Broken Wide Open: A Stand-Alone Romance

by Susan Griscom

  “That’s good because I plan on sticking around.” I knew my soul was tarnished, but having Grace by my side might just make up for everything. I was a better person now that she was in my life. Over the past few months, my feelings for Grace had escalated, and I was certain I was falling in love with her.

  She blew out a long breath of air. “I’m longing for a peaceful night at home. Curling up with you in front of a fire,” she said, and my pants instantly tightened at the prospect of what lay ahead. The things this woman did to me. I doubted I’d ever be the same. To hold a woman like Grace in my arms when I’d never thought I was worthy of having anyone was more than I’d ever hoped for.

  “That sounds great. How about we order in and snuggle up with a bottle of wine and some candles? Chinese sound okay, or would you rather have pizza?”

  “Chinese. And that sounds like the perfect ending to our romantic getaway. More romance.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Grace

  Instead of a romantic night in front of a fire eating kung pao chicken and honey walnut shrimp, Leo and I had spent the night working in the restaurant. He’d waited tables, and I’d helped tend the bar and also waited tables when needed. Though I wasn’t as efficient as he was, I’d managed not to drop or break anything. My experience was in management and bartending, not serving.

  Word had gotten out about the changes we’d made in the restaurant as well as several of the rooms, and business was starting to pick up during the week. Just as I’d hoped, the rumor mill had become our friend. This had turned out to be the busiest Wednesday the D’Amoré Inn had seen in years. The hotel portion had completely booked up earlier that day with no vacancies, and the cleaning crew had had to work overtime to get the rooms ready.

  After closing, Leo turned to me and gathered me in for a hug. “This was all you, know you,” he said as we swayed to the music that softly flowed from the speakers.

  “What was?”

  “The guests. You being here is what brought them.”

  “Don’t be silly. They’re not here because of me.”

  “Then explain why, all of sudden, this place is packed without a break in the reservations during the middle of the week for the first time in years.”

  “That can’t be.”

  “It’s true. Baby, just face it. You’re good luck.”

  Everyone seemed to handle the steady flow of guests and diners well, settling in easily to their new routines. I was pleased as peach pie on a warm summer afternoon how everything was working out. Plus, Leo and I were happy, spending as much time together as possible.

  My friend, Kristen, had come with her new boyfriend to stay for a couple of days. I’d given them one of the newly decorated Italian-themed rooms. The Venice Suite, set with pictures of the Venice canal with lovers floating in gondolas and gondoliers skillfully navigating the boats. With the help of the internet, I had been lucky enough to find a used Italian bed done in the Boracco style circa 1600 with a matching dresser. Both pieces had been priced to sell at a great bargain and needed a bit of refinishing, but with Leo’s help, it hadn’t taken too long to get it all looking pretty again. The Venice Suite was one of the most romantic rooms at the inn with its luxurious grandeur and strong, exaggerated drama in the design. We’d hired a painter and had one of the walls done in an elegant faux finish that resembled marble. I’d even scored a beautiful copy of a Rembrandt, giving the room a classical flair.

  During Kristen’s visit, I’d been able to take a few hours off both days to spend some time with her, and I adored her new beau, Jeremy. He had a great sense of humor and got along really well with Leo.

  “So, you actually met him on your honeymoon?” Kristen giggled.

  “My un-honeymoon, if you please,” I corrected. “He was there for work, researching some sort of special type of jellyfish that are only found in the South Pacific. We became friends. It was nice having someone to talk to and eat meals with while I was there. I was very distraught over Craig when I left. I didn’t realize at the time how difficult and lonely it would be, taking off to a strange country alone that way.”

  “I bet. It must have been awful having someone so sexy around, distracting you from your miseries.”

  I chuckled. “Having Leo there did help.”

  “What else did you do with Leo in Bora Bora?” Kristen grinned and sipped her wine.

  I sighed. “It was strictly platonic there. We never even kissed. I’d just been married to Craig!”

