Chapter 6

SIX

“But…I don’t understand.”

To be honest, neither did Diana. The last person she’d expected to see behind the front desk of the Inn at Crescent Falls was Emily. She was sure she hadn’t heard Emily’s name before yesterday. Diana would never have knowingly had sex with someone connected to an inn she was buying. God, the things she’d let Emily do to her last night…

She and Emily had shared something special. Memorable. Diana had been irrationally disappointed to wake up this morning and discover that Emily had left without saying goodbye. Now she was wondering if she’d somehow misread the entire thing. And what in the world did Emily mean by calling this “her” inn? “I thought you were an artist?”

“I am. I work here part-time to help pay the bills.” Emily looked as bewildered as Diana felt.

“Okay, well, I have an appointment with the owners, Mary and Eva Chambers-Benoit.”

“My grandmothers,” Emily said. “I thought you were here to buy the Beaumont? ”

Diana shook her head slowly. “It’s not for sale. I only stayed there last night because this inn was fully booked.”

“But this inn isn’t for sale either!” Emily’s voice rose, her expression indignant. Her eyes gleamed with hurt…and anger.

The inn was for sale, though. Diana didn’t know why Emily was unaware, but she wasn’t about to get in the middle of whatever messy family dynamic she’d stumbled into. “I think you should have a conversation with your grandmothers.”

“Did you know?” Emily practically hissed. “Last night?”

“I promise you, I had no idea you were in any way connected to this inn when I met you yesterday, and if I had, last night would never have happened.” Diana kept her voice pitched low, not wanting anyone else who happened through the lobby to overhear their conversation.

“Well, I…grrr.” Emily fisted her hands against the counter, glaring at Diana. She wore a pink-patterned scarf at her throat, and Diana’s eyes kept drifting to it, refusing to let her forget what lay beneath. Not that she could forget, not when her own body was sore in some rather interesting places today.

Surely this was the least professional start to any business meeting she’d ever had. Diana had half a mind to turn around and walk back out the door, but she’d never let her personal life interfere with business before, and she wasn’t about to start now. She cleared her throat. “I’m very sorry that we’ve found ourselves in this unfortunate situation.”

“Probably not as sorry as I am,” Emily said with a deflated sort of sigh.

Before Diana could figure out how to respond, two older women—one white, one Black—entered the lobby, both smiling in Diana’s direction.

“Diana Devlin, I presume?” the white woman asked.

Diana slipped her professional smile into place, doing her best to shelve her discomfort. “I am,” she said warmly as she clasped the woman’s extended hand and shook.

“Mary Chambers-Benoit, and this is my wife, Eva.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Diana said, turning to shake Eva’s hand as well. All the while, she was painfully aware of Emily’s wounded eyes as she observed the exchange.

“Our office is right this way.” Eva gestured toward the hallway behind the desk where Emily stood. Eva was a tall, slender woman, wearing a colorful, whimsical dress that made Diana wonder if Emily had gotten her fashion sense from her. Eva wore her hair in thin braids that hung halfway down her back.

By contrast, Mary was a head shorter than her wife with a rounder figure, her silver hair cut in a short, no-nonsense style. She wore a light-blue linen suit. Together, they made a striking couple.

Diana followed them down the hallway, doing her best to walk normally despite the pain in her quads and calves from yesterday’s ill-fated hike, a problem only made worse by her heels. They entered a small but bright office. Diana was here today to see if this inn was up to Devlin’s standards with a personal tour, to meet the owners and discuss any concerns they might have about a potential sale and, if all went well, to lay the groundwork for that sale.

Prior to bumping into Emily in the lobby, she’d been reasonably sure this acquisition was going to work out. She loved what she’d seen of the inn so far and suspected it would be a great addition to the Devlin portfolio. If only she hadn’t gone and fucked the owners’ granddaughter…

“We thought we could talk business first and then take you for a tour,” Eva said, gesturing to a round table to Diana’s left.

“That sounds perfect,” Diana told her.

“Coffee? Tea? Water?” Mary asked.

“Water would be great. Thank you.” As much as Diana could use some extra caffeine after her late night, she was feeling vaguely jittery after her run-in with Emily.

