Page 7 of Be Our Ghost (The Duchess Hotel #2)

Five

When Charlie arrived at work on Monday, she was seriously dragging.

After Knox had dropped her off at her apartment, she’d had a hard time falling asleep.

How could she, when her mind kept replaying their entire evening?

Though nothing romantic had happened on the beach, she truly believed they were becoming friends.

Not just work buddies, but actual friends .

Before heading into the hotel, she dashed over to Alma’s Beanery—the coffeehouse closest to the Duchess—and grabbed a mocha for herself and a caramel latte for Rosie.

She loved downtown Victoria at this early hour, before the tourists were out in full force.

Across from the hotel, the city’s popular Inner Harbour—a waterfront area filled with sailboats, small cruise ships, seaplanes, and water taxis—was quiet, no sign of the artists or street musicians who usually lined the causeway.

Only the raucous cries of the seagulls overhead broke the stillness.

When she got to Rosie’s office, she peeked her head in the doorway.

To her surprise, Selena occupied the rolling chair across from Rosie’s desk.

Usually Selena spent the first few hours of the day in her tiny office near the hotel’s kitchen.

This way, she could be on hand if any crises occurred while her staff were prepping and serving the Duchess’ lavish breakfast buffet.

Given that the buffet was one of the hotel’s best-reviewed amenities, Selena insisted on maintaining tight quality control.

Upon spotting Charlie, Rosie gestured for her to join them. “Come on in.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to interrupt.”

“You can stay,” Selena said. “This issue actually concerns you, so it’s better if I get it off my chest while you’re here.” She seemed more agitated than usual, a few dark strands of hair falling from her tight bun.

Charlie came in and set Rosie’s coffee on her desk. “I got you a caramel latte from Alma’s to help you survive Monday. Selena, I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything.”

“I’m good,” Selena said. “I already had three cups of dark roast this morning. Any more caffeine and I’d shoot off into space.”

Rosie took a sip of her latte and gave a sigh of satisfaction. “Thanks. This is just what I needed. The first Monday after a vacation is always rough.”

Charlie grabbed the extra chair in the corner and pulled it up beside Selena’s. “What’s going on?”

“I’m so pissed right now.” Selena blew out an angry breath. “I fucked up on Saturday.”

“You? No way.” Charlie had always envied Selena’s assertiveness.

She’d been at the Duchess for longer than any of them and commanded a fierce loyalty from her staff.

But it was more than that. Around the opposite sex, she possessed a confidence Charlie sorely lacked.

Selena wasn’t the type to spend a year pining for someone. If she wanted a guy, she went for it.

“I blame the tequila.” Selena scrubbed her hands over her face.

“I was at Pepe’s Cantina, waiting on Martin—the guy I’ve been seeing—but he didn’t show.

No text, no call, nothing. Two drinks later, I checked his feed, and what did I see but him getting cozy with some ‘girl’ who looks barely old enough to drink.

First of all, if he was going to bail, he should have had the balls to tell me.

And second, how dare he trade me in for a younger model? ”

“Sorry. That sucks,” Rosie said. “How’d you screw up? Did you drunk dial him?”

“I wish. I just ordered a third drink and sat there like a loser. And then—to make my night a complete shit show—guess who walks over to my table?”

“One of your exes?” Charlie asked.

“Nope. Our good buddy, Alejandro Rivera, the assistant manager of the Grand Duke.”

“What was he doing there?” Rosie demanded. “Pepe’s is our hangout.”

“Who knows? Out drinking with his minions? Looking for innocent women to lure into his web? But when he saw me, he just had to make my night even more unbearable.”

Though none of the Damsels liked the stuck-up managers at the Grand Duke, Selena was unrivaled in her hatred of Alejandro. True, he was known for his condescending attitude, but no one had clashed with him the way she had.

“What did he do?” Charlie asked.

“He started bragging about all the prestigious events his hotel was going to be hosting this fall. Like a huge society wedding at the end of September and a fancy Hollywood-type gala in October, for some big-deal fantasy show from Vancouver.”

“A fantasy show? Do you mean The Hidden Forest ?” Even if Charlie hadn’t watched it in years, she’d always dreamed of meeting the cast members.

“That’s the one. Apparently, they’re celebrating their hundredth episode.”

“Why are they hosting the event in Victoria?” Charlie asked. “Why not at a hotel in Vancouver?”

“Alejandro said the show’s executive producer has ties with the CEO of Royal Host—the company that manages the Duke.

Something like that. Anyway…” Selena drew out the word.

“I should have stopped after my third drink because I couldn’t keep my big mouth shut.

Instead, I bragged about us hosting Canada’s Most Haunted . ”

No. Charlie’s gut knotted into a tight ball. “We’re not even sure if they’re going to pick us. And we don’t have any evidence our hotel is haunted yet.”

Selena groaned. “I know, but I had to say something. Which backfired because he laughed at me. He said someone from the show had already met with him, and he’d turned them down.”

“I should have told you the Duke was the show’s first choice,” Charlie said. “That’s on me.”

“No, this mistake is all my fault.” Selena tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ears. “Now, Alejandro thinks we’re even more of a joke. Worse yet, he said he’ll be ‘watching closely’ to see how this plays out.”

“You don’t think he’ll try to discredit us, do you?” Rosie asked.

The concern on her face ramped up Charlie’s anxiety.

She didn’t need their biggest rival spreading rumors that the Duchess was so desperate for attention they’d fake a haunting.

“It might be okay. I haven’t done any background research yet, so I still might find something.

All I did was check out the show with Knox.

He came over last night and watched a bunch of episodes with me. ”

Admitting it filled her with a surge of pride. Like she’d accomplished a huge goal, rather than taking a baby step.

