Werewolf in Seattle (Wild About You #3)(30)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

Colin hesitated.

“Give it to me straight, please. I’ll have to handle this after you’re gone.”

“I’m afraid he’s going to try. If Edwina thinks he’s some kind of business guru, and he tells her you need him on this project, she’ll push for you to involve him in some way.”

“And if I resist, that will be a bone of contention with my newly minted grandmother.” She looked up at him. “Tell me again why you think I need family in my life?”

“It has to do with the ears and the toes.”

She laughed, the first time she’d felt like doing that since before they’d stepped into her grandparents’ house. “I’m going to cling to that discussion, because it was the truly real part of going there.”

“There were other real parts. Like when you told Edwina that your mother had been true to your father.”

“Yes.” Luna snuggled closer. “That got to her, and I’m glad, because it’s true. All the discussions you and I have had about those who are truly mated have convinced me that my parents were. But going to live in that world was too frightening for my mother.” She paused. “Or maybe it was the scary prospect of having Edwina as a mother-in-law.”

“Personally, I think Edwina has a soft, squishy center that she does her best to hide. I’ll bet you’ll discover she’s more of a pushover than you think the next time you visit.”

Luna shuddered. “I’m not sure how soon I’ll be up for another visit. Without you to bolster my courage, I may put it off for a very long time.”

“Don’t.” Colin kissed the top of her head. “They need you and you need them. And I just had a great idea. They’re family, so why don’t you dedicate Geraldine’s room as their private suite? Let them come there free of charge, whenever they want to.”

“Do I dare do that?” The idea both thrilled and terrified her. But it would be something she could do for her grandparents, and she wanted to be able to give them something special.

“I don’t see why you shouldn’t,” Colin said.

“It’s probably the premiere room in the whole castle. We could get a small fortune for that room.”

“Money isn’t everything, lass. If it pleases you to do that for them, by all means, do. I can guarantee that Geraldine would have approved.”

Turning in the seat, she lifted her face to his and kissed him. “You’re the best.”

“The best what?”

She grinned. “You have too many talents to name, My Much Honoured Laird of Glenbarra.”

“You could try.”

“I will, I promise. While we’re sitting in that new hot tub later tonight, I’ll do my best to list every single one.”

Chapter 23

Knox seemed especially cheerful when they walked out on the roof of the Trevelyan Building, ready to climb into the helicopter. Luna wasn’t sure why he was being so nice considering how they’d messed with his schedule. She thanked him for being so patient with all their last-minute changes to their plans.

“No worries.” Knox got them settled into the helicopter in the same order as before, with Colin in the back and Luna in the front passenger seat. He glanced over at her before putting on his headset. “My dad says you and I are practically kissing cousins. I didn’t know that!”

Luna stared at him as anxiety twisted in her gut. George had been busy. “What did your father say, exactly?”

Knox gave her his typical uncomplicated grin. “That you are the newly discovered granddaughter of my great-aunt Edwina and great-uncle Jacques. My dad’s really excited about this inn you’re opening. He wants to keep it all in the family.”

“What family?”

“The Trevelyan family, of course. You’re officially part of the pack now, and that means you get the full support of my father and his cronies. He’s ready to back you a hundred percent. I think it’s exciting.”

With the noise of the rotors, Luna doubted that Colin heard any of that, but her stomach churned right along with the blades. George was slick, all right. He’d try to sweep her right into the Trevelyan net, and he wasn’t above using her grandparents as bait.

But there was one major problem with that plan. She didn’t own the inn. Colin MacDowell, Laird of Glenbarra, owned it. And he had no intention of turning control over to George and the Trevelyan pack. But as she thought of that, her blood ran cold.

George had so much power in the area that if he decided to boycott the inn because she and Colin wouldn’t let him have a controlling interest, he might be able to shut them down. Eventually she hoped to draw guests from all over the country, but initially she’d depend on local traffic to keep the inn profitable. In fact, she’d planned on making local traffic her mainstay.

George could indeed ruin everything, and if he had the lust for control that Colin seemed to think he had, he might be ruthless in trying to get what he wanted. Driving Whittier House into bankruptcy would mean that he’d eventually get it, after all.

Knox, bless his heart, saw only the lovely family connection now that Luna was going to manage Whittier House. He knew that she and Colin were involved, so he might even think that made Colin an honorary member of the pack. She hated to disillusion Knox, so she said nothing.

But the flight back to Le Floret wasn’t quite as fun as the flight to Seattle had been. All the way back, she was in a mental wrestling match with all the complications that had popped up. When she’d first thought of opening Whittier House as an inn, it had seemed like such a simple plan.

Now, whether she wanted to be or not, she was enmeshed in pack politics. She thought about something Colin had said not long ago. He told her that maybe she wasn’t meant to hide herself away on the island, that maybe she was meant for greater things. She hoped that didn’t include taking on George Trevelyan.

The helicopter landed on the island only minutes ahead of the motor launch bringing the new hot tub and the prefabricated redwood decking that would surround it. The dealership had hired a boat big enough to accommodate a forklift, and Luna, Colin, and Hector all supervised the work crew as they brought the hot tub and the deck materials up from the dock and began installing everything on the bluff overlooking Happy Hour Beach.

Luna realized that she still hadn’t told Hector about the plan for the inn, and either she or Colin needed to inform him. With a hot tub arriving, he might suspect that something was afoot. That could explain why he spent so much time grumbling during the installation.

“Plain foolishness, if you ask me,” he said to no one in particular. “Who needs to climb into hot water when they’re outdoors? You won’t catch me in this thing.”

Colin stood back to admire the way the hot tub looked with the redwood deck added. “It’s supposed to be good for arthritis, Hector.”

