Making that decision had been easy. Granted, he could have done more snooping, could have questioned the Stolls more about their business. They were so trusting that they probably would have told him anything. But he couldn’t do it—and not just because it was wrong. The Stolls were good people. They didn’t deserve to be spied on much less have their business negatively affected. His father had been so incensed that Jackson thought he would kick him out of the apartment. He hadn’t, thank God, but Jackson suspected that had more to do with his need for technological help than with family loyalty. Jackson didn’t care. He was just glad he wasn’t out of a job and out on the street.
After downing an extrastrong cup of brew, he took a shower, got dressed, grabbed his computer bag, and drove to the hotel. The website and network overhaul were almost finished, and Lois was so excited with Jackson’s work that she threatened to quit if he left. “The network hasn’t cut out since he started working here,” she told Dad. “Do you know how lovely it is not to hear twenty complaints a day about the internet?” His relationship with his father might be in the toilet, but at least his job was safe. Most importantly, he could live with himself.
He walked into the lobby and smiled at the mini Valentine tree Lois had put on one corner of the counter. Valentine’s Day was tomorrow, but for Jackson, it had always been an ordinary day. He’d dated a few girls in high school and college, but nothing serious, and he always managed to be single on V-Day. He wanted to establish his business and have his own place before he considered dating someone. Right now he was focusing all his energy on his job and getting clients. He had one so far, but he would need several more.
Jackson went to the continental breakfast buffet and picked up a granola bar and an apple, and then he walked over to Lois.
“When are you going to get a haircut?” Lois pursed her lips and scowled.
“Good morning to you too.” Self-conscious, he touched the back of his hair, which was still damp from the shower. “When I turn into Rapunzel,” he said, grinning.
“Very funny. It’s almost past your shoulders now. I have half a mind to take the scissors after you myself. I do have my cosmetology license, you know.”
Today she was wearing a red sweater with a huge lace heart on the front, heart-shaped light-up earrings, and bright-pink lipstick. Her maroon-colored hair was streaked with the same shade of pink.
“I’ll make an appointment with the barber,” he said.
“Promise?”
“Promise.” Maybe. His hair was at the point he could throw it up in a ponytail, which kept it neat. Besides, he didn’t want to spend the money. But if he ever saw Lois with the clippers, he’d give in to the cost. “How’s things?”
“Excellent. We’ve booked almost two floors for the weekend.”
“Really?” He bit into the apple, wondering how Stoll Inn was doing.
“Really. I guess word got around that the construction is almost completed.” She smiled, but then her smile faded. “I tried telling your father, but he just blew right past me and went into your office.”
“My office?”
“Okay, his office, but you spend more time in there than he does.” She set a bowl of wrapped chocolate hearts on the counter. “Want one?”
“Maybe later.” He took another bite of the apple and headed for the office. It was just around the corner from the front desk, and when he walked inside, he saw his father typing away at his computer with two fingers.
Jackson balked. “What are you doing?”
His father clicked off the screen and glared at him. “None of your business.”
“If you’re fooling around with my computer, it is my business.”
“My computer,” his father said. “My computer, my hotel, my apartment. Don’t you forget that.” He shot up from the chair and stormed past him into the hallway.
“How could I forget it?” Jackson muttered. He placed his backpack on the desk and sat down in front of the computer, checking the history to find out where his father had been. The man had looked too guilty to be innocent. It was a review website, which made sense. He must have been checking the reviews for the hotel. Jackson scanned them. They were mostly complaining about the endless construction, but there were some good reviews, and the average was decent. The only construction in progress now was an overhaul of the indoor pool, which really did need to be done. Once that was completed, Jackson figured the good reviews would outnumber the bad by a wide margin. Stay Inn was a good hotel—with a courteous staff despite their boss.
He was about to click off the site when he saw the recent search results. Stay Inn . . . and Stoll Inn. Of course, his father would read their reviews. His curiosity getting the best of him, he clicked on the Stoll Inn link. Oh no.
The inn had dozens of one-star reviews, but as he read each one, he realized they were all fake. They were also similar in writing style and tone even though the reviewer names were different. “He didn’t,” Jackson mumbled, continuing to read.
The inn reeks of smoke.
Dirty. I thought I was going to throw up.
Toilet clogged on the first day. No response from the maintenance staff. We immediately checked out.
Mold, mold, everywhere mold.
I will never, ever stay at this dump again.
Jackson sat back in the chair and shoveled both hands through his hair. His father stressed how important reviews were, enough that he trusted only himself to reply to reviews, telling Jackson and Lois not to go near them. His father had to be the one who’d written the bad reviews for Stoll Inn. If he wasn’t so angered by the deception, Jackson would have admired his persistence. Every review had to come from a different email address. But confronting him would be pointless. He’d deny it—or worse, rationalize what he’d done.
Jackson took out his laptop, pulled up the website, and then sent an email about the reviews to the webmaster. Hopefully the site would take them down. He closed his laptop and sighed. Reporting the fakery was all he could do.
Wait. That wasn’t all he could do. He shot out of the office. “I’ll be back in a little while,” he told Lois, who waved in return, not looking up from her computer screen. He jammed on his coat as he went through the automatic double doors.
