The Albright Hotel (A Frosty Season #4)

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

R obby’s hand shook as he wrote out the list. He remained in the dining hall with the autumnal light streaming in through the cathedral-like windows—the windows he’d installed himself just this past July when his life was beautiful. His tongue throbbed, and it was only a second later that he realized it was because he was biting it. The window needed fixing. Maya had given him this task this morning via a frantic text message. But when he’d driven up to the Albright Hotel, he’d known he was entering the lion’s den.

“Why are you going to the Albright?” Stan had asked when he’d gotten ready to go.

“They need me up there,” he’d explained.

“Haven’t you done enough for them?” Adam had asked.

“I want it to be good for their grand opening. No mistakes,” Robby had explained. He was too proud to say what was really on his mind.

Of course, his sons thought he was a chump.

But Robby had thought he could slip in and slip out without seeing Olivia at all. Maya had more or less insinuated that the dining hall would be empty while he worked.

She’d been wrong. He’d been wrong. Everyone had been wrong! How fun.

Now, Robby folded his to-do and to-buy list and tucked it into his pocket. He then strode past the door that led into the foyer, listening in as Maya freaked out to someone about an incorrect number of towels. “I’m not angry,” Maya assured whoever it was, “I just need it all to be perfect. We have journalists here today.” She sighed.

Robby’s heart went out to Maya. He knew that she was a good person and wanted the best for her employees and for the hotel and for her family. God knows how much time he'd spent with her in the past year. He probably never would again, but that was okay. That was what happened when things went south.

He missed Brad, though. Brad was a great guy. Maybe he’d run into him from time to time. Hollygrove was a small town, after all.

Of course, it would probably always be a little weird between them after everything.

Robby considered driving directly to the hardware store to pick up a few things he needed for the repair. But then he remembered the window in the hotel kitchen that had been giving him trouble. He decided to dive through the kitchen staff and see what was wrong. Maybe he could fix that before the day was out. After all, the kitchen staff were probably freezing in there with the broken window. It hadn’t even warmed above seventeen degrees today.

Robby opened the kitchen door and stormed through, hoping nobody would notice him. He’d gone through those doors hundreds of times since the hotel's refurbishment had begun that year. But he’d forgotten, when he went through, that people in kitchens often carried precious things.

He just hadn’t been thinking.

Robby Goodwin? Why don’t you think before you act!?

Suddenly, Robby found his chest and belly flattened against an enormous, decorative, beautiful, white-frosted cake. It looked like a wedding cake although it wasn’t for a wedding. It was for the grand opening of the Albright Hotel.

And he’d ruined it.

A scream rang out through the kitchen. It took a second for Robby to realize it was his own scream.

The man holding the cake was entirely too handsome for a kitchen like this. Robby bucked back and locked eyes with the stranger. The pastry chef. He looked like someone Robby might have recognized from television or something. Someone I’ve maybe seen before. But what did it matter? The actor-like guy glowered at Robby as though he’d just destroyed the planet with his own two hands.

Robby’s shirt was entirely streaked with frosting.

“That was for the party tonight,” the handsome pastry chef said. He smirked.

Robby stepped back. He wished he could jump back in time.

“I’m so sorry,” he stammered. “I was just here to—”

To what? Fix the window? Who cared about the window now?

All the kitchen staff had turned to glare at him. It was obvious that the cake had required many hours of work. It was three thirty in the afternoon, and the party was fast approaching.

“I’m so sorry,” Robby said again. He couldn’t think of anything else to say.

The man set the remains of the cake on the counter. It looked like something chewed up by the dog. A lot of frosting had gotten on him, too, caking his shoulders and hands.

Robby raised his hand and hurried back through the door. He didn’t want to remain in the pastry chef’s glare for long. He had the sensation that the chef would eat him.

Instead, Robby ran out to his truck, got in, and drove like a madman to the hardware store. As he went, he considered whether it was appropriate to skip town, never go home, and maybe change his name. He knew that probably, at this very minute, news of his mess-up was getting to Olivia. What would she say? He’s such an idiot. Of course he would destroy our first day. He destroys everything. Robby parked in the parking lot and hung his head.

Something Addison had said to him before she left. You make my bad days worse.

But was that just something married people said to one another, sending daggers in any direction?

