Chapter 16

It was the day before the party. There was nothing left to clean or decorate. Bar-height tables had been strategically placed throughout the lodge. Music had been chosen for the piped-in sound system. Food was ready, either waiting to be heated or served cold.

Marley was standing in the middle of the space, eyeing everything in sight, looking to see what they’d missed when Trey came up behind her, slid his arms around her shoulders, and gave her a hug.

“It looks beautiful. You’re beautiful. The world is beautiful. Time to relax now. Tomorrow is the party. The day after, you reopen. When that happens, I want you to forget that I’m on the premises and do what you always do. I won’t need tending to. I won’t feel abandoned. Because I know who I love and who loves me, understand?”

She turned within his arms. “Yes, and know that when I’m up to my eyes with the fuss and bother, I’ll always know who anchors me and where you are.”

“Having said all that, there’s just one more thing I need to do,” Trey said.

“And what would that be?” she asked.

He pulled out the ring he’d purchased in Phoenix. “Despite the fact that this is already a given, you deserve to hear me say the words. Marry me, Marley.” When he opened the ring box and took out the engagement ring, she gasped. “Will you be my wife…forever and a day?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she cried, and when he slipped it onto her finger, she sighed. “It fits perfectly!”

“Just like us,” he said, then cupped her face and brushed his lips across her mouth.

Marley was laughing and crying as she threw her arms around his neck, and then her feet were off the floor, and he was swinging her around and around beneath the crystal chandelier.

That night when they went to bed, the only thing Marley was wearing was the ring. And the only thing on Trey Austin’s mind was the woman wearing it.

***

The party was in full swing. Guests who were spending the night had already been to their assigned rooms and were back down in the midst of it. Other guests were still arriving in Ubers. A small room across from the public restrooms had become the designated coat room.

Waiters in white shirts with black vests moved through the guests with trays of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and glasses of wine, both white and red.

The guests were wearing their best, and flashing jewelry and big smiles. Every so often someone would burst into laughter, and heads would turn to see who it was and wonder what was being said.

Trey was at Marley’s side from the beginning, charming everyone who entered. His reputation had preceded him, and he’d turned a simple black tuxedo and bow tie into a Prince Charming fashion statement. But it was the fitted red sparkle cocktail dress and the three-karat oval-cut diamond on Marley’s ring finger that had turned her into the ultimate Cinderella at the ball.

She was the light among them, beaming from the joy and happiness within her, and the man at her side had eyes only for her.

As was the way of the world, women envied. Men coveted. And the party went on.

Jack and Wanda were in the background, keeping everything organized in the kitchens and the wine flowing.

It was nearing midnight, the time to ring in the New Year, when a man Trey had been introduced to earlier finally cornered him near the Christmas tree.

“Say, Trey! I know this is asking a lot, but I’ve been trying to get in contact with your father for almost a month. We were talking about a merger, and then nothing.”

“I’m the last man you should be talking to. My father and I don’t communicate. I have nothing to do with Austin Enterprises…by choice.”

“But surely you…”

“No sir, surely I don’t,” Trey said, turned his back and walked away.

Within seconds, Marley was beside him, still smiling, but the tone of her voice was anything but.

“What did he say to you?” she asked.

Trey shrugged.

“Who is he? I don’t know, but I can find out. He came as a guest of one of the locals.”

“Let it go,” Trey said. “He just thought I’d be his inside contact to my father.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Well, we all have our crosses to bear,” she said.

He started smiling, and then he laughed. “You always put everything into perspective.”

“It’s what I do,” she said, and then glanced at the time. “It’s almost midnight. I need to find Jack. We can’t ring in the new year without ‘Auld Lang Syne.’”

“There he is,” Trey said, pointing toward the fireplace. Jack waved his hand and then gave Marley a thumbs-up.

“I guess he’s already on it,” Marley said. “How’s your singing voice?”

