“It’s not usually as noisy as this.” Nathan apologized to Vera and her husband in a low murmur. “I’ll have a talk with the skaters and make sure it settles down for the rest of your stay.”
“Oh, that’s quite all right.” To her husband, she said, “Jaspar, these are the cruise ship skaters we saw on TV last week. Remember, they were looking for a place to stay? I think it’s nice they’ve found a place to perform.” She turned to Nathan. “We’re very impressed. It’s why we followed the ad on the billboard.”
“Look, darling, we’re on TV, too,” Jaspar remarked, pointing behind Nathan.
His head swimming, Nathan followed Jaspar’s gaze and spotted a camera crew. Nathan hadn’t even noticed them. A man with a professional-looking camera on a tripod was crouched beside the Christmas tree, filming a female newscaster Nathan vaguely recognized from a regional television station. The newscaster stood before Emilie and Nell and was holding a microphone out to them. An interview.
Nathan groaned. “I apologize for the cameras,” he murmured to Vera. How was this possibly the quiet week in the country she’d signed on for?
The newscaster signaled to her cameraman for a break. She was a stately woman who wore a modern wool suit and expensive gold jewelry. She looked like she had money—frankly, the kind of clientele Nathan hoped to attract to his inn, to spend lots of cash to help him move his business out of the red and into the black.
Nell zipped over to Nathan, glowing. He didn’t have the heart to reprimand her. He couldn’t be “Uncle Scrooge” to her when she seemed so pleased with herself.
“Uncle, the woman from the news wants to interview you next. Let’s go get you ready.” Without waiting for an answer, Nell straightened his tie and used her fingers to comb his hair.
He stepped back from Nell’s “fixing.” He had no intention of being part of their news story.
“We’ll talk in my office later.” For now, though, he eyed Vera and her husband. Frank had led them to the registration desk to check in. As Nathan observed them, Vera suddenly stopped and bent over, opening up the cat carrier that Frank carried, and retrieving Fluffy from his confinement.
Oh, no! Prescott was seated only twenty feet away, in Jason’s lap. Nathan could just imagine the catastrophe if the pampered prince and scrappy Tom got into it in the lobby.
In an attempt to prevent a potential cat fight, Nathan dashed toward the pet carrier, ready to intercept Fluffy if need be.
But Vera scooped Fluffy into her arms, cooing at him, where the persnickety white Persian contentedly sat and blinked slowly at Nathan with his smug blue eyes. Fluffy seemed to prefer to ignore that there was another male cat anywhere near him.
As Vera noticed Nathan, who was perspiring heavily, she smiled sweetly at him. “I enjoyed the show, Mr. Prescott. It reminded me of days gone past at Prescott Inn. The early days, before you were born.”
Nell had wandered over, too, just to add to Nathan’s discomfort.
“You were here in the old days?” Nell asked Vera, while Nathan winced for what might come out of this little exchange.
“Oh, yes,” Vera answered Nell. “Jaspar and I came every year at this time for years, while it was still named Prescott Inn. That’s where we celebrated our wedding anniversary. But when the inn was sold, the quality went downhill, so we stopped our yearly visits. As I was telling this nice young man, we took a chance when we saw the advertisement for the skaters. We watched them on TV. They were so brave for helping all those passengers disembark from the sinking cruise ship.”
The wheels seemed to be moving behind Nell’s eyes. “Well, the official debut of their Christmas show is coming up soon. Will you return for it?” she asked Vera. “Please.”
“Why, yes, that would be lovely! I hope that means the ice rink is open this year. We came for the sleigh rides, too, of course.”
Nell gave Nathan a pointed, triumphant look. Then she asked Vera, “Did you ever skate on the rink, in the old days?”
“Of course we did,” Vera said. “In fact, Jaspar asked me to marry him on your little gated skating pond on the mountainside. I would so dearly love to see it again.”
Nell smiled more broadly. Nathan could guess where this conversation was heading. And he couldn’t disapprove. He stood by, shocked, watching his niece in action.
“I can certainly arrange that for you,” Nell was telling Vera. “My name is Nell Lewis, by the way. I’m the great-granddaughter of the original owner.”
“Oh, you’re Phil Prescott’s great-granddaughter?” Vera clasped her hands to her lips. “Jaspar, did you hear that?”
“Phil Prescott became a dear friend of ours. He was our youngest daughter’s godfather.” Jaspar nodded, his eyes clouding over as if remembering happy times.
“Such a great honor you gave him.” Nell touched Jaspar’s arm. “Sadly, I never met my great-grandfather. He passed before I was born. And I grew up on the West Coast, so I don’t have memories of the inn as it was in the past. But I do feel a kinship with those days now that I work here.”
And while Nathan stood, mouth agape at Nell, his niece gently led Vera over to the newscaster.
Nathan followed from a safe distance. The last thing he wanted was to be roped into an unscripted television interview. The reporter would no doubt dig into his reasons for reopening the resort, which would only lead to painful parts of his past that he did not want to revisit.
An interview with Vera and Jaspar, on the other hand, was good publicity for them. Nell was a genius.
He listened as Nell convinced the newscaster—Janet, Nell called her—to interview Vera and Jaspar.
