Page 38 of Trick's Trap

Maia couldn’t come to see her because of the doctor’s imposed bedrest, but Tahlia was able to video chat her every other day.

Maggie Tyler and her best friend Peyton Carson also dropped by to check on her almost every day, up until Maggie had to leave town to help with a big conference at their Edinburgh hotel. Then Peyton came alone. As soon as she could walk, she insisted on giving Tahlia the grand tour.

“Don’t tell Trick I busted you out today,” Peyton told her, releasing them from the penthouse floor by putting her thumb to a space-age panel before pushing the lobby button.

Tahlia squinted at the sleek panel, remembering how impressed she’d been with it during her first trip up to the suite level with Patrick. Her family was notoriously technophobic. She hadn’t even owned a cell phone until she moved to Boston for school.

Holding onto to the cane Dr. Tam provided to help her walk, she murmured her thanks for the tour. Though they hadn’t spent that much time alone together before, Tahlia liked Peyton. From what Maia told her, they had some things in common regarding difficult childhoods.

“Patrick doesn’t know about this outing?” she asked, half expecting him to round the corner.

Peyton grinned. “If he did, would he be chill, or would he insist on carrying you back to your suite right now?”

Tahlia tilted her head up to the security cameras in the corner of the elevator. “You have a point… let’s not tell him. So where are we going?”

“I’m pretty sure Liam would join Trick in stringing me up if I took you down to the lobby level, but we can start at the mezzanine,” Peyton said brightly. “It’s where the spa and the hotel’s five-star restaurant are. There’s also a gym in the basement, but it’s way too early for that judging from the cane. We can still take a tour, however, for future reference. It’s a nice setup—there’s a weight room, lap pool, and a sauna.”

Tahlia smiled wistfully at the mention of the pool. “I don’t have a bathing suit.”

She didn’t have much of anything. Maia’s husband had generously taken charge of packing up her apartment when she’d been taken, but he’d put the lot in storage. As soon as her family learned about it, they’d sent a lawyer to make a claim to collect her belongings. Calen hadn’t relented, claiming they were evidence, but the legal tangle meant she still didn’t have her clothes.

Patrick told her to charge anything she needed from the hotel’s luxury clothing shops to his account, but that was far too generous. For the moment, she was wearing clothes borrowed from Peyton and Maggie. Both were close to her size.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. Trick will happily get you a bikini if you mention the pool.” Peyton waggled her eyebrows, making her laugh.

“Something tells me I wouldn’t want to wear anything he picked out.” Her smile faded as wondered how she was going to pay for a whole new wardrobe.

“Are you okay?” Peyton asked, holding open the door for the spa.

She shrugged, flicking her eyes over the well-appointment reception desk area of the spa. The walls were white and with light ocean-blue accents. Soothing music tinkled in the background. A welcome area with couches and sofas was to the left, while a grand display of the hotel’s skin care line filled multiple shelves on the right.

“Um, Peyton. I don’t think I can afford anything here,” she said in a low voice, her eyes widening at the prices on the spa menu the other woman handed her.

“It’s on the house.”

Tahlia shook her head, tensing. “I don’t want Patrick to have to pay for this. It’s bad enough I’m crashing in that ridiculous suite without paying.”

Her family had money, but they hadn’t supported her going off to school, so she’d lived exclusively on her graduate student stipend. The small salary paid for her apartment and basic living expenses, but little else. Budgeting had been essential.

“Tahlia, don’t be silly. Everyone needs a little help sometimes. If you want a facial or a manicure, you can use my employee code. Everyone on the staff is entitled to a free service once a year, based on seniority—including the maids and cleaning staff. I’ve been working here since this place opened so I have credits stocked up. I never have time to use them. But now you’re here, we can both get something done. A massage is probably a bad idea given the injuries to your ribs, but we could get a facial or a haircut. Georgina is an artist with her shears.”

Tears stung at her eyes at Peyton’s generosity. Aside from Maia, she didn’t have very many real friends. She didn’t know what to do when people were kind.

Peyton noticed her rapid blinking. “Why don’t we schedule something after we’ve done the whole circuit?” she suggested brightly, glossing over the uncomfortable scene.

After waving to the attendant at the desk, Peyton ushered her though the warren of spa rooms, showing her everything from the facial rooms to the hamman-style sauna and mud baths.

Each member of the staff greeted her by name. “Everyone is so…warm,” Tahlia observed after a particularly effusive maid stopped them in the hall to gently hug her and wish her a speedy recover before reminding Peyton to eat.

“Most of the staff in this hotel have been with the Tylers for years. That one, Constanza, worked for their parents at their old B&B. She’s like one of their four unofficial moms. She’s kind of one for me, too, I guess. I’ve known Maggie since grade school. The B&B was like a second home.”

They were passing through the tearoom, where an English tea service was available to guests from morning until dinner. Peyton snagged a puff pastry from a loaded table and pressed another on her.

“They lost their mom fairly young, didn’t they?” Tahlia asked as the other woman munched away.

Peyton swallowed with a distant nod. “Both parents at once. It was a car crash. Maggie and I were still in elementary school. Liam was a senior, and Trick was a freshman in high school. Relatives wanted to split them up when it happened, but Liam fought them off. He insisted the family stay together. The small B&B staff pitched in to make sure they were able to. Since then, they’ve all been absorbed into the upper echelons of the hotel chain.”

She gestured to their surroundings. “After Liam and Trick opened this place, that loyal crew received a huge pay bump and excellent retirement accounts. The Tylers take care of their own.”

---