“We’re about to find out,” Trey said, and clasped her hand as the clock began to strike.

The room went quiet. Jack started the countdown, picking it up at ten.

“Ten! Nine! Eight!”

The guests joined in. “Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One! Happy New Year!” they shouted.

The music of “Auld Lang Syne” began to spill out into the room, and as it did, the words of the song rose among them.

Trey felt the past fading, fading, and there was only Marley and all their tomorrows.

“Happy New Year,” he said.

“The happiest ever,” Marley said, and kissed him.

***

Trey was dreaming about the blood on the snow beneath Jared Bedford’s legs when he heard Marley’s feet hit the floor. Before he could turn over, she was disappearing into the bathroom. He glanced at the clock. Barely 5:00 a.m. He lay there, waiting for her to come out, then heard the shower come on. Obviously, she was up for the day. Less than five minutes later, the shower went off. A drawer banged, and then silence.

Minutes later, she shot out of the bathroom without a stitch, saw that he was awake, and blew him a kiss.

“Good morning, love,” she said, then grabbed underwear from a dresser and bolted to the closet.

He’d never seen a woman get dressed as fast as she did, and a few moments later, she shot out of the closet, paused long enough to throw herself on top of him on the bed and kiss him senseless. Before he could think, she was out the door.

“If this happens every day, there’s no chance of ever oversleeping,” he said, and went to shower. Better make it a cold one , he thought as he turned on the water, stepped beneath the flow, and braced himself against the shower walls until the ache she’d awakened had gone away.

***

Marley’s haste was all due to the overnight guests at the lodge. She knew they’d all be checking out this morning, and was getting ready to put out a continental breakfast when the first guests came down the stairs, headed straight for the coffee, and rejected the idea of food, which was fine with her. Obviously, they were still hungover from the night before and minus an appetite, so Marley slipped behind the counter, greeted them all sweetly as she checked them out, and gave them coffee to go as they went to the front lobby to wait for their rides.

She was immediately on the phone with Carol and Sue, the housekeepers who cleaned the rooms. “Girls, the last guests have checked out, so head up to do the rooms. We have two reservations checking in after 10:00 a.m., and the rest with scheduled arrivals after lunch.”

“On it, Marley,” they said, and headed up in the elevator with their cart full of cleaning supplies and fresh linens.

Next, she slipped into the kitchen to talk to Toni and Angela about today’s lunch menu. They already had their heads together, reading over the menu she’d left last night.

“Morning, girls. No worries about breakfast today. Everybody’s already checked out with hangovers. Too much party last night. So, let’s go over the lunch menu before I get busy. We have to have black-eyed peas for good luck, and I kept the ham bone from Christmas dinner, so add it to the pot for extra seasonings,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Toni said, and made a note.

“I need someone to make a quick breakfast for Trey. An omelet and toast will be perfect. Let me know when it’s done. I’ll text him to come get it.”

“He can eat in here with us,” Angela said, and then smiled.

Marley grinned. “I’ll let him know he’s invited, but I’m not sure what his morning looks like.”

After a few alterations, the menu was set, and the sous-chefs began prepping. Angela made the omelet while Toni went to get the leftover ham and bone from the commercial cooler and put it on to boil. It was already cooked, but they wanted the flavor of the bone and the ham in the juice with the peas.

Satisfied that everything was under control, Marley went back to the lobby. A few minutes later, Angela came out with Trey’s food.

“Thanks,” Marley said, then set it down on a nearby table and sent Trey a text.

Your breakfast is on a tray by the checkout. Come and get it before Jack gets here, or you’ll be having leftovers.

A few moments later, Trey waved at her as he picked up his tray and went back inside.

Jack and Wanda arrived by seven, and their routines began.

During the day, guests continued to arrive. Marley was checking them into the hotel and showing them to their rooms, while the staff was getting food ready for lunch.

