“It’s fine.” Her voice was steady and matter-of-fact. “Everything is fine. We can help.”
“You can’t. No one can help. It’s a good thing you’re checking out.” Hattie made a wild attempt at humor. “I’ve just lost my housekeeper, and it looks as if the restaurant will be closed. Welcome to Christmas at the Maple Sugar Inn. It promises to be memorable, for all the wrong reasons.”
What had she done? Dear God, what had she done?
Delphi emerged from behind the tree. “That’s life,” she said, in a solemn and perfect imitation of the Bishop sisters.
THIRTEEN
Erica
Faced with a crisis, Erica felt more in control than she had for weeks.
The subject of her father, making contact with her sister, the confusing emotions—that all tied her up in knots. But this—this, she could handle. This was a crisis that required clear thinking and action, and that was her strength. She had the ability to cut through emotions and drama and see what needed to be done. She knew she could help Hattie.
And maybe she could calm her conscience at the same time because she felt awful about the way she’d reacted when Hattie had knocked on her door. It hadn’t crossed her mind that Hattie might know of her existence, but clearly she’d been told about Madeleine.
She heard her mother’s voice in her head.
We each chose a name. He chose Madeleine, I chose Erica. Madeleine Erica. You became Erica the moment he walked out that door.
She owed Hattie an apology, but that would have to wait because right now she didn’t like what she was seeing.
Hattie had held it together well during that unpleasant exchange with Stephanie, but now she looked as if she might crumble on the spot. Stephanie’s vicious attack had made so many holes in her self-esteem you could almost see the confidence draining away. Her eyes had a glassy look and her breathing was fast and shallow.
Erica reckoned she was a few short breaths away from a full-blown panic attack.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Noah got there first.
“You handled that well, Hattie. I almost cheered. I bet everyone else did, too.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. Everything is fine.”
Erica would have said the same herself, only without the shoulder rub.
Unfortunately, neither seemed to soothe Hattie.
“Everything is not fine.” There was a note of hysteria in her voice and she breathed in short, rapid snatches. “I just lost my housekeeper and apparently, I’ve already lost my chef, only unlike Stephanie he didn’t have the courtesy to shout at me before he drove into the sunset.”
Noah’s hand was still on her shoulder, strong and supportive. “A housekeeper who has been giving you grief for two years, and a chef who constantly behaved like a toddler midtantrum.”
“Maybe, but he’s a great chef.” Hattie wrapped her arms around her middle. “Brent thought he was a creative genius.”
“He was unpredictable and a liability.” Noah was blunt. “And as for Stephanie, you did what needed to be done. Said what needed to be said. Not easy. I was proud of you.”
Hattie didn’t appear to hear him. She didn’t seem aware of anything that was going on around her. “She’s right.” She muttered the words to herself. “I have let Brent down. I’ve tried to keep things going the way he wanted them, to do the things he would have done, but I’ve failed. I’ve lost his two key members of staff. He was excited when he appointed them. He said that they’d really put the place on the map. And they’re gone because of me. And poor Helen, the sous-chef.” She fumbled for her phone. “Did the pan he threw actually hit her? I need to check she is all right.”
Noah glanced out the window. “Her car is still in the parking lot, so she hasn’t left.”
“She’s fine,” Chloe said, “although there is a large dent in one of the kitchen cabinets.”
“I don’t care about the kitchen, as long as she’s all right. I’ll talk to her in a minute, although I don’t know what I’m going to say. Maybe she’ll sue us.” Hattie sank onto the sofa. “I can’t do this. I don’t have what it takes. I should hand it over to someone who is better than me at making decisions.”
Erica decided Noah needed reinforcements.
“You’re making good decisions. They feel difficult, but that doesn’t mean they’re not right.” She used the same calm tone she used when advising clients facing a crisis. “You clearly have a vision for the inn, and it’s an appealing one. This is the perfect opportunity to make that vision a reality. To shape the business the way you’d like it to look. You’ve made a good start. You’re doing well.”
Her intervention seemed to snap Hattie out of her trance. She looked at Erica as if she’d finally remembered she was there.
“But you’re checking out tomorrow,” she said. “So I can’t be doing that well, can I?”
Erica felt a mixture of guilt and admiration. It was encouraging to see Hattie at least had some fight left in her.
“That’s nothing to do with the hospitality,” Claudia said. “That’s just Erica.”
Erica ignored that. “For now, the focus needs to be on what needs to be done to get through tonight. After that we can formulate a longer-term plan.”
“We?” Noah gave Erica a cool look, which made her suspect Hattie had told him everything in the short time they’d had together before the situation with Stephanie had erupted. He was suspicious of her, and given what had transpired, he probably had reason.
Erica thought about what she’d overheard at the bookstore. The women had talked about Noah. How protective he was. And now she saw it for herself. Not just in his words, but also in the way he stood close to Hattie, as if providing a physical barrier between her and the rest of the world.
No doubt Anna was already busy spinning romantic scenarios.
That wasn’t what interested Erica. “I can help. If you’d like me to.”
But Noah’s attention had returned to Hattie. “I know it seems daunting at the moment, but things will change for the better now. And she—Erica—is right.” He said the words reluctantly. “You figure out what needs doing, and do it. You solve the problems one at a time. You’re good at this, Hattie.”
“Good?” She gave a disbelieving laugh. “Did you not hear a word Stephanie said?”
“Stephanie is wrong. You need to do things the way you feel they should be done and trust your instincts. I predict the place will be even more successful.”
Hattie looked unconvinced. “I hope we survive long enough to find out. I can’t run an inn without staff.”
Someone needed to get on and do something, Erica thought, or it definitely wouldn’t be successful. Every minute they spent chewing over what had happened was a minute wasted.
It was a process, she understood that, but the process needed to be accelerated.