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“Oh, Emily provided that.”

“Did she now?”

I head upstairs to Emily’s room and ask if she wouldn’t mind chatting with me and Lewis in the snug. She’s happy to do so, and once we’re back downstairs, I again point to the figure, this time asking Emily about it.

“You could definitely charge that for hosting a small boutique wedding at the Bannock Hotel,” Emily confirms. “But you’d need the function room to be finished, of course.”

“People would pay that much for a single day? No way. Surely not.”

“They would!” Emily insists. “Trust me. Weddings can be very profitable for a hotel, and you’ll also have guests buying drinks from the bar—oh, and your rooms are pretty much guaranteed to be filled.”

“Jesus!” I murmur. “That’s . . . well, it’s crazy money.”

“Aye,” Lewis agrees. “See, I’m not setting out to bankrupt us—I’m not stupid. I just understand that to make money, you have to spend it. I want this place to be somewhere Maw and Da would have been proud of—because let’s be honest, they wouldn’t be proud of how it is right now. You act like the hotel is a burden you have to bear, Ally, but I like this place. The passion you feel about the outdoor-activities business—that’s what I feel about here.”

I look at my brother, really look at him, and not for the first time today, I have a revelation. I finally understand the frustration Lewis must have felt whenever I shut down one of his ideas. I always thought I had to be the responsible one, the one to put an end to his reckless plans—all of which involved spending money, money I didn’t think we could afford to part ways with. But the truth is, Lewis cares about this place in a way I simply never have. More than that, he’s capable. Possibly, the hotel would be better off with him in charge.

Emily says, “I’d like to point out that, while weddings would bring in a lot of money, the function room could be used for other things too. Birthday parties, anniversary parties—any type of party, really. You could also organise craft fairs, where vendors pay you for the opportunity to sell their wares, or hire it out to clubs. I bet there are local groups in need of a pleasant, modern room for meet-ups, and the beauty of that model is they give you money for the use of the space then take care of the rest.”

“I hear you.” I scratch at my stubble. “But as for parties, craft fairs, weddings—neither me, Lewis, nor Jamie have any experience of organising those kinds of events.”

“But Emily does!” Lewis points out. “She plans weddings for a living. And you should have seen how she was yesterday when we were working on the report. She’s got an amazing business mind. She’d be a real asset around here.”

What exactly is he getting at? I glance from Lewis’s enthusiastic face to Emily, who looks just as surprised by his words as me.

“Emily’s an ambitious woman, Lewis,” I say. “She’s got a successful business down in London. She’s not going to be interested in running parties in a small town in the Highlands.”

“She’s standing right there.” Lewis nods at Emily. “Why don’t you ask her rather than saying no on her behalf?”

Shit. Why is he making things so awkward?

I tug at my sleeve. “Obviously, Emily, if you want to help out around the hotel, you can help out. Also, I know you planned to be here for a month, but, well, I’m not going to kick you out if you decide to stay longer. You can stay as long as you want.”

Jesus, that didn’t sound as inviting as it could have. I’m not going to kick you out? Hardly romantic.

I want Emily to stay—of course I do. Just the thought of her going back to London hurts. As we discussed at the distillery, though, she’s still got healing to do—we both do—and the last thing I want is to put pressure on her.

“Well . . .”

Emily pauses, taking a moment to formulate her words before speaking, which is what I should have done.

“My plan was to be here for another week and a half,” she says eventually. “Why don’t we see how things go over that time? I could help a little around the hotel—an hour here, an hour there. I mean, if you and Aidan are going to be fleshing out your business, then Lewis and Jamie could probably do with a bit of help, right?”

“Definitely!” Lewis agrees.

“Okay.” Emily nods. “Well, we’ll see how it goes, but . . . there’s still so much for me to think about, so . . .”

“I didn’t want to pressure you!” I assure her. “You need to do what’s right for you. If nothing else, at least you now know I’m not going to kick you out.” I wink at her. “You’ve got options.”

She gives a small smile and squeezes my hand. “Thanks, Ally.”

I smile back at her, but unease stirs in my gut. I was numb before Emily arrived here. All I did was work and keep the hotel running—there was very little happiness in my life. When Emily came, she awoke something in me, and now just the idea of her leaving again . . . I don’t like it. Not at all.

Aye, I don’t want to pressure her to stay, but I also don’t want her to go.

CHAPTER THIRTY

EMILY