations each year.
Hallie went to the far side of the long reception counter, where Brynn would soon find herself, too, and pulled up the room’s information.
“We’ll have you on the first floor, down the hall from my room.
Hopefully we won’t have to move you at all while you’re here, though I apologize in advance if that happens.
” Good. That was good. She sounded almost… normal.
“I really appreciate this, Hallie. I’ve heard so many great things about you from Reese, and I’m excited that we’ll get to work together.
” Which was a weird thing to say, as far as Hallie was concerned.
Brynn didn’t need this job. If anything, Hallie should have been thanking her. Not the other way around.
“Can I ask you something?” Hallie asked as her curiosity got the better of her. It was a lifelong struggle, but this was her at her most normal, and she was trying to roll with it.
Brynn smiled softly, and it was charmingly sweet.
Hard to balance this woman with the story she’d heard a few months ago.
Maybe that was why she was struggling so much right now.
The Brynn in front of her looked like she’d apologize to a squirrel that ran in front of her car as she was swerving out of its way.
“I’m an open book,” she said with that still, soft smile on her face.
“Are you, like, hiding out here? After everything with your engagement? I’m trying to figure out what’s led you to The Stone’s Throw. I can’t imagine that you need to be here.”
She appreciated the thoughtful pause Brynn gave in consideration, a faint blush dusting her cheeks now.
They were going to be spending a lot of time together, so Hallie at least wanted to know what she was getting into where Brynn was concerned.
“I’m… figuring it out?” was the meek response she got, more a question than anything else.
Hallie nodded. She understood that sentiment of feeling rudderless.
“Well, for the record, I didn’t like Grant way back when he and Sydney were together, so I’m always down for a good gossip session on what a waste of space he is.
I guess you could sort of call me the OG hater as far as grudges go.
I won’t pretend that meeting you isn’t a little bit like meeting a celebrity,” Hallie confided with a broad smile.
Truly, for her insecurity around Brynn, she also had the utmost respect for her.
That earned her a laugh from Brynn, which made Hallie feel weirdly proud. Maybe the next couple of weeks wouldn’t be so bad. Having someone else around would break up the slowness until the winter crowd picked up, and it would be a good distraction from her impending trip to Colorado.
Brynn picked up one of the cards on the desk with The Stone’s Throw information on it and twirled it between her fingers. “I’m trying to put Grant in the rearview mirror, but I appreciate the offer. Fresh start and all that.”
Hallie lifted a dubious eyebrow. “So you come to an inn owned by his sister, who happens to be in a relationship with his ex?”
Brynn shrugged, and Hallie was a little in awe of how simple Brynn made showing up at the inn seem.
Either that, or she was completely delusional.
Time would probably tell on that one. “I wanted to help Reese. And I’m not going to let someone like Grant stop me from being the type of person who helps other people. ”
This woman was like an honest-to-god, real-life Disney princess. Hallie wondered if birds would be flitting about Brynn’s head if it wasn’t winter.
Shaking her thoughts away, Hallie completed the check-in process so that Brynn’s room was switched to “occupied” in the system.
She placed a blank keycard into the encoder and waited the few seconds until it popped out again.
Handing it over, she gave Brynn the most sincere smile that she could manage in spite of the tumult knocking around in her own veins.
“Your room is down the hall, last door on the right. We can get started at seven a.m. tomorrow if that works for you?”
“I’m going to assume seven ‘working for me’ is rhetorical, unless you really do plan to let me set my own hours.”
Hallie cocked her head to the side, her tongue pushing against the back of her teeth.
Brynn was the one making this weird, right?
That was a very common thing to say to someone.
Unless Hallie had missed some kind of rich person etiquette training.
“I guess it’s more of an expression than anything.
An opening in case you have anything that you need to bring up with me ahead of tomorrow. ”
She could see Brynn thinking as she chewed at the edge of her lip. “No, I don’t think I need to bring anything up.”
Hallie put the “use intercom for help” sign out in between them, grateful to have something to distract her. “Great. Then I’ll see you in the morning.”
Brynn was just a normal person. That’s what Hallie kept telling herself.
She was repeating it like a mantra as she got ready that morning, knowing that they both brushed their teeth in front of the same style of sink, at least for the next couple of weeks.
They dressed themselves in matching uniforms, a pair of slacks and a long-sleeved, black button-down, though Hallie had a tendency to roll hers up at the forearms. And then they would both probably grab some type of breakfast from the kitchen, if they were up early enough.
This morning, Hallie completed the same rituals that she’d done thousands of times before.
The first step was to put her long, brunette hair into a high ponytail; since she never knew what the day would bring, having it out of her face had proven useful.
She dabbed on a lip gloss that gave her mouth a gentle shine while keeping the December dryness at bay.
Lastly, she affixed her shiny name tag to her shirt, straightening it in the mirror.
Hallie’s entire life, personally and professionally, existed within the boundaries of The Stone’s Throw Inn. Until a few months ago, that hadn’t really bothered her. Honestly, she hadn’t given it much thought. Lots of people worked at family businesses, and she’d considered herself no different.
But now… her parents had sold the inn, and everything was different. She used to feel like she was investing in something. And now? Well, it mostly felt like she had a job instead of a future.
She walked from her en suite bathroom, out through the bedroom, and into the living room.
When the Art Deco mansion had been converted into an inn, three of the rooms nearest to the kitchen had been fused together into what became the owner’s quarters.
It was where Hallie had grown up and where—you guessed it—she still lived today.
Sometimes, she wondered if she was taking the whole “cradle to grave” idea a bit too seriously.
There were still fifteen minutes until she was meeting Brynn, so she shifted her attention over to the small kitchen that ran along the side of the living room and started prepping ingredients to make a morning smoothie.
It functioned well enough to meet her meager lifestyle needs, considering that all she really did was sleep in the apartment or watch TV in the evenings.
If she really needed or wanted to cook something more extensive, she could always use the industrial kitchen next door, which only served breakfast on the weekdays and then offered lunch on the weekends.