Janet nodded enthusiastically. Nell jumped up and down, not hiding her youthful enthusiasm.
He felt a moment of pride for his niece. Yes, he would discuss the cost of the billboard with her later, but for now, he would let her enjoy her victory. She seemed to be hitting her stride.
Where he hadn’t connected with a guest personally, Nell had. Where he had avoided an opportunity to promote their inn because of his own reluctance to talk about the past, she had righted his error and was making the best of it.
He glanced once again at the skaters, disciplined performers that they were, circulating and speaking with other guests who’d gathered in the lobby. They handed out flyers for their upcoming shows. Despite the ordeal of the ship sinking, there they were, enthusiastically forging ahead.
“Uncle?” Nell waved at him from across the room and then came skipping over. “Isn’t this exciting?” she whispered in his ear.
Nathan watched as the camera turned on and Janet began conducting her interview with the Christmas tree as a backdrop. Vera and Jaspar were evidently reenacting the details of Jaspar’s proposal of marriage, because the gentleman had bent to one creaky knee and was lifting his hands, palms up, in a beseeching gesture.
Beside him, Nell sighed. “It is so romantic. And do you see how successful our efforts have been? I want you to note that it’s all free. It cost us nothing to bring in the news team.”
“What about the billboard?” He couldn’t help asking.
“Oh, the ice-skaters’ production company funded that.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Emilie O’Shea arranged it.” Nell grinned. “I like her, Uncle. I can’t tell you how much she’s been helping me every day.”
Yes, he could see Emilie’s influence in his niece’s positivity and unflagging cheer. He’d always been attracted to Emilie’s knack for lifting people’s spirits.
But she was also helping get business for his inn. This he appreciated even more.
“What are you thinking, Uncle?”
“That you did a good job, and I’m proud of you.”
“You are? I’m glad you said that.”
He supposed he should say it more often. He just wasn’t naturally as expressive as Emilie.
“When will the newscast run?” he asked, changing the subject. “I assume they’re going to take the footage back to the studio to edit the segment?”
“Yes. The producer—” Nell gestured to a young woman holding a clipboard in the corner and talking on her phone “—is guiding the cameraman to take lots of action shots here at the inn. Then they’re going to piece together a general interest update on the plight of the shipwrecked skaters, who are heroes because they rescued so many others. We’re part of their story now, so that will be positive publicity for us all.”
“You did well, Nell,” he repeated.
“It was Emilie’s work, too. We did it together.”
He nodded. He ached to ask further what Emilie had been doing, but he didn’t want to divulge his interest.
“Janet told us they’re going to run the story tomorrow night,” Nell remarked. “Sometime during the dinner hour. Then, over the next several days, they’ll run it again at different points. She’s excited about the attention this will bring locally. Did you know that Emilie might be able to get the segment picked up by one of the evening news shows? She made connections with them when they interviewed her after the cruise ship sank. That would be a coup for us, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes.” Emilie was amazing. There was no doubt about that.
“It’s exactly the audience we need. Wealthy people with money to spend, who want an authentic winter-lodge Christmas experience.”
He nodded at her. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”
Nell beamed. “The candy canes were free, too. The village craft fair gave them to me in exchange for a plug on the show. The snowmen we’re displaying are part of the deal.”
“That’s great, Nell. I’m leaving the promotion in your capable hands. And now, I’m heading upstairs to do some—”
“Wait!” Nell clutched his arm, effectively halting his escape. “I have another idea! We should do a screening in the downstairs lounge on the big TV tomorrow night. Can’t you just see it? I’ll have Claude whip up some snacks, and we’ll let the locals know via a poster in the coffee shop in town. We can have the skaters come, and then we can...”
“Sure,” he said absently, his mind drifting off. Nell wasn’t even taking a breath in between her sentences, she was so excited by her plans. But his attention had wandered to Emilie.
She was sitting beside Jason now. She’d scooped her hair behind her ears and had bent over to look at what the boy was doing. Maybe admiring a drawing he’d made, or helping him with his homework.
“Emilie’s interview made me cry,” Nell was saying.
Nathan jerked up his head and stared at his niece. “I thought Janet interviewed you together. Did Emilie give a separate interview?”
“She sure did. She talked about landing on her feet and how our inn saved the skaters. Janet asked her lots of questions about their odyssey, and Emilie talked about the special show they’re going to design for us. Uncle, I think you should go over there and thank her for saving our butts.”
They weren’t saved yet.
“Uncle, do it.” Nell gave him a little push.
“Did...she say anything about me?”
Nell looked at him blankly. “Why should she?”
“Right. Never mind.” Part of him was relieved that Emilie hadn’t let on to anyone about her past relationship with him. If she had, Nell would have said so.
Still, his pride took a bit of a hit.
He hadn’t meant to be harsh with Emilie earlier. Just as he hadn’t meant to be harsh with Nell. It was just his way sometimes. He was no good with words; he preferred his actions to tell people how much they meant to him.
“So, will you thank her, Uncle?” Nell nudged him. “Come on, I’ll walk over with you.”
“No, I’m fine.” It was best that he keep away from her. That hadn’t changed.