  “Not officially, according to Oliver. He made a great show of letting everyone at the reception know that the marriage was never going to be recorded so, really, you weren’t ever married to Craig at all.”

  “Thank God for Oliver. But still, the betrayal was devastating, and Leo sensed how distraught I was. He was the perfect gentleman, though now that I look back on it, I wish he hadn’t been. There were some great opportunities for lovers there, if you get my drift.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Leo

  Grace had done such a great job renovating a couple of the rooms. With those upgrades, along with the changes in the restaurant, business had doubled—maybe even tripled—since she’d taken over managing the inn and restaurant. I was so proud of her. She really had a keen eye for detail, and truly seemed as if she wanted to see the inn succeed. I wanted to do everything in my power to help her. I’d never had much interest in the inn before. My father never really seemed to have much interest in it either after my mother left. She’d been the manager back then, during the years it had flourished. It had nothing to do with the money, it was the desire that he’d lost. Since Grace, I’d often considered why now, after all these years; he’d decided to hire someone to help make it flourish again. When I’d asked him, he’d simply said that it needed to be done if it had any hope of surviving the next generation. It was obvious that he wanted the family business to stay in the family.

  “Do you think Len would add more to the budget to upgrade a few more rooms?” Grace asked. She was sitting at the desk in the library of my house when I came in from my early-morning dive. She’d been spending most nights at my place, so I’d given her a key so that she could come and go as she pleased. When I’d asked her to move her stuff to my house and live there with me officially, she’d agreed, sort of, but insisted on keeping most of her belongings at her cottage, claiming the need for independence. I understood her need for control, but I liked that she never, ever slept there anymore despite that.

  My library was stocked with all sorts of books on the local and surrounding areas, and she’d been spending a lot of time there, doing research to learn more about the history of Anchor Bay. I smiled when I saw her. It didn’t look as if she’d even gotten dressed as she sat cross-legged in the plush blue chair, wearing the shirt I’d worn yesterday. The indent on her bare, sexy thigh caught my eye, enticing me.

  “I’m sure he will if you ask him.”

  “But he seemed so adamant about sticking to the budget.”

  I laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “My father and his budget.”

  “Why is that so funny?”

  “He has no budget.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Grace, my father has plenty of money. He inherited a ton from my grandfather, who inherited from his father, and so on. It’s old money, but there’s plenty of it.”

  “Oh. Why did he make a big deal about sticking to a budget, then? I mean, he made it sound as though money were tight.”

  “He’s never liked flashing his wealth around. He likes to think that the inn should finance itself. But it never has, not for years. At least, not until now. I was never really sure why he held onto it all these years. He’d seemed to lose interest in the place after my mother left. But then he hired you all of a sudden. I guess he decided it was time to stop feeling sorry for himself and spruce up the place again. And since it’s been in the family for so long, I’m sure he didn’t
want to see it fail. I bet if you asked him, especially since the other two rooms have been so successful in luring guests, he would be fine with more upgrades.”

  “Good, I’ll ask him later today.”

  She stood, facing me, the blue-striped shirt open down to her navel, revealing a hint of each breast. She was beautiful the way her long, brown hair hung down with a few of the strands dipping inside the shirt opening. My cock instantly woke up despite the cold ocean it had just been in. It never took much to turn me on with this woman but seeing her standing in my library, half-naked and wearing only my shirt opened in the front to her navel, caused mega charges of testosterone to run through me. I started to take large, wide strides across the room, ready to bend her over the desk and fuck her from behind and every which way ‘til Monday morning, when my phone buzzed in my pocket. “Fuck.” It was a reminder that I had a meeting in an hour. A meeting forty minutes away, and I still needed to shower and get dressed. But Grace came up and stood a short two inches away from me, her fingers playing with the one and only button still fastened closed. I made a few clicks on my phone, dialing, then held it to my ear, keeping my eyes on Grace the entire time. “I’m going to be an hour late,” I said and pushed the end button, dropping the phone onto the chair a few feet away. It bounced off the cushion and landed on the floor. I didn’t care.

