“Amy, my mother just drank hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows and chopped and helped saw down a Christmas tree. Leopards, like dragons, can, indeed, change their spots.”
But Amy wasn’t backing down. “Raven will drive you out of business then head to the next town. It’s what she does. She’s got a history of doing it, destroying local areas with her big, flashy hotels. It’s all corporate, soulless. The last thing the town needs. And she has so many of them, she makes the room prices dirt cheap to start with. Even if she runs a loss for the first five years she’ll do it, just so she can eliminate the competition!”
Emily couldn’t reconcile the Raven Amy was talking about and the one she’d become acquaintances with. But hearing what Amy had to say was starting to rattle her.
“Just come to the meeting,” Amy said.
“Okay,” Emily said.
As she placed the receiver down, she wondered whether Amy was right. Maybe Raven was as ruthless as all that. But if Emily didn’t have the inn, what would become of her? Of her family? Suddenly, she felt as if the ground beneath her was becoming unstable. What if the dream life she was living turned out to be temporary after all…?
Chapter Three
The next day after dropping Chantelle at school, Daniel drove Emily to Harry and Amy’s house before heading off to work. When Emily rang the doorbell, Amy answered, beaming from ear to ear.
“Ready?” Emily asked.
Amy’s grin only widened. “You bet!”
Today Amy was having a bonanza shopping day, with appointments booked at potential wedding venues and several house viewings with real estate agents. And since Harry was working in the restaurant all day, Emily was on hand to offer support and words of wisdom. She was, of course, thrilled to be helping.
They got into Amy’s white Chrysler and set off.
“Where’s the first viewing?” Emily asked from the passenger seat.
“Eastern Road,” Amy said, as she looked over her steering wheel for traffic. Seeing none, she turned onto the main street.
“Ooh,” Emily said. “That’s a nice part of town. The other side of the harbor to me, but still close.”
“Especially in comparison to New York,” Amy joked. “There’s a brochure in the glove compartment. Take a look.”
Emily reached inside and, finding the glossy folder, opened it up. She browsed through the slips of paper inside. Amongst the legal information and property details – three bedrooms, Emily noted with a knowing smile – she found a selection of photographs. The house looked gorgeous. If Harry and Amy were indeed planning to start their own family soon, this would be the place to do it! She smiled to herself, but then caught sight of the eye-wateringly huge asking price and almost choked.
“That one has an outside studio space,” Amy informed Emily as she drove. “They’re using it as an art studio at the moment but I’d turn it into an office. If I’m going to be working from home full time I’d like to have a separate space, you know?”
“Sure,” Emily said, thinking of the downsides of living and working in the same space that she faced every day. “This place would be perfect for that.”
They passed the harbor. It was a calm day, so Stuart, Evan and Clyde had gone over to the island to do their reno work. Emily felt very fortunate that the weather had been so mild. They definitely looked set to have everything finished for the April bookings. It was one less thing to worry about!
“Have you thought anymore about the babymoon?” Amy asked.
“Not really,” Emily told her.
“You ought to go,” Amy insisted. “You’re almost out of time!” She nodded her head at Emily’s ballooning stomach. Then she added, “There are some lovely hotels that do great babymoon packages.”
Emily narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Have you been researching?”
Amy grinned devilishly. “Just a little. Look in the pocket behind your seat.”
Rolling her eyes jovially, Emily leaned around behind her and found a stack of glossy magazines. She heaved them out. “A little?” she joked.
“Okay, maybe a lot,” Amy confessed. “I just really want you to have a break! My favorite one is on the top there. The spa in Quebec.”
Emily looked at the first of Amy’s selection. Located in the old part of Quebec city, it looked more like a castle than a hotel.
“It’s right in the old center of town,” Amy said. “So there’s loads of culture and stuff. City walls. A citadel. Museums galore.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Emily joked, raising an eyebrow.
Amy laughed. “Of course I do. When it’s my turn, that is. But my focus right now is the wedding and the house. When it’s babymoon time, I’ll be heading there, I promise.” She leaned over and tapped the top of the magazine.
Emily glanced down again at the stunning castle. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. The babymoon package including a special prenatal massage for the mom’s to be and a stress busting massage for the dad’s to be. Plus all the products were natural, with no harmful chemicals, and all the food was organic. It did seem idyllic. Doctor Arkwright would certainly approve of Emily reducing her stress levels. Better late than never!
“Daniel will probably come up with a very logical and practical reason why we shouldn’t go,” Emily said. She listed on her fingers. “Chantelle. The island. My impending due date. To name just a few.” But she slipped the magazine in her purse anyway to show him later. Maybe she could convince him.
They pulled onto the drive of the first viewing. Emily loved it immediately. The outside lawn was large with a hedge for them extra privacy, and there was enough space for at least two cars to park outside. The house was even more pretty in real life. There was a cute porch out the front, not quite as grand as the inn’s wraparound one, but there was space for a rocking chair and bistro table with chairs.
“I can already tell I’m going to love it,” Emily said.
But Amy didn’t look so convinced. “It’s a bit underwhelming,” she said.
“Are you crazy?” Emily gasped. “It looks like something from a movie!”
“Yes,” Amy continued, in a distracted sort of voice. “A boring movie.”
Emily rolled her eyes at Amy’s perfectionism, but at the same time, she knew she shouldn’t be so harsh. Amy’s life had gone completely differently to Emily’s. Her college dorm room business had succeeded and she’d bought her New York apartment while still in her early twenties. To Amy, home had always meant independence. Now it would mean domesticity. Emily had to admit that, for Amy’s tastes, it was possibly a little too sensible. There was no elevator to negotiate, no traffic hum in the distance. In short, there was no challenge. If Amy was going to be happy in this new stage of her life, Emily realized, she was going to have to find an exceptional house, not just a lovely one.
After a long day of house viewing and wedding venue gazing, Emily needed a nap back at the inn. She was starting to get incredibly tired in these last few weeks of pregnancy, but knew that she’d just have to get used to it because when Baby Charlotte was born, it would only get worse!
She dozed in bed, drifting in and out of sleep, taking the opportunity of an empty house to let the dogs sleep on the end of the bed – something that was usually forbidden. She perused the brochure for the Quebec spa, mulling over how she would spin the idea to Daniel. Then she remembered a promise she’d made Chantelle; to invite Papa Roy to Christmas.
She hadn’t had the heart to tell Chantelle when she’d asked that her father hadn’t been in contact for several days and that the voicemails she’d left