Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 70

CHAPTER 70

KENNEDY

Six Months Later

I was running around the mansion like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to make sure that everything was just right. Everywhere I looked, I made sure that there wasn’t a thing out of place, my blood pulsing in my veins like mad.

The candles were lit. The tablecloths were straight. The chandeliers had no burnt-out bulbs in them. The surfaces were dusted. The bathrooms were clean. The bartender was ready. The kitchen was staffed and the fires were lit in the yard.

Today was the day I’d been waiting for since I’d been thirteen, and it was a big freaking deal. The biggest deal that had ever dealed —except for the night Austin had put this ring on my finger. Nothing had gone wrong that night, and I didn’t want anything avoidable to ruin this night either.

As I darted from room to room, Austin followed me, trying to provide some semblance of reassurance. “You’ve checked it all a hundred times over, Kenny. Everything is perfect. We’re not missing anything. It’s time to cut the damn ribbon and make it official. The Dahlia Hotel and Restaurant is open for business.”

“Was there toilet paper in the honeymoon suite’s bathroom?” I asked, suddenly panicked as I spun around to race back.

Austin caught my wrist in a gentle grip, circling it between his fingers and tugging me into him. As I landed against his chest, he brought his palms to my face and looked right into my eyes. “There’s enough toilet paper in every bathroom. Everyone is ready in here and out there. All that remains is to go outside and get it done.”

I swallowed hard, fighting the flutter of nerves that tried to convince me to tuck tail and run. “Okay. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” He smiled and leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead. “Let’s go, baby. The world is waiting to get its first look at your dream.”

I inhaled through my nostrils, holding the air in my lungs for a moment before I returned his smile. “Let’s do it. Let’s go welcome them.”

Relief flickered in his eyes. He took my hand in a firm grip, leading me to the foyer and opening the front door. Outside in the front yard, a massive crowd was gathered to celebrate the ribbon cutting. So many people that some even spilled out onto the sidewalk.

I took a tentative step onto the front stairs. My heart fluttered so much that I even felt a bit dizzy, but I accepted the scissors Austin handed me to do the honors. My engagement ring flashed on my finger as I lifted the scissors. The diamond threw off prisms of light as cameras went off.

I grinned and my gaze skipped across the crowd to take it all in before I cut the ceremonial ribbon. One last time before our official opening, I focused on the faces of everyone I loved here to support us, and tears pricked at the backs of my eyes.

Winrey and Benji were right at the front of the crowd with baby Nicholas. Now six months old, he was alert and in a sitting position in his stroller, his gorgeous little eyes wide as they moved this way and that.

Jess and Slate stood with them, their two-month-old in a baby wrap against Jess’s chest. Next to them, Logan and Mira played with their little one. Austin’s parents as well as Tate, Mindy, and some others from their office stood behind our families, with Jeannie laughing at something Mira seemed to have said.

All our neighbors from around the block were there, including the butcher and Ms. Cartwright with her basket of cats. A hush fell over the crowd as they realized we’d appeared.

“Thank you all for coming,” I said as they quieted down. “Today has been years in the making, and for the longest time, I didn’t think I would ever see my dream realized.”

Tears pressed even harder at the backs of my eyes as I glanced at Austin. “But tonight, thanks to my incredible fiancé, the Dahlia Hotel and Restaurant is real, and it’s all for you. I know my Aunt Dahlia would’ve been so very proud—and perhaps a little jealous that this isn’t hers because it’s just so unbelievably beautiful.”

Everyone laughed and I cut the ribbon before I swept an arm out toward the door. “You’re all invited to come in and check it out for yourselves. Thank you for being the first patrons of the hotel. Please enjoy it.”

I stepped aside. Austin wrapped his arm around me and we descended the stairs to join our friends and family. As a whole, the crowd surged forward as people started making their way inside. Austin and I hung back at first, waiting until everyone else had gone in before he took my hand and grinned at me.

“Are you ready to join your guests?”

I looked into his deep brown eyes and drew in a breath before I nodded. “I think so.”

Once we got in there, the place was a hive of activity and I was suddenly glad Austin had convinced me to hire extra staff for the night. There was already a line of people waiting to book rooms for special dates over the course of the year.

Some of the reporters seemed to have already posted pictures and information about the hotel because the next thing I knew, the phone started ringing with bookings as well. The bar area was crowded beyond belief.

Appetizers were swiped from platters, and when I went to check on the kitchen, I found chaos as the staff rushed to keep up. The head chef patted my hand and grinned. “Giacomo has you covered. Don’t worry about a thing. Just get back out there and enjoy your night.”

My gaze darted around the room, but in the end, I realized that staying in here to help would only end with me under their feet. I nodded my thanks at him, leaving them to do their thing as I went to do mine.

