Homecoming Reunion

by Carolyne Aarsen

  Garret let Shannon’s words rest on his heart and stifle his second thoughts.

  He knew Larissa cared for him.

  Yes, things were changing between them and he knew his feelings were stronger now than all those years ago. He dared to make plans. To look into a future with Larissa, working at the inn. Making it the success he wanted his life to be.

  He just wished he believed it was enough.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I didn’t think it would come together, man.” Pete Boonstra took a sip of his coffee as he looked around the packed dining room of laughing, cheerful real estate agents. “You worked a miracle here.”

  “You underestimate Larissa’s organizational abilities,” Garret said, catching a glimpse of Larissa as she gently steered a young server toward a group of people. She glanced around the room, her lips puckered and a gentle frown marring her beautiful face. Watching, making sure everything was running as it had all week. Like clockwork. Then she caught him looking her way and her frown faded, the pucker turned into a smile and she waggled her fingers at him.

  Since the forty people registered for the conference had descended on the inn, he and Larissa hadn’t managed more than a passing glance, a stolen kiss in the office, a quick touch as they passed each other in the hallway.

  Garret had taken his family up on their offer and Hailey, Dan, Carter, Shannon and Ben had helped him clean up the grounds even as people were arriving.

  Garret could still smile at the memory of his cousins and brother mowing, clipping, bagging and chiding each other as they scurried along. He still felt guilty about asking them to help when they’d done so much already, but he was told, in no uncertain terms by both his brother and Hailey, that this is what family does.

  The thought had humbled him. He’d been away from family so long he didn’t think he deserved all the support and help he’d received.

  From here, standing by the French doors leading to the patio, he saw the amazing results of their work. The grounds had regained their parklike appearance and a semblance of their former glory.

  And for the first time since he had reluctantly bought into this inn he felt as if he could breathe easier. It would work out, he thought, glancing across the room and catching Larissa’s eye again.

  He missed having quality time with her, and the thought put an ache in his heart.

  “Excuse me, Pete,” he said, putting down his coffee cup on the sideboard. He skirted the edges of the room, not making eye contact, hoping he wouldn’t be waylaid.

  However he wasn’t sneaky enough. One tall, lanky fellow caught him by the arm as he passed and pulled him against his will, into their conversation. “Say, Beck. I love what you did with the place,” the man was saying. His name badge said that he was Horace Hockstein. Not the most auspicious name for a real estate agent, Garret thought. “You’ve got lots of potential here. Lots that can be done. Pete was telling me you’re thinking of subdividing the property? Possibly flipping it? If you do, let me know. This is primo real estate.”

  Garret frowned, wondering where Pete had gotten the idea and why he told Horace, but before he had a chance to correct the man, he saw Larissa coming out of the kitchen.

  She handed a full tray of canapés to another server, stopped to straighten a flower arrangement and then looked up.

  He kept his eyes on her as he walked toward her, giving only a quick smile to another person who called out his name. He made it to her side without any further distractions and took her arm.

  “Come with me,” he said, giving her a quick smile. “I think we both need some fresh air.”

  “I just have to fill another tray,” she said. “Then I’ll come.”

  “Emily and the servers can take care of that,” he said, gently pulling her along. She protested, but let him lead her out of the dining room and into the foyer.

  A group of people stood by the fireplace, holding forth about the changing real estate market, so he kept on going.

  “What do you need me to see?” she asked.

  “Trust me.” Garret opened the front door and a wave of cool evening air washed into the inn. He led her out into the gathering dusk, down the flagstone path, then he veered to the right and there it was. An arbor once overgrown by ivy, now clipped and neat. And tucked in the arbor was a rustic wooden bench that Hailey had found behind the gardening shed.

  “Oh, my goodness,” Larissa said, her voice breathless as Garret pulled her down on the bench beside him, her eyes shining, her fingers pressed to her cheek in surprise. “I can’t believe you got all this done. I remember when my mother put up this arbor. I’ve been wanting to get the ivy tamed...and oh, my, the ramble. It looks so much better as well.” She pointed to a maze of shrubs and trees with another flagstone path meandering through. “This is amazing. I can’t believe you got all this done so quickly.” The pleasure and pride in her voice made all the late nights and stress worthwhile. Much work still needed to be done, but Garret felt a sense of pride and accomplishment at what had already been done.

  “The place is starting to look really good,” he said settling back onto the bench, his arm around Larissa as he looked over the property. His property, he thought, his arm tightening around her shoulders. His and Larissa’s.

  The thought landed and took root. He thought of what Shannon had told him this past Sunday and he allowed himself to indulge in the possibilities of a future with Larissa.

  He turned to her, a sense of rightness lowering into his soul. “You know, this is the first time in my life that I’ve owned anything resembling a home.”

  “Really? You’ve never owned property before?” Astonishment crept over her face and tinged her voice.

  “No. I’ve been on the move so much, it was never worth it.”

  “But this inn isn’t really a home,” she said quietly.

  “Maybe not, but it’s the closest I’ve come.”

