Rob drove around for an hour after he dropped Maggie off. What had just happened? One minute, they were sharing the most incredible kiss he’d ever experienced, and the next, he was helping her get her things out of an apartment she’d shared with a drug user under threat of having her things tossed into the street by a landlord who looked like he could bench press Rob’s truck fifty times if he wanted to. Rob couldn’t wrap his head around it. Who was Maggie really, and what kind of weird story had he wandered into?
He didn’t know where he was going—he just drove. He’d been listening to the radio, but he flipped it off when all he could find was news and traffic reports. When he finally parked and looked up, he saw that he’d automatically driven to Griffin’s apartment. His subconscious knew him pretty well—he needed to talk to a friend.
He knocked on the door, hoping Griffin was home, and was welcomed in by a smiling Tabs. “Hey there! Come on in.”
He thanked her and took a seat on the couch. Griffin put down the glass of ice water he was holding and looked at him. “What’s up? You look pretty rough.”
“I don’t know what’s up, actually. I’ve been trying to figure that out.”
Tabs handed Rob a glass of his own, then sat down next to Griffin. “What do you mean?”
Rob exhaled. “So, you know Maggie? New head housekeeper?”
“Um, yeah. That’s pretty much been established,” Griffin replied.
“Sorry. I’m just frazzled.” Rob took a sip of his water. “I took her out to lunch, I kissed her in the parking lot, and then I helped her get her things from her old apartment and take them to her new place. And I met some of her loser druggie friends and found out that she was months behind on her rent, and that’s why she was thrown out of her apartment.”
Tabs blinked. “There’s got to be more to the story than that.”
“That’s the thing—I don’t know. She says she’s never touched drugs and that she had no idea the rent was so far behind, but I’m standing there feeling like an idiot while her landlord is going on and on about his rights and how he hasn’t taken them to court, and the whole thing is just crazy.”
Griffin shook his head. “I think you need to go back and talk to that girl.”
“I know, I should. I just . . . my brain isn’t working right. What do I say? How do I find out the truth?”
Tabs leaned forward. “You said you kissed her.”
Heat immediately rose in Rob’s cheeks. “Yeah, I did.”
“Why?”
He blushed even more. “What do you mean, why? That’s what people do when they’re attracted to each other.”
“So you’re attracted to her.”
“Yes. I just said that.”
“Just making sure I understand. So, you’re attracted to her, but you don’t trust her, and you think she’s a druggie?”
“That’s not what I meant. I kissed her because I was attracted to her, but we also had a moment—you know, a moment—and now I feel like everything’s changed.”
“Everything’s changed . . . because you know more about her?”
“Yeah.”
Tabs glanced at Griffin. He shrugged. “He’s your friend—don’t look at me.”
“I thought he was our friend,” she protested. “And you’ve known him longer.”
“I’ve known him longer, but you actually hung out with him and stuff before I did.”
She scowled. “Whatever.” She turned back to Rob. “Don’t mind us. We’re just arguing over who has to tell you what a dork you’re being. Or maybe, who gets to tell you—not sure yet.”
“It’s okay. I already know I’m being a dork.” Rob sipped more water, then set the glass on the side table. “If my feelings are genuine, then what happened at her apartment shouldn’t matter, right? But what if she’s lying about everything, and my feelings are lying too? And how do I know the difference?”
“Not too long ago, a very wise man told me that I should talk to the woman I love and tell her how I feel. Now I’m engaged to marry that woman, and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Griffin said. “Shouldn’t you take your own advice and go talk to her? You’re probably not in love yet, but it sounds to me like you’ve got some strong feelings invested here, and if you don’t talk it out, how are you going to know?”
“I just keep thinking about Dinah and the time we wasted trying to hang on to a relationship that wasn’t meant to be,” Rob replied.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Tabs held up both hands. “This has absolutely nothing to do with Dinah. Why are you even bringing her up?”
“Probably because he doesn’t want another failed relationship to add to his list,” Griffin answered for him.
“But Maggie isn’t Dinah! The two situations are nothing alike.”
“They’re alike because they both represent failure, and Rob doesn’t like failure,” Griffin explained.
“Okay, you can stop analyzing me now.” Rob shook his head. “You two really need a hobby.”
