Page 70 of The Legend of Lovers Hollow
I frown. “It’s too soon. We barely know each other.”
“Morgs, love isn’t a checklist. It’s a feeling.”
“And I feel like I want to change the subject.”
“Fine,” he says, understanding me way more than I give him credit for. He nods at the mess on the desk in front of me. “How’s that going?”
I groan. “Honestly, it’s going to take a miracle. We’ve managed to fend off the creditors so far, but there’s some urgent work that needs doing to the building. Unfortunately, because of its age and the fact that it’s listed, it’s conservation rather than straightforward repairs, and that’s going to be expensive. There’s only so much of our own personal money we can put into this. We need investment capital to get it back to a more stable position before we can put in place a long-term financial plan.” I lean back in the uncomfortable office chair and rub my tired eyes.
“We’ll figure it out, don’t worry. We always have, that’s why we make such a good team.”
“Warren,” I exhale slowly. “I can’t expect you to keep putting your own money into this place. It’s a money pit.”
“It’s my money.” He shrugs. “Besides, if we do sell off the business and start our own, we’ll be able to put more into here. It could be our first conservation project. Like you said, we just need to keep it afloat until we can put a long-term viable solution in place.”
“Are you really serious about selling?”
He nods. “Are you?”
I quietly consider Ellis’ words from the other night as I study my brother’s face, then finally nod. “Yeah, I think I am.”
“We’ll need to have a more in-depth conversation before I head back, but you do realise this means having a conversation with Mom?”
“I know, but right now I just need to get through this weekend.”
“I don’t know why you’re so stressed, Morgs. This ghost stuff is all fake anyway.” Warren turns to look back out into the lobby.
I’m not going to touch that subject with him right now; I don’t have the mental space for it. Instead, I glance down at my watch and see it’s nearly midday right when my phone pings on the desk. I riffle through stacks of papers to find it. When I get a look at the screen, I see I’ve got a message from Sam that says he’s only about half an hour away.
“I need to find Ellis.” I push back from the desk and stand, feeling my back protest from having sat so long in that evil chair.
“I saw him heading towards the ballroom earlier with Rosie and John the Maid. They said something about getting the ballroom ready for the Valentine’s party and ghost hunt tonight?”
I sigh. “They’re going to have their hands full with that mess after last night’s disaster. I should have gone to help but I had a few phone calls to make.”
“Oh, I’m sure with John the Robo-Maid, they’ll have no trouble.” Warren chuckles. “I wish we had a whole army of him to work in our hotels.”
“You coming?” I ask as we both head out the door into the lobby.
“Actually, I’m going to head to the kitchen and see if I can talk Aggie into giving me more cookies.”
I snort. “You’re not going to fit into your pants by the time you go home.”
“I can’t help it. Seriously, I don’t know what she puts in them. In fact, I’m thinking–” He pauses and frowns. “What the hell?”
I look over and see Haru and Amelia amble past on their way to the bar. They raise their hands and wave, but it’s what they’re wearing that catches my attention. Amelia has a pink T-shirt on and Haru has a lilac one, and on the front of both is Thad’s face, the wordsDeuce Dalton - Ghost Hunterin dramatic lettering underneath.
“Did you want one?” My lips curl as I turn to my brother. “I can always ask Jules for one.”
“Ask me for one what?” Jules appears, his eyes bright and his expression excited.
“Nothing.” Warren glares at me.
“You look happy,” I say to Jules as we stop by the main desk.
“Yeah, mate, this is awesome. There’s so much stuff going on here. We’ve had some insane readings from the equipment, not to mention all the really cool footage we shot in the woods and at the Hollow. Plus, this.” He pats the machine in front of him.
“What’s that?” Warren stares down at it. “It looks like a cassette recorder from the eighties.”