Page 16 of No Holds Barred

“Now,” Hope confirmed with a sharp nod. “I need to talk to Ange.”

Hope pushed her way out of the kitchen, into the dining room, and back through the small hallway, where she stopped. Her stomach was done. She walked down the back of the hallway and stepped out into the fresh air. She barely got a breath in before she doubled over and lost her breakfast all over the brick walkway. She pressed her hand against the wall to hold herself up as she retched again. Her eyes watered from the force of it, a cold sweat settling along the small of her back and goosebumps pricking up on her arms and chest.

“Justin, stop filming,” Cadence’s voice was gentle.

Of course they’d gotten that all on camera. And knowing Rex and Josef, they’d keep it in the final cut because it would add tothe drama. Hope closed her eyes and tried to catch her bearings. Cadence’s hand against her shoulder was soothing.

“Take your time,” Cadence said. “That was disgusting.”

The last thing Hope wanted was to think about that kitchen. She could typically handle things like that better, but she’d been feeling off all morning, and she was fairly sure it was because of filming with Angelica again. The stress and pressure had only added up until it’d finally taken its toll on her.

“I’ll be fine in a minute,” Hope muttered.

“Let me get you some water.” Cadence disappeared.

Finally alone, Hope breathed out heavily. She raised her hands to her face and wiped away the tears in her eyes. She hated puking. Though, to be fair, she was certain no one liked the experience. She slowly straightened her back, letting the breeze reach her cheeks and cool the burning in her skin. She would take as much time as she needed. Screw filming. This wasn’t about just not throwing up again, it was about making sure that she was actually ready to film season three.

She thought she’d been ready, but seeing Angelica that morning with Cadence—she hadn’t been prepared at all.

“Here.” Cadence handed over a bottle of water.

Hope twisted the cap, filled her mouth, swished it around, and then spit it out. She still said nothing. She had nothing to say because if she let her tongue run wild, she’d make accusations that would get all of them in more trouble than was necessary.

“Thanks,” Hope mumbled as she took a long sip and drank. It was exactly what she needed. “What’s Ange doing?”

“Uh, I think she’s waiting on you to film introductions.”

Hope nodded. “I need to talk to her.”

Spitting out another mouthful of water, Hope headed inside to find Angelica. When she rounded the corner and made her way into the main lobby and reception area, she was glad to find Angelica standing right in front of the desk that looked like itwas straight out of the seventies. She had her iPad up and was reading something on it, but no one else was talking to her.

“Ange!” Hope called, getting her attention. “We have a problem.”

“We have a lot of problems,” Angelica said, still not looking up from her iPad.

“No, this one’s bad.” Hope set the water bottle down heavily on the counter. Angelica jumped from the sound. Hope looked at her curiously, but didn’t comment on the move. The only time Angelica had been jumpy like that had been when they were in Las Vegas, which had been reasonable. “I need help.”

“You’re fully capable of handling a kitchen on your own.”

“Ange!” Hope’s voice rose sharply.

Angelica finally looked up and met Hope’s eyes.

“Listen to me.” Hope leaned in closer, clasping her hand around Angelica’s wrist and pushing the iPad away from her so she couldn’t look at it. She needed Angelica to understand her, to hear her. “We weren’t prepared to come in here. Melissa and Ali kept a whole lot from us, and we’re not prepared.”

“You’ve handled worse, Hope. I’ve seen you do it. So handle this.”

“I. Can’t.” Hope clenched her jaw tightly. “There’s no staff. There’s no standards. They have their chef working nonstop. The poor woman probably sleeps here. I can get the kitchen running in a week, but I can’t train staff at the same time.”

Angelica pursed her lips, looking directly at Hope. “Grow the hell up, Hope. Figure it out. You’re a boss. You’re a restaurant owner. Stop looking to other people to solve your problems.”

Hope tightened her grasp on Angelica’s wrist, wanting to fire back at her. But she couldn’t tell if that last comment had been about the hotel they were trying to fix up, or if it was about Hope’s personal life. Either way, it was a brutal insult. Hope breathed slowly, leaning in even more so that she was nearlynose-to-nose with Angelica. “We have to work together to fix Harbour Inn” —she made sure to emphasize the name so that Angelica would know what she was talking about— “otherwise we’re never going to manage to set them straight.”

Angelica snorted lightly. “I have my own problems to solve, Hope. I don’t have time to deal with yours.”

Angelica stepped back, putting space between them, but Hope followed her. She wasn’t going to let this go. “No. We need to do this together.”

“No, we don’t. We need to divide and conquer.” Angelica crossed her arms and glared fully at Hope. “I trust your abilities. I trust you know what you’re doing. Trust yourself.”