“What is…what?”
“Do you forget I can read you like a recipe?” MJ asked. “You’ve got something on your mind, Cin. Just spill it, okay? This is me. We don’t keep secrets.”
Cindy closed her eyes. “It’s no secret, really. You know the county changed the tax laws. You know we got reassessed. And you know the bill is due in January.”
“Wait. You haven’t made monthly payments all year long?” MJ asked.
She shook her head. “We’re so stretched, MJ. Payroll, insurance, property management, supplies, and advertising, which we have to do to survive. Everything is expensive. I figured we’d cover taxes with December’s profit, since we always have a banner month. But have you looked at the reservations for the next five weeks?”
“Oh, I don’t look at those,” MJ said with a flick of her sponge. “I plan the menu, get the place decorated, do the shopping, and make every guest feel like family. Oh, that reminds me! I totally forgot to tell you I took a reservation yesterday that you might not have seen.”
“The Walker family in Cabin Five? I saw it, counted it, and noticed they didn’t have an end date.”
“Actually, there’s no ‘they’ or ‘family,’ at least not as far as I can tell,” MJ said. “I talked to the man, and he seemed to be coming alone. But, yes, open-ended and Cabin Five is our most expensive with an unobstructed mountain view. And he did not flinch at our full holiday rate, mind you. Just mentioned he’d pay cash, which I assume you’ll take.”
“With open hands,” Cindy said, grabbing the glimmer of hope. But she couldn’t resist adding, “Can you get us about eight more just like that? Fill the cabins and every suite, every day from now until New Year’s Day?”
MJ looked at her, a frown pulling as she waited for Cindy to finish.
“And then we might have enough to pay the tax bill.” Cindy crinkled her nose. “Emphasis onmight.”
MJ’s sweet features fell a little. “Can we talk about it later?” she asked. “Today is Thanksgiving and it’s been so nice.”
“Of course,” Cindy replied. “But we have to?—”
“Why do you two always get stuck with cleanup?” Cindy’s daughter, Nicole, breezed into the kitchen holding some empty plates, her long dark ponytail swinging with every stride. “Sorry! Gracie and I were caught up in a cousin convo, and I should have known…” Her voice trailed off as she looked from one to the other, letting out a sigh. “Mom. You weren’t going to mention it.”
No surprise, Nicole could read Cindy as well as MJ. Was she always that transparent or was this particular worry etched on her face?
“I coaxed it out of her,” MJ said, rising to Cindy’s defense, as she always did. “But now I’m trying to stuff it back like sage dressing in a bird’s backside.”
Cindy snorted softly.
“Your mother is telling me how lackluster December looks,” MJ continued. “I just know reservations will pick up. All over the place families are together right now, having a few drinks,deciding they all need to go to Park City for Christmas. And here we are, waiting with our doors open.”
Cindy gave her a dubious look. “We usually have those reservations booked by August or September.”
“Well, they’re late.” MJ waved her Scrub Daddy like it was a magician. “They shall come. You’ll see.”
Nicole’s espresso eyes clouded as she looked at Cindy. “I know you’re worried, Mom.”
Worried? She’d sailed past worried and slid into panic after looking at those numbers.
“Look, this is a big bill,” she said. “Bigger than ever.”
“And we have cash on hand,” MJ said with certainty.
“If we use it to pay this bill, we won’t have anything. No buffer. One leak, one drafty window, one problem and we can’t fix it. No ads or special promotions, which are our lifeblood. We’re down to the bone, and if we use that money for taxes? The bone’s gonna break.”
“How did this happen?” MJ asked, concern deepening a faint frown line between her eyes.
Cindy shrugged. “Taxes have gone sky high in Summit County, and we have alotof premium real estate.”
“But we’re not building on it,” MJ said. “The lodge property is mostly woods and hills and slopes and trails. And a creek that’s either frozen or flooded.”
“That’s not how property assessors see it,” Cindy told her. “This problem is going to rise up to bite us every December because that bill isn’t going anywhere but higher year after year. It’s just prohibitively expensive to run a small, family-owned lodge in a resort town like Park City.”
MJ stared at her. “What are you saying, Cindy?”
