Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Grace’s tea worked, and I was finally able to get a few hours of sleep.
But I still had to double down on the under-eye concealer.
I slipped on a silky purple blouse and dark gray dress pants.
After a dash of blush and some lipstick, I looked in the mirror.
Not bad. No one would know I spent half the night awake replaying the same moments over and over like a lunatic.
I entered the dining room, glancing around for people I knew. Aaron wasn’t there, but Isabella was. With a silent groan, I approached her table.
She immediately put a hand over the empty chair like a mean girl blocking a seat on the school bus.
I sighed. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to sit with you. You’re doing fine on your own. I just wanted to take a moment to say that yesterday’s posts got great engagement, and I enjoyed your live stream from the lobby.”
She blinked and waited, like she was expecting an insult.
I continued, “Anyway, I just wanted to say good job and suggest you come back to the inn at three. Santa will be visiting.”
“Okay,” she said simply.
“Okay. Enjoy your breakfast.”
I walked away and let out a relieved breath. Maybe I’d survive this after all.
The pastry selection was thinner this morning. My favorite Danishes were already gone. So I selected an oversized blueberry muffin and a large mug of coffee and settled down at a table as far away from Isabella as I could manage. I was halfway through my muffin when Aaron strolled in.
He tilted his head toward the empty seat opposite me. “May I?”
“Of course.” I took another long sip of coffee, closing my eyes, and reveling in the taste.
Aaron said, “I hope you’re not offended by this, but watching you drink coffee is strangely sexy.”
I nearly choked. “How?”
He loosened his tie a bit. “You just really seem to enjoy it.”
“I do,” I admitted. “I’m a bit of a coffee junkie.”
“There are worse things,” he said, and I agreed.
He looked as handsome as ever this morning in a black suit I hadn’t seen before, which played off of his gelled-into-place blond hair. Unlike me, he looked like he’d enjoyed every minute of a long night’s sleep. I let my eyes gaze across his strong jaw to his full lips.
Trent’s betrayal had messed me up, but what hurt worse was the shock.
I hadn’t seen it coming. So when I thought about starting something with a new guy—Ellison, Aaron, or someone else—it scared me.
I didn’t trust my own judgment anymore. What if I chose one of them and he ended up hurting me too?
It was best to protect myself until I was stronger.
Though that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to flirt and fantasize.
I was heartbroken, not dead. And every time Ellison flashed me his sexy smile and Aaron gave me a smooth compliment, I felt the fissure in my heart heal a tiny bit.
“So who are we angering today?” I asked.
Aaron chuckled. “Hopefully no one, but the day is young and filled with meetings. And you?”
“I probably will anger someone,” I said, thinking of Isabella. At Aaron’s raised eyebrows, I added, “Long story. But today should be a good day overall. I have to build up excitement for the tree-lighting ceremony tomorrow night.”
“Ah, yes. I saw that on the schedule. You’ll be working that all night?”
I nodded. “I have to live stream it for Christmasville’s worldwide fans.”
A soft smile played on his lips. “Too bad. I was hoping to take you out on a proper Friday night date.”
My heart stuttered. I’d already had dinner with the man, but it hadn’t been an official date. But here he was, offering one.
Resting his elbows on the table, he leaned closer. “I suppose Thursday can be just as fun. Dinner tonight?”
My hand went up to my temple. “Um, I actually don’t know if, um. We have this influencer in town. She may need me to show her around. I don’t really know.”
I’d never fumbled an answer so badly. By the way the smile dropped from his face, he knew I was just pulling words out of my ass.
“Of course,” he said coolly.
I pointed over my shoulder at Isabella who was coincidentally staring right at us. “That’s her right there. She’s also who I meant when I said I would probably anger someone today. We don’t get along well. But—”
“It’s fine,” he said, interrupting my stream of word vomit. “I understand more than anyone that work sometimes takes place in the off-hours too.”
I was ticked off at my own uncertainty. Aaron was handsome, charming, gainfully employed. A nice person to spend time with. But when he’d asked me, Ellison’s face flashed in my mind. And then Trent’s. Then I didn’t want to have dinner with anyone.
Aaron tapped at the face of his watch. “I have to head to my first meeting. I’ll see you later.”
“Yes, definitely,” I said quickly. “Maybe if Isabella doesn’t need me, we can have that dinner after all.”