“I think you should say something to her,” Nell continued, not letting up. “Compliment her like you complimented me. And just so you know, we filmed some great skating footage at the ice rink today. I had to work like a maniac shuttling everyone up and back, taking turns ferrying people and ice skates and cameras inside your Jeep. It needs an oil change, by the way. The red light is on in the dash.”
He groaned. “Right.” One more item to add to his to-do list. But more disturbing than realizing that Nell seemed to be taking Emilie’s side on all things Prescott Inn was the news of their small rink being shown on film. He hadn’t expected that.
Even he knew the facility looked old and run-down.
Seeming to read his mind, Nell said, “Just wait until you see the way Emilie transformed our rink in the woods. That’s all that I’m saying.” Nell gave him an enigmatic smile.
“What do you mean by transformed?”
But Nell had already glided away.
There was no avoiding it now. He’d have to talk to Emilie.
CHAPTER SEVEN
OPERATION “PROMOTE THE PERFORMANCE” appeared to be working.
Emilie smiled inwardly as Nathan approached her. Arranging for the reporter to come in today had been her first step in her plan to sell more tickets to her shows and get Nathan to see her side of things.
But it was best to take it slowly. Though the expression on Nathan’s face wasn’t sunny—he looked a bit green, in fact—she believed in time that would change. Through her efforts, she could win him over.
She just needed patience with him. And persistence.
“Hello, Nathan!” she greeted him cheerfully. “You look festive today.” He was dressed in his business suit, complete with jacket, white shirt and red tie. “Red is truly your color.”
He gave her a skeptical frown.
He did look good to her. Tall, handsome, with his hair adorably windblown. She liked him better when he was ruffled enough that he wasn’t so uptight and perfect.
“Here, let me straighten your tie for you. You’re going to be on camera, after all.” She reached over and smoothed out the knot. This close, she smelled the clean scent of the soap he’d showered with this morning. The same smell she remembered from the ship. Nice.
“I’m not going on camera. And tell me something, Emilie,” he said, drawing back. “What exactly did you do to my ice-skating rink?”
“Why?” she asked innocently. “Are you interested in coming up and watching us skate?”
He gritted his teeth and gave her a warning look.
“I see. You’re busy, of course. As are we,” she said cheerfully again.
He frowned at her. Nell must have dropped a hint to him about the improvements they’d made—probably to tease him—because both Emilie and Nell had been gently poking fun at Nathan for being a “Scrooge” with one another all morning. Emilie really liked his young niece. She was spirited and smart, and also loyal to Nathan, which Emilie approved of. It hadn’t taken much to draw the young woman out of her shell. With her enthusiasm and fresh ideas, she reminded Emilie of some of her own young skaters. If Nell was a skater, then Emilie would adore having her on her team.
“I need to be told when major changes are made,” Nathan said. His green eyes focused on hers intently.
Now was a good time to advance her agenda.
“Speaking of changes to your skating rink...” She opened her jacket and pulled out a folded slip of paper, which she then tucked into his pocket.
“What’s this?” he asked, removing the small piece of note paper.
“A list of further things we need to complete before we can officially open the first show next weekend.”
“Emilie—”
“Oh, wait, but as of this morning, one item is already ticked off. Let me show you.” She tapped the list to indicate the item. “The most important thing—the ice surface is now professionally graded and suitable for figure skating.”
“How did you do tha
t?” He squinted at her warily. “I didn’t authorize any funds.”
“Yes, I know.” She grinned at him. “I didn’t spend any ‘funds.’”
He sighed aloud. “Please explain.”
“I found a man in the village with ice technician skills, and we negotiated a barter. He does the work with his own tools, and I give him comped show tickets. He has young kids.”
Nathan stood blinking at her for a moment. She’d clearly surprised him with her resourcefulness.
“Does Nell know?” he asked.
“She planned to tell you this evening.”
“I see.” He took her to-do list and pressed it back into her hand.
For a moment, their hands brushed.
Emilie’s heart beat faster. The spark of the unexpected contact seemed to jolt her to her core.
It certainly shook her off her game with him. She gripped the slip of paper and swallowed.
“Thank you, Emilie,” he said, not seeming to notice how he affected her. “You’re eminently capable, and I’m appreciative for your help in promoting the inn.”
“It’s not just your inn, it’s our project,” she said, recovering.
“Pardon?”
“You and I are promoting our joint project together.”
“Right.” He nodded. “It is a joint project. And I thank you for attracting the positive publicity. Nell told me you did a lot of the important work. I appreciate that.”
Was she hearing him correctly—after all of his resistance to her, grumbling about her expensive demands, he was giving her credit?
He never ceased to surprise her. Emilie swallowed again. “Well, Nell assumed you wouldn’t like the disruption,” she admitted. “That’s why we timed the bulk of the segment to be filmed while you were out.”
“I was...concerned about the filming, yes, I’ll admit that. You know I’m not a big parade person.” He flashed a rueful smile.
She’d always liked it when Nathan smiled. Now more than ever, it made her feel good in her heart to see him with some of his old lightness.
“I thought you enjoyed my parades,” she said. On the ship, she’d meant.
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