“So is using a shovel and a pair of hedge trimmers. Keeps a body nimble. Don’t need a damn tub for that. And what about critters getting into it?”

“We bought a cover, too,” Luna said. “In fact, it will be covered a good part of the winter. It’s more for summer use.”

“Then I don’t see the point of it. There are plenty of other things to do in the summer besides sit in a giant bathtub staring at each other.”

Before hearing the story of Hector’s lost mate, Luna might have been irritated by his rant. But now she was less so, although she thought it was a terrible shame that Hector’s life had ended when his lover died and he’d chosen to nurse his misery for so long.

When the hot tub was almost installed, complete with the buried electric cable required to run power out to it, Luna decided the time had come to fill Hector in on what was about to happen at Whittier House. Yes, she could ask Colin to tell him, and Colin would do it, but she was the manager. She might as well get used to managing.

She touched Hector on the shoulder. “Could I talk to you for a minute?”

“Guess so.” He looked wary.

“Let’s go over to that bench and sit down. It’s been a long day.”

“Look, if you think I’m so old that I need a bench to hold me up, then—”

“I need the bench. You’re free to stand.” She marched over there and hoped he’d follow. She chose a spot at one end of the backless stone bench so that he had plenty of room to sit and still avoid her.

He ambled over and sat on the opposite end of the bench.

She gazed at him and tried to imagine him as a young Were in love. Nope, couldn’t do it. Fifty years of unhappiness had stamped him with a face that didn’t inspire her to think of gentleness and compassion. And yet he was a link to her father.

“I realize you’ve never warmed to me,” she said.

“Don’t think about you one way or another. Just do my job.”

“Colin said you thought I was hiding something.”

His head whipped around toward her. “That was a private discussion. He shouldn’t have—”

“I was hiding something, Hector.”

Under his bushy white eyebrows, his eyes widened. “I knew it!”

“But before I tell you my secrets—and I will tell you—I want to ask if you remember a teenager who worked for you named Byron. It would have been almost thirty years ago.”

Hector rubbed a hand over his shock of white hair, displacing it even more. “Byron… Byron… Do you know his last name?”

“Reynaud.”

He stared at her as comprehension slowly dawned. “That’s why your name sounded so familiar! I knew I’d heard it somewhere before. Yeah, now it’s coming back to me. I remember Byron Reynaud. Tall, gangly, earnest. Nice kid… ”

Luna’s heart ached for the person she would never know. The next time she visited Edwina and Jacques, she’d ask to see baby pictures, sports trophies, school essays, anything they’d saved. She was suddenly hungry for any little detail.

“So he was a good worker?” she asked.

“Yes, yes, he was. Better than most. Certainly better than that stuffed shirt George Trevelyan. Can’t believe how well he’s done, all things considered.”

“George worked for you?”

“Only for a couple of weeks, when both George and Byron were around eighteen. George wanted to be in charge, which didn’t sit well with me, but that wasn’t the only problem. He was always trying to outdo his cousin Byron, and when he couldn’t, he’d pick fights with him. I had to let George go.”

“I don’t think George has changed. He’s still very competitive.”

“Most don’t change, not really.” Hector shook his head. “George was a hothead, and Byron wore his heart on his sleeve. Got killed in a car wreck on his way to stop his sweetheart from leaving town. If I remember right, she was human, so he should’ve just let her go.”

No matter how many times she heard it, the story always broke Luna’s heart all over again. “Hector, she was human. She was also my mother. Byron was my father.”

He stared at her, dumbstruck. “Oh, hell. I’m sorry, Luna. I truly am. Is your mother still alive?”

“She died when I was eight.”

He shook his head. “That’s pitiful.” Then something seemed to occur to him. “Does that mean that you’re… you’re…

“I’m half-Were, half-human.”

He peered at her. “I’ve never met a mixed-breed before.”

His response was so openly curious that she couldn’t be offended. “Neither have I, except for me. I felt like some kind of freak, and I’d planned to keep it a secret forever.”

“But you’re telling me ?” He scooted closer. “Listen, I won’t say anything, but I think keeping it quiet is a good idea.” He tilted his head toward where Colin supervised the cleanup of the hot tub installation. “Don’t tell him I said so, but Colin is a bit prejudiced.”

“I know.” She glanced over at Colin, who stood with his broad back to her and his feet braced apart as he watched to make sure the job was finished correctly. His air of command was obvious even from this distance. He was the most gorgeous prejudiced Were she could imagine.

But her heart warmed toward Hector for the first time since she’d arrived at Whittier House. She’d told him her big secret, and instead of trying to use it against her, he was willing to help her keep it. “It’s kind of you to warn me.”

“I wouldn’t want him to give you the sack.”

“I appreciate that. But Colin knows, and he’s letting me stay on. In fact, he’s agreed to let me manage Whittier House and run it as an inn for Weres.”

Hector’s mouth dropped open. “An inn ? You mean like a hotel ?”

“An exclusive hotel, but yes, that’s the plan.”

“Colin’s not going to sell it?”

“Not unless the inn turns out to be a bad idea for some reason.”

“I’ll be damned.” Hector dangled his work-roughened hands between his knees and stared at them. “Well, I knew something had to change around here, but I never figured on this.” He shrugged and glanced up at her. “Guess it doesn’t matter. Either way, I’m outta here.”

She’d expected that reaction, but she wasn’t going to quietly accept his resignation. “I wish you’d consider staying on, Hector. It’s your home, and we need you here. I need you here.”

“Nah, you don’t. Get a younger man in. In fact, get a younger crew. You’ll need a more organized deal than an old guy and his ragtag bunch of teenage Weres that come over every summer from Seattle.”

“Speaking of that, why haven’t any shown up yet? It’s June. They’re out of school by now.”