Chapter Nine The Mistletoe Offensive
Braxton
I had expected questions, explanations, and contingency plans. What I had not expected were sticks.
I stood at the lobby desk with my laptop open, reviewing the renovation schematics that Dex and I had drafted the night before.
William stood beside me with a pencil tucked behind his ear, pointing out the places where the floor joists were still questionable.
Dex nodded, using his stylus to mark them on the sketches.
We were coming up with a plan to replace and manage the project in a cost effective manner for the Bennet family.
It was peaceful and easy. I liked William’s simplistic calm and thoughtful solutions.
He had experience in carpentry and home repairs.
Dex and I brought practical architectural skills and youth that were willing to learn from William’s experience.
. My coffee sat cooling beside my laptop as we discussed the best way to go about the repairs necessary to keep the SnowDrop Inn in good shape.
Then the reception room door opened.
A bridesmaid marched out holding a wooden spoon with mistletoe taped to the end.
She lifted it high like a parade baton. Others spilled out behind her, waving spoons and paintbrush handles, all of them topped with mistletoe.
Modern Christmas music thumped from a speaker they carried.
Someone jingled a set of bells every time she moved her arms, which was often.
Glitter drifted through the air as though they had walked through a festive explosion.
I watched them cross the hallway with a quiet concern. They were getting closer.
William looked at them, then looked at me. “Having raised five girls, this doesn’t bode well.”
“I agree,” I slowly said.
Dex shut my laptop firmly. “I think it’s time to retreat.”
The first bridesmaid spotted a cameraman and charged toward him with the mistletoe held like a knight’s lance.
“I claim a kiss in the name of Mistletoe tradition!” she shouted.
The cameraman stepped backward until he hit the wall. The boom mic dipped to the side bouncing off the bridesmaid’s shoulder.
Another bridesmaid spotted me as I slipped my laptop under my arm. “Mr. Architect!”
“Mr. Hale,” I reminded her, backing up a step as she and a few other girls came forward into the lobby with determined looks on their faces.
I looked back for Dex and William for support but William had completely disappeared and Dex gave me a slightly guilty look as he was about to go into the office behind the desk.
“Tut tut tut! Dex! I see you,” one of the bridesmaid’s, a dyed blonde who had slightly frizzy hair said as she lifted up a green plastic margarita glass. “Come back out here!”
“I heard you were both rich,” a brunette bridesmaid mentioned as she stood in my personal space.
“Define rich,” I muttered.
“Millionaire rich,” she murmured, touching my sleeve.
I sidestepped but she came with me and I was now out of room with the lobby desk and people milling about.
“No. I’m not a millionaire,” I corrected her. It was true. It was family money, not just mine. Just because the Hales owned property, stocks, and all sorts of things, didn’t mean it was all mine.
A lot of girls had been disappointed to learn that. I had been more than disappointed to know they were just looking at me as a guy who came from the right family and had generational wealth.
She pouted as though I had personally insulted her. “That’s not what the internet says.”
“The internet gets things wrong,” I told her.
The blonde blinked at me. “You’re tall.”
“That is true,” I said. I realized that two of the girls had waylaid Dex, chatting to him which made him look decidedly uncomfortable.
“You owe me a kiss,” the blonde said, putting her mistletoe above my head.
“Um…” I wasn’t certain how I was going to get out of this without insulting the Bennet’s guests.
“Hey! He’s mine!” the brunette objected, waving her mistletoe wand at the blonde.
“I have a girlfriend,” Dex explained to the other bridesmaids.
For a moment I thought of telling them that Jane was my girlfriend, but I didn’t dare without her permission.
“You can’t just claim every good looking guy at the inn!” The blonde put her hands on her hips.
The music turned louder. A pop version of a Christmas song filled the hallway. It sounded like a marching band had collided with a candy store.
Lucy appeared next, arms crossed as she surveyed the scene. “What is going on here?”
Dex immediately reached out, pulling her to his side like a shield. “See? My girlfriend.”
She looked up at him with a startled expression before a smile grew on her lips. “About time you said so.”
A bridesmaid with glitter on her cheeks to twirl past us. The girl waved her mistletoe stick under a wreath and declared she had blessed the decorations.
Then I saw Jane.
She stepped out of the reception room holding a tray with used items from the coffee station. Her hair had come loose on one side. She stopped as she saw us, her eyes locking in on the bridesmaid who still had her hand on my arm.
