“You’re glaring,” Molly said.
“You would be too if a six-year-old was beating you at a card game,” I said.
“I’m six,” she said simply. “It would be okay for me to lose to another six-year-old. You’re like eighty, so it’s different.”
I rolled my eyes at her, then decided to put her out of her misery. I went on a matching spree when my turn came and cleared all the remaining matches except the snow leopard and the elephants. She watched with her mouth hanging open, then clapped with glee when I purposely flipped a mismatch.
She flipped the snow leopard, met my eyes with a gloating fire, and then flipped the elephant.
“Fudge frosties!” She swore.
I had a reputation for getting things done quickly and effectively. I’d spent the last week setting my plan for Gramps and his business into motion. Zack stood with me in the lobby, which now looked a little more like a warzone. I’d had an entire wall demolished, which opened up the sitting room next to the lobby and the kitchen. Contractors were coming next week to rebuild things with an open kitchen plan and seating for thirty. It was going to be a small, intimate, but high-end menu.
Zack folded his arms over his chest. “Congrats, bro. You made a huge mess. Is this what you brought me here to see?”
I grunted in annoyance. “Have some vision. See this?” I gestured to where a pile of crumbled drywall and broken two by fours were stacked. “We’ll have a vine trellis here to divide the space. Over there will be one half of the dining room and this will be the other. Both areas will have a view of the kitchen.” I enjoyed this sort of thing. I liked the puzzle of taking apart something that wasn’t working, reimagining it, and then bringing that image to life. I was good at it, too.
He pursed his lips, then nudged some debris with his toe. “Yep. Just looks like a mess to me, but that’s why they pay you the big bucks, right?”
“I’ve got to find the right chef, though.”
Zack’s eyebrow tipped upwards. “You know there’s a local who might be perfect.”
“Not her,” I said firmly. Over the last week, I’d mostly managed to put Harper Halladay from my mind. Mostly. I’d of course seen her about town a few times. Just yesterday I’d spotted her out the window with her friend, Lin. Harper had on a yellow and white sun dress, tennis shoes, and looked like the fucking picture of innocent perfection.
I’d yanked the shutters closed and focused my attention back on work. Whether I saw her or not, the damn woman was in my mind like a disease. The only time I could function was with the kids or when I was pouring my focus into the inn. Naturally, I’d been father of the year and grandson of the fucking century for the last week to keep myself distracted.
“Too embarrassed to talk to her after you struck out at the Night of Lights?” Zack suggested.
I’d lied and told him she turned me down for a date when we went into the bakery together. There was no way I was about to admit I’d fucking kissed her. “It’s not that. This is a business decision. Personal shit has nothing to do with it.”
“She probably turned you down because you half-assed it. I’ve seen the way she looks at you. Hell, maybe she’s just playing hard to get.”
“It’s none of your business,” I snapped. I grabbed a broom with a little more force than I intended and started to sweep.
“We have a bet; in case you’ve forgotten.”
“And I have three months.”
“Two months, two weeks, and four days.” Zack shrugged and smiled. “Not that I’m counting.”
“Enough,” I said. “You do realize the more you push me on this, the more it makes me want to do the opposite just to spite your smug ass, right?”
“At least give her a look for the position. She’s a damn good cook and you know it. Everybody in town does. You’d be getting someone young, hungry, and highly motivated.”
“And highly inexperienced.”
“What are your other options?”
“I can tap into my network with Stay Inn. I have a network of qualified chefs at my disposal. All I’d need to do is make a call.”
Zack got an annoyingly perceptive look in his eye. “Why don’t you, then?”
“Shut up.”
14
HARPER
It had been approximately one week since Greyson Ashford turned my world upside down. I’d never been kissed like that, and part of me wondered if I ever would be again. It had felt like the freaking floor was about to fall out from beneath us.
And then there was nothing.
He wouldn’t even make eye contact when we passed each other in town. He hadn’t reached out, and his kids had actually stopped showing up at my house.