  She was quiet a moment as unspoken feelings drifted around them, waiting to be expressed.

  Garret wasn’t sure what more to say. He felt as if he were standing at a crossroads in his life. As he looked down at Larissa, he wondered if he dared to take the next step. And if he did, would she come along? Would it be enough for her?

  “I’m so glad you bought out my uncle’s share of the inn,” Larissa said, laying her head against Garret’s shoulder. “My dad was never interested in this inn, Uncle Baxter was just a silent partner. But since you came on board, I feel like I finally have someone working with me who gets it. Who understands.” She shifted so she could look up at him. “I’m so glad you’re my partner.”

  “I am, too,” he said, a sense of well-being and completeness filling him. Then he tipped her face up to his and kissed her forehead. Then he rained light kisses on her cheek moving his way to her mouth.

  They shared a kiss and then he tucked her head into his neck. “I had another reason to take you out here,” he said. “I was wondering if you want to go out with me tomorrow night. For dinner at The Curry Bowl.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Larissa said with a smile that made him want to kiss her again.

  “I know the food is great here, but I thought a change of scenery was in order and I want to celebrate the success of this conference.”

  “It went well, didn’t it?”

  “You were amazing,” he said. He brushed his fingers over her cheek.

  “Larissa?”

  Jack’s voice broke into the moment. He came around the corner a dark figure, the light from the inn casting him in shadow. Garret had to fight the urge to pull back and hide.

  He shook the feeling off, angry that Jack could still have this effect on him. He had nothing to be ashamed of and he had nothing to apologize for.

  “I’m over here, Dad.” Larissa got to her feet and Garret followed suit, feeling once again like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Garret and I were just taking a break.”

  “I see that,” her father said with a sa
rdonic lift of his eyebrow. Then he released a sigh, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder. “Emily asked where you were. I said I would go looking for you.”

  “Did she say what she needed?”

  “It wasn’t important.” Jack was silent a moment and Garret stopped himself from trying to fill the silence. “Looks like the conference went well,” Jack continued.

  “Larissa did a lot of work.” Garret tried not to react to the surprise in Jack’s voice. “She’s been working very hard the past few days.”

  “You’ve done a lot too,” Larissa protested. “Have you seen the grounds? They look amazing. Garret’s been working on them ever since he came here.”

  “Yes. I have.”

  Then to Garret’s surprise, Jack gave them both a quick smile. “I’m heading home right now, will you be coming later?” he asked Larissa.

  “When I’m done here,” she said.

  Jack nodded, then without another word walked past them both to his car. As he got in and drove away, Garret couldn’t help notice the make and model of the vehicle.

  A little out of his league.

  Then he pushed the thought aside. What Jack drove and how much money he had shouldn’t matter.

  But even as he and Larissa walked into the inn, he couldn’t help realize the vehicle Jack drove cost as much as Garret used to make in a year.

  Don’t go there, he reminded himself. You’re not Jack Weir.

  But he couldn’t stop the faint niggle of concern that always dogged him when he and Larissa were dating. Could he really give her all she needed?

  As the inn doors closed behind them, Larissa turned to Garret, laying a gentle arm on his. “I need to talk to Emily. Can you make sure things are rolling smoothly at the reception?”

  “Of course,” Garret said. “Let me know if you need me,” he said.

  Then she gave him another quick smile and left. He watched her leave, smiling at the bounce in her step and the way her hair shone in the overhead lights.

  Lights that would need to be replaced soon, he realized with a sense of dismay. And the carpet of the stairs should be taken care of. The other day he noticed that some of the seals had broken on a few of the windows.

  Tomorrow, he reminded himself. That’s for tomorrow. For tonight he wanted to revel in the success of the conference and the promise of a better future.

  What exactly that would look like, he wasn’t entirely sure. But for now, for the first time in his life he felt as if he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

  * * *

  “I don’t understand,” Larissa said, tapping her pen on the table as she glanced from Orest to Garret. “The conference did so well. I thought we’d be further along financially than we are.”

  Orest lifted one thin shoulder as he adjusted his glasses. “I’m sorry, but the numbers don’t lie.”

  Larissa pulled her lower lip between her teeth, feeling a twist in the pit of her stomach as she saw the final numbers on the monthly balance sheet.

  “Is this why Benny’s check bounced?” Garret asked, his arms folded on the table as he scowled at the papers lying in front of him.

  “Benny?” Orest frowned.

  “Alpern. The fellow who did the painting for us at the inn.”

  Orest frowned and shuffled through some more of the papers as if looking for the elusive Benny.

  “I got a call from him, telling me that his check bounced,” Garret said. “I thought we had enough to cover it.”

  “Obviously not,” Orest said, blinking as he removed his glasses. He gave Larissa a tight-lipped smile. “You were fairly deep into the operating loan, I might add.”

  “But the conference...we did so well.” Larissa shook her head in puzzlement.

  “There were extra costs you didn’t anticipate which made you overdrawn.” He fiddled with his watch, adjusted the papers on the desk and put his glasses on again.