He got into his car and headed for Stoll Inn, seething. His father could be a jerk to him. Jackson was used to it. But he drew the line when it came to undermining innocent people. That he wouldn’t stand for.
* * *
“And after they finish with the salad,” Levi said to Nina, “you’ll bring out the steak.”
“Isn’t it too cold to grill?” Nina’s face drooped as she leaned her cheek on the palm of her hand.
“Nee. It’s only two steaks, so it won’t take long.”
“Filet mignons, and they’re small,” Selah added. The three of them sat at the kitchen table going over the plans for Richard and Cevilla’s supper tomorrow night. Selah had done most of the planning, and Levi had approved her ideas. They included a white tablecloth on one of the tables, a bud vase with a single red rose, and red velvet cake for dessert. Grossmammi agreed to make the side dishes—mashed potatoes, green beans sautéed with diced tomato, and pickled beets.
“He’s putting on quite the display, isn’t he?” she’d said last night over rhubarb cobbler.
“He wants to do something special for her,” Nina said, pointing out the obvious. “But I don’t think Selah’s ideas are too fancy.”
“It’s unbecoming for a couple their age.”
“I thought you two were friends,” Daed had said, looking at her with concern.
“We are. But I didn’t realize this was going to be such a fancy supper.”
“It’s not . . .” Daed sighed. “Just make the side dishes, please.”
“I will.” She sniffed and cut a large bite of the cobbler with the side of her spoon. “And they will be delicious.”
Levi was sure they would be. He wondered if his grandmother was envious of Cevil
la. Grossmutter had never hinted that she was interested in remarrying, but maybe seeing Cevilla receiving special treatment from Richard made her rethink her stance. If so, Levi could add that to the list of uncharacteristic behavior she’d been displaying recently.
“What if I ruin this for them?” Nina said, bringing Levi out of his thoughts.
“You won’t,” Selah said.
Levi looked at her. As they’d been planning the dinner for the past two weeks, Selah had blossomed. That made her even more attractive to him, which he hadn’t thought possible. But instead of focusing on hiding his feelings, he decided he was better off just being himself. That seemed to be working for him and Selah. They were much more relaxed around each other now.
“But I’m clumsy,” Nina said. “I dropped the french toast tray the other day, and I forgot to give the guest we had last week the extra towel she requested.” Now that their father didn’t need full-time care, Nina had taken back the hostess job from Selah, with mixed results.
“She didn’t seem upset about that,” Levi said. Although Nina couldn’t keep making those kinds of mistakes. She wasn’t that much of a klutz, but for some reason she turned into one whenever she had to deal with guests.
“Would you like me to serve them instead?” Selah asked.
Nina sat up, her expression brightening. “Would you?”
Levi grimaced. He hadn’t anticipated her working that night, knowing the family could manage serving the dinner. “You would have to work late,” he said.
“I don’t mind. I’d like to see how things turn out.” She smiled.
His heart jolted, but he ignored it. This wasn’t the first time her smile had gotten to him, and it wouldn’t be the last. He smiled back, like he would have with anybody else. But she’s not just anybody. “All right, then. Make sure to note the overtime.” When she started to protest, he gave her a stern look, and she stopped.
“This is great, Selah,” Nina said. “You’re much more graceful than I am, and you remember little details. You planned this whole thing, and it’s wonderful. I don’t want to mess up all yer hard work or Richard’s surprise. And don’t worry, I’ll clean up everything.” She sat back in her chair. “I feel better now.”
Levi did too. The supper would go off without a hitch with Selah in charge.
Daed hobbled into the kitchen, leaning on his cane. Although he didn’t have much pain anymore, he still dealt with stiffness. “Levi, Jackson Talbot is over in the lobby.”
“He is?” Levi glanced at Selah and Nina, and both sets of eyes were wide with surprise. They hadn’t seen or talked to Jackson since he’d stayed at the inn.
“Ya. He says he needs to talk to you right away.”
He got up and looked at Selah and Nina again. “You two work out the rest of the details. I want everything in place before tomorrow night.”
“Whatever you say, boss.” Nina smirked.
Levi walked to the inn, where Jackson was pacing back and forth in the lobby. “Hi,” he said, approaching him. “Glad to see you again.”
“I’m glad to see you, too, although I wish it was under better circumstances.” He scowled.
Levi listened, his dismay growing as Jackson explained about his father writing bad reviews of the inn. “I know he’s the one who did it,” he said. “I emailed the site, and hopefully they’ll take down the reviews. They should, since fake reviews are against their policy, but I don’t know how long it will take them to do it.”
“But we’re not on the internet,” Levi pointed out. “We don’t have a website, and we don’t book anything online. The internet reviews shouldn’t matter, then.”
“That’s not how it works. Ninety-six percent of people read reviews before booking a place to stay. They’re averaged by stars, five being the highest, and right now you have all one stars, thanks to my dad. With that low rating, you won’t get anyone to click on your listing much less book a room.”
Levi frowned. “How did we get a listing?”
