Page 64 of Culinary Chaos
“I need to go through the finances still,” Angelica said. “I haven’t had a chance, and every time I open the books to look at them, I start to get dizzy.”
“I think that’s a sign that you shouldn’t be doing it then.” Hope let out a little laugh before she stilled. “Let me do it.”
“Hope…” Angelica’s voice gentled.
“Let me,” Hope tried again, pleading. She could do this, Angelica knew she had the capability. She’d proven that already. But that wasn’t the issue. The problem was that Angelica had to release that control and allow Hope to do it for her, to take over that responsibility and trust that Hope would do it well.
Angelica sighed, staring down at her hand and flexing her fingers before she raised her gaze to meet Hope’s again. “Why?”
“Why what?” Hope was taken aback. Of all the things she thought Angelica would say, it wasn’t that. She’d expected the flat-out denial, the refusal, the excuses as to why she couldn’t do it and Angelica had to, but she hadn’t expected this.
“Why let you?”
Hope pressed her lips together tightly. Something in this moment seemed so intense and precious at the same time. She couldn’t mess this up. She couldn’t ruin what they’d been working so hard to build between them. Hope chose her words carefully, wanting and needing Angelica to fully understand where she was coming from.
“If there’s one thing that I know and understand, it’s this. This show,Hotel Bombshell, is only going to succeed if you and I learn to work together and trust each other. This is my way of asking you to trust me.” Hope held those words tightly. She couldn’t remember being this honest with Angelica before now. She was purposely stepping into Angelica’s realm when it came to the show, the places where Angelica was talented and wise, and she was asking to be let in.
Angelica nodded and then rested her head back, her shoulders dipping from the move. Her eyelids fluttered shut and she took slow, deep breaths. Was she nauseous again? Or was this her trying to work through what Hope had said when she wasn’t feeling great and was already struggling to keep going?
“Angel…” Hope said, trying to get her attention.
“Why do you call me that?” she asked, opening her eyes and locking them on Hope.
A shiver ran through Hope, settling in the top of her chest in a really uncomfortable way. Why was this conversation, of all the conversations they’d had so far, so intense and true and pure? “I-I don’t know.”
Angelica nodded slowly, her lips pursed. “I’m not an angel, and I’m certainly not yours. Don’t forget that I will hurt you, and I will push you.”
Hope’s lips parted in surprise. “It’s just a nickname.”
“No, it’s not.” Angelica frowned.
A tension held in the air, tightening between them. Hope could barely breathe. She couldn’t take her gaze from Angelica’s, from the sudden loneliness and pain that she found there. Where was all of that coming from? Hope wanted to reach in and touch it, experience it… understand it.
The knock on the door was loud, the doctor announcing she was back. Angelica swallowed and nodded at Hope firmly. “Look at the finances. Let me know what you find.”
Hope breathed out, but that tension was still there. She stood up, stepping to the side to let the doctor do what she needed. She walked out of Angelica’s room and shut the door behind her, stunned.
What just happened?
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Hope had been right.
Not that Angelica would say that out loud to anyone. But with the visit from the local doctor three days behind her, she was on her feet and feeling at least seventy percent of where she had been. She could tell because she wasn’t pushing to go back to the original filming schedule. That and Hope’s idea of focusing on building up the summer season income wasn’t a bad idea at all.
Again, not that Angelica would tell her that.
She sat outside, iPad in hand, and scrolled through some of the finances that Hope hadn’t managed to get to. Everything seemed to be in good order, but it wasn’t balancing. Hope had pointed that out, but she also couldn’t figure out where the discrepancies were. Angelica was finally finding the time to take her shot at it.
Tatum sat down next to her, a smile on his face. “My mom loves it out here.”
“Oh?” Angelica wasn’t sure why she was continuing the conversation, but she wanted the break from staring at the numbers, and there was something so pleasant about Tatumthat she felt compelled to stop and talk to him anytime she saw him.
“My dad built this garden for her a few years ago when she retired so that she could spend more time here with him.” Tatum smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
Angelica hadn’t met his parents yet, but she’d heard the crew talking. They were down in Denver with a long hospital stay ahead of them. His mom had some type of brain cancer. Tatum was taking over the hotel temporarily until his father could get back to work. This was a family operation, through and through, which was one of the biggest differences from the other hotels they’d been to so far.