  “Come here.” I slid my hand inside the shirt. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I drew her against me.

  “Won’t you get fired for doing that?”

  “No. They work for me.”

  “Oh. You never told me you had employees.”

  “You never asked.”

  Her eyes widened. “How many other secrets are you keeping from me, Mr. D’Amoré?”

  “Mr. D’Amoré is my father, and I have no secrets. Just information not yet shared. Not because I haven’t wanted to, it just never came up. I have two assistants that help with research and paperwork.” I slipped a loose curl of her hair behind her ear with my finger.

  “Are they women?”

  “One is.” My eyes focused on her lips.

  “Is she pretty?”

  “Yes, but she’s close to fifty years old. Now shut up and kiss me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Grace

  Len smiled when I knocked on his doorjamb. His door was always open. I don’t think I’d ever seen it closed. “Come in. Have a seat. How are you this fine morning?”

  He was extremely cheery. I entered his office and stood in front of his desk, too antsy to sit in one of the chairs. “I’m good. Thank you.”

  “I’ve been meaning to talk to you. Please, sit down, Grace.” Reluctantly, I went to the chair and sat down. Now curious about what he wanted to say. “You and Leo, you’re good?”

  It was a question, so I nodded. “Yes. We’re good.”

  He smiled. “Good. I’ve worried about him. I’m glad you’re in his life now. I haven’t seen him this happy about anything or anyone since he was a small child. The changes you’ve made around here have been good. It was a great decision to hire you. I just thought I’d tell you that. So many times, I forget to let people know how much they’re appreciated.”

  I smiled. “Thank you, Len. That means a lot to me.”

  He nodded. “Now, tell me what you need.”

  “I would like to go ahead and re-decorate the remaining six rooms. I know business has picked up since the first two rooms were redone. I don’t think the inn can really afford not to bring the rest of the rooms up to the same standards.”

  Len stroked his mustache. Something I’d noticed he did whenever he was contemplating something. Leo’s words earlier that morning reverberated in my mind. He has no budget. The budget was imaginary because he didn’t like to flash his money around. He was very good at this game he played. In fact, they both were. Up until this morning, I’d had no idea they were wealthy. I kind of admired that about Leo and his father. There was nothing worse than arrogant, rich people. It was nice to know that Leo had never let money define who he was, and I think I fell a little deeper and harder for him because of it.

  “Okay,” Len finally said. “What do you have in mind?”

  I smiled. “Well, in the Berry Room, there’s really nothing in there about the Anchor Bay Store, or its original owner, Mr. Berry. Since he came up with the town name, I thought it would be great to have some pictures of the store he owned. I came across some great photographs in one of the books in the library, and I think it would be nice if we could get copies of some and maybe try to find some furniture from that era. Maybe get some soaps and shampoos with the Anchor Bay Store logo on them. We could order them in bulk online.”

  “Hmmm…I like it.”

  I went on and told him about some of my other ideas for the other rooms, including The Clark Gable room, where Clark had spent a few nights when he’d stayed at the inn many years ago. I was excited when I left Len’s office at the prospect of redecorating the rest of the rooms and couldn’t wait to tell Leo.

  “Be sure to take Leo to the antique furniture store with you,” Len called out as I stepped into the hallway and almost bumped heads with Kate. We held onto each other to keep from toppling over and then laughed.

  “Sorry. I didn’t see you,” I said, clutching my notebook to my chest.

  As I stepped away, she linked her arm with mine and walked back to the front of the restaurant with me. “I couldn’t help overhearing some of your conversation with Len. I’m sorry for eavesdropping, but I wanted to tell you that there is a storage shed at the back end of the property that might have some old furniture in it. I don’t know what shape any of it’s in, but it might be worth checking out.”

