Heartstrings (Brody Hotel Book 2) Read online

  “I thought you weren’t all that interested in Tony. I mean, when you talked about him, you sounded a little bit … I don’t know. Kind of blah.”

  “It’s kind of like . . .” Tabs tried to think of a way to explain it. “There’s a piece of chocolate cake, right? And you know it’s delicious, and you know you love chocolate, but you’ve had chocolate a lot, and you wonder if there’s something else you might like better. So you hold back a little, but then you realize, wait—this isn’t just chocolate. It’s actually some really amazing, good-quality chocolate, and so you’re more excited about it.”

  Marissa raised an eyebrow. “Chocolate cake? You’re comparing Tony to chocolate cake?”

  “It’s the best analogy I could think of.”

  Marissa shook her head, laughing. “And we get angry at men for objectifying us.”

  “I’m not objectifying Tony. I’m dessert-ifying him. That’s totally different. And it was just an analogy.” Tabs picked up her menu. “I think you enjoy giving me a hard time.”

  “Oh, I definitely do. It’s so entertaining to watch you react.”

  When the waiter came back around, they placed their orders, and he returned with salad and breadsticks to get them started.

  “So, what are we going to do while we wait for the orders to come in? Just sit around and paint our fingernails?” Tabs asked as she drizzled dressing on her salad.

  “Andrew asked if we could help get his house ready to sell.”

  Tabs lifted an eyebrow. “He’s serious about moving into the hotel?”

  “Those private quarters behind the office are plenty big enough, and he says he’d rather be on site than driving back and forth all the time.”

  “Wow.” Tabs shook her head. “I guess I just thought the hotel was a side business for him, and that once it was done, he’d be on to the next thing.”

  “I thought so too, but he’s really sinking his teeth into it. I hope it becomes everything he’s envisioning and not a huge disappointment.” Marissa shrugged. “We can’t predict anything this early on, though. It’s a huge risk.”

  “A really huge risk. Shouldn’t he wait on the house and see how the hotel goes first?”

  “I suggested that to him, but he says he’s been wanting to sell the house anyway. It was his mother’s dream, not his, and now that she’s gone, he doesn’t have a reason to hang on to it. He’d prefer something smaller and easier to take care of.”

  “I guess that makes sense, but it still feels like he’s making a whole lot of life changes all at once.”

  “Yeah, it does.”

  Something wistful in Marissa’s tone caught Tabs’ attention. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing. Well, yeah, something.” Marissa used her straw to swirl the ice around in her glass. “I can’t help but wonder if our relationship isn’t just one of those major life changes, like . . . like maybe he’s having an early midlife crisis or something.”

  “Oh, come on.” Tabs reached out and gently shoved Marissa’s shoulder. “You can’t honestly think that. I’ve seen the way he looks at you—I’ve told you, he’s smitten. You’re not the result of a midlife crisis.”

  “But how do I know that?”

  “But why are you doubting?” Tabs gave her an incredulous look. “Has he said or done anything to make you think he’s just playing with you?”

  “No. It’s just . . .” Marissa kept swirling her ice. “I’ve never dated a guy who just does what he wants and buys what he wants and sells what he wants when he wants to. I mean, it’s like he almost doesn’t think about it. He makes the decision and boom! It’s done. Yesterday, he put a restaurant up for sale because it wasn’t making the kind of money he wanted it to. Boom! Just like that. It’s so impulsive. It makes me nervous.”

  “You know what?” Tabs said. “I don’t see it as impulse. He’s a quick thinker, and he knows what he wants. Why should he sit around and hem and haw if the outcome is clear? I like decisiveness. It’s attractive.”

  “You’re right—you are. I’d rather be with a decisive guy than one who can’t make up his mind about anything. I just don’t want to be one of those things that he decides to get rid of at the drop of a hat.”

  “So … are you thinking marriage, then?” Tabs wheedled.

  Marissa’s cheeks went a little pink. “I think I am.”

