Page 46 of Love is a Game
“Fine,” she relented.
Holding her drink carefully, she turned and tried to sit gracefully on the shapeless poof behind her. She was almost successful, but she sank into it more than she was expecting and found herself engulfed in fake leather. She looked up at him helplessly.
He tried to stifle his laughter. “Comfortable, right?”
It was, actually. She wiggled her shoulders and hips a bit, adjusting her position, and then sat back. “It’s fine.”
The beanbag was huge, but he sat down right beside her. She wasn’t sure if the small space between them was intentional or not, but she didn’t mind it.
“So,” she began, “if you are sometimes working on your application, what are you doing the rest of the time? All-night dance parties by yourself?”
He gave her a sheepish look and admitted, “Sometimes I stay here late because I don’t want to be alone in my mother’s house all evening.”
“Oh.” She looked down at her hands, sorry that she had asked. “I’m sure that’s hard.”
He shrugged. “It gets easier the more time passes. I’m definitely glad I kept the place. It holds a lot of good memories, but sometimes the quiet is too strong of a reminder that she’s not there anymore.”
“I was sorry to hear about her passing,” she said gently. “I always thought she was really lovely.”
The truth was, she had watched his mother at Honors Society dinners and school fundraisers and wondered how such a lovely woman could have such a rotten son. He probably didn’t need to know that though.
“Thanks. She was.” His face turned pensive.
Sadie debated asking the question on her mind. She didn’t want to push, but this might be her best chance to learn more about his past.
“Tell me about the Gregsons,” she said cautiously, watching his features to make sure she wasn’t upsetting him.
He stared at his hands, rubbing a thumb across the label on his beer, and then said, “Arthur and Carol Gregson were the best kind of people. The kind of people who see a nineteen-year-old high school dropout with a toddler on her hip, asking for a room and a job and hire her on the spot, then offer her free lodging until she can afford a place of her own.”
“Your mom?” Sadie asked quietly.
“Yeah. I don’t know all the details; she didn’t like to talk about her past. What I do know is that she found herself here in Briar Cove, and the Gregsons made her feel like this was a place she could stay.”
“Is that why she worked for them for so long?”
He nodded. “The Cypress. It was more than just a job for her. They made it our home. I used to go there after school most days, do my homework while Mom finished her shift. Carol reviewed pretty much every essay I ever wrote before I turned them in. When I was old enough, I helped Arthur with the maintenance of the place: painting, fixing squeaky hinges, a lot of good things for a boy to learn. I even spent every Christmas there. Mom always had the day off, but they were our only family, so we’d bring over our Christmas dinner and eat with them and any guests who might be there with no place to go. Then we would exchange gifts and sing Christmas songs.”
“Sounds fun.”
He looked at her and smiled. “It was.”
She rested her head on her hand and considered him. As much as she’d been forced to interact with him in school, she clearly hadn’t known much about who he was outside of that. “I can see why the hotel means so much to you,” she said. “It’s good of you to try to preserve it.”
He sighed. “Yeah, keyword—try.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought if I could just get this historic landmark thing going, that would be enough to protect it, but it’s turned out to be a lot more trouble than I expected. There’s so much information here to wade through, and I don’t know what’s important and what isn’t, or how to effectively make my case to the committee.”
Sadie raised an eyebrow and tapped her chin with one finger. “Hm, if only you knew someone in the industry who was willing to help you.”
He looked surprised. “Would you be willing to help me?”
“Of course,” Sadie said. “Andrew, we want the same thing here. I understand why you’re hesitant to trust Maddox with something you care about this much, but being part of a big company like that would offer the hotel all kinds of support, so it could hit the ground running as soon as it reopens. Making the hotel successful would be the best thing for everyone, and Maddox can make that happen.”
Andrew stared straight ahead, deep in thought. He looked unsure, but the fact he hadn’t already turned her down meant he might be considering it.
“With landmark status, the integrity of the hotel will be preserved. Every beautiful thing about it will be protected and stay the same. I’ll help you with the application so you can get it done before Maddox makes any offers.”