“I knew I was in love right around the time you were in that car accident,” Hope said, her tone sobering slightly. “And I hate that it took me that long to figure it out.” Hope turned to Angelica, lifting her hand to kiss her knuckles. “It wasn’t the accident itself that did it. I knew before then, but it was right about that time.”
Hope had never told her that before. Then again, this wasn’t exactly something that would come up naturally in conversation with each other either. It was something that would need to be asked.
“And what about you, Ange?” Melodee held the microphone in front of her.
But what was she supposed to say in response to that? Because when she figured out that she was in love with Hope was well before the divorce. Hell, it was before they’d really even dived into any kind of relationship. She’d tricked herself into thinking it was nothing more than lust, or wanting someone she couldn’t have, or being tempted by the taboo aspect of a relationship, but it wasn’t that.
It had never been that.
Angelica finished her first beer and held the stein down at her side. “The first time I knew there was something specialabout Hope was the first time we met, which yes, I realize takes this way back when. But when we met right before we started filming season one, there was a moment of instant connection, something that helped us click. I think that’s why the show became such a success, honestly. There were three people in line for the job before Hope.” Angelica focused on Melodee for that last bit. “None of them worked out in the end.”
Hope was unnaturally still next to her.
“But the first time that I knew I was in love with her?” Angelica repeated the question, knowing that oftentimes that would help for sound bites, not just for Melodee but also for Cadence. “The first time that I knew I loved her was when we were in the mountains, dancing under the fairy lights to a band that I can’t even remember the name of if I ever knew who they were.”
“Honey Hole,” Hope murmured.
“Oh, did you look them up?” Angelica asked.
“I bought all their albums.”
Angelica’s lips curled upward at that. “It was that night. We weren’t supposed to be out there, but we snuck away for a few hours and found ourselves on the edges of downtown, and you asked me to dance with you.”
Hope’s cheeks reddened. “That’s a much better answer than mine.”
Angelica snorted lightly before focusing back on Melodee. It felt so good to share that, publicly, openly, to actually be able to talk about their relationship like it was a real thing and not something that shouldn’t ever see the light of day. Because love was something that should be celebrated. Every second of every day. “I’ve loved her for a long time, but with everything going on in her life and mine, we wanted to take our relationship slowly and make sure that we didn’t repeat past mistakes.”
“That sounds fair.” Melodee smiled, looking between the two of them. “Well, that’s my one question.”
“One?” Angelica asked.
“Yeah, I only ask one.” Melodee put the microphone away. “Thank you so much!” She held out her hand to shake again.
And then she was gone. Angelica looked directly at Hope and shook her head. “That was not what I expected.”
“Me either. You really knew in Estes Park?” Hope bit her lip nervously.
“I did. Could I have named it then? Absolutely not. But thinking about it, that was the moment that came to mind when everything changed.” Angelica squeezed Hope’s fingers. “Come on, you promised me three beers tonight, and I plan on holding you to that.”
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Hope steppedinto the office and froze. Angelica sat at the table with Daph and Frannie, notebooks out in front of them, iPads at the ready, along with phones. She’d wanted Jenesis to be here, but they were working on a new menu plan in the kitchen while testing out recipes.
Wrinkling her nose, Hope tightened her grasp on the plate of food she’d brought for them to snack on and made eye contact with Angelica. Her stomach swirled. They hadn’t had a chance to talk last night. Three beers had taken Angelica out, and as soon as they’d gotten back to Mondial, they’d slipped into the bed and fallen asleep. And that morning, Angelica had snuck out of the bed to catch up on work and make it right with Ansel.
Sitting in the one empty chair, which was obviously meant for her, Hope set the plate down in the center of the table. She leaned over to Angelica, making sure that her lips brushed Angelica’s ear as she murmured as quietly as possible, “You made sure someone bleached the table, right?”
Angelica immediately started chuckling, her lips pressing into a thin line as she tried to contain her laughter.
“Just checking because of the food,” Hope added.
“I made sure, trust me.” Angelica turned slightly, catching Hope unexpectedly and pushing their faces a little closer than usual.
Hope pulled away, returning fully to her seat so that they could focus on the work at hand. “Has Ange briefed you on the plan?”
“I haven’t yet,” Angelica answered for them. “The idea for how to transform Mondial into a brand-new hotel and save it is to turn a guest’s entire stay into an experience they’ll never forget.”
