At six o’clock, he went downstairs. Jenny would likely still be working. Handling two jobs required long hours. He admired her for it and only felt a little guilty. The experience and advice she brought to the Grandview were well worth the money he was paying her.
And she seemed to bring a spark of enthusiasm to the employees. They were excited to get the hotel finished and get it open.
He found her downstairs, sitting at a table in the dining room with Millicent, their heads bent over a yellow pad as Millie made notes. The two of them were smiling at each other—a surprise in itself—but when they saw him walk into the dining room, their smiles turned a little too bright.
Warning signs flashed in his head. When two smart women got together, there was a good chance they could find a way to cause trouble.
Cain walked up to the table. “Okay, what are you two up to? I can see by the looks on your faces, it doesn’t bode well for me.”
Millie laughed. “We’ve been discussing the grand-opening party. We figured we had better start planning now. That way, we’ll be ready when the hotel is completed—which, according to your schedule, is less than two weeks away.”
“A grand-opening party,” Cain said darkly, since the notion had never occurred to him.
“That’s right,” Millie continued. “We need to send a message. The Grandview is open for business. It’s a first-class hotel, a place to get away from your troubles, a hideaway in a little-known area that’s easily accessible from Flagstaff, Sedona, Scottsdale, and Phoenix.”
He fixed his gaze on Jenny, who so far hadn’t added her two cents.
“I thought you could have a soft opening after that,” Jenny said. “Open the restaurant and bar just to the locals and whatever tourists happen to be in town. Once you get the kinks worked out, you can start your marketing campaign.”
“Marketing campaign,” he repeated grimly.
Jenny and Millicent exchanged glances. “We just assumed you would want enough guests to make the hotel a success,” Millie said. “Advertising is the only way anyone’s going to know it’s here.”
She had a point. He’d thought of it more as a residence for his grandmother, but she was right. The place needed to sustain itself. “Just how much is this grand-opening party going to cost me?”
Jenny looked at Millicent.
“It won’t be cheap,” Millie said. “But if you can get the right people to show up, it’ll be worth it. In the end, the party will pay for itself.”
His gaze returned to Jenny. “Is that what you think?”
“I never had enough money to advertise the Copper Star. Fortunately, it’s a well-established business in Jerome, part of the local history. And it sits in a prime location. Even so, if I could afford the cost of promotion, I would do it.”
He sighed, clearly defeated. “All right, then. I’d like to see a cost breakdown for the event. If it looks workable, we’ll have a grand-opening party.”
Millicent and Jenny both grinned.
Cain shook his head. “I need a drink.” Heading across the room, he walked behind the bar and poured himself a Johnny Walker Black. When he turned, Millicent was gone, and Jenny was walking toward him.
She looked tired, but pleased at the work she and Millie had accomplished.
“You want a drink?” he asked.
Jenny shook her head. The smile was gone from her face. “I found something in the journals today. I brought it with me so I could show you.”
Cain started to say something, but his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked down, and recognized the caller ID.
“It’s Chief Nolan.” He pressed the phone against his ear. “Chief.”
“I just wanted to let you know Leslie Owens is awake and doing very well. She’s cooperating fully with the police investigation. The doctors are releasing her tomorrow.”
“Thanks for letting me know. What about Brian Santana? Does the coroner’s office have a cause of death?”
“From what we could tell, it looks like the two of them were fighting. The porcelain pitcher in the room got broken during the fight. Santana fell backward and landed on a big shard that went right through his ribs into his heart.”
Cain grunted. “Rough way to go.”
“Can you think of any good way?”