“We have a hobby. We like to analyze our friends,” Tabs replied. “So, if my esteemed colleague is correct, you are skittish about this relationship with Maggie because of what happened with Dinah. However, if I’m correct, they’re not related at all, and you’re just being a dork.” She paused. “You’re actually being a dork even if they are related, so I win either way.”
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Griffin objected.
“It might not be fair, but it’s a fact. Regardless of his reasons, his behavior at this present time is that of a dork, and it cannot be disputed.”
“I’ll give you that. It’s the concept of you winning and me losing that I dislike.”
“Just because I’m winning doesn’t mean you’re losing.”
“But isn’t there a loser whenever there’s a winner? And since I’m your competitor, doesn’t that automatically mean that the loser is me?”
“Good grief, you two.” Rob shook his head. “Can we please get back to what we were talking about? I need some help!”
“Yes, you definitely need help,” Tabs said solemnly. “We’re only qualified to help you so much—you’ll need a professional for the rest. But let’s break this down. You say you like this girl.”
“Yes, I really do.” Rob pulled in a breath. “I might even be falling for her.”
“That’s important. Don’t lose sight of that. Now, at what point did you stop falling for her?”
Rob thought about it. “I haven’t stopped. I’m just worried now.”
“Ah ha! This is important. Your feelings haven’t actually changed.” Tabs nodded like she’d just solved the entire problem. “It’s your thoughts that have gotten in your way.”
“Yeah, that’s probably right. But let me ask you this. What if you found out all of a sudden that Griffin was mixed up with drugs in some way? Wouldn’t that change things for you?”
“First, I’d ask him what was going on. Then I’d listen. The thing is, Rob, you’ve got to be willing to believe her. Instead, you sound ready to believe the worst.”
“It just caught me off guard. I had no idea how to react.”
“And so your natural reaction was . . .?”
“I took her home and left.”
Tabs blinked. “You left? Without talking it out?”
“I just left.”
She turned to Griffin. “He’s your friend. You deal with this.”
Griffin chuckled. “Listen, dude. You said the law was involved—has she been arrested? What did the police say?”
“Her friend and her friend’s boyfriend are in jail, but Maggie was just asked to get her stuff out of the apartment.”
“So, that right there tells you that there’s no evidence that Maggie did anything wrong. The police aren’t charging her with anything—doesn’t that mean something?”
Rob nodded. “Yeah, it does.”
“So, get out of my house and go talk to her.”
Rob stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans. “Thanks, you two. I’m sorry for dropping by like this—I should have called first.”
“No worries. But listen—you’ve got to let us know what happens.” Griffin flicked his eyes at Tabs. “I can wait, but she’ll be calling me every five seconds to find out if I’ve heard from you, and you don’t want to put me through that.”
“No, I’ll just call Rob directly. Some constant peer pressure might be needed here,” Tabs said.
“I’ll let you know.” Rob left, shutting the door behind him, and stood for a moment before walking the rest of the way to the truck. He’d go talk to Maggie, and this time, he’d be willing to listen and believe. First, he’d shower, and then he’d grab some flowers. He was going to do this right.
He had just climbed in his truck when he got a phone call. He picked it up when he saw that it was Jimmy.
“Mr. Rob, Mr. Rob, help. Oh, it’s so bad.”
“What’s the matter, Jimmy?”
“Can you come to the hotel?” The young man was crying so hard, Rob almost couldn’t understand him. “I need help!”
“Of course. I’m on my way right now.”
Rob tossed his phone on the seat beside him and pulled out, his heart rate increasing a little bit. Jimmy was always pretty mellow—something really awful must have happened to upset him this much.
When he got to the hotel, he jumped out and was met on the front lawn by Jimmy and his mother, Mrs. Sturgis. She had her arm tightly around Jimmy’s shoulders. He wasn’t crying anymore, but his eyes were rimmed with red.
“Hey, Jimmy. What’s going on?”
“Just come look.” Jimmy led the way over to one of the flower beds. Someone had stepped down on the cement curb and left a footprint. It wasn’t accidental—there were several footprints all along the length of the curb.