The hardware store was having a Black Friday sale, which meant the lot was filled with customers, eager to get a deal on a drill or a wrench. Robby dug a spare shirt out of the back of his truck and changed. He still hadn’t received any messages from Maya or Olivia on his phone, and he prayed he never would. Why was he at the hardware store in the first place? Did he really want to buy the things he needed for the Albright Hotel? It wasn’t like they’d welcome him back!

Robby strode into the hardware store and immediately spotted someone he knew.

His heart sank.

There she was, a pretty blonde in her forties. She wheeled a cart toward him and smiled. She was somehow friends with Calvin and Stacy. He’d met her at Binkley’s. He knew they wanted her to date her. They’d mentioned it several times, hinting that Robby could be happy if he wanted to be. Robby was pretty sure her name was Joanna.

“Hi, stranger,” she said. “What’s a handyman doing at a place like this?”

Robby laughed. His palms were sweaty. “Hi, Joanna.” He prayed that was her name. He couldn’t afford another mistake today.

Joanna’s smile calmed him down a little bit. He had to admit that.

They chatted for a few minutes about this and that—Thanksgiving, Adam and Stan, and the opening of the Albright Hotel. If Joanna knew anything about Robby and Olivia, she didn’t let on. She had tact, he decided. And when she dismissed herself, she brushed her hair to the side and gave him a startlingly beautiful smile that made Robby think, Maybe Calvin and Stacy are on to something.

“See you around, Robby?”

“Yes. See you.”

But as soon as Robby entered the fifth aisle to look for supplies, the crashing weight of the early afternoon came down on his shoulders again. He was in a daze, imagining Olivia in the back office, wringing her hands and cursing Robby.

Maybe this was a sign.

That was when a message dinged in on his phone. He expected it to be from Olivia. But it was from Maya.

MAYA: Hey! I heard about what happened. I want to tell you NOT TO WORRY. Accidents happen. Trust me, I know. We’ve had about an accident a minute up here ever since we opened our doors. But the pastry chef says he can whip up a new cake in time for the party. It’s his job to handle pastry-level disasters.

Robby took a deep breath. Another text came in from Maya.

MAYA: I hope you can still fix the window before the party?

MAYA: And please remember, we need you there! You’re the reason the Albright is what it is!

MAYA: All of Hollygrove will be there. It would be terrible not to have you.

Robby bought the supplies for the window and drove with a fierce grip back to the hotel, his knuckles white across the steering wheel. He would get in, fix the window properly, and get out again. Would he go to the party? He didn’t know. He’d deal with that later. Maybe he’d fake an illness. He’d be okay.

Miraculously, Robby avoided Olivia and Maya during his brief leap into the dining hall. The staff miraculously transformed it for the party later, and it was even more Christmassy than earlier this afternoon. Ribbons and glitter and holly were everywhere. Christmas music piped in from invisible speakers—speakers Robby had installed. He took a moment to appreciate the hard work he’d put into this.

And then he heard his name.

Robby twisted around to find Veronica Albright standing in the shadows of the massive Christmas tree. She was dressed beautifully, as always, and her white hair glowed like the snow outside. She gestured for him to come closer. Robby hopped to it. He wasn’t the kind of man to make Veronica Albright wait.

“How are you, Robby?” Her bright eyes were alive but always difficult to read. What had Olivia told her about what happened? What did she know?

“I’m doing just fine.” Robby flashed her a hopeful smile.

Veronica looked at him as though she didn’t believe him. She pressed her lips together. Robby had the strangest hunch she wanted to tell him something important.

But instead, she said, “I hope you’ll still be joining us tonight?”

Robby felt his stomach twist. How could he lie to Veronica?

“We really need you here,” Veronica said. “I hope you know how essential you’ve been to this process. My darling nieces—both of them—wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”

Robby’s head throbbed. Perhaps he was coming down with a migraine. Maybe he really couldn’t make it to the party after all.

“It’s the first big party at the Albright Hotel,” Veronica said. “The entire town will be here. A town I’ve loved my entire life.” She twisted a white curl around her finger. “You’re a part of that town, Robby. I’ve known you since you were small. That means I know your heart.”

Robby felt as though she could see all the way through him. She’d been his elementary school teacher a million years ago. But that teacher-student bond was still there. In his mind, she knew everything there was to know. She wouldn’t lead him astray.

And he didn’t want to let her down.

“I’ll be there,” he said softly.

“Good. We’re counting on you,” she said.