CHAPTER ONE
Hallie looked around the small office at The Stone’s Throw Inn. She sat behind the desk, trying to ignore the messy stacks of papers strewn around her. Especially given the way that Reese Devereux, the inn’s new owner, was eyeing them, too.
Really, as far as Hallie was concerned, it was a great problem they had on their hands. Occupancy had been up almost immediately after Reese had started spending more on marketing in the New England region, positioning The Stone’s Throw as a cute, cozy fall destination for peeping leaves.
It was something that Hallie’s parents hadn’t done when they’d owned the inn, though its charming, coastal locality in Stoneport, Massachusetts, had kept them in business for decades regardless.
But Reese, who was astoundingly–maybe even a little annoyingly–good at everything she set her mind to, had been intent on making The Stone’s Throw a premier destination when she bought the inn six months ago. And those plans had only been slightly slowed by Reese falling in love with Hallie’s best friend, Sydney.
Once the dust had settled, with the two lovebirds affirming their desire to seriouslybetogether, Reese accepted that maybethe only thing she wasn’t perfect at was running the day-to-day operations of an inn. And with that, she’d made Hallie a very generous offer to stay on permanently and help usher in The Stone’s Throw’s new era.
What else did Hallie have going on? All she’d ever known was the inn, and with her parents headed west to Colorado to live near her brother, Mason, his wife, and their young kids, it wasn’t like her dance card was full-up in Stoneport with other offers.
So she’d stayed. Partly because it made sense and partly because there was no reason that she shouldn’t. The one truly bright spot was that her best friend, Sydney, had officially retired from the professional tennis circuit and relocated back to Stoneport. So even if Sydney was now one-half of Sydneyand Reesewhen it came down to most socializing, she was still happy to have her back.
Hallie felt like she was doing a serviceable job running the inn, all things considered. Especially once you factored in the unexpected rush that had taken the small inn by storm this fall.
What could she say? Leaf peepersreallyloved to peep those leaves.
Now that the cold of winter was slowly descending on them–with only about three weeks until Christmas–Hallie felt like she was just starting to pull her head above water again. Not that she thought Reese would see things from her perspective, given the way her dark eyes had locked onto a piece of paper that was hanging dangerously over the edge of the filing cabinet.
Hallie didn’t dare breathe; the smallest exhale would likely send it fluttering to the floor.
“First week with under ninety percent occupancy,” she said finally. She looked down at a different rogue sheet of paper to avoid eye contact.
She still felt a little intimidated by Reese, even if she tried her best not to show it. How could one describe Reese Devereux?Nepo baby turned good. Entrepreneur. Business owner. Love of her best friend’s life. Hallie could ham it up with the best of them, but she still sat a little straighter in her chair when she clocked Reese’s watchful eyes studying, well… everything.
When Sydney was part of the equation, Hallie didn’t waver. She’d say anything to Reese–and do anything for Sydney–to make sure her best friend was happy. But when they delved into the professional side of their relationship, with Reese as the new owner and Hallie as the newly minted operations director of the inn, she faltered.
The stacks of papers, which had the financial reports for the last few months, needed to be categorized and placed into binders that should go on the built-in shelves behind her desk. The shelves themselves had seen better days. At least a few coffee cups littered the dark wood, and she was now seeing in her mind’s eye a half-eaten cookie she’d forgotten back there yesterday.
If Reese hadn’t been in the small office, she’d probably have reached around and shoved it into her mouth, having been too busy to grab lunch today.
Even if she could go without food, being the only manager-level employee at The Stone’s Throw didn’t leave much time to attend to the operations side of the business. The needs of the guests took first priority.
Which was exactly what Hallie hoped Reese wasn’t about to bring up. She’d told Reese that she could handle it all when she’d accepted the new offer. Promised her, even.
And Hallie wasn’t someone who took promises lightly.
“I wanted to talk about hiring the new manager, like we’d discussed a few months ago.”
Hallie nodded. Yep, it was going to be one of those days. She blew a brunette strand of hair out of her face, the exhale a little longer than necessary as she worked to gather her bearings. “Ihad a few first interviews with candidates, but no one that I thought was a great fit.”
Which was… true, though she hoped that Reese wouldn’t notice the overflowing manila folder that hadApplicantsscrawled across it, neatly tucked at the bottom of other, more pressing stacks of papers.
Say what you want, but she had a system!
Reese’s eyes flitted to the exact stack Hallie hoped she wouldn’t see. When she turned her attention back to Hallie, her voice was a mix of soft and stern. “I’m trying to straddle a line here. You’re my employee, but you’re also my friend. And you’re my girlfriend’s best friend,” she added ruefully. “You were the one who trained me, who made my months working here survivable. I don’t take any of that–or you–for granted.”
Hallie allowed herself to momentarily bask in the compliments. “I don’t take it for granted either. Or my role here, for that matter,” she added seriously.
Really, it made her feel awful that she was disappointing Reese, even though Reese didn’t look angry or frustrated with her as she watched Hallie. That, at the heart of it all, Hallie was possibly doing a bad job at the one thing she was supposed to be decent at.
“I think what makes the most sense is for me to help with the hiring.” Reese held her hand up when Hallie moved to speak, clearly already in solutions mode. “It’s not a reflection of your capability. But we’re only a few weeks out from Christmas, you’ll be gone for over a week in Colorado, and we need someone who can manage the day-to-day.”
The words cut at Hallie, like her failure was being laid out in a neat little row for her to study. Reese was right. Hallie had committed months ago to finding a second manager. It should have already been done by now. “I want you to know that if we don’t find someone, I’ll cancel my trip. I’d never leave you ina lurch over the holidays. Especially with this being your first Christmas with Sydney.”
“It’s not going to come to that, not that I’d let you do it anyway,” Reese said with a small, sincere smile, and Hallie saw a glimpse of what Sydney probably saw every single day. “Your time is as important as anyone else’s, and I know that you haven’t seen your parents since they moved.”