Why hadn’t Mary and Eva told Emily they were selling the inn? Perhaps this family was as cutthroat as the Devlins, a thought that put Diana even more on edge. She liked living under the illusion that these small inns were as warm and welcoming behind the scenes as they appeared from the outside.

Mary returned with three cups of water, and they all took seats around the table.

“The first thing we want to make clear is that we’re still very hesitant about selling to a large corporation like yours, no matter how much money you offer, if you make an offer,” Eva said. “So we’d like to find out more about what your vision for our inn would entail.”

Diana nodded. That was a disappointing way to start the meeting, but she wasn’t entirely surprised. Inn owners were often hesitant to sell to a larger company, and Diana was excellent at explaining the benefits of the sale to them. “I understand. That’s what I’m here for.”

She reached into her briefcase and pulled out two portfolios, passing one to each of the women. Sometimes, she presented her data digitally, but she tried to tailor each presentation to the client, and something told her these two women would prefer to hold the data in their hands .

“I suspect your concerns lie in how the inn will be managed after the sale, once it’s part of the Devlin Hotels portfolio,” Diana began, “so let me reassure you on that point: your guests will not even notice the change in ownership. Current management and staff can remain in their existing positions, to the extent that those positions remain unchanged. They’ll be given the appropriate orientation as Devlin employees and qualify for all our employee benefits, which you’ll find are quite generous.”

Mary nodded. Her expression had become less hesitant, more curious, as Diana spoke. Eva, by contrast, remained difficult to read. She watched Diana intently, her face impassive.

“We don’t purchase boutique inns like yours with the intention of turning them into a Devlin Hotel. The Inn at Crescent Falls is a local landmark, and we don’t want to change that. We simply streamline your operations with the resources available to us as a Fortune 500 company and boost your visibility through your affiliation with our brand. People do seek out the Devlin name, so having that seal on your materials can only help, not to mention the advertising dollars we invest.”

Diana spent the next fifteen minutes running through her usual presentation, explaining to Mary and Eva what the sale would mean for their inn.

“That all sounds nice,” Eva said when Diana had finished. “But as you mentioned, our inn is a local landmark, so I’m curious what guarantees you can make us on that front. We’re known for hosting same-sex weddings and for being a welcoming and inclusive space for the queer community and other marginalized people. Can you promise that won’t change? Because I’ll be honest with you…we aren’t desperate to sell. Yes, we’re ready to retire, bu t we’re also willing to be patient until we find the right buyer.”

Diana nodded. “We never intend to change the aspects of an inn that have made it unique in the first place, and as a lesbian myself, I assure you the last thing I’d ever want to do is make one of our hotels less inclusive. However, we do have certain brand standards that every property in our portfolio needs to adhere to. I can’t promise that you’ll approve of every decision made after you retire, but if you have any specific concerns, I’d be happy to address them with you now.”

“Can you promise that the Progress flag will stay out front?” Eva asked. “And the display case in the lobby showing all the same-sex couples—including Mary and me—who’ve been married here?”

“I can’t see any reason why they would be removed,” Diana assured her. “I scouted your inn because of its unique legacy, not in spite of it. I can’t promise the flag will stay, but please don’t take that to mean we would come in after the sale and immediately take it down. It’s just not corporate policy to make guarantees on the appearance of the property.”

Privately, this was probably Diana’s least favorite part of her job. She regretted that she couldn’t do more to reassure owners. She’d lost sales due to her inability to promise not to remove a certain painting or policy, things that were trivial to the Devlin brand but would go so far to reassure owners that their legacy would remain intact. But this was the reality of working for a larger corporation. The Devlin brand standard came first.

“I understand,” Eva said, although she didn’t look very reassured. She exchanged a frustrated look with her wife.

Diana held in a sigh. Her gut said she’d lost the sale, and while it might be for the best after what had happened with Emily, Diana genuinely loved this property. She wanted it more than she’d wanted any of the other hotels she’d scouted this year. Not to mention, she hated to lose. Her mind was already scrambling to come up with another way to ease Mary and Eva’s worries about selling to Devlin Hotels.