  Tabs couldn’t help it—she bounced up and down a little bit in her seat. “This is so awesome—you finally found your guy.”

  “Finally? You make it sound like I’m some fifty-five-year-old spinster or something.”

  “You know what I mean. I’m just so excited!” Tabs took a deep breath. “Okay. Sorry. Has he proposed?”

  “There hasn’t been an actual proposal, but both of us have mentioned wanting to see where this goes and being able to picture having a family together.”

  “Which is just about the very next thing to a proposal.” Tabs bounced again, then quieted as the waiter brought their meals. “Okay, so. Back to business. You said Andrew would like our help getting the house ready.”

  “Yes. He’s got a lot of furniture and whatnot that he thinks will auction for a good price, and he’d also like our advice on staging—whether we should keep the current colors or go with neutrals, stuff like that.”

  “Sounds like fun.” Tabs forked up a bite of lasagna. After she swallowed, she asked, “When will we do that?”

  “I thought we’d go over after we’ve ordered everything we need—we’ll have time before it arrives. It’s going to take a week just for the paint to get here, since we went with custom colors.”

  Tabs nodded. “I’m glad we won’t be sitting around bored. And, you know, while we’re helping Andrew sell this house, you might put some bugs in his ear about what kind of place you’d like to live in someday.”

  Marissa grinned. “That’s definitely on my agenda.”

  “Or do you want to live at the hotel?”

  “Oh, that’s a hard question.” Marissa stabbed a piece of tomato. “I honestly don’t know. The private living quarters are large enough for a family, and the ideas I have for it so far are pretty awesome. Being a full-time hotelier, though? Is that me? I don’t know.”

  “But you wouldn’t have to be,” Tabs pointed out. “Andrew will have employees. I don’t think he’d intend for you to help run the place—unless you wanted to.”

  “That’s a conversation we haven’t had yet.” Marissa sighed. “See, this is the problem with having feelings for someone, but not having anything set in stone. You’d like to make plans, but you can’t really, and you’re just waiting for things to fall into place so you know what to expect. And then do you know what’s crazy? The fact that I’m talking about marrying a guy I didn’t even know a month ago. Who does that?”

  “Lots of people,” Tabs replied. “When you know it’s right, you know it. Any time between now and then, you can spend getting to know each other better, but I don’t think it’s going to become any more right, do you?”

  “No, it’s not. I feel really sure about this.” Marissa grinned and started winding spaghetti on her fork. “I do. I’ve found the man I want to marry. And don’t you start bouncing again—it shakes the whole booth.”

  “Sorry,” Tabs said, trying to sound contrite. It was hard, though, when she was so excited for her friend. “I can just see you as one of those cool, trendy moms—you know, the kind in expensive yoga pants who puts her kids in a jogging stroller and zooms all over town, and the kids are dressed in matching clothes with those tiny little sneakers.”

  Marissa raised an eyebrow. “Okay, first, I don’t zoom all over town when I jog—it’s more like lumbering. And second, it kind of sounds like you want some of those matching children yourself.”

  Tabs gave a sheepish look. “I don’t think about it often, but sometimes when I’m at a store and I pass by the baby department and I see the little outfits, I think it might be kind of cool.”

  “Well, I can’t wai
t for both of us to have kids so we can raise them together. Wouldn’t it be cool if we each had a girl, or we each had a boy, and they could be best friends just like we are?”

  Tabs laughed. “You realize we sound like lunatics, don’t you? We’re not married, we’re not even engaged, and I’m not even dating anyone, and we’re setting up playdates for our kids? No wonder guys don’t like listening in on girl conversations. We’re out of our minds.”

  “Are you sure you’re not dating anyone?” Marissa asked, pointing a breadstick in Tabs’ direction. “I thought you and Tony were going out to dinner.”

  “We are, there’s nothing serious going on, and don’t point. It’s considered rude in some countries.”

  Marissa frowned. “Name one.”

  “Indonesia. And Japan. See—there’s two. You got twice as much as you asked for.” Tabs took another bite. Cheese. Yes, she needed cheese. Cheese was almost as good as chocolate sometimes.