Rosie brightened. “ Yes . How’d it go?”

Charlie responded with a dreamy smile. “It was so nice. We totally bonded.”

“Bonded as in talked, or bonded as in you dragged him into your bedroom and had your way with him?” Selena’s grin made it clear she was over her momentary bout of self-loathing.

“Just talked, though he did come into my bedroom. Not to have sex, but…because I wanted to show him all my books. Of course, he noticed the stack with the spicy romances first.”

“Girl, your Tbr pile is out of control,” Selena said. “You’re lucky he didn’t run screaming from your apartment.”

“I know. But he told me he collects paperbacks, too. And then, when we were leaving…” Charlie went on to explain the awkward situation with her parents and Randolph, which had led to her spending an hour with Knox at a nearby cove.

“Even if the night didn’t end on a romantic note, we definitely connected. ”

Selena placed her hand over her heart. “I love this for you. But you know this is only the first step, right? You lit the match, and now you’ve got to fan the flame.”

“I agree with Selena,” Rosie said. “Stay on him. Since you’re working on this show together, you’ll have lots of excuses to hang out. The next time you’re alone, try dropping a few romantic hints.”

Romantic hints? To be honest, dealing with ghosts might be less terrifying.

* * *

Charlie had intended to hole up in her office and start researching the hotel’s history, but she got stuck dealing with one crisis after another.

Like the fallout from a computer glitch that messed up a ton of reservations.

And the loss of two newly trained employees, who’d gotten better offers from the Grand Duke.

Now, she was filling in at the front desk for a clerk who’d taken off for a few hours to handle an issue with her son’s school.

She did her best to greet the guests with her cheerful customer-service smile in place, even though her mind was plagued with worries. Foremost among her concerns was Selena’s confrontation with Alejandro. Did they need to do damage control, or was Selena overreacting because she hated him so much?

Charlie’s mood worsened when Preston strode over to the front desk with a serious expression on his face. “ Charlotte . Did you make any progress this weekend?”

No matter how many times she asked him to call her Charlie, he never listened. “Yes. Knox and I watched a bunch of episodes of Canada’s Most Haunted , and we took notes. We got a good sense of what ghost hunters look for when they visit a haunted location.”

Preston waved his hand in dismissal. “That’s all very well, but unless we can dredge up some evidence of the supernatural, we’ll never land the show. What have you got so far?”

She wiped a thin film of sweat from her brow. “Laurel’s roommate, Celia, is checking the provincial archives to find out more about the hotel’s history. That should help.”

“What about all the reviews the Duchess has gotten? Have any of the hotel’s former guests mentioned unexplained phenomena?”

“Not that we’ve seen. We started combing through our reviews last week, going as far back as the early 2010s, but we haven’t had any luck. We still have a long way to go.”

There were just so many reviews—on TripAdvisor, Google, Yelp, and all the other travel aggregators.

Prior to the internet, guests had expressed their feelings via comment cards, which they’d filled out at the end of their stay.

At least sixty years’ worth of cards were packed into bankers’ boxes, located in the hotel’s basement storage area.

Sorting through all of them would be a Herculean task.

“You need to work faster,” he said. “Recruit anyone else from the staff who has time on their hands. It’s been almost a week since Logan visited the hotel, and I’m sure he’ll make a decision soon. We don’t want to miss out.”

Charlie sighed. “Are you sure this is a good idea, sir? Since we don’t have any proof our hotel is haunted, we don’t want to be accused of misrepresenting ourselves. Or have this turn into a big joke.” Especially now that the Duke knew about it. Not that she’d share that information with him.

“Nonsense. This could be a huge win for the Duchess. We want this year’s spooky season to be the best one ever.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t forget your annual review is coming up next month. You wouldn’t want to jeopardize it in any way.”

Shit. That sounded like a threat. But it wasn’t as if she could magically conjure up a ghost or create an eerie legend that didn’t exist.

By the time he left, she was more on edge than ever. She was about to take her afternoon break when the desk phone rang. She answered it quickly, hoping it wasn’t a guest with a complaint. “The Duchess Hotel, Charlie Fraser speaking. How may I help you?”

The low rumble of Knox’s voice put her at ease. “Hey, Charlie. How’s it going?”

“I’m doing okay, but I’m bummed I haven’t gotten the chance to start in on my research. Right now, I’m stuck filling in at the front desk.”

“I assumed as much since you didn’t respond to my texts. Do you have a sec, or are you busy with a guest?”

“I’m good. What’s up?” The lobby was empty, save for a family of five, who stood near the hotel’s entrance, waiting for their airport shuttle.

“I just heard from Celia. She uncovered information about the hotel in the archives.”

“She did?” The tension eased from Charlie’s shoulders. She’d never expected Celia to come through this quickly. “I can’t believe she found something already.”

“She said it’s good stuff, too. If you can leave work early, she’s willing to meet us tonight at five thirty. I asked her if she could push it a little later, but she’s giving a ghost tour at seven.”

Though Charlie had planned to stay until six, technically, this meeting counted as work. Preston couldn’t possibly complain, not when he’d just badgered her about finding more information. “I can make it. But isn’t this your day off?”

“It’s okay. This ghost stuff is high priority. I’m sure Preston’s been riding you about it.”

“Has he ever. He stopped by the front desk a few minutes ago.” Charlie wrote down the time and place of the meeting. “Thanks for setting this up.”

“Glad to do it. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“See you, Knox.”

As she hung up, she could barely contain her exhilaration. Knox had gone out of his way to arrange this meeting—and on his day off, no less. He’d made a point of calling her about it. And now, she’d get to spend more time with him.

Of course, there was the remote possibility Celia might have discovered something truly bone-chilling while researching the hotel’s history. But right now, Charlie was too excited to worry about that.