“We have a lot to think about,” Mary said, then stood from the table. “Now, how about that tour?”

When Diana entered her Back Bay brownstone later that afternoon, she knew almost immediately that she wasn’t alone. The well-worn men’s sneakers inside the door were her first clue, although at least he’d remembered to take them off before tracking dirt all over her hardwood floors this time.

Diana followed the hollow clicking sound of a gaming controller toward the living room, her lips quirking into an affectionate smile as she found her nephew sprawled on the couch, headphones on, his face a mask of concentration as he battled the monster currently displayed on her TV.

“Carter,” she said, waving to catch his attention. When he still failed to notice her, she called him again, louder this time. “Carter!”

He jumped, hands flailing upward as the monster on the screen lunged. His character fell to the ground as Carter paused the game, then pulled off his headset and turned toward her. “Aunt DD! I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Clearly,” Diana said, her tone droll, but she wasn’t upset, and they both knew it. She’d given Carter a key a few months ago, although this was only the second time he’d used it. Things had been tense for him at home since he came out to his parents last year, although it had gotten better while he was away at college. Now that summer vacation had begun, she feared things had grown strained again.

“Uh, sorry for just barging in on you…” He drifted off, not quite meeting her eyes.

She held in a sigh, not because she was upset with Carter, but because she wanted to strangle her brother for whatever he’d done this time. “It’s fine. That’s why I gave you a key. I told you that you’re always welcome here, and I meant it.”

“Thanks.” He looked down at the controller in his hands.

She left her rolling suitcase in the doorway and came to sit beside him. “Anything you want to talk about?”

“Yeah…um, so…Mom and Dad kicked me out.” He looked up at her then, his expression heartbreakingly vulnerable. At twenty-one, Carter was a man, and Diana generally thought of him as such, but right now, he was a boy, hurt by the rejection of his parents, and Diana was definitely going to strangle her brother.

“Oh, Carter,” she murmured, resting a hand on his shoulder. He’d never been much of a hugger. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“I told them I’m not going back to school in the fall.” He ducked his head again, perhaps fearing she wouldn’t take this news any better than his parents had. “And Dad said I can’t just expect a free ride. If I’m not in school, I’m on my own.”

She exhaled, taking a moment to sort through her thoughts before she spoke. Her knee-jerk reaction was to scold Carter for being so immature and rash as to throw his college career away like this. But he’d already heard that from his parents. “Why did you drop out? Did something happen?”

“It was just…bad.” His knee started to bounce. “I hated all my classes, and I wasn’t good at any of them, and I just…I couldn’t do it.”

Diana felt her brow pinch. This didn’t make sense. Carter was incredibly smart and had never struggled in school before. “What changed?”

“It’s never been easy for me. I always feel like I have to work harder than everyone else to keep up, but lately…it’s all gotten to be too much.” He was fidgeting, refusing to meet her eyes, his body practically vibrating with tension.

“Okay.” Diana still didn’t understand, but she could see from Carter’s agitation that now wasn’t the right time to push. “We’ll talk about this more later. Do your parents know where you are?”

“No.”

She exhaled. “We need to let them know that much, at least. I’m sure they’re worried.”

He gave her a sharp look. “Are they, though? I didn’t run away. Dad kicked me out. If he cared where I was, I’d still be at home.”

She sighed. “Sometimes people say things in the heat of the moment that they don’t really mean.”

“Aunt DD, please don’t defend him. Not right now.”

Diana opened her mouth, but no words came to her. She and Carter had always been close, especially since he came out, but she was also painfully aware that she wasn’t a parent. She didn’t know how to handle this situation, nor did she have much experience disciplining Carter. As the fun aunt, she didn’t have to deal with some of the things his parents did. But she couldn’t imagine kicking her child out of the house, no matter what they had done, especially not if they looked as distraught as Carter did right now.

“I just need a place to crash for a few nights.” He was staring at the controller still clutched in his hands. The TV screen, which had been frozen on the attacking monster, had gone black.

“And where will you go in a few days?” she asked.

