Page 3 of The Main Event

Since Mom and Rosie owned one of the most popular occult stores in Salem—and, yes, bragging rights were attached to that feat—I wasn’t surprised when she offered to cast the curse. My mother was insistent that they were white witches. Rosie had no problem embracing the dark arts when she was in a mood.

Their whole schtick made me laugh. One Halloween, my mother even dressed up like Glinda and Rosie embraced thegreen and became the Wicked Witch of the West. They weren’t afraid to adopt a stereotype here and there.

“How about we wait and see if he’s a bad guy before we curse him, huh?” I suggested. “I mean… I have to think George did what he did for a reason.”

“You mean selected this one grandson to give the keys of the castle too,” Dad surmised.

I nodded. “Maybe George did it because he knew this Jax was going to be the best one to help usher the hotel into a new era. I mean … things are pretty dated. I’ve been worried about what’s going to happen to the hotel for years. It needs an upgrade.”

“I happen to think it’s charming,” Mom argued. “Not everything has to be newfangled and modern.”

I snorted. “You are not old enough to say the word ‘newfangled,’” I warned her. “As for what Jax has planned, I’m sure he’ll make that apparent fairly quickly. Maybe he’ll even make a big announcement that the hotel is going to be refurbished—no more power strips sticking out from under couches—and the Hunter will be a premier hotel by this time next year.”

My father shot me a pitying look. “Do you think that’s likely?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything is possible.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Well, just make sure you keep us apprised of what’s happening. If things become untenable there for you, call me, and I’ll keep you afloat until you find another job.”

I was appalled. “I’m twenty-seven.”

“So?”

“So… I can’t have my father taking care of me. I have to stand on my own two feet.”

“You can always come work for us,” Lux offered. “Jesse has been talking about offering parties … although we haven’tactually committed to anything like that. I’ll have to talk to him first.”

I patted her arm. “It’s okay. I want to see how things go at the Hunter first. It might be a rocky transition, but I have faith. I’ve always known exactly how I see things going there when it comes to party planning. I’m not willing to give up the dream quite yet.”

“You’ve always been an optimist,” Mom noted. “Listen to your father, though. Life is too short to be miserable where you work. If things get ugly, come to us. We’ll figure it out.”

I tried to hold back a long-suffering sigh and failed. “I don’t think we should assume things are going to go bad. Let’s hope for the best and brace for the worst. That’s the smart move, right? That’s what you always told me,” I reminded my father.

“I would prefer not having my words thrown back in my face,” he said. “I get what you’re saying though.”

“Maybe he’ll be hot,” Lux suggested as she got to her feet, a small smile playing over her lips as a handsome man in a chef’s uniform started for her. Jesse was old school and always stuck to tradition. “Maybe he’s your destiny.” Her eyes sparkled when she flicked them back to me.

I was about to laugh at the notion, but the way Jesse smiled when he reached Lux and leaned in to whisper something to her had me rethinking the mocking I’d had ready to unleash.

“That’s not my goal,” I assured her after a few seconds. “Never say never, though, huh?”

Lux giggled when Jesse poked her side. “That’s my motto,” she agreed. “I bet things will work out fine. Sometimes, things happen exactly how they’re supposed to happen.”

I hoped that would be as true for me as it had been for her. Smooth sailing was definitely too much to ask for, though.

2

TWO

Ilooked around the hotel that was suddenly my personal fiefdom and tried to contain the worry that was threatening to overcome my excitement.

I could do this.

I could fix the hotel and turn it into the biggest success Salem had ever seen.

There was just one little problem. I, Jax Hunter, had never run a hotel before. I was completely out of my element.

“So, this is the lobby,” my new assistant Tammy Gordon announced. She was in her late twenties if I had to guess—although she wore enough makeup I could’ve been off a full decade on my assumption—and her smile was flirty. “It doesn’t need much of an upgrade because Mr. Hunter—although I guess you’re Mr. Hunter too—redid it about three years ago.”

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