Page 4 of Treasure and Tarot

“She’s taking a small break this afternoon. She likes her afternoon nap, so I staff the desk when she’s not here.”

Colton assumed that Tori was a little less…colorful in nature, but who knew?

“Normally, I’m the one cleaning up the pools and dealing with maintenance if something breaks. So, if you have issues, I’m the one on call. Otherwise, you’ll be dealing with the sweetheart you spoke to on the phone.”

“Sounds perfect.” Because obviously this woman was not meant for front-facing customer work. Still, she was kind of amazing.

“So, it says in our records, you’ve stayed here before. Tori has you in the large suite and then the other rooms are ready whenever you need them. I wasn’t sure how you and Tori wanted to work it—if you wanted all the keys and you could just pass them out, or if you wanted us to check everyone in and just put it on the same ticket.”

“It’s all getting expensed. So, I’ll take the key to the suite, and then, if you’ll just check people in as they get here, I’d appreciate it. I left your wife a list.”

“Oh, yes, she’s very organized. Like I said, she’s?—”

“Napping.” Even when a big customer came in.

Amanda nodded her head. “Pregnant omegas, you know. They need their rest.”

“So I’ve heard.” He grinned, his shoulders relaxing. She was pregnant, which explained the napping. Not that she couldn’t nap whenever she wanted, but he had set his arrival as today. “Anything else I need to know?”

“Well, we do have the little cafe here, plus there’s coffee and, um, curios next door. There’s a newish restaurant down in the Junction, too, though it’s sort of a classic diner. Were you wanting to look at a menu for supper?”

“Sure. That way you can know ahead of time. My guys will probably stop on the way, since they’re driving in from Denver. If not?—”

“We can toss in a pizza whenever they show up. Or, my wife slings an amazing grilled cheese. As long as they don’t want steak au poivre or something, we can feed them late.”

“Cool.” He chuckled. “So why purple?” He leaned on his cane, which kind of looked more like a ski pole, which he liked. It would fold down into three pieces, though, and the handle would screw off, which meant it would go in a TSA bin.

She snorted. “That was totally Tori. She’s just a fan of the color, and she says that Western Colorado is known for being eccentric.” She frowned at his cane a little. “Did you want to sit? I can call over to get you a latte and an eclair or something if you want to just hang out in the lounge. I’m happy to yammer at you.”

“I was just kind of stretching my leg. Driving puts some strain on it.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

“I’ve watched your show. Did you really get stuck in a cave-in?”

“I did, yes.” And it wasn’t his favorite subject. “I think I’ll walk over to get a coffee. Maybe a curio.”

“Oh, good luck.” She winked. “Hey, I can take your bags to your room.”

“Oh, thanks. I left most of it in the car for the guys, but if you don’t mind the carry-on…”

“Nope. I can get it.”

“Thanks. Do you still have steel-cut oatmeal?”

That had her hooting. “We do. It’s in your past guest record how much you like it.”

“Great. Well, I’ll be back.”

“Cool. Have fun.”

“No doubt.” And he headed off to get the lay of the land from Xavi’s, whatever the heck that was.

Chapter

Three

Sebastian rubbed his sweaty palms down the fronts of his thighs, trying not to freak out. The big crew from some ghost-hunting show was coming to the house today to do a walk-through, and Hank had been forced to cancel being there with him because Antonia was running a bad enough fever that she’d had to stay home from school.

So, he was facing it down on his own. Mrs. Maroney next door was watching Abby while she did her morning yoga and game shows.

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