“Dunno. Dad reminded me that I need a college degree to access my trust fund, so I’ll have to get a job or something.” He fiddled with the controller. “And an apartment.”

Oh, this sweet, na?ve man-child. As if he could find a job—or an apartment—that quickly. Rent here in Boston was astronomically high, much too high for him to afford on whatever minimum-wage job he might pick up on such short notice. “You can stay here until you’ve got enough money saved up for an apartment.”

His whole body slumped in relief. “Really?”

“Of course. You can stay here as long as you need. Take a week or two to decompress.” Because she knew the signs of anxiety and panic when she saw them. Perhaps this was something else they had in common. “But then I do expect you to start seriously looking for a job or, better yet, rethink your decision about college. There are options, you know. Just because you’ve hit a rough spot doesn’t mean you have to quit.”

“I can’t?—”

“Carter,” she interrupted. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need. I support you, okay? We’ll talk more about the other stuff later.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

Diana had never seen him like this, so anxious, so…defeated. This was obviously about more than his grades. She’d get to the bottom of it, but not today. “I need to ch ange and unpack and check in at the office, but then let’s order some dinner—Indian, maybe?—and see if I can keep up with you in Borderlands. I’ve been practicing, you know.”

She’d bought the Xbox last year, primarily for Carter’s use. It had given her a reason to invite him over when things were difficult at home, something for them to do together when he needed a safe outlet for his frustrations. And somewhere along the way, she’d realized she enjoyed playing it too, although she preferred the adventure-type games like Life is Strange to the shooters that were Carter’s favorites.

Diana retrieved her suitcase and carried it upstairs to the master bedroom, noting the black duffel bag on the guest bed across the hall. She closed the door to her room and changed into jeans and a T-shirt, then unpacked her things from Vermont. Memories of Emily bloomed both from her hiking ensemble and the clothes she’d worn to the bar last night.

It irked her that their electrifyingly perfect night had been tarnished by what happened this morning at the inn. With a sigh, Diana dumped her dirty clothes into the hamper, groaning at the pain in her legs. Her sore muscles had grown even more stiff during the car ride home. She’d need to stretch later.

It took only a few minutes to unpack, something she always did right after she got home rather than letting her suitcase sit around. Once it was empty and stowed in her closet, she sat on the bed and pulled out her phone, hoping against hope that her brother would have gotten in touch.

No such luck.

Well, she had a few things to say, since Carter was safely downstairs, no doubt absorbed in a game with his headset on. She brought up Harrison’s name in her phone and dialed.

“So he went to your house,” her brother answered without preamble.

“He’s here,” Diana confirmed.

Harrison grunted. “I expressly told him not to run to you.”

The fingers of Diana’s free hand clenched in a fist. “I don’t think you get to dictate where he goes after you kick him out. Why shouldn’t he come here?”

“You know why.” His tone hardened, and Diana hated where she thought he was going with this. “You’ve already put enough silly ideas in his head.”

“And by silly ideas, you mean…”

“He looks up to you, Di. First you convinced him he’s gay, and now you’re going to give him a free ride when he’s decided to drop out of college?”

Hot sparks popped under Diana’s skin, her fist now digging into her thigh. “I did not convince him…you know what, I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. Your son is struggling right now. I don’t know what’s going on, not yet, but I’ve never seen him so rattled. He’s hurting, and instead of trying to help, you just kicked him out!”

“He’s an adult, for Christ’s sake. When I was his age, I’d already secured my postgraduation position in the finance department to start my career track.”

“You don’t have to tell me about career tracks. I know , and God knows how hard I’ve worked to get where I am. Your son needs you, Harrison. You need to stop with this ‘he’s too young to know what he’s saying’ nonsense when it comes to his sexuality, especially when you turn around and call him an adult the first time he runs into trouble at school.”

“He wants to be treated like a man, he’s going to have to start acting like one.”

Diana wanted to scream in frustration. Harrison was going around in circles, lashing out at Carter about his college decisions when it boiled down to the fact that he was uncomfortable with his son being gay. “I think we’re finished with this conversation. Your son is safe. You know where to find him if you want to talk.”