setback. You’ll get back on track.”
His confidence in her warmed her more than the gas fireplace.
The lines of strain seemed to have eased around his mouth, she saw with relief. Now he just looked lean and dark and compelling, especially with his hair a little messy and evening facial hair shadowing his features. Maybe it was the surroundings or the memory of him out with his horses but he didn’t look like the perfectly groomed executive right now, more like a sexy, slightly disreputable outlaw.
“Tell me how you became a hotel manager.”
“Assistant manager,” she corrected. “I was working my way up to manager, remember? Unfortunately, my one big shot at glory is now a pile of ash and rubble down by the lake.”
He smiled a little, as she intended. “Assistant manager, then. Why hotel management in the first place?”
She settled deeper in the comfortable chair, her mind retracing the steps that had led her to this moment. “I told you my mother died when I was in high school, right?”
He nodded. “How did it happen?”
“She worked the front desk at a small seaside motel owned by her good friend, just for a little spending money. It was only about a mile from our house and in good weather she liked to ride her bicycle to work. One night she never came home. My dad went out looking for her and finally found her mangled bike and my mom about thirty feet away. Hit-and-run driver. The police never found him. They said she died instantly.”
He flexed a hand as if he wanted to reach for her. “I’m so sorry.”
The pain of that original loss had never quite left her. Her life up to that point had focused on clothes and makeup and boys and studying hard enough to earn a scholarship, since her dad repeatedly lectured her they couldn’t afford tuition otherwise.
Her mom had been a constant source of encouragement, her biggest cheerleader. She had been funny and warm, someone everyone in town liked.
“After she died, her friend who owned the motel knew money was an issue for us. She hired me to help out during the summers and after school. I think at first I did it because it helped me feel closer to my mom but then I realized I really enjoyed it. I did check-in, housekeeping, took reservations, even learned a little about repair and maintenance. Wherever she needed help, she turned to me.”
“You must have done a good job.”
“I don’t know about that. I guess. I do know that even though I was still in high school, the owner put a great deal of trust in me and I didn’t want to let her down. It was the very best on-the-job training I could have received.”
Eliza had fantasized about taking over the Seaswept Inn eventually, but then the economy in the area took a hit and Karen had been forced to sell.
“After I graduated from high school, I was able to get a scholarship and obtained a degree in hotel management. I always wanted to open a small inn somewhere.”
Nothing big, just something she could dabble in while raising her family, too. How many times had Trent promised that when all his plans became reality, he would be able to buy her any inn she wanted? Countless. Like so many other plans they had made together when things were good, those dreams had died along with him.
“When my family arrives, you should talk to Lucy, my brother Brendan’s fiancée.”
“Oh?”
“This summer, she turned one of the historic silver-dynasty mansions in Hope’s Crossing into a bed-and-breakfast. I stayed there during my dad’s wedding and was really impressed.”
“It sounds lovely.”
“Yes. The thing is, Lucy is relatively new to the hospitality industry. I think it’s safe to say she’s still trying to figure things out. With your years of experience, you could probably give her all kinds of great tips.”
She couldn’t deny she was flattered. “Of course. I don’t know how much insight I can offer but I would love to talk shop with her.”
“Lucy is a marketing genius. Knowing her, by now she probably has network connections throughout the industry, including people who might be looking to hire someone with exactly your skills. I can have her put out some feelers for you, if you would like.”
She couldn’t afford to turn down his help. “Thanks.”
“I’m assuming you want to stay in Idaho.”
“If possible. Maddie’s doctors are all in Boise. I don’t want to have to start over somewhere new.”
“That makes sense.” He was quiet for a long moment. “How is she, really, if that’s not too intrusive a question? She seems perfectly healthy to me.”
“Right now she is. We’ve had a really good year. There’s a chance that will continue indefinitely. Some children with atypical cardiomyopathy never end up needing a transplant. Their condition is managed with a pacemaker and medication.”
“I hope that’s how things go for you and Maddie. She’s a great kid who deserves a normal, happy childhood.”
She smiled, touched by his words. “I agree. That’s been my prayer for her from the day the doctors first suspected her condition.”
“You’re a good mother. She’s lucky to have you.”
His quiet words seemed to seep into her own heart, past all her fears and inadequacies, warming a tiny space that had been cold and alone for so very long. “Thank you.”
“I mean it. I know it can’t be easy to have a child with health issues, especially when you’re on your own.”
“I’m not some kind of a saint, Aidan,” she said, her voice low. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking that. Sometimes the strain and worry over her seems more than I can bear by myself. I cry myself to sleep some nights, wishing with all my heart that we could have that normal childhood you were talking about. Sometimes I’m so damn angry at God or fate or whatever for making my baby have to suffer. Other times, I just want to pick her up and run away to some tropical island somewhere and pretend everything is fine.”
She had never told anyone that before. Not even Trent. By the time he died, their relationship had been so strained, she’d kept most of her deepest emotions locked away for fear of completely unbalancing the precarious load that had become their lives together.
Why she had confided in Aidan, she didn’t quite know. Something about the night and the fire and the snowfall seemed conducive to sharing secrets.
She shouldn’t have said anything. She barely knew the man—and he was her employer. He didn’t need to know how tangled and chaotic her psyche could be.
“You’re probably wondering what kind of hot mess you’ve hired.”
He smiled a little and she was happy to see no trace of the pain that had etched his mouth earlier. “Actually, no. I was just thinking that while I truly regret the circumstances that led to meeting you, I can’t be sorry I did.”
His low