Besides the new attic door, there was another addition to the lodge, and it was hanging on the wall behind the front desk. It was a framed shadowbox with a newspaper clipping of Trey’s Search for Cinderella and the famous shoe.

People were taking pictures of it, and of her, and when Trey wandered through the dining area at lunch, he became part of the story once again.

“Can we get a picture of the two of you together?” people would ask, and of course they obliged, but once Trey got a plate of food, he went back to the office and, at Marley’s instructions, locked the door behind him.

***

As the noon rush began to subside, and the last of her guests with reservations had checked in, Marley began to breathe easier.

Trey had been right. Nothing had changed, except her knowledge that he was under this roof and within the sound of her voice.

***

But on the same day, Trey’s life was changing fast. He was researching how many cartridges were in a Glock clip when his phone rang. He pushed back from the computer to answer.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Austin?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Morris LeHigh. Maybe your agent, Meredith Bernstein, has mentioned me?”

“I saw your name on the contract I signed,” Trey said.

“Excellent! I’m also your liaison with the media and am in charge of the big Chapel Hill reveal.” Morris was just short of gushing as they spoke. “This is an exciting venture for us, and revealing the identity of Chapel Hill is not only going to up your sales, but also generate a whole lot of interest for moviegoers. Especially when they learn that Trey Austin, the Cinderella Man, is also Chapel Hill, and that Marley Corbett, the woman who saved you, is now your fiancée. Yes, I know. Meredith told us. And you need to prepare Miss Corbett for an onslaught of media, as well.”

“We’ve already had plenty of that. She runs her own business,” Trey said. “I don’t need to prepare her for anything. She’s fully capable of handling anything that comes her way.”

“Excellent,” Morris said. “Maybe we could get her included in the Zoom?”

“Not right now,” Trey said. “She’s incredibly busy at the moment. Things will slow down for her some in the days to come, but this is reopening day after a shutdown for renovations, and there’s no stopping place for her.”

“That’s fine,” Morris said. “So, four this afternoon, your time? I’ll send you a link right before. I’ve emailed you a series of questions so you won’t be caught unaware, and if anything is off-limits, just say so.”

“I can tell you right now, absolutely no references to my father. I did all of this on my own, and anonymously, because everyone would immediately assume he got me where I am today, when the truth is he still doesn’t know what I do.”

“Wow. Oh. Okay, then ignore the last three questions on the list,” Morris said.

“Thank you,” Trey said.

“No problem. I’ll send you a new list and change the tone of some of the questions, okay?”

“If you want an interview with me, that’s what it’s going to take,” Trey said.

“We just want to make you happy,” Morris said. “Ignore the first email. I’ll revise the question list, and then about thirty minutes before the Zoom, I’ll send you the link.”

“I’ll be ready,” Trey said, and disconnected.

He sat for a few moments, thinking about what was going to happen. He was opening Pandora’s box of trouble by revealing his identity, and whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to deal with it. Politely. Nicely.

He deleted the first list of questions and waited for the new list to arrive. After they did, he read them through and laid them aside. It was a good two hours before the call. He needed to talk to Marley.

They were cleaning the dining area after the lunch service as he entered the main lodge.

“Hey, Jack, do you know where Marley is?” he asked.

“She went that way,” he said, pointing to the elevator leading up to the guest rooms.

Trey nodded, then sat down on the stairs to wait. Either she’d come down the stairs, or he’d see her when she got out of the elevator.

Within a few minutes, he heard footsteps behind him, turned, and looked up.

“Trey, honey, what are you doing on the stairs?” Marley asked.

“Waiting to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”

“For you, always,” she said. “Let’s sit over there where it’s quiet.”

As soon as they sat down, he unloaded. “I just took a call from Morris LeHigh, the man in charge of the ‘big reveal’ as he puts it. I’m doing a Zoom call with him in a couple of hours, which he will incorporate into the statement they’re releasing via Entertainment Tonight .”