“Sure,” he said with a weak smile, but it didn’t seem like he believed me.
I’d wanted to leave myself a foot in the door in case my brain unscrambled itself.
In the moment, my knee-jerk reaction had been to say no.
But I could regret that by tonight. As I peeked over my shoulder and saw Isabella practically drooling as she watched Aaron walk away, I was starting to regret it already.
Carol seemed like her old self when I got to work. She wore a perfectly tailored burgundy suit and had the lipstick and nail color to match. She waved me in as I passed her office.
“How are things going with the influencer?” she asked eagerly.
“Isabella is doing a great job,” I said. I found it a bit odd that Carol never used her name. “I showed her around town yesterday. Then we split up and she went off on her own. Her posts and stories got great engagement. And did you see her live stream from the Christmas Creek Inn?”
“I was too busy,” Carol said. “But if you say she’s doing great, then she’s doing great.”
I loved her confidence in me. But it almost made me feel bad for not telling her the truth about my prior experience with Isabella. That would help no one, though.
“Isabella and I met early this morning at the inn,” I said, leaving out the part about how she wouldn’t even let me sit with her. “She has great plans for today. I also suggested she stop back at the inn at three o’clock for the Santa visit.”
“Great idea,” Carol said. “Remember, the focus needs to be on families. They’re our bread and butter.”
“Definitely. I’ll remind her.”
As I was about to turn away, Carol asked, “You’ll be there too, right? To make sure her live stream goes well?”
I hadn’t been planning on it, but … “Of course! Looking forward to it.”
Carol’s cell phone chirped loudly and she frowned at the name on the screen. I could see it myself. The sheriff.
“Good morning, Kris,” Carol said.
I didn’t know what the sheriff was telling her, but from the look on her face it wasn’t good.
“Send me a photo,” she said in a clipped tone. “And have the parks department take care of it immediately.”
As soon as she ended the call, I asked, “What happened?”
“The vandal strikes again. Someone took it upon themselves to paint our mural wall overnight.”
“Oh,” I said. “That’s unfortunate. The contest winner will just paint over all their hard work.”
“I don’t think that kind of effort went into it. It seems to be the work of a childish troublemaker.” She shrugged with exaggerated indifference. “But we’ll have it painted over white within the hour. That will serve as a good canvas for our eventual winner.”
Her phone buzzed as the promised photo came through. I peered over her shoulder as she opened it up.
“See?” she said. “Childish.”
To me, it looked anything but. Someone had splashed red paint across the wall in a wild, careless arc. It had dripped down the cracks between bricks, pooling in dark rivulets that clung and dried to the mortar. It looked like blood. It looked like a threat.
After the jarring morning, the rest of the day seemed to fly by.
My plan for increasing our followers had been set in motion and was getting results already.
But, of course, more followers meant more comments for me to moderate and respond to.
I barely had enough time to dash to Holly’s to grab a sandwich and eat it back at my desk.
My phone dinged with the alarm I’d set to remind me to stop at 2:40. I still had work to do here, but I had to be at the inn for that live stream. Isabella did fine without me, but Carol expected me to be there.
I scrolled through Isabella’s social activity from the morning.
She’d seemingly spent the time highlighting several town businesses, which was great.
But when I saw a photo of her and Ellison amid the stacks of his bookstore, a pang of jealousy squeezed my heart.
I reminded myself that he wasn’t mine and she’d be gone after tomorrow night.
The Christmas Creek Inn lobby was overflowing with guests and families.
Little children had already formed a line leading to the large red velvet upholstered chair that Santa would occupy.
A basket of candy canes sat on the table beside it, one for each child to walk away with after their quick visit with the big guy.
Grace stood in the corner, wearing a reindeer sweater and nervously biting a thumbnail.
I sidled up beside her. “Everything okay?”
“Now it is,” she said. “But I’ve had a stressful day.”
“What happened?”
“Jack isn’t feeling up to his Santa duties today, but I made a couple calls and thankfully a hero stepped up.”
“The sheriff?” I guessed. He looked the most like Santa.
“No,” Grace said, looking at me like I was crazy. And she was right. Sheriff Kris looked the part but definitely didn’t have the personality to go along with it.
“Ellison Shaw,” she said. “He owns—”
“The bookstore,” I supplied. “I know him. It’s just …” He was ten thousand times too hot to play Santa.
