The Christmas Inn. Stella MacLean

you can pull it off.”

      “Of course I can.”

      “You’re going to keep Mom, Dad, Liam, Gordon and Alex off my case for the entire four days that I’m away doing this job for you?” she asked.

      “I will, but you’d better turn off your cell phone or I can’t be held responsible.”

      “I’ll manage my cell phone if you promise me that Mom won’t follow me to the inn.”

      “Nothing would drag Mom away from her kitchen this close to Christmas.” He patted her on the head. “I promise to keep everyone out of your life for four full days.”

      “Which four days?”

      “Okay, you’ll arrive there on December 21st, and do your survey work December 22nd, 23rd and 24th, getting back here as early as you can on the 24th.”

      “That close to Christmas?”

      Scott shrugged. “Afraid so.”

      “Angus McAndrew doesn’t celebrate Christmas?”

      “He does, but it seems that this deal is very important to him, and he hopes to have it to bed by the New Year. That means he needs the results Christmas week.”

      “If you say so.”

      “I do, and I wouldn’t be asking you to do this, but I need someone I can trust completely.”

      He brother trusted her and needed her, and she really owed him a lot. “Okay, I’ll go to your precious inn.”

      “And you have to keep everything confidential. You can’t tell anyone at the inn that you’re doing this, and under no circumstances are you to tell anyone that the inn is about to be sold. Understood?”

      She gave him a snappy salute. “Aye, Captain.”

      He wrapped her in a bear hug. “Thanks, Peanut.”

      “And there’s something else.”

      He looked at her as if she were a flawed business proposal. “Let’s hear it.”

      “Stop calling me Peanut.”

      His jaw worked, he frowned and rubbed his cheek. “Won’t happen again.”

      CHAPTER TWO

      A WEEK LATER JULIE CRAWFORD, Marnie’s best friend and Lady Gaga look-alike, sat on the foot of the bed while Marnie packed her bag for the trip to Wakesfield. “What do I tell your mother when she calls? I really like her, and this doesn’t seem fair.”

      Marnie rubbed her forehead in consternation. “Probably not, but I don’t know what else to do. It’s like this every Christmas. I’ve joked about running away from home at Christmas so many times, only this time it’s going to be true.”

      “Can you talk to her about how you feel?”

      “I’ve tried, but each time, I end up giving in, mostly because I don’t have a reason not to go along with her plans. This year I have, and I need to get away for a bit. This whole negotiation thing has been a lot more stressful that I expected.”

      “Still…”

      “Tell her that you can’t reach me, which will be true since I’m turning off my cell, letting my calls go to voice mail, and only turning it on when I need it.”

      “You’re really not going to talk to her?” Julie gaped.

      Marnie sighed. “Don’t worry. I’ll call her eventually.”

      “So while you’re off for a restful few days in the mountains, I’m left to deal with Gina. If she tells me one more time about her matching wedding band to go with her square cut diamond—” Julie pulled a thick blond curl from behind her ear and examined it for split ends. “She’s already acting like she owns the place and you haven’t even signed the agreement yet.”

      Hearing the despair in her friend’s voice, Marnie sat down next to Julie. “I know how hard it is for you to watch what’s going on with Shane.”

      “I know you do.” She gave Marnie a huge hug. “Why did I have to fall for a man who is making a total fool of himself over a woman who—” Julie grimaced. “You know, when I first came to Total Elegance, the first time I saw him, I really believed I’d met the one person for me. And look at me now, sitting here with you feeling like I’ve lost everything.” She tucked her chin into her neck, hiding her face.

      “You haven’t lost everything,” Marnie said, wishing she could ease her friend’s heartache.

      “I have! Meeting Shane made me believe in love at first sight. I felt so alive, so thrilled to be around him…and now I feel like a walking cliché. What’s even worse, he’s about to marry a woman who is so completely wrong for him,” she wailed.

      “Love at first sight went out with the dinosaurs.”

      “Like you’d know.” Julie snorted.

      “I’ve seen firsthand what it does to people.”

      “You mean Shane?”

      She sighed. “Julie, Shane is getting married, and you and I may be upset with him, but there’s nothing either of us can do about it. You’re going to have to get used to working with Gina, or you’re going to have to leave the salon.”

      “If she keeps pissing people off and the staff and clientele make tracks, Shane won’t have anything left of what you and he built together. Won’t you feel bad if that happens?”

      “Of course I will, but I can’t change how Shane lives his life. Neither can you.”

      “Promise me you won’t sign until you come back? Please?”

      She and Julie had spent many late nights over bottles of wine discussing Gina and Shane. Julie had wanted to intervene, but Marnie had managed to convince her to stay out of her partner’s personal life.

      “I can’t make that promise. I’ve agreed to sell, but he’s allowed me a few days to reconsider should I need it. I don’t think I will, but it never hurts to be cautious. Meanwhile, you have to face the fact that nothing will change Shane’s mind about Gina,” she said gently.

      Tears shimmered in Julie’s eyes. “He can’t marry her, Marnie.”

      “Julie, we’ve been over this.”

      Julie gave a disgusted sniff, checked her manicure and tilted her chin toward the mirror on the dresser beside the bed. She got up, smoothing her fiery-red top over her narrow hips. “On a whole other topic, our landlord called before you got home, and he has agreed to the estimates for cleaning up the flood damage in the basement.”

      Marnie and Julie had clothes and personal belongings destroyed by water damage a couple of weeks ago when a pipe broke in the basement of the house they rented. “That’s great. We can shop for new shoes and purses now.”

      “Guess so.” Julie tucked one booted leg under her as she settled back on the bed.

      Marnie pulled her one black dress out of the closet. “Darn! That reminds me. I don’t have a decent pair of heels to take with me.”

      “You’re telling me you don’t have one pair of high heels you could wear with a black dress?”

      “None. Remember, I’d been reorganizing the closets when the flood happened—all my shoes were on the floor in the basement, along with boxes of my winter clothes.” She stuck her head into the bottom of the closet and reappeared with a pair of three-inch heels. “All I have is this pair of canary-yellow ones, and I don’t have time to shop for a new pair.”

      “Not given your inability to make a decision where clothes are concerned. Now, if it were me, I could buy ten pairs in an afternoon. Guess you’ll have to make a fashion