Marley grabbed his hands. “This is so exciting! Are you anxious about it?”

“A little. I’ve already nixed the first list of questions they sent for me to review. No surprises, et cetera, but some of them kept referring to Dad, so they sent me a second list. The questions are fine, but he warned me, this is likely to stir up some measure of interest and to prepare you for that. There could be any number of people showing up here because of me, but—”

She shook her head. “I already told you that’s never going to be an issue. I already have Jack scheduled to build me a bookshelf so we can display all of your titles for sale. And, since I only have twelve guest rooms available to rent at any time, it’s not like we’re going to be inundated with fans hanging out forever. They’ll come. They’ll want pictures with you. That won’t interfere with anything. I’m in the business of food and rooms. You’re in the book business. And you’re all in my business every night, so…”

He grinned. “So, I’m all in your business, am I?”

She blinked her big blue eyes. “Oh yes…in a very big way.”

He grinned, gave her a quick goodbye kiss, and headed back to work, leaving Marley sitting with a self-satisfied smile.

***

Two hours later, Trey was deep in the middle of the interview, smiling, talking about the books and how he’d begun writing the first two in college. How he’d met his agent and praised her highly for understanding his desire for anonymity. And then, despite his request not to have his father mentioned, the interviewer’s last comment was, “Your parents must be very proud of you.”

His smile disappeared. “This will come as a shock to both of them. They know nothing of what I do.”

There was a long moment of silence, and then the interviewer suddenly realized Trey wasn’t going to say anything more about them and picked up the slack by thanking him.

The call ended, and Trey disconnected.

Seconds later, his phone was ringing. He glanced at the caller ID. It was Morris LeHigh.

“Hello.”

“Trey! My apologies. She did not have permission to go there. We can edit that out if you wish.”

He sighed. “No, it’s okay. Leave it. Maybe it will discourage anyone else from trying to weave either of them into my life.”

“Okay, but again, I apologize. This will air on Entertainment Tonight tomorrow, and then I expect it to go viral after that. Does your publisher know this is happening?”

“Meredith will tell them. I’ve never talked to them.”

Morris was shocked. “Never? Not even over the phone?”

“Never. Everything went through her. Messages, edits, the whole thing. She’s the real genius in this story, figuring out how to make it happen and being considerate enough to allow me this freedom.”

“And now you’ve given it up, haven’t you?” Morris said.

“I guess, but I’d do it again, just for the satisfaction of seeing my books made into movies.”

The call ended, and Trey walked out.

He was over this day.

Done. Finished.

The end.

The only business he had on his mind was Marley.

***

The next morning, Marley was already at work in the kitchen and about to go out and check the steam pans on their breakfast buffet when the phone rang.

“Corbett Lodge, this is Marley,” she said.

“Marley, this is Officer Dewitt. I don’t know if you remember me, but I worked your assault case.”

Her heart skipped. “Yes, I remember you. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing is wrong. I just thought you’d like to know that Jared Bedford has pled guilty to all charges, and when he’s well enough, he will stand before a judge to be sentenced.”

“That means I don’t have to go to court, right? I don’t have to see him again?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am, that’s what it means.”

“Thank you so much for letting me know. This is a big relief.”

“Yes, ma’am. Happy New Year to you and Mr. Austin,” he said, and disconnected.

Marley hung up the phone, then went out to check the steam table and popped her head back in long enough to say, “Go ahead and put out that other tray of biscuits and refill the chocolate gravy. Also, if there’s more bacon, put it out. If there’s not, the sausage that’s left will suffice. There are still a few guests who haven’t made it down, but they also know breakfast isn’t available all day.”

“On it,” Angela said.

Marley let the door slam shut on her butt as she turned around and headed for the family quarters. She unlocked the door and, after she went in, turned the lock behind her.

All of the horror from the attack.

All of the panic.

All of the nightmares.

All of the stories in the press.

It was finally over.

And she was coming undone.