I was about to say something when the bride spotted her. “There she is! Our cookie queen!”
Another bridesmaid raised her mistletoe wooden spoon in the air, going towards Jane. “A kiss for our cookie queen!”
Jane froze mid-step. She held the tray too tightly. She looked unsure of how to refuse without insulting them. Before she had to decide, I walked forward and placed myself between her and the mistletoe.
The bridesmaid skidded to a stop. She blinked at me, then at the stick. “Well, I guess he got here first.”
My face felt warm. I cleared my throat. “Maybe move the mistletoe toward someone who is not holding breakables?”
“Oh, I suppose that makes sense.” She looked up at me hopefully.
“Not me,” I firmly said.
“The internet said you were single,” she pouted.
“I’m interested in someone and I don’t want her to think that I go around kissing anyone under the mistletoe,” I truthfully told her.
“He’s in love." she gushed in a singsong voice before she turned to her friends. “Don’t bother him! He’s in love!”
My face felt like it was on fire but my declaration had the desired effect as the bridesmaids drifted away in search of safer prey. Lucy gave me a look of approval. I turned around, but Jane had disappeared.
The office door opened and William poked his head out. “Is it safe again?”
Lucy laughed. “Yes. They appear to have gone wandering down the hall. However, who gave them liquor? We only have wine for at dinner time.”
“They must have smuggled it in,” Dex theorized.
“Well, I had better go round them up and try to get them to stay in their rooms,” Lucy decided.
“Shall we go look at those joists in the basement?” William invited.
Dex nodded and we both followed him down the hall when I spotted James heading straight for the kitchen.
“I’ll be a moment,” I said to Dex before going to cut James off. “James, I have a quick question.”
“If this is about the company party, I already told you my schedule is too busy to take it on.” He paused, then shrugged with a grin. “Although, I suppose I could cancel an event to make room if it helps with publicity.”
“That’s nice. I’ll have my assistant email yours,” I said, not committing to anything.
I put my hand on James’ shoulder, steering him towards the reception room.
I had no idea what to talk to him about so I went with the first idea that came to me, even though I regretted it the moment it left my mouth.
“My sister is a fan of yours,” I said. “She asked about your next cookbook. When it might be coming out.”
He looked pleased. “Your sister has excellent taste.”
“She likes baking,” I said. “She would buy a book from you if it focused on that. Pastries, desserts, things like that.”
Carly was a fan. She would buy the book even if she never once cracked it open. It would sit on her shelf with her other books that were there more for posterity and show than use.
“A dessert-focused cookbook. That has potential. Very strong commercial appeal.” James nodded in agreement even though it was a very common thing for chefs to do.
“Indeed. You should think about it,” I told him.
“I should talk to Jane about tomorrow’s menu…” James started but I tightened my grip on his shoulder.
“Speaking of Jane. You seem very friendly with her. I heard the two of you used to work together?” I ventured to ask.
“She worked in one of my restaurants. She was a very good employee. Knows her place in the kitchen, if you know what I mean,” James laughed.
“Jane has potential but her flavors need help. If she had stuck with me for a few more years, I might have been able to bring her cooking and baking skills up to par.”
Part of me bristled, and I had to clench my teeth together in an effort not to turn my grip on his shoulder from friendly to painful. “Is that so?”
“She’s a bit rustic,” James leaned in as though confiding in me. “She had an infatuation with me. Poor girl thought we were more than we were.”
“She had a crush on you?” A cold crept into my bones.
“A crush! She was in love. Used to follow me around like I hung the moon and the stars. My Janie would do anything for me that I asked. Too bad she’s a plump girl, even if she’s somewhat pretty. She didn’t do it for me, if you know what I mean.” James winked.
I barely resisted the urge to deck him. Jane was curvy in all the right places. She wasn’t pretty, she was beautiful. Her shy smiles, her pretty eyes, her quiet competence. This egomaniac had ruined her confidence around others, I felt sure of it.
“It was difficult to let her go at the end since she was a good employee, but I had to fire her. She had gotten to the point where she actually thought we were in a relationship, that I was her boyfriend.” James laughed like it was an absurdity that anyone would consider that he might date Jane.
“She even confided to one of the other kitchen staff that she thought I was going to propose.”
My mouth ran dry as my stomach bottomed out. Jane had thought she was in love with James. Did Jane still have feelings for her former boss?