“Oh, wow. That’s not good.” Rob bent down and touched the cement. On a job like this, it would take the mixture a few days to harden up enough to remove the forms. The forms were still there—whoever had done this had placed their foot sideways to ruin the top of the concrete completely.
“Do you have any idea who did this?” Rob asked, looking up at Jimmy and then at Mrs. Sturgis.
“No. But someone doesn’t like us,” Jimmy said. “They want to ruin what they’re doing.”
“My guess is that they’re just kids who think they’re being funny,” Rob replied. He looked at the footprint again. It wasn’t a child’s shoe, but it could very well belong to a teenager. “I’ll go talk to Andrew, and I’ll ask Danny and Mack if they noticed anything, all right? And we’ll fix this.” The concrete wasn’t wet when this had happened—it would have been mostly set, and that meant there would be no smoothing it out as a simple solution. They’d have to redo the work, and it was already an extra project added on at the last minute. He wasn’t going to let Jimmy down, though. The boy had his heart set on this, and he was going to get his nice flower beds.
Rob entered the hotel and walked over to the office. Andrew wasn’t there—huh. He pulled out his cell and placed a quick call. “Hey, Andrew. Are you nearby?”
“Just heading there now. Needed to meet with Tony about a few things. Is something wrong?”
“Yeah. Nothing major, but enough to be annoying. See you when you get here.”
Rob slid his phone back in his pocket and went to find Danny and Mack. Neither had seen anything, and they both said they’d get to work on repairing the curbs immediately. The flowers would be coming soon, the hotel would be opening soon—everything was supposed to be happening soon. Rob passed a hand down his face. They were all working as hard as they could, and Mack and Danny would be staying all night to get those curbs done. What else could they do to make this turn out like it should by their deadline?
When Andrew arrived, he had Tony, his lawyer, with him. “Hey, Rob,” Tony said, reaching out to shake his hand. “How’ve you been?”
“Good. Haven’t seen you around here for a couple of weeks.”
“I’ve been in court most of the time, but I finally won my case and decided to come check on things at the Brody.” He glanced around as though looking for someone. Rob suspected he was searching for Tabs. He’d been a good sport when Tabs chose Griffin over him, but he imagined some hurt feelings still lingered beneath the surface—it was only natural.
“What’s going on, Rob?” Andrew asked.
Rob explained what had happened with the flower beds, and how upset Jimmy had been.
“When did this happen?” Andrew asked.
“I think it must have been during the night. We’ve had people in and out of the building all day—I can’t imagine someone could have gotten away with it in broad daylight.”
“But no one noticed it until now?”
“We’ve been working inside, and I haven’t walked around the grounds at all. Just back and forth up the front and side.”
Andrew balled his hands into fists, then relaxed them. “I don’t understand why someone would do that. Did they know they were being malicious, or did they just think they were being funny?”
“No way to know.”
“How’s Jimmy now?”
“I promised him that we’d fix it, and his mother took him home. They’re going to make macaroni and cheese together.”
Andrew nodded. “That’s his favorite.” Then he pounded the side of his fist on the desk. “We’re already pushing things, aren’t we? And we have an orange floor in the dining room . . .”
“I think the tables and chairs will hide that,” Rob said.
“I do too, but it’s not what Marissa wanted. She’s been keeping her chin up the best she can, but she’s not happy about it. I told her that we’d redo it as soon as we can, but that didn’t comfort her much.” He sighed. “Okay, what’s our plan?”
“We’re going to dig out the curbs and pour new ones tonight,” Rob said. “We’ll need to set up some lights so we can see to work, but we should have them redone and setting up by around three in the morning. Then I’m going to camp out and keep an eye on things, make sure we don’t have any intruders before work starts up again.”
Andrew nodded. “Thank you for that. Do you think I should hire a security guard to keep watch on the place at night?”
Rob opened his mouth to answer, then paused. “My reason for staying here will be to protect the concrete,” he said at last. “I’m not sure a guard is needed for that, but you might want one once the hotel opens.”
“I don’t expect you to sleep here every night until that concrete is totally set. Takes a couple of days, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. But it’s okay . . .”