  Larissa fought down a twinge of annoyance. Orest was always a nervous sort. Today he seemed worse. She could hardly blame him. Being the bearer of bad news was never easy.

  Garret pushed the papers away as if he didn’t want to look at them anymore. “I can’t believe these numbers. You must have made a mistake.”

  Orest rubbed the side of his nose with his finger as he shook his head. “I’m a Chartered Accountant. I don’t make mistakes.”

  Garret said nothing and the silence in the office seemed fraught with tension. Larissa hunched her shoulders as she looked down at the numbers again, but she couldn’t change the reality. The conference that was supposed to save the inn hadn’t.

  Then the door opened, letting in the chatter from guests checking in at the lobby. Early birds for the scrapbooking conference, Larissa thought. In half an hour she would be meeting with Rene to go over some of the last minute venue changes for the extra guests that had arrived. Word of mouth from Pete’s conference had been positive and Rene had to deal with a few more people from Hartley Creek who suddenly wanted to stay at the inn as well. Things should be looking up.

  But they weren’t.

  “What did I miss?” Jack Weir said, as he closed the door on the noise and came and sat at the table.

  “We were just going over the monthly financial statement,” Larissa said.

  “How are things looking?”

  Larissa sighed. “Not as good as we had hoped.”

  “I’m having a hard time believing that conference didn’t make more money than this balance sheet shows,” Garret said, leaning back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the arm rests.

  “What are you implying?” Jack asked with a frown.

  Garret leaned forward, his hands resting on the table. “I’m implying my concern. And I want to say again that we need to have an external audit done on the books and I’d like the bank account to be made available online so that Larissa, you and I can access it anytime we need to.”

  “What do you think about that?” Jack said, turning to Orest.

  Larissa wasn’t surprised to see him straighten, his head up, looking directly at her father.

  And avoiding looking at her and Garret.

  “I’m working on getting the bank account online. I prefer to pay the bills with checks, however. I prefer a paper trail.”

  “Any problem with that?” Her father quirked a questioning eyebrow toward Larissa.

  “And the audit?” Garret asked. “That’s even more important.”

  Jack frowned just as Orest interjected. “That’s not necessary.”

  “Why is this a problem?” Larissa said, puzzled at Orest’s continuing resistance.

  “We’ll deal with this later,” her father said, shooting a warning glance at Larissa as if reminding her of her place.

  Larissa held his gaze. For a moment she was tempted to back down, wondering herself why this was necessary. It would just cause hard feelings.

  Except Garret thought it was important.

  She looked from her father to Garret, her mind ticking back over all the work Garret had done and was still doing for the inn. How many evenings had she heard the mower going or seen him hauling bags of leaves and weeds he had raked and pulled up?

  She thought of the consulting they had done for Pete’s conference, the painting, the shopping.

  Garret had been a true partner in every sense of the word while her father, in all the years he’d had ownership of the inn had never done half of what Garret had.

  So who had more right to make a few demands?

  Then Larissa heard Garret’s sigh and she felt her own resolve stiffen. “Why not talk about it now? We’re all here.” Larissa ignored Orest’s pained look and instead looked at her father directly. “Having the audit done is a business decision. Plain and simple.”

  Orest face blanched and he turned to her father. “Jack, I have done nothing that needs to be examined.”

  “Larissa, I can’t believe you’re doing this,” her father protested. “Orest has been a long-standing staff member. Faithf
ul and dependable. He’s an old friend of the family. This makes it look like you don’t trust him.”

  Larissa looked at Orest, his dear familiar face and for a moment felt her resolve wavering. Could it be that Garret was wrong? After all, he said he wasn’t a bookkeeper.

  At the same time, even if everything was on the up-and-up, wouldn’t it be a good idea to have this done? And then she looked at Garret who gave her a slight nod, as if encouraging her.

  She took a deep breath and then looked at Orest, avoiding her father’s gaze. “This isn’t anything personal. We’re not trying to besmirch your character, Orest, but I believe this has to be done.”

  “You don’t have that kind of authority,” her father blustered. “You’re not a partner in this inn. You only hold a two percent share.”

  Larissa’s heart turned over at her father’s bald comment. Though part of her knew it was true, she felt as if he had put her into her place. A very small, two percent place.

  “But her share is important,” Garret was saying. “You and I don’t agree on this matter. So her share tips the balance.”

  Her father’s irate gaze ticked over Garret. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that right now Larissa holds all the cards. I want the audit. You don’t.” Garret turned back to Larissa. “It’s your call, Larissa. You make the decision.”

  Her father frowned, obviously uncomfortable with this turn of events. “I already said I don’t want to discuss this further,” Jack said. “Orest. Garret. If you’ll give me a moment with my daughter,” he asked.

  Garret was about to stand up when Larissa put her hand on his arm to stop him. “There’s nothing more to discuss,” Larissa continued, feeling a sudden and exhilarating sense of freedom. And, she had to admit, power. “Garret and I both want the audit done. I’m not changing my mind on this.”

  Her father folded his arms over his chest as he held Larissa’s gaze. “You’re really siding with Garret?”