Abby moved Ellie’s coffee and cake out of the way. “Let the romantifying of Mirror Lake Inn begin,” she said, glancing up from piling the books on the table. “No pressure, but you and the inn are the key to us winning this thing, Ellie. There’s an inn featured in the story line, and with the guest rooms reflecting romantic couples, there’s not a chance we can lose.”
Sadie followed suit, making a stack beside Abby’s.
No pressure indeed. But no matter how much Ellie wished she could cancel the guest rooms’ redesign, she knew how badly the business owners in town were counting on winning the competition. The local economy would benefit big-time if Happy Ever After Entertainment filmed its movie here. And not just in the short term. Abby would promote the heck out of the town’s connection to the movie before, during, and after, ensuring that Highland Falls benefited from added tourist dollars for years to come. Which the inn would also benefit from.
“I know it’s a lot of work,” her cousin said as she continued stacking her books beside Abby’s. “But you’ll see. In the end it’ll be worth it.”
“A lot of money too. It will eat into our operating budget for the next few months.” Who was she kidding? She’d have to dip into her savings. But now that she’d decided to stay, that didn’t worry her as much as it would have if she’d been moving back to New York.
“I bet the local antique store would be willing to barter with you or even lend you things on consignment,” Sadie suggested.
“That’s a good idea. I’ve been meaning to stop in anyway. One of my clients at Custom Concierge has been looking for a few pieces for his library.” A client whom she hadn’t gotten back to since late last week. She needed to schedule a couple of hours a day to work on her own business.
“Exactly how long do you think the redesign will take?” Abby asked.
“I’ll probably be finishing it up an hour before the executives from the production company arrive.” She caught the glance Abby shared with Sadie. “They haven’t moved up their date, have they?”
“No. They’re arriving next Tuesday. But I might have mentioned that you’d be doing tours after this coming Sunday’s tea.” Abby winced, no doubt in response to Ellie’s jaw dropping. “Sorry. I thought it would be a good way to boost reservations. I bet people would be willing to move their reservations from Saturday to Sunday. That way you could just focus on the room redesign. You could do two or three seatings.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll all pitch in,” Sadie said. “And I’m sure Nate won’t mind helping out.”
Ellie snorted. “I don’t see that happening. The last thing Nate wants is to be stuck in a room with me discussing how to turn it into a tribute to romantic love. He’d probably run in the other direction if I suggested it.”
Sadie nodded at the cake. “So this does have to do with Nate. What happened?”
Ellie sighed, then shared this morning’s conversation with Nate. “So helping me out with guest rooms isn’t exactly something he’d be on board with.”
Abby pressed her hands to her chest. “That’s so romantic.”
Ellie stared at her. “Were you not listening to me?”
“I can see why it might not have felt romantic to you, Ellie. But if you look at it from our perspective, as women who’ve known Nate longer than you have, you’d see what we see.”
“And what’s that exactly?”
“You rocked his world with a kiss. He said so himself. For him to admit that to you is huge, Ellie. He has feelings for you, and for a commitment-phobe like Nate, that must be pretty terrifying. Yet he didn’t pack up Ryder and find somewhere else for them to stay. That to me speaks volumes,” Sadie said. “As afraid as he is of falling for you, he can’t make himself leave.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with me. Ryder likes it at the inn. He and Toby have bonded. He’s vulnerable right now. Nate wouldn’t want to move him.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “He has five sisters, who have dogs and kids of their own. They adore Nate. They’d welcome him and Ryder with open arms.”
“Face it, Ellie,” Abby said. “Nate has a thing for you, and whether he wants to admit or not—obviously not—him sticking around is a big deal. If you’re interested in him, you should totally take this as an opportunity to show him how great you are together. You are interested in him, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but I was engaged to a man who was afraid of commitment.” Until this morning, she hadn’t realized that was Nate’s problem. She’d thought it had more to do with his job. “So afraid that Spencer had an affair with his costar days before our wedding, and he dumped her a month later. He’s now a serial dater. Sound like anyone you know?” Ellie wrinkled her nose at Abby’s and Sadie’s shocked expressions. “I guess I forgot to mention that.”
“You said Spencer left you at the altar,” Sadie said.
“Not exactly. Granny said that, and I didn’t correct her. It was better than people learning the truth. It’s not like Spencer or his costar were publicizing their affair.”
The movie’s publicist had hounded Ellie for days after she’d ended the engagement, begging her not to say anything to the press that would tarnish Spencer’s reputation. Ellie had finally agreed to issue a joint statement with Spencer—that they wanted different things from life and wished each other the very best—to get the publicist to leave her alone.
“Never in a million years would Nate do something like that. He might have some commitment issues, but he’s a good guy. A really good guy. And you’re the last person he’d hurt.”
“Sadie’s right,” Abby said. “Nate wouldn’t mess around on you. You’re his best friend’s wife’s cousin, and he’d never do anything to upset your grandmother.”
Abby made a good point, and Ellie couldn’t help but wonder if the family connections were another reason Nate wanted to keep her at arm’s length. It would be nice if he gave her a say. That’s what really bothered her. He framed his rejection as though he was protecting her. Like she’d told him, she was more than capable of protecting herself.
She glanced at the stacks of books on the table. “We should probably pick the couples. If I’m going to have the rooms ready for Sunday, I have to get started right away.”
“I have a better idea,” Abby said. “We’ll help you eat your cake and come up with a plan for you to seduce Nate. And then you two can go through the books together and pick the most romantic couples.”
“That’s actually a great idea,” Sadie said. “You can make a comparison between the couples in the books and yours and Nate’s relationship.”
Ellie pulled a copy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet from the top of Sadie’s pile and a copy of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights from the top of Abby’s. She held them up. “Right, because their love affairs ended so well.”
Chapter Twelve
Nate walked into his room. The door to the adjoining bedroom was closed. Obviously Ryder was still in bed. Nate hesitated, debating how he should handle things after last night. Ellie would probably tell him to go easy on the kid. Or she would if she were talking to him. She hadn’t responded to any of his texts after the first one. He’d messed up with her. He didn’t want to mess up with Ryder too. But when he smelled cigarette smoke coming from the kid’s room, he decided that what the situation called for was tough love.