The Albright Hotel (A Frosty Season #4)

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

H arry had to head back to the Albright Hotel shortly after Robby’s surprise performance. There were pastries to make, he said. There were hungry, insatiable customers. He left Olivia with a kiss on the cheek and a quick, “See you after my shift? At the hotel bar?”

“See you then.”

Olivia watched him snake through the crowd and disappear on the other side of the red-brick post office. She stood, thrumming with surprise. She couldn’t believe Robby had actually performed.

He’d told her he never would again.

What did it mean?

Did it mean he was finally healing?

But the way he’d looked at her when he was on stage was jarring. It made her remember the first time he’d told her he loved her, and she’d burst into tears.

Her therapist Teresa had said, Why do you think you cried when he told you that? And Olivia hadn’t known the answer.

She’d pitched it back to Teresa. Why do you think? You’re my therapist! Shouldn’t you have an answer? And Teresa had given her a look that meant she was figuring her out, slowly but surely.

Adopted. Alone. Nervous. Strange.

Am I unlovable?

Maybe.

Which meant it was only a matter of time before Harry left, too. Maybe that was the reason she was dating someone like Harry. He was the sort of man who got out of there the minute things got rough. She knew that.

She hadn’t thought Robby was like that.

Was that why she’d wanted it so badly? Because she’d thought he wouldn’t hurt her?

Anyone can hurt you at any time.

“There you are!” Maya came out of the crowd and laced her arm through Olivia’s. Behind her was Phoebe. Olivia was relieved she didn’t have her fiancé with her. She’d had enough of Braxton. Maya’s eyes were enormous. Olivia knew she wanted to comment on Robby’s performance. After all, she’d been there that night in Maine, a pregnant moon overhead, when Robby had pulled out a guitar and played songs, singing along. Maya and Olivia had been speechless. When Maya had said, “Why don’t you perform in Hollygrove?” Robby had said, “I don’t do that anymore.” And that had been that.

Olivia blinked back tears. “Shall we grab some mulled wine?”

“We don’t have long,” Maya said with a grimace. It was true. They had to get back to the Albright Hotel soon.

Maya, Phoebe, and Olivia grabbed mulled wine from a little stall and stood in a circle near a firepit. Orange flames licked the sharply chilly air. Suddenly, before Olivia had a chance to compose herself, Stacy was in their midst, smiling warmly, her hands wrapped around a big mug of hot cocoa.

“That was really something, wasn’t it?” she said. “He can really play the guitar! I haven’t heard it in years.”

Olivia couldn’t look at her. She knew Stacy was staring at her—trying to gauge what she was thinking about Robby. Olivia should probably just come out and tell them exactly what happened. She should say that it wasn’t her fault they broke up. But she didn’t want to throw Robby under the bus. This was his town. It wasn’t hers. Not fully. Not yet.

Another woman sidled up beside Stacy and warmed her hands. Olivia was pretty sure her name was Ruth. Stacy nudged her. “What did you think of Robby’s performance?”

Ruth’s cheeks were blotchy and pink. “He’s talented.”

“I’ll say. He could have been something,” Stacy said.

Olivia filled her mouth with mulled wine and tried to think of somewhere else to go. But the crowd around her was thick and moving slowly. She couldn’t exactly run away.

But Ruth looked at her with big eyes and said, “That was a wonderful party last week. Thanks again for that hotel. It’s brought so much magic to Hollygrove.”

“Truly! So much magic,” Stacy agreed. “I’ve told you before, but my wedding planner is just floored at the place. She wants to bring more brides-to-be over there to see it.”

“We’ll take them!” Maya said. “Remember, we come with our own photographer.” She nudged Olivia, who tried on a smile that fell.

In truth, Olivia often refused to photograph weddings. Too depressing. Too close to home. She hated seeing the blushing brides, the joyful grooms, the sobbing mothers. It was so much of what she wanted. It was so much of what she couldn’t have.

As Maya and Stacy chatted about other venues in the area, Olivia allowed herself to drift back to last February. It was just ten months ago. But it felt like years.

So much had happened.

It was the second week of February. A storm rolled over Hollygrove, casting everything in fresh white. Olivia and Maya were still in the early days of preparation for the Albright Hotel, although it looked more and more like something they could really pull off. Olivia was seated on the rug in front of the sofa, reading a book about Upstate New York hotels and the mistakes they’d made. Most of their reasons for closing seemed to be due to budgets and cash flow. Olivia was trying to get her head around that.

Just then, the front door screamed open, bringing Phoebe in from the wet darkness. Her cheeks were bright red, and her hair was like a bird's nest. And she collapsed on the rug and burst into tears.

When Olivia and Maya spoke about it later, they agreed it was one of the more dramatic scenes they’d ever witnessed. It took a while to get the story out of Phoebe that her husband was leaving her. They were going to sell the house in Pennsylvania, and she was going to be single for the first time in years. “Who will want me now?” she asked Maya and Olivia.

Olivia wanted to laugh at that. Phoebe was in her twenties! She was beautiful! She could have anyone.

Impossibly, it was the very next day that Olivia met Robby Goodwin for the first time.

Maya, Olivia, Phoebe, and even Aunt Veronica went to Binkley’s, a local bar in Hollygrove. Aunt Veronica was sort of a celebrity, especially at that point, since she’d so recently been very ill. She was drinking tea and talking to the bartender in soft but meaningful words. Olivia couldn’t hear what she was saying.

