Mr. Ross shot her another nostrils-flaring glare and motioned for the others to follow him. “I’ll take you on the tour now. We may not be able to go into all the rooms because some have guests in them, but they all have a similar setup.”
“Which ones are occupied?” Ms. Marshall asked, probably wondering if they would see the rooms Riley mentioned.
None of those were occupied, and Riley had told the truth about the air conditioning problems and the room with the bad smell. Let them wonder if she was telling the truth about the carpet stains in room ten.
Riley hadn’t looked at Lucas during her spiel. She couldn’t bring herself to. His brother had swooped in and stolen her dream, and Lucas was here acting on his behalf. Had Lucas known she planned to buy the place? She’d made that decision after they’d broken up, but Mr. Ross might have mentioned it in order to get Carson to offer more money.
As the group walked off, Lucas glanced over his shoulder at her.
She’d been expecting him to give her a triumphant look because his brother could buy whatever he wanted—or perhaps a look that said he thought her ghost stories were petty and uncalled for. Instead, he was fighting a smile.
He’d thought her response was funny.
Figured.
Nothing she did could ever rattle him. She simply didn’t matter that much to him.
“Wait,” she called to Mr. Ross. “Are you staying on as the manager?”
Mr. Ross had only said that Carson wanted to keep her on as the assistant manager, not whether he’d stay on for a while as well.
“I’m moving to Florida,” Mr. Ross replied. “Mr. Clark will be the new manager.”
Carson wasn’t retiring from football after this season. Olivia hadn’t even hinted that might be the case. Did he think he could run the inn long-distance? “Carson wants to manage it?” she asked.
“No.” Mr. Ross waved the others into the dining room. “I meant Lucas Clark.”
No.
No. No. No.
Why did the universe hate her? Which ancestor of hers had caused a curse to fall on all of his posterity, and how did Riley remove her name from the family tree?
She sank into her seat and put her head in her hands.
The Riverside Inn, with its antique charm and hand-crafted details, had been like a home to her since she’d started working here during the summers. She loved how it felt like an old English manor, a place where men in top hats and women in long gowns had lounged in the sitting room or taken tea in the dining room.
She’d dreamed of living in the owner’s quarters on the fourth floor with its sweeping views of the woods and the river. The staff here felt like family—a quirky, dysfunctional family at times, but still a family.
Now she would lose all of it, all of them.
Had Olivia known about this? She couldn’t have, could she? She couldn’t have spoken to Riley so happily last night if she knew her fiancé planned to destroy everything Riley had worked for. At the very least, Olivia would’ve apologized, warned her or something.
Carson probably hadn’t told her. It was his purchase, his investment. Not Olivia’s.
In the end, Riley supposed it wouldn’t matter. Carson had already made the deal, and Mr. Ross had accepted. The paperwork was being signed.
It looked like she less than a month and a half to find a new job and a new dream.
CHAPTER 8
That night while Lucas ate dinner in his apartment, Carson video-called him. Lucas set his phone near his plate and continued eating his burrito as he answered.
Carson was lying on the couch, icing his shoulder. His blond hair was scruffy, and he hadn’t shaved, maybe hadn’t showered.
“That bag of ice doesn’t seem like a good sign,” Lucas said. “Are you okay?”
“That depends on whether you’re asking about my shoulder or the girl drama going on.”