  “There’s a shed back there?”

  “Yeah. It’s sort of hidden under several feet of overgrown brush that’s been ignored for a decade or so, but its there. You might need a machete to get through all the brush, though.” She laughed.

  “Thanks. I’ll get Leo to take me back there as soon as he gets back.”

  By the time Leo got home from his meeting, I was practically salivating at the prospect of exploring the old shed. “Hurry up and change your clothes.” He still had on his black slacks and red, striped, button-down shirt that he’d worn to his meeting. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and I admired how good his forearms looked as he tugged off his shoes, and I told him what Kate had relayed to me. “Oh, and Kate said we might need a machete, but I’m not sure if she was joking or not.”

  “I don’t think I’ve seen you this excited about something, well, since this morning.” He smirked.

  My core clenched at the memory of Leo bending me over the large, leather-topped desk in his library. It was a beautiful desk, and having my bare chest planted against it had been exhilarating, to say the least.

  “Hurry up. I’ve been waiting for you to come home for two hours.” Ever since Kate had mentioned the shed, I’d been pacing the floor, waiting for him. I’d almost taken off to explore it alone, but then remembered the overgrown brush Kate had mentioned, which basically hid the shed from view. I didn’t want to tackle that alone.

  “Chances are, we will need something to cut through those weeds.” Leo was now hunting through the kitchen drawers for something. When he pulled out a knife the size of a small sword, I gasped. Who had a blade like that in their kitchen? What would you even use it for? I laughed to myself. He held it up.“This should do.”

  “Leo, please hurry.”

  “Okay. Okay. Let me grab a couple of flashlights. I doubt there’s any electricity in that shed. No one’s been in it for years.”

  Kate hadn’t been joking about the overgrown foliage. There was enough shrubbery back there to classify the area as a small forest, and I was glad I’d donned my hiking boots and long black pants and still wore Leo’s shirt with the sleeves halfway rolled up to protect from the stickers of the overgrown blackberry bushes. Leo wore grey cargo shorts and a light blue, long-sleeve T-shirt, but at least he’d
had the sense to put on some boots with heavy wool socks that rose halfway up his calves.

  It took us about thirty minutes to clear a path just to get to the shed. And once we reached it, my heart sank when I saw the lock on the door. “Shit.” Leo’s frustrated swear started me.

  “Do you have a key?”

  “No.” He frowned.

  The lock appeared to be old and rusted over. Leo hit it several times with the end of the flashlight but it didn’t budge.”

  “I guess we’ll have to go see if your dad has a key.”

  “Wait.” He stepped back and looked as though he studied the shed for a minute. Then he looked around on the ground. He stepped toward a pile of rocks that seemed to have been strategically placed together on purpose. Leo kicked the pile over, and at the bottom, underneath the last rock, was a key almost completely buried in the dirt. “Well, lookie here. My dad had a system for hiding things from me when I was a kid. I figured it out as I got older.” Leo lifted the key and unlocked the door, then shoved it open.

  It was dark inside, just as Leo had suspected, and we turned on our flashlights as we entered. The room was full of old furniture. “Wow, this is amazing. Why has your dad kept all this stuff hidden away in here?”

  “I’m not sure. I never really paid much attention to that stuff when I was a kid.”

  “Oh, Leo, will you look at this?” I uncovered an old, antique vanity table, elegantly carved with curved legs and balled feet. It had a tilting mirror that still had great reflection. “This is gorgeous, and looks to be in fairly good shape.”

  “I think my mother used to have this in her bedroom. My dad must have stuck it out here because he didn’t want any reminders of her.”

  I pulled on the single drawer in the center, but it only opened halfway. “It’s stuck.”

  Leo was busy on the other side of the room, pulling boxes off another piece of furniture and placing them on the floor. I tugged harder, and the drawer came out the rest of the way as something fell to the floor. I bent down to pick it up. It was an old newspaper clipping. I unfolded it, being careful not to rip it.