Page 55 of Unbreak My Heart

Simon held up his hands. “You have the scissors, dude.”

“Then I’ll hold the top and you hold the bottom and we cut together.”

“You’re nuts.” Simon laughed and shook his head. “If you insist.”

He glanced at Eva, excitement sending goosebumps all over him. Her own smile was so big it sent a swarm of butterflies into the pit of his belly.

Simon took hold of the bottom jaw of the scissors and looked at Max.

“Cut!” Max exclaimed.

He cut and the ribbon fell to the sides of the doorjamb where it was attached. He couldn’t help the huge grin that flooded his face as they both faced the crowd, people busy taking pictures with their phones, and the local news reporter doing the same with some fancy traditional camera.

Max put his hand to one of the doors and glanced at him, jerking his head. Simon placed his hand on the other and they pushed the heavy wooden doors inward.

The lights had already been turned on, the air conditioning already doing its thing.

Simon looked around and fought the sudden rising emotion that insisted on choking his throat. Luckily, no one was paying him any attention as they all filed inside, heading toward the bar area.

It looked exactly the same.

Even down to the downlights in the ceiling over the booths that surrounded the parquetry dance floor.

“It’s a bit surreal, isn’t it?” Max’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

He nodded, unsure if he would be able to do much more than say a simpleyeah.

Swallowing to moisten his tight, dry throat, he forced words out. “It’s bloody bizarre, mate. It’s like it’s been here the whole time.”

He breathed deeply. Fresh wood polish and the scent of new carpet and paint assailed his senses. “Except it smells new. That’s the only difference I can tell.”

Max nodded in agreement. “I know. It almost feels like I’ve stepped out of sync with the world and turned around to find nothing has changed after all.”

A small A4-sized brass plaque on a gleaming wood background caught Simon’s attention, where it hung on the wall to his right.

“You got your plaque remade.”

Max followed his gaze and grinned. “Sure did. Check it out.”

Simon sent him a querying look, one eyebrow raised. “Yeah. ’Cos it’s so different.”

He stepped forward anyway. Obviously, Max wanted him tooohandahhover it, so he might as well before he was expected to head behind the bar and pick up where they’d left off so many long months ago.

He hid his grin. Not that he minded. He’d missed the place something terrible. Looking at the plaque, he noted the little icon at the top, the outline of the hotel itself, then dropped his attention to the words beneath it.

He took his time reading. He knew what the last one had said, had seen it every day of his life for the last twelve years. This one looked identical.

Business name.

Licensee.

Owners.

His eyes caught on that word. Why did it say owners?

Ahh. Millie. Of course.Max must have added her name to the official documents. He kept reading.

Maxfield Jameson.

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