Andrew held up a hand. “No, it’s not. Go ahead and stay here tonight, but only because I don’t think I can get a guard here that fast. I’ll have someone in place for tomorrow, and we’ll just make it work.”
“I think it’s best from an insurance perspective too,” Tony added. “Having an extra line of defense is always a good idea.”
Rob nodded. That made a lot of sense. “Sounds good. I’ll get those lights set up.”
He had just turned to head out to his truck when Mack came in, fury etched all over his face. “Look at this.” He held up a tube of orange oil paint.
Rob took it and held it up to the light. “Where did you find this?”
“In the flower bed there by the kitchen door while we were pulling out the curb. It was just there under a few layers of dirt.”
“Is that what I think it is?” Andrew asked, coming up behind Rob and peering at what he held.
Rob closed his eyes, trying to stay calm. “This looks like the same shade of orange that is now all over the dining room floor.”
“Are you saying that someone put orange paint in the varnish?” Andrew’s hands went into fists again. “Is someone trying to sabotage my hotel?”
“It really looks that way.” Rob handed the paint back to Mack. “Put that in a plastic sack and hang on to it, and yes, let’s get that guard on duty. Oh, man. I can’t believe this. Did they do anything else? Any more surprises for us to find?”
Tony held up a hand. “Let’s break this down—come on. Have a seat.”
Mack headed back outside to keep working on the concrete, and Rob followed Tony and Andrew into the office.
“So, Andrew told me about the mistake with the varnish. You thought it was the supplier’s fault?” Tony asked.
“Yeah. Marissa was going to call them and see if they’d issue a refund,” Rob said.
“But with that tube of paint . . .”
“I think it was sabotage.”
Andrew exhaled. “Someone’s been on my property twice now, at least, trying to slow down or stop our grand opening.”
“Sure looks that way,” Tony said. “When did the varnish arrive on site?”
“Last Thursday, and it was locked in Danny’s van overnight. Then we brought it out and used it Friday.”
“Was it ever left alone once it was out of Danny’s van?”
Rob thought about it. “We left it on the back porch while we finished prepping the floor. Then we put the cans in the mixer and got to work.”
“So, theoretically, someone could have put the orange paint in the cans while you were finishing the prep work?” Tony asked.
“Yes, but they would have had to come right up on the back porch. That would take a lot of guts,” Rob replied.
“And so would putting footprints in the concrete,” Andrew said.
Tony nodded. “All right. This is what we need to do. Andrew, first thing tomorrow, you should go file a police report. I know someone who runs a great security service—I’ll have Beverly give them a call.”
“You know people who do everything,” Andrew said with a smile.
“It’s handy to have friends in so many different fields. Rob, can you make a list of every worker who has been on site in the last week? Did you hire them all, or did Griffin bring any in?” Tony asked.
Rob felt his heart plummet. “You think it’s one of my guys?”
“I think that someone has gotten close enough to the building to do some damage, and the likeliest answer is that they’re on staff here. Otherwise, they’d be noticed.”
Rob knew Tony was making sense, but it still wasn’t easy to hear. “Yeah, I can do that. Most of them are regulars and I’ve known them a long time, but I did get a few extras from a temp agency because we were running behind.”
“I’d look at those first. If you could get that list made up before Andrew goes into the police station in the morning, that would be helpful.”
“Will do.”
Andrew and Tony went on to talk about the implications, including the need for someone to conduct a search of the hotel and look for any other evidence of sabotage. Rob excused himself after a moment and went outside to talk to Mack and Danny, who were still digging up the concrete they had only laid a short time before. “I’m going to head over to the warehouse and get the lights,” he said, and they nodded. “I’ll grab some burgers, too.”
“Thanks, man,” Danny said, and Rob waved as he walked off to his truck.
When he climbed in, he took his phone out of his pocket and placed it on the seat. He stared at it for a moment before pulling out of the parking lot. He needed to talk to Maggie, but he couldn’t do it just yet—he needed time to do it properly, and they had to get the concrete fixed and the place inspected. He couldn’t, however, let this drag out forever. When he parked at the loading dock in back of his warehouse, he picked up the phone and sent a quick text. Been thinking about you. Something’s come up at the hotel, but I’ll call as soon as I can. He hoped that would be enough until he could talk to her properly.