“Actually, yes. I have experience in the hospitality industry.”

A modicum of my power changes hands, passing back to me. “I was an event coordinator at a hotel. One of the biggest hotels in Pigeon Forge, Around the Mountain Resort and Spa.” He can’t deny that I definitely worked there. No one alive has more Around the Mountain Resort & Spa merchandise than I do. It’s all I have to show for a decade of hard work, along with a text message from Paul that landed half an hour ago: You’re fired. I’ve been expecting it. I’m surprised it took him this long to swing the axe, actually. But I’m a Goody Two-shoes to the core, priding myself on my strong work ethic, and reading that message threw me into a cold sweat. I’m still keyed up over it, stomach playing badminton with my breakfast.

Wesley acquires a calculating look, rubbing his chin. “What kind of events did you coordinate?”

Ahhhhhhhh. A fine question. I am fine with this fine question.

I flash a winsome grin to conceal how badly I need him to say yes. “All sorts. I planned an indoor fall festival in September. Very large-scale.” It’s technically true. I did plan a fall festival, with the works: Scarecrows, fog machines, hot chocolate and cider. A booth where you can bob for apples and then decorate them with chocolate, caramel, and candy. Hayrides. Halloween-costume and pumpkin-carving contests. Cozy, family-oriented activities appealing to all age demographics. It took me two sleepless weeks to crunch budget numbers, reach out to local vendors who might contribute supplies, and put together a seamless proposal. Haggling for discounts, bargaining, exhaustion slumping me over the keyboard, discovering I was more likely to persuade contacts over email than by phone, especially if I changed my signature to the gender-ambiguous M. Parrish.

The project didn’t clear the first hurdle, which was getting a sign-off from Christine, my co-coordinator. I cried in my car during lunch break and loathed myself for it. Mean Christine has probably never cried when somebody told her no. She probably just jammed a nail in their tire and then felt better.

With my own hotel, I can green-light any project I want. No overhead management to tell me my ideas are too big or impractical, that I’m being idealistic or missing the forest for the trees . . . I snap off that dark trail of thought, the condescending internal voices that bubble up.

“Okay, so you do have some experience, then,” Wesley concedes grudgingly.

“Mm-hmm!” Lying doesn’t come easily to me or sit well with my conscience, so I hope I sound suitably innocent.

I prod the plate of donuts closer to Wesley, my resolve ironclad. He’ll be more congenial on a full stomach, and no one can be grumpy when they’re eating jelly-filled donuts. It’s biology.

He takes one. Polishes it off in three swallows. “That’s good.”

It ought to be, with all the blood, sweat, and tears I’ve put into mastering the recipe. “Baking donuts is a hobby of mine. They’re almost as delicious as Violet’s, I think.” I feel myself starting to glow with pride and take it down a notch. People call women who brag about their accomplishments unlikable. “Hers were legendary.”

“Violet used to bake?”

His gaze slides to the purple sheet of paper taped to the living room wall, then back to me. There’s a strange glint in his eye.

“She loved to bake.” I can’t believe he doesn’t know. “She never made donuts when you lived with her?”

He shakes his head. Taps the back of his hand. “Arthritis made it difficult for her to do anything in the kitchen. I did all the cooking, except when I was away on a job, and then Ruth helped out.”

“Oh.” A little sliver of my heart chips away.

“She liked to watch baking shows on TV, though,” he adds thoughtfully. “The holiday ones on Food Network were her favorite.”

I realize he’s sidetracked me from my hotel pitch, and come at him from another angle. I am a confident, capable event coordinator. I deserve this promotion to hotel manager after all the hard work I haven’t been allowed to do. “The hotel will be a reliable source of income,” I point out. “Keep in mind that Violet isn’t here to pay your salary anymore.”

“I make a decent income doing landscaping for businesses. Violet hasn’t paid me in half a year, thanks to QVC, Home Shopping Network, and the catalogs they kept sending. I don’t have many enemies, but if I ever meet Lori Greiner . . .” His face clouds.

Oof.

“Well. Just think of all the money you’ll save on gas if you don’t have to do all those landscaping jobs. From here on out, it’s only the easy streets for you. No effort, no involvement required with the hotel. Simply live your life and rake in a percentage of the profits.” I’m offering him a kingdom here and he doesn’t even appreciate it.

“I enjoy those jobs. Like the golf place one?” He takes a casual sip of coffee. “With that woman, Gemma, who’s the reason you have a picture of me at my brother’s wedding on your phone. The why of which you still haven’t shared.”

I flush, praying to all the Norse gods and a few Greek ones to shield him from reading my mind.

“I haven’t forgotten that,” he finishes impassively.

I do a flawless impersonation of Wesley by opting to ignore what he said. “By the way, I wanted to say thank you for finding me last night.” I bestow upon him my best damsel-in-distress smile. “Saved me from being eaten by Bigfoot.”

“Sasquatch inhabits the Pacific Northwest and eats a vegetarian diet,” he replies mildly. “Like me.”

I.

What.

“What?”

“I’m a vegetarian,” he responds in the voice of a patient kindergarten teacher. And then this man helps himself to another donut. Is he trolling me? I think I’m being trolled, but I can’t tell. My Myers-Briggs personality type is INFP. We give too many people the benefit of the doubt.