Calvin and Stacy pulled up beside them and said hello. They remembered Maya from the drama with the Albright Mansion and Olivia as the sister who’d stolen the heirloom necklace. They decided to laugh about it that night. Maya threw her arm around Olivia and said, “We’re family! And we’re going to transform the mansion into a hotel.”

Calvin raised his eyebrows. “You’re going to need a handyman. I know a brilliant one.”

Calvin disappeared and returned with Robby in tow.

Warmth flooded through Olivia’s arms and legs. She felt her cheeks grow steamy; felt her heart jump into her throat.

There was something about the way Robby was looking at her.

It was as though he already knew her.

It was as though he’d always known her.

But unlike other men who’d looked at her in the past, he refused to talk to her about anything but the business. He learned about their plans for the hotel, and he agreed to come to the Albright Mansion tomorrow to hear more about their vision. He shook their hands and disappeared into the night, leaving Olivia with a massive hole in her heart.

Of course, Olivia didn’t tell anyone what she felt that night.

She was new to Hollygrove. She was new to Maya. She was new to the Albright.

She wanted to keep her life clean, simple, and easy.

But that night, she dreamed of him. They stood at the top of a massive cliff, looking over at a roiling black ocean. They were holding hands. Robby said something to her, something she didn’t understand, and right when she yelled, “What did you say?” she woke up with a start in bed.

All the following morning, she couldn’t get him out of her head. She thought about calling her new therapist to talk about him. She didn’t want to fall into old patterns; she didn’t want to get carried away. She told herself she would follow his lead and be professional. She would think of the hotel rather than her aimless, broken heart.

But the first thing Robby did that morning was make her laugh.

Later, Olivia couldn’t recall what it was he’d said. But she found herself doubled over, heaving with giggles. When Maya found them, she gave them a curious smile and asked, “What did I miss?”

Olivia gasped, then stood upright and cleared her throat. She wanted to prove to Maya she was professional. She was still trying to make Maya forget about what she’d done.

But over the next two weeks, Robby gave no indication of liking her. Maybe he didn’t, Olivia decided. Maybe he had a girlfriend. Maybe he wanted to keep business and pleasure separate. But as the days passed, Olivia felt more and more drawn to him until she could hardly take it.

Finally, one night after Phoebe went upstairs to cry herself to sleep, Olivia burst with her question to Maya. “What is Robby’s deal?”

Maya cocked her head. “You’re not crazy,” she assured her. “I can feel there’s something between you. But I don’t know what his deal is, either.”

They decided to ask Aunt Veronica. This was her town, after all.

Aunt Veronica met them with a sturdy gaze. “Robby has had a difficult time of it,” she explained. “He married his high school sweetheart, and they had two boys. But one day, on Thanksgiving of all days, she walked out the door and never came back. He had to raise his sons mostly on his own.”

Olivia felt the edges of her heart crack. How could anyone do that to such a sweet, kind, funny man?

“He’s delicate,” Aunt Veronica said. “If you want to date him, you have to prove you’re serious. He doesn’t take the world lightly.”

“Neither do I,” Olivia said, her voice just a whisper.

She felt it was fate.

It was also a challenge. And Olivia was never one to turn down a challenge.

Now, at the Christmas Festival, Maya pressed her hands together. “You ready to get back to the hotel?”

“We should wait till after Brad’s students perform,” Phoebe reminded her, pointing at the stage where Robby had performed. Brad gathered his elementary students, lining them up, adjusting their shoulders, reminding them to breathe deeply as they sang.

“They’re adorable,” Maya said.

Olivia wondered if Brad still planned to ask Maya to be his wife. She hoped so. Maya needed something to celebrate after the stress of the holiday season.

But how will I celebrate? Olivia wondered.

And then Harry’s face entered her mind’s eye.

But still, something about Harry rubbed her the wrong way. He’d kissed her the first day they’d met. He wanted to get to know her immediately. He wanted to meet at the hotel bar almost every night.

It wasn’t like it had been with Robby those first few months. They’d waded into their relationship with guarded optimism. They’d looked at one another as two injured people, praying the next relationship wouldn’t completely destroy them.

Should I tell Harry I’m not ready?

Should I tell him I need a night off?

But then again, Olivia was terrified that Harry would spontaneously meet someone else today. Maybe he’d flirt with one of the staff members or servers. Perhaps he’d have a drink with the cute twentysomething who sometimes worked the front desk. Margo was her name.

No. Olivia couldn’t let him go.

It wasn’t really about wanting to be with him.

It was more about not being alone.

“Remember?” Maya was saying into her ear as the children sang on stage. “We met each other last year! One year ago!”

Olivia remembered. Her college friend Rainey had brought her here, telling her that she’d finally found the secret to Olivia’s happiness—a fortune that was all hers. Olivia and Maya had sized one another up. Olivia had been struck by how familiar Maya was to her. It was like looking into a mirror.

“An entire year,” Maya breathed. “So many things have changed. But next year, we’ll have another wedding. Another reason to celebrate.” She reached over to squeeze Phoebe’s hand.

Maybe we’ll even celebrate Maya’s wedding, Olivia thought.

Maybe I’ll find a way to settle into my life—with romance or without.