  “How do you know these random things?”

  “I don’t know. I have a really weird memory. Now, eat your dinner before it gets cold.”

  “You mean, you want my face full of food so I can’t ask you anymore questions about your love life.”

  Tabs grinned. “Yeah, pretty much.”

  They each ate about half their food, got takeout boxes, decided to skip dessert, but then on the way back to Marissa’s, they changed their mind and pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store, where they picked up brownies, ice cream, and chocolate syrup.

  “Okay, this is living,” Tabs said, holding up her huge bowl of ice cream and drizzling syrup all over it. “Giant dessert, I have leftovers for lunch in the fridge, and I’m spending the evening with my best friend. What could be better than this?”

  “Ordering furniture,” Marissa said, pointing toward the papers lined up on her desk. “Oh, wait. Sorry. I just pointed again.”

  “You can point at things. You just can’t point at people.”

  Marissa shook her head. “I think you’re making this up as you go.”

  Tabs shrugged. “You can Google it if you want. I’m just trying to increase your knowledge of world cultures.”

  “Because I’m going to encounter a great many of these world cultures in Kansas?”

  “Don’t be narrow-minded. You never know who you’ll meet on a day-to-day basis, and you might as well be prepared to welcome people from all over the world . . . while you’re running a hotel.”

  Marissa picked up a marshmallow and threw it at Tabs. “I told you, I don’t think I want to run a hotel!”

  “Stop throwing things and let’s order some furniture, shall we?” Tabs walked into the other room, carrying her bowl and wearing a righteous look on her face. “It’s a good thing you have me. Someone has to be the adult around here.”

  “Um, yeah. You’ve got chocolate sauce on your chin.”

  Chapter Five

  Andrew had paid for round-the-clock crews to do the rewiring, and when Tabs walked into the hotel the next morning, she saw that the door to the office was wide open. “Thank goodness!” she said, poking her head into the room to see that it was now set up as the command center. “The lobby looks so much better, Andrew.”

  “I thought you’d like that,” he said with a grin. “Of course, we’ll be ripping things apart again when we decorate in here, but for now, things are tidier.”

  “When it’s time to decorate in here, let me figure out where to put stuff in the meantime, okay? No more plopping down in the middle of the lobby?”

  He laughed. “Okay, no more plopping down in the middle of the lobby. Hey, is Marissa with you?”

  “No, she said she had an errand to run and will be here in a little while.”

  “All right.” He tried not to show it, but she could see that he was disappointed. She smiled—her best friend deserved a good guy like him.

  “Morning, Tabs.”

  She turned to see Rob and Danny walking up behind her, their work boots leaving dirt footprints on the floor. Good thing they hadn’t started varnishing down here yet. “Hey. How’s it going?”

  “Pretty good. We got a bunch of trees out yesterday and plan to finish up by tomorrow night. Andrew just texted me, though—said he needed some help.”

  “I do.” Andrew stood up from behind his desk and waved them in. “So, we have a little bit of a mystery. In one of the ledgers we found in the attic, there was a notation about a safe here in the office. I don’t know if it’s still here or if it’s been removed, but the walls seem to have been plastered over a few times since this place was built. Can you help me take a look around?”

  “Sure.” Rob turned this way and that. “No idea where it would have been?”

  “None whatsoever.”

  “Okay.” Rob walked over to one of the walls and ran his hand along it. “Yeah, this plaster’s pretty thick, all right.”

  “Griffin says he thinks the safe might have been in the wall here behind the desk, or maybe in this outer wall by the window,” Andrew said.

  Tabs leaned against the door frame, watching. This was better than a treasure hunt movie.

  “I don’t think it would have been in the outer wall,” Rob said. “I could be wrong, but I don’t think they would have taken a chance on the integrity of the outer structure by installing something like that.” He moved over to the wall behind the desk. “This separates the office from the private living quarters, doesn’t it?”

  “That’s right. The other side of this wall is the living room,” Andrew replied.

