The Rivals

His forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Yeah, that’s great. Thanks.”

I took the seat across from him and peeled back the plastic tab on my coffee before picking up my pen. “Why don’t we start with my list? And when we’re done, you can tell me how things went with the union yesterday and what I can do to help there.”

“Okay…”

For the next hour, I ran Weston through the issues I’d discussed with Louis. After I finished, he slumped back in his chair.

“We have our work cut out for us.”

“Yes, but I think we’ll make a good team, and we’ll be able to whip this place into shape in no time.”

“You do?”

“Absolutely. If anyone knows hotels, it’s us. We both grew up in them, years before we even started working for our families. It’s in our blood. I’ve already reached out to two contractors we’ve used at Sterling properties before, and I set up a meeting with one of them at two o’clock this afternoon to discuss the construction that needs to be finished in the ballroom.”

“Why your contractors? I was in one of your buildings for a meeting last month, and the place wasn’t looking too hot.”

My immediate gut reaction was to get defensive, but I tamped that down and managed to ignore the insult, focusing instead on working together.

“Well, I’ll tell you what. We obviously need to get a few quotes, so why don’t you call in one or two of your people. We can see what they all come up with, and how fast each one thinks they can get it done.”

Again, Weston hesitated. “Yeah, okay.”

We discussed a few other priority issues, including how to handle an employee Louis thought was dipping into the petty cash, and filling five key vacant positions, two of which were assistant manager jobs. I also had a team of CPAs and lawyers coming this afternoon to start due diligence on The Countess so my family could formulate its offer to purchase the minority share.

Without too much disagreement, Weston and I even decided which conference rooms we wanted to set up our teams in. We then threw around some counteroffer proposals to the union’s offer we’d discussed earlier. All in all, it was a damn productive morning.

“Okay, well…” I shuffled the papers I’d spread out in front of me into a pile and neatened them into a stack. “This was a good meeting. I’m going to go talk to Louis about setting me up in an office somewhere, and I guess I’ll see you upstairs when the first contractor arrives.”

“You don’t want this office?” he asked.

I stood. “You look like you’ve already settled in. I can find another one. No big deal.”

We were about two minutes away from Weston feeling my forehead. Suspecting I’d made his head spin enough for the morning, my job here was done. “See you at two?”

“Yeah. I might be a little late. But I’ll meet you up there.”

Now it was my turn to be suspect. “Do you have something else planned?”

Weston got up and walked back to his desk, avoiding eye contact. “I have a meeting. But I’ll be back after.”

“A meeting? What kind of a meeting?”

“The kind that’s none of your business. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Unable to hide how annoyed his response made me, I left the office. I’d just laid all my cards on the table, and that little shit probably had something up his sleeve that he was doing behind my back.

This being friendly thing wasn’t going to be easy after all.

***

Sam Bolton had been doing construction in New York for my family since I was a kid—though I hadn’t known Bolton Contracting was now Bolton and Son. Travis, Sam’s son, introduced himself and shook my hand. He was handsome, in more a clean-cut-boss type of way than a contractor-who-swings-a-hammer look, but definitely nice looking.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said. “I didn’t realize William had a daughter.”

Travis meant no harm with his comment, but it hit home.

“That’s because he’s still hoping I’ll come to my senses and tie on an apron and stay at home, preparing for my husband’s arrival from work, like a woman should.”

Travis smiled. “I hope you don’t mind my saying so, but I’ve worked with Spencer, your brother, and I believe they make aprons to fit his size, too.”

I liked Travis already. “Half-brother, and I’m pretty sure he’d burn anything he tried in the kitchen.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, I thought I caught that look in Travis’s eyes. You know the one, a bit of a sparkle that shines when someone is interested in more than just your business. Though he was a perfect gentleman and did nothing inappropriate as I showed him around the construction space. Travis had been early, so a few minutes later, his father arrived. I’d also invited Len, the head of hotel maintenance, to join us, and he led the tour of what had been done and what still needed to be completed.