As hostess, I swept from group to group, checking on everyone and offering tours to those who hadn’t been at the dinner, which was most. Austin had spoken to the contractors about outdoor dining areas and they’d managed to install a firepit and one grill so far.

Although no cooking was being done out there tonight, many people had gathered in the back garden, finding space to sit and for their kids to enjoy the little playground on the warm, summer evening. The event was cheerful, bright, and happy. It was everything I had ever imagined it would be.

Jess grinned at me when I joined her, her parents, Mira, and Logan outside. They had settled on one of the picnic blankets we’d set out next to the climbing frame for families, and while Jess was still wearing their son, Mira and Logan’s little boy, Beau, was crawling around the base of the frame.

Winrey and Benji were close by too. Nicholas was surrounded by some toys on the blanket he was on. I wrapped my arms around Jess, careful not to crush the baby as I took a moment to finally breathe.

“You did it,” she said, beaming at me. “This place is amazing, by the way. Slate and I have already booked the honeymoon suite for our next anniversary. Mom and Dad said they’d take the baby for the night.”

“That’s awesome.” I squeezed her hand, glancing at Jeannie where she was making a fuss over Beau as he pulled himself up on the frame. “She sure is good with the littles, huh?”

Jess chuckled. “You have no idea. She’s already trying to figure out where in their cottage she’s going to make a playpen.”

I reached out to rub the sleeping baby in the wrap. “Well, he’s going to need it soon.”

“So is yours,” she quipped. “According to Mom, this one is going to be getting a cousin real soon.”

“She’s optimistic,” I said, laughing as I shook my head. “We have a wedding to plan before we start getting to the baby shower.”

“Oh, she’s already planning the wedding.” Jess winked at me. “And the bridal shower. And the baby shower. You’d better stop her soon before she starts planning Austin’s retirement party.”

“Nah, let her do it. I love how excited she is.” I really did.

Although it was still bittersweet that all this was happening without my own parents being interested or even knowing about any of it, I couldn’t have asked for a better family to be marrying into. The Merricks were so wholeheartedly supportive and enthusiastic that I counted my blessings to have them every single day.

Winrey came over to join us, sliding her arm around my waist to pull me into a sideways hug. “I love this playground. Well, we love the whole place, but especially the garden. Benji told me I’d better warn you that we’ll be spending all our free time here.”

“I’d love that,” I said, and I meant it too.

Jess grinned at Winrey. “Slate and I plan on making the drive every so often as well. We’ll meet you here.”

“You’ve got yourself a date,” Winrey said.

“Kenny!” I heard Austin’s voice calling me from the door and I spun to face him. Smiling, I excused myself from my sister and my soon-to-be sister in law. “Have fun, guys. I’ll see you soon.”

My fiancé waited for me in the doorway, looking so sexy in his fitted, charcoal slacks with a light-blue button-down shirt that desire flared to life in my belly as I strode over to him. With that dark brown hair perfectly styled out of his handsome face and his features accentuated with the five o’clock shadow on his jaw, I had half a mind to drag him upstairs right then.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he murmured when I reached him, his strong fingers wrapping around my own. “You look ravishing yourself tonight, baby. Good enough to eat, but we’ll get there.”

Heat flooded my veins when he said it, but I knew he was right. “What’s up?”

“We need another tour,” he said. “Some or other reporter who asked for an interview with you as well.”

“Right,” I said, clearing my throat and swallowing the lust. “I’m on it. I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll be around.” He grinned, turning on his heels to head back to the bar area, where he had been holding court with some of our more influential guests.

I found the reporter in question waiting for me at the stairs. After giving her the tour and answering her questions, I took a quiet moment on the grand staircase to pause and look around my new favorite part of the hotel.

The gallery wall.

The photograph of Austin and me at Jess and Slate’s wedding was there, along with photos of our family members and some of our trip to the Maldives. It was absolutely beautiful, seeing our love story laid out like this, but right in the middle of the wall was the most meaningful picture of them all.

It was a framed photo of my aunt Dahlia, grinning from ear to ear with me as a little girl standing at her side. We had been in front of Aunt Dahlia’s old hotel, the place where I’d first fallen in love with hospitality.

Aunt Dahlia was grinning at the photographer, and I was looking up at her with a sparkle in my eyes. I knew that moment had been when my dream had been coming alive within me. A dream which had eventually led me not only to having this hotel, but also to falling in love with Austin.

“We did it,” I whispered to my aunt, glancing up at the ceiling and knowing that she was looking down on us from above. “Thank you. Thank you for not letting me give up, and thank you for sending him to help me make this dream such a spectacular reality.”