“We just can’t keep up with expenses.”
Furrowing her brow, Angelica pursed her lips. “You and I are going to deep dive into your expenses then.” Tomorrow, pleaselet it be tomorrow, when she had a bit more of her head on straight and could think better. “Today, however, I just want to observe everything that you’ve been doing and how you handle the hotel itself. All right?”
Theo nodded, but he looked confused.
Had she said something wrong? Or something contradictory to what he’d been told already? Angelica hated the fact that she hadn’t been there that first day to get everything set up well and make sure the production was going to run smoothly.
“Perfect.” Angelica tapped her palm once more against the table. “We’ll start on that shortly.”
Without another word, she stood up and walked out of the office.
She just needed to escape.
Chapter
Thirty-One
“Finally.I need to talk to you.” Hope barged into the reception area, food spilled all down the front of her chef’s coat and pants, but she wasn’t going to change. She didn’t have time. They were back for a quick reload of everything before they started up the prep for the evening meal, and what she really needed was to talk to Angelica.
Angelica who didn’t even look up at her or meet her eyes.
“This food truck thing is amazing.” Hope leaned over the reception desk, right next to Angelica, their arms brushing in the move, but Angelica kept her face down on the computer screen that she was staring at. “Kora knows so much about the business, it’s inspiring.”
“Good for you.” Angelica hit a few buttons on the keyboard but still refused to look up at Hope.
“I think she should probably be running most of the hotel, if I’m honest. She understands the basics of business and how to make improvements. I’m not sure how the food truck isn’t bringing in money or breaking even.” Hope bit her lip, lifting her hand to put it on top of Angelica’s to get her attention, but again, Angelica barely even budged.
What the hell was this all about?
She shouldn’t be getting the cold shoulder. They’d worked through all of their problems so far. They’d talked every single day basically. They understood each other, and here Angelica was, not giving Hope anything.
“Have you had a chance to dive deeper into the numbers?” Hope hesitated, but she kept her fingers curled around Angelica’s wrist, fully aware that the camera picked up on everything. But again, what did it matter? The entire world knew they were together now, didn’t they? And by the time this would air, they certainly would.
“No.” The word was clipped, sharp, and straight to the point.
And that single word rocked Hope’s world. Because this wasn’t the Angelica Hope had gotten used to in the last few years. She’d expect this from season one Angelica, but not the woman she’d fallen head over heels in love with.
“Angel,” Hope lowered her tone, vying for Angelica’s attention and trying to break through that icy barrier. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t have time to deal with the food truck. I don’t have time to deal with the finances. I don’t have…” Angelica stopped abruptly. She pressed her lips together hard and shook her head slowly. “I’ll look at the numbers tonight.”
“O…kay?” Hope furrowed her brow in confusion. What was that all about? She looked around, trying to catch Rex’s gaze or maybe FloRo if she was around, but she couldn’t see anyone who could give her some sort of indication about what was happening. “How’s everything going here?”
“Fine.”
So they were back to one-word answers.
Hope held her breath tightly to the point that it hurt her chest. “Okay, well, I’m going to change since the tomato saucedecided to explode on me in the truck today, and then I’m going to help Kora with prep for tonight.”
Angelica didn’t even budge or acknowledge her. She kept her eyes locked on the computer screen in front of her as she scrolled through information. Hope squinted at it, recognizing the payroll and expenses for the hotel. So Angelica was actually looking at it, and yet, she’d just told Hope that she wasn’t.
She almost said something.
She almost stopped filming.
Instead, Hope brushed her fingers along Angelica’s shoulder and squeezed lightly before stepping back. Whatever was going on shouldn’t happen in the presence of other people or on camera, and Hope could easily respect that. They’d talk later, when they had time to themselves, even if she had to beg Rex to watch Eva for a little that night.
Biting her lip, Hope walked away from Angelica without saying anything else. She immediately went up to her room and stripped out of the disgusting clothes she was in, needing to be in something clean and fresh for dinner service. She’d observed the previous night, and she had a few tweaks that she wanted to put into place with Kora, just a few things to help streamline the process even better than it already was, but they were so minor.