As if reading my mind, Grace chuckled. “We have a fake beard and belly for the handsome fella. But he doesn’t need any help with those sparkling blue eyes of his, does he?”
“He does not,” I said, dreamily.
“What are you doing here?” Isabella spat from behind me. I wondered how long she’d been standing there listening. The last thing I needed was for her to know who I was interested in.
“Carol told me to come,” I said. “No big deal.”
She scowled. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“It’s not like that,” I insisted. “You’re doing great.”
She pursed her lips tightly, narrowing her eyes at me. I mentally begged her to stop being petty and just do her job. She got her way. Trent and I were done. I also knew from the grapevine that he’d ended things with her as well. But that wasn’t my fault.
Seemingly coming to some sort of decision, she snapped her phone onto her selfie stick and started recording.
“We’re back at the Christmas Creek Inn, babes, and I have a surprise for you! We have a special guest coming in soon.” Her gaze flicked from the camera to me. “Someone sexy.”
I bristled. That wasn’t what Carol had in mind at all. And what was the point of that? Why look at me? Was she calling Ellison sexy? Or was I just letting her get under my skin for no reason?
She ended the recording and brought the stick back down to her side.
“You need to keep the focus on family-friendly content,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “Young couples would visit town too. Maybe even groups of singles, like a girl’s trip.”
“Sure, but Carol wants to focus on families in our marketing right now, and she’s the one who’s paying you.”
Isabella clenched her fist. “Are you telling me how to do my job?”
“Only if you’re having trouble doing it correctly,” I retorted. I knew the words were a mistake as soon as they left my mouth. Isabella was so incredibly thin-skinned, she’d take immediate offense and have a fit.
Predictably, her chest rose up and down as fury coursed through her. She narrowed those beautiful green eyes, then screeched at the top of her lungs, “Why are you such a bitch?!”
It was like one of those record-scratch moments.
The whole room stopped to look at us. Tourists I didn’t know and townies I did.
Rudy had just walked in from school, his backpack strung over one shoulder.
Jack leaned against a cane, his eyes wide.
Grace took a few steps away, hoping to distance herself.
Angelica, the housekeeper, froze with an armful of folded towels.
Aaron, apparently in between meetings, stood with his mouth agape.
And Ellison, dressed as Santa, walked out expecting applause and was greeted by silence because everyone’s eyes were on me.
I gritted my teeth. “Can you please act professionally?”
“Professional?” she yelled. “You, Kelsey Hendricks, are asking me to act like a professional? You got me dropped from my agency because your boyfriend liked me better than you!”
A gasp rose from our audience. And my temper went up like the smoke in the chimney. The gloves were off.
Hands on my hips, I snapped, “You were dropped from your agency because you uploaded nude photos to a client folder. And it looks like you haven’t learned how to properly behave in the time since.”
Isabella sneered, her filler-bloated lips curling. “Have you learned how to keep a man?”
A chorus of “Ooh” went through the room.
I put my hands up. “This is beneath even you. Stop it.”
She stepped closer to me. “No, I’m actually really curious. Who’s your man here? Is it the blond hottie in the suit I saw you with at breakfast? Or is it the bookstore owner I met today who asked one too many questions about you?”
“Isabella, stop,” I pleaded. “You’re making a scene.”
“Enough!” a voice boomed from the front door, which stood open.
Isabella and I turned to find Carol, who’d apparently shown up to watch the Santa visit live.
“Damn it,” I said under my breath.
Carol leveled a stern look my way, then said, “Isabella, outside now.”
Sending one last glare my way, Isabella grabbed her selfie stick and followed Carol out. The room’s attention then turned to me. My mouth went dry. I hadn’t even realized it, but my body was trembling. I didn’t know what to do. I had no idea how to save this.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” Ellison boomed, rubbing his padded belly. “Doesn’t anyone want to talk to me?”
All eyes turned to Santa, and the children squealed as he made his way to the chair.
I put my hand on my heart and mouthed, “Thank you.”
He gave me a little nod as he settled onto the red velvet chair.
My hands were still shaking from the confrontation.
I slid my phone out of my pocket, ready to text an apology to Carol, but a strange notification caught my eye.
I tapped it, opening our Instagram account.
My post about the mural contest had a new comment from an obviously fake account with a bunch of random numbers and letters.
It said, simply, “Did you like my artwork?”