“Someone must have put it on there. I don’t know—maybe my dad did that too. I’m not sure what the rules are. Not that my father plays by any rules but his own.”
A knot formed in the pit of Levi’s stomach. Was the review site the reason business had been almost nonexistent? “I didn’t know your father owned Stay Inn.”
Jackson’s face reddened. “I have to fess up. My father booked my weekend here so I could spy on you.”
The knot tightened. “Why?”
“He wanted dirt so he could ruin your business. Or even shut you down. Who knows?” He held up his hand. “I promise I only told him the truth, that this is a great place to stay and you’re going to be exploding with business in the future. I guess that set him off.” Jackson looked at him. “I hope you believe me.”
“I do.” Levi saw the sincerity in Jackson’s eyes. Besides that, he knew he was a straight shooter. He wouldn’t lie about something like this, not when he was here trying to help.
“We need to do something to get back at my dad. He has to know he can’t get away with this.”
Stunned, Levi said, “Are you talking about revenge?”
“First, I’ll start with flooding his hotel with horrible reviews. Then I’ll cancel the bookings we do have. It’s about time he had a taste of his own medicine.”
“That isn’t right, though,” Levi said, alarmed.
Jackson looked at him, exasperated. “Doesn’t the Bible say an eye for an eye? This is the perfect time for that.”
“Why is that the one Bible verse everyone seems to remember?” Levi shook his head. “We don’t exact revenge on others. I’m sorry this happened, but please don’t write bad reviews or cancel bookings on our behalf.”
“You’re just going to let this go?” He held up his hands. “How can you do that? He’s trying to ruin your business.”
He thought about how to explain his conviction to Jackson. He wasn’t happy to hear about what Mr. Talbot was doing. He was downright mad about it, and he had to fight not to lose his temper over it. He took a deep breath. But getting mad or taking revenge wouldn’t fix the problem, and it sounded like they had a big problem. “I trust that God will make our inn the success he wants it to be,” he said as calmly as he could. “I have faith that he will.”
“Even when someone is trying to destroy you?”
“Even then. We must always forgive.”
Jackson blew out a long breath and took a step back from the counter. He shook his head. “All right. I won’t do anything other than talk to the review site people if they get back to me. I’ll keep pestering them until they take down the reviews. That’s not revenge. That’s honest business practice.” He looked at Levi. “You and your family deserve a chance to make your inn a success. I’ll even write an excellent review for you—which will be the truth.” He half smiled.
Levi leaned against the counter, relieved. “Thank you, Jackson.”
Selah and Nina walked into the lobby, and Nina’s face brightened when she saw Jackson. She said hello, and the two of them started talking as if they were old friends.
Levi moved away and Selah joined him. “They get along well, ya?”
“Ya.” That didn’t surprise him. When it came to friendship, Nina had always gotten along with men better than with women, mostly because she was a tomboy. But he wasn’t paying that much attention. His mind was swimming with what Jackson had told him. Despite reading all those hospitality magazines, he’d had no idea about internet reviews, and he was sure his father hadn’t, either. Eventually he’d bring it up to Daed, because if that’s how potential guests found the inn, they’d have to have a listing, and they would have to work it out with Freemont to make sure it was okay. His head started to pound. He just wouldn’t tell his father about this now. Daed was worried enough as it was.
“Levi?”
He turned to Selah. “Ya?”
“Are you all right?” She moved closer. “You look like you’re in pain.”
“Can I get you an aspirin? Some tea?” She leaned closer. “Sometimes drinking a full glass of water helps me.”
“Nee,” he said, unable to pull his gaze from hers. “I’m already feeling better.”
She glanced down and then looked up at him with a small but lovely smile that not only took away his headache but threatened to steal his breath.
“I’ve got to head back to the hotel,” he heard Jackson say. “I usually work in the office all day, and I don’t want Dad to suspect I know what he did.”
Reluctantly Levi pulled his attention away from Selah. “Thanks again.”
“What did he do?” Nina said, looking from Jackson to Levi.
Jackson’s expression turned panicky. “You know, people could learn a lot about running a hotel from you guys.”
“Aw, thanks,” Nina said.
Jackson opened the front door. “I’ll be in touch,” he said, and then he dashed out.
Before either Nina or Selah could ask more questions, Levi said, “I’ve got work to do in the office.”
“I’ll see if Grossmutter needs any help,” Nina said.
“And I guess I’ll . . . clean,” Selah quipped.
“Everything’s already clean.” Nina hooked her arm in Selah’s. “Come help us in the kitchen.”
Levi watched as the two of them left. Nina might usually get along with men better than women, but she had taken to Selah right away. Which wasn’t hard to do once Selah let down her guard. The hard part was getting away from her—although it was becoming clearer and clearer that he didn’t want to do that.
As he sat down at the desk, though, for once his thoughts weren’t totally on Selah. He still couldn’t believe what Jackson’s father had done. How could anyone be so dishonest? The best response was to pay attention to their own business and remember that God was in control. But with the lack of guests and income at the inn, that was becoming difficult to do. Mr. Talbot might have succeeded in putting us out of business before we’ve hardly started.
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