Chapter 15

That night while Marley was soaking in the tub, Trey walked into the bathroom naked.

“Move over, darlin’. Incoming,” he said, and swung one long leg over the side of the Jacuzzi and then the other, and slid down into the bubbly water, facing her.

Without asking, she sat up, grabbed one of his feet and pulled it across her lap, and started massaging it. He slid deeper into the water and gave way to the joy of the unexpected foot rub.

“You know you’ve ruined me forever,” he growled.

She glanced up, watching little bubbles catching and bursting within the black hair on his chest, and thought of the years to come.

“Just forever? Dang it, Trey. Don’t think for a moment you’re going to cheat me out of our bargain,” she said.

He laughed, his voice booming and echoing within the confines of their tiny marble palace. “Once again, my deepest apologies. Forever and a day, my love. Forever and a day.”

***

When the cleaning service arrived bright and early the next morning and Trey witnessed Marley going into overdrive with orders, he did her a favor, told her he was going to work, and made himself scarce.

Once Marley had the cleaning service started, she and Wanda and the two regular sous-chefs went to work prepping the hors d’oeuvres for the party two days hence. It was almost New Year’s Eve. And since it was all finger food and wine, the stress of serving a meal to the expected crowd wasn’t there. It would be lots of noisy fun and all twelve rooms upstairs booked for the night.

Silver service trays were being polished. Wineglasses came out of storage, and the cleaning crew were on ladders dusting the huge beams that ran the length of the great room, polishing floors, ironwork, and woodwork. The lodge was beginning to smell like lemon oil and cedar.

Even with all the commotion, the quiet within the family quarters was surprising. Thick log walls separating the old lodge from the newer part were excellent insulation.

And since Trey was at the far end of the old lodge, he heard nothing but the faint hum of a computer fan now and then, and the constant click, click, click of the keys on the keyboard as he typed.

It was nearing noon when he finally stopped to take a break. He stretched, wondering what was going on in the real world, and wandered up the hall and out of the door into the main lodge.

The cleaning crew was down to polishing the floors, and working their way out of the lodge as they went, so he slipped up the hall and into the kitchen, causing a little stir with all the extra employees he had yet to meet.

Marley heard a giggle and a gasp and looked up, then smiled.

Trey was in the house.

“You can look, but don’t touch,” she told the girls, which made them giggle even more.

Trey wound his way through the kitchen, introducing himself as he went, and ended at Marley’s station and gave her a quick kiss.

“I just came to make a sandwich. I promise I’ll stay out of the way,” he said.

She glanced at the clock and then stopped and wiped her hands. “Oh gosh! I had no idea what time it was. Lunch break, everybody. See you back in a while, or you can make yourselves something here and join us.”

“I need to pick up some meds to take to my mother,” Toni said.

“And I promised my husband I’d lunch with him if I could,” Angela added.

“Then off you go,” Marley said, and opened the refrigerator as they left. “Cold cuts okay?”

“Absolutely,” he said.

“Good. There are hoagie rolls or sandwich bread. What’s your pleasure?”

“Well, that would be you, but since I only have bread choices, I choose a hoagie.”

Marley grinned. “We can renegotiate tonight.”

He gave her a thumbs-up. They made lunch together and then made three extra sandwiches, knowing Wanda and Jack would be wandering through at any moment, which they did.

Soon, they were all sitting down together, talking about the weather report for New Year’s Eve and arguing the finer points of yellow mustard versus whole-grain mustard, when the phone rang.

Marley got up to answer, and when she did, they all stopped talking so as not to interfere with the call.

“Corbett Lodge. This is Marley.”

“Miss Corbett, this is Adrian Barlow from the ABC affiliate here in Colorado Springs. We’d like to get your side of the story about the assault and—”

“What do you mean, my side of the story? You can’t possibly be trying to make an exposé out of a failed murder attempt! I’m not the least bit interested in talking about what happened, and being hounded about it makes me feel like vulture bait. Since nobody’s dead here, and vultures only feed on carrion, I don’t see that story anywhere in your future. I do, however, wish you all a Happy New Year. We’re opening back up New Year’s Day, so if you’re ever in the mood for some great food, our noon buffet runs from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every day, and breakfast brunch Sunday from eleven to two. Thanks for calling.”

She hung up the phone and turned around.

Jack was grinning.

Wanda was big-eyed.

And the moment she hung up, Trey doubled over with laughter.

“You did not just call the TV station vultures!” Wanda gasped.

Marley frowned. “No, no, I don’t think I did. I said they made me feel like vulture bait. They can draw their own conclusions as to how I came to that impression.”

Trey raised his hand as if asking permission to speak. Marley threw a corn chip at him. He laughed and swatted it away. “You rolled all around yellow journalism without ever calling them out, and then the best part was sliding right into a plug for the lodge. In another life, you could have worked in repo and made the people losing their cars apologize for your inconvenience. ‘Vulture bait.’ Oh my God, Marley! You are a treasure.”

She sat back down and then waved her fork at all of them. “I’m not discussing this further,” she said, and pointed to the pickle on Trey’s plate. “Are you going to eat that?”

He immediately pushed his plate toward her.

“Thank you,” she said, and forked the pickle onto her plate. “Bread-and-butter pickles are my favorite.”

“Duly noted, and you are so welcome,” he said. “You know…the irony of you scavenging off of my plate is not unlike the behavior of the birds that shall not be named.”

Jack roared. Even Wanda was grinning.

Marley blinked, then crunched the pickle between her pearly white teeth, chewed, and swallowed. “Tasty little morsel, and it wasn’t even roadkill,” she said.

Trey just shook his head. “What is that word they used to say in the old days when someone had just been soundly beaten and wanted to give up?”

“Uncle! You cry, ‘Uncle’!” Jack said.

“Yep, that’s it! So, Uncle, Marley! I give. You will always win the zinger contests.”

She smiled sweetly. “Don’t feel bad. Remember, you’re the man with all the pretty words.”

***

A couple of hours later, Trey was back in the office when he got a text from Meredith.

Check your email. They sent the contract within the timeline I asked for. I’ve looked it over. You read it, and unless you want something changed, it’s ready to sign. When you do, they’ll be contacting you about the big reveal, because they are going to publicly announce their coup. Your name and face, and Chapel Hill, are likely to wind up on Entertainment Tonight.

He sighed. The sweet smell of success was going to come with a price.

I’m fine with the reveal, but they need to know that any “appearances” I make for a while will be via Zoom. Someone tried to kill Marley yesterday. I’ve been gone, and this psycho snuck into the attic and lay in wait for the workers to leave. I took an early flight home. My plane landed, and I drove straight back to the lodge just as she came running out screaming, with the man only a few steps behind her. I took him out at the knees with a crowbar. He’s not going anywhere for a long time, but she’s still pretty rattled. So, there’s that. The contract is good news to sleep on tonight. I’ll read it, but I’m sure you’ve already covered all my bases. I’ll sign it before the night is out.

Trey

He hit Send, and within minutes, had one more message from her.

Oh my God! The attic! A woman’s worst nightmare. You were the hero she needed. I need to meet this woman one day.

M

Trey set the phone aside, went to his laptop, and began reading through the contract. After reading it twice, he was satisfied with the language, e-signed it, and hit Send, knowing it was now in the hands of the people with the money and the plans.