  “May I see?”

  “Of course,” Andrew replied, leading the way. Tabs had been back there and didn’t feel the need to be underfoot, so she stayed where she was, her curiosity mounting.

  When the man came back, Rob was nodding. “This wall is plenty thick to house an office safe. Danny, would you run out to the truck and grab a stud finder?”

  “You bet,” Danny said, leaving the room.

  “I don’t actually know how a stud finder will work on these walls, but we’ll give it a try,” Rob said, touching the plaster again. “Hey, Tabs, what’s the design plan in here? Plaster stays, plaster goes . . .?”

  “It’ll go, and be replaced with something that honors the old-fashioned look, but isn’t as likely to crumble off in an earthquake,” Tabs replied, glad that her lurking had actually come in handy.

  “Well, if it’s just going to come off, it wouldn’t do us any harm to remove some of it now,” Rob said.

  Danny came back in the room and ran the stud finder over the wall. It made a series of strange noises, and Danny shook his head. “I’m getting some weird readings. I’m not sure this thing knows how to sense these materials.” He showed the display to Rob, who nodded.

  “Let’s get some drop cloths in here and some drills,” Rob said. “We can start chipping away at this plaster to see what’s behind it. This wall’s thick enough that we won’t be disturbing anything weight bearing.”

  “Hold on. Are you going to kick Andrew out of his office when he only just barely got it back this morning?” Tabs asked. Her question had nothing to do with the inconvenience to Andrew, but everything to do with the mess it would make if they had to pull the tables and desk back out.

  “No. We’ll just scoot all the furniture up against that wall,” Rob said, and Andrew laughed.

  “I can tell what you’re thinking, Tabs,” he said. “It’s written all over your face.”

  “You have to understand—I’m about practicality,” she explained. “Traffic flow. Ease and convenience. You’re not going to bark your shin on the coffee table in a room I’ve put together unless you really try.”

  “I get it,” Andrew said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll try to stop messing with your system.”

  “Thank you. Much appreciated.” She grinned. “So, can I help chip out that wall? It sounds fun.”

  ***

  When Griffin arrived at the hotel, he found Rob and Danny removing plast
er from one wall of the office, masks over their noses and mouths to protect themselves from the plaster dust, and one helper with bouncing red curls and a mask of her own energetically working alongside them.

  “Hey, Griffin,” Andrew said, looking up from scooping plaster chunks into a dustpan. “We’re in search of that office safe you said might be in this wall.”

  Griffin looked around, a little surprised at their project. “You didn’t let any grass grow under your feet.”

  “Nope. I was too curious for that.” Andrew nodded toward Rob. “Rob said this wouldn’t have an effect on the weight-bearing capacities of the wall, so we decided to go for it.”

  “Hey, what’s this?” Danny brushed some plaster away from the spot he’d just chiseled. “I think I hit something.”

  “Not just a support beam?” Rob asked.

  “No—it doesn’t look anything like the other one we found.” He chiseled a bit more along the same angle. “I’m definitely hitting something here.”

  Rob and Tabs stopped working in their areas and stepped back to watch Danny as he removed more plaster. “Folks, we have a safe,” he announced after a few minutes. “I’m almost sure of it.”

  Rob and Tabs gave each other high fives. As Tabs turned, her glance flickered toward Griffin, but then she lifted her chisel and went back to work, helping Danny uncover the right side of the item buried in the wall.

  Danny hit the plaster just right, and the whole piece that had covered the face of the safe fell off at once, like a shingle on a roof, and Andrew chuckled. “You were right, Griffin. It was here the whole time.” He stepped over and ran his fingers over the face of it.

  Griffin shrugged. “It was just a guess.”

  “An educated guess, and one that paid off.” Andrew stepped back and contemplated it. “How do you think you get one of these things open?”

  “That’s heavy cast iron,” Rob replied. “It’s not going to come open easily.”

  “I don’t suppose the combination was written in one of the ledgers,” Tabs suggested.