Lucas had mentioned that he was having someone come to the inn to do that. Well,threatenedwas a more accurate term. And he always used the term trust-building instead of team-building. He’d put the event on the company calendar for March. Why was the woman here now?
“I thought we weren’t doing that until next month,” Riley said. She should’ve known better than to come in late.
Lucas rocked back on his heels, looking cool and professional in front of the group. Every bit the boss. “I decided not to wait. Today is slow, so it’s a good day for it.”
From the couch, Rusty snorted. “Apparently we need some emergency trust-building.”
Riley laughed nervously and fiddled with the necklace she wore. “Why? Did somebody do something untrustworthy?”
Lucas’s gaze went to her, just a little bit challenging. “I don’t know. Did they?”
Oh no. Lucas knew. Hesoknew.
“It’s still about you, dear,” Wendy whisper-shouted to Riley.
Of course it was about her. Everyone knew that Lucas had threatened to have these trust-building exercises every time he was frustrated with her. Did they know why he was frustrated with her now? No, he wouldn’t have given them those details.
Riley sank into a chair. The only advantage to being stuck doing a group event was that Lucas wouldn’t say anything to her about Jace while everyone else was listening.
“For the exercises,” Lucas said, “Mrs. Cisneros wants us to split up into groups of two. Housekeeping will be one team?—”
Before he could say more, Kathy called out, “How come Oscar doesn’t have to be here?”
“None of us need to trust the landscaper,” Rusty said. “He does his own thing.”
Glen raised his hand. “I also do my own thing. I don’t think anyone needs to trust me. Can I be excused?”
“We definitely need to trust you,” Sara said. “You’re in charge of fixing things when they break. If we have to do this, so do you.”
JoAnn turned to Rusty. “They’re never going to let us out of this. Cooks are the most important to trust because we could easily poison anybody. No one would be able to tell the difference between a hemlock root and a parsnip. Foxglove or spinach—it looks the same.”
“I used to trust the cooks,” Jody said, “but now I’m having second thoughts. Is it normal that they know what look-alikes can poison people? I know zero ways to kill a person and get away with it.”
“That’s why I trust you.” Sara leaned over the side of her chair to give Jody a fist bump. “Front desk teammates rule.”
Glen raised his hand again. “Will we be planning murders for our trust exercises? Because if we are, I want Oscar on my team. He knows where to hide a body.”
Wendy clucked her tongue. “We all know where to hide a body. All you’d have to do is throw it in the river. Accidental drowning. No one would be the wiser.”
“First of all,” Lucas said, in a voice louder than the others, “planning murders isn’t part of our trust-building exercises.” He looked to Mrs. Cisneros for confirmation.
She had a sort of appalled look on her face but was clearly trying to hide it. “No murders,” she chimed. “Just some fun games.”
Lucas returned his attention to the group. “Second, an autopsy would show whether someone drowned or had been killed previously to throwing his body in a river. That’s not a viable option.”
“I want Lucas on my team,” Kathy called. “He definitely knows how to get rid of a body.”
Jody raised her hand. “In the winter, I only work part-time. I don’t feel like I should have to trust anyone until I get dental benefits.”
Lucas drew in a patient breath. “We could all use some team building. Besides, we need an even number of people for this. Sara and Jody, you’ll be on a team.”
Kathy folded her arms. “How come the horse handlers don’t have to take part in the trust exercises? Even though it’s the off-season, technically they work here.”
Mariah elbowed her. “Oh honey, ain’t no way anybody’s ever gonna trust them.”
Kathy’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I trust them,” and then in a lower voice, she said, “What do you know that I don’t?”
While Mariah and Kathy bent their heads together to whisper, Lucas clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Back to our assignments. I’m still assigning teams.”