“Let me start at the beginning. She came here looking for a place to hide.” Bertram drummed his fingers on the desk. “I don’t normally like to use my lodge as a long term escape, but I couldn’t turn her away. She was so…” he leaned back in his chair as he searched for the right word, “…broken.”
Jake let that sink in. He had a hard time imagining the girl he had just met in the hallway as the same girl that Bertram spoke of now.
“She hardly spoke to anyone. She would spend hours, sometimes days, locked in her room. She was always so sad.” Bertram had a faraway look in his eye as he recalled the past. “When she finally came out of her shell, finally showed some spirit, I was eager for her to remain that way. I like to maintain a well-disciplined staff. I don’t think twice about correcting anyone for their behavior. But with Coral, I let things slide.”
“With all due respect, sir, she was out in the cold without a coat. But I would hardly call that out of hand,” Jake said.
“That’s the least of my problems. She has her head in the clouds. She needs a little lesson in discipline, especially after the stunt she pulled the other night.” Bertram shook his head. “I was out of the lodge for the day. That was when I happened to come across you and your sister. Coral was left to run the front desk because we were a little short staffed—otherwise she never would have been asked. She ended up letting a known criminal into the lodge and he looted all of the guest rooms.”
“Surely she couldn’t have known he was a criminal?” Jakedidn’t know why he was defending her, but something inside him wanted to protect her.
“She knew,” Bertram continued, “or she would have had she been paying attention and doing her job.”
“So what happened?” Jake remembered that Bertram threatened to spank her a minute ago, for some reason the thought of Bertram’s hands on her didn’t sit well with him.
“We had to try to placate the guests. I gave them all a free night’s stay.”
“No, I meant to Coral.” Jake swallowed. “Was she punished?”
Bertram raised an eyebrow at Jake, “I agree, she should have been. But like I mentioned before, I’m afraid I have set a terrible precedent. While I wouldn’t have thought twice about taking any other staff member to task, I just couldn’t bring myself to properly scold her.”
“So there have been no repercussions?”
“Much to the chagrin of the others. I shall never hear the end of it. I believe it is causing some animosity because they believe Coral is treated differently.”
“But she is,” Jake interjected.
“Yes, I guess she is,” Bertram looked at him pointedly, “but I intend to fix that situation right now.”
“Me?” Jake looked around the office, as if expecting to see the other person Bertram was talking to.
“Yes, you! Just go introduce yourself. Get to know each other.”
Jake couldn’t help but wonder why he sounded so sure this was going to work.
“And if she doesn’t want anything to do with me?” Jake asked.
“I think she’ll want something to do with you,” Bertram replied. “Coral has a good heart, but she has her head in theclouds. She needs some firm guidance, and I have a feeling you are just the man to give it to her.”
“Why me?”
“Judging by the way your sister is, I would say you have some experience handling recalcitrant females.”
“I’m not handling my sister very well,” Jake retorted.
“Then we both have a problem we need the other to help with,” Bertram conceded with a nod.
Jake didn’t quite know what that was supposed to mean, but he could guess where this was leading. “You want me to spank her? Because you’re afraid to?”
Bertram frowned at him, “I want you to give her a reason to want to share her heart again. It’s not something I can help her with.” Bertram paused for a moment and then began again, “Now, let me tell you exactly what you need to do.”
CORAL
After she took a shower and put on some dry clothes, Coral headed down to the kitchen to warm some milk for hot cocoa. She stopped in the doorway, caught off guard by the man standing at the stove.
“Would you like some hot cocoa? I was just making myself a mug of it.” Jake smiled at her as she hesitantly stepped into the room. She wasn’t expecting to find anyone else in here.
“Yes, thank you.” She turned her back to him as she busied herself getting mugs down from the cupboard. She needed a second to get her bearings.
