Page 8 of Hiding Rose
Chapter Three
I shut the lights down in the center and locked the door behind me, glad another day was done. Winifred promised to be back tomorrow, and Kate insisted on keeping Hope and Katie-Bug at her house, so there were two less munchkins to care for. Working with her again today was wonderful. When we worked together in Snowberry things were light years different than what they are now, but I would take these days over any. I crutched to Kupid’s Table and leaned on the bar. Sarafina was working again and she hurried over to me from the other end.
“Hi, Rosie. How are you doing? Feeling better?” she asked.
“Yes, thank you. I’m hoping you have a glass of white wine with my name on it back there.”
She grinned. “Are you kidding? You spend eight hours a day with kids, you deserve the whole bottle.”
I chuckled and she set a goblet down on the bar. “Do you need help getting on a stool?” she asked.
I glanced at the tall bar stool and back to her. “I think I’ll stand. I’ve been sitting for the last hour with the babies.”
“Let me know if you need a refill,” she said and wandered back to the other end of the bar to wash glasses.
I sipped the wine and dug through my messenger bag, making sure everything I needed was in it before I headed to Gideon’s office. After talking to Kate about the job being too much for me, I decided it was now or never. I couldn’t afford to lose my job, and an expansion would assure me steady employment.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mary Poppins,” a voice behind me said.
I groaned inwardly before I answered. “Mary Poppins was a nanny, not a daycare worker.”
“Same difference?” he asked, jokingly.
He was wearing his white coat and had a towel over his shoulder. He was spotless, which meant he hadn’t started cooking yet or he was extremely neat at it. “Hi, Sawyer. Don’t you have to work?”
He motioned around the restaurant. “It’s dead in here if you hadn’t noticed. It’s too early for the dinner crowd. I spotted you through the swinging doors. I wanted to check on you earlier, but the center was quiet and I didn’t want to wake up any babies.”
I smiled, lowering the glass from my lips. “Good thinking, we might have hogtied you to a tree if you had.”
His smile made his eyes sparkle. “I also saw Kate in there and basically didn’t want her yelling at me for asking you to dinner when you should have been in bed.”
I rolled my eyes and brushed my hand at him. “I’m a big girl. She would never say anything to you.”
He lifted one brow up in the air. “Really? Because she said it last night on the phone and then again this morning when I was headed to the gym.”
I smacked my forehead with my hand. “She’s such a mother,” I said, sighing.
He smiled and rubbed my back once. “I know she is, which is why I laughed it off, both times. What I used to think was just the two of you becoming friends through Kupid’s Cove has slowly morphed into me believing you’ve been good friends for years.”
I swallowed. No one is supposed to know, outside a small circle of people, I’m from Snowberry. He wasn’t in the circle. I had to stay calm and act my butt off. “I didn’t meet them until I moved here. I think Kate saw a little of herself in me. She latched right on in welcoming me to the resort and never let go.”
He put his hand on his hip and eyed me. “Hmmm, okay. I better get back to the kitchen. Tonight, is Fish Taco Tuesday and they’ll be rolling in soon.” He motioned his finger around my face. “No, you don’t get to curl your nose up at fish tacos when you ate all my fish last night.”
I laughed softly into the empty room. “You have me there. I better be going, too. I want to put my feet up for a bit after a long day. Have a good night.”
I set the glass on the bar and picked up my bag, slinging it over my shoulder before I grabbed my crutches. He held my arm at the crook of my elbow. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
I shook my head. “Not likely. I’m going to soak in the tub and then watch TV until I fall asleep.”
He smiled and let his hand fall. “We’ll see. Enjoy your bath.”
He ran toward the kitchen and grabbed the door for a chef coming through with buffet tubs of taco fixings. Before I dwelled too long on how much I enjoyed seeing him again, I crutched off down the hallway to Gideon’s office. The basement was reserved for offices, conference rooms, and kitchens, all of which organize and maintain the hotel. Even in such a utilitarian space, you feel like you’re back in your childhood home. It’s an odd way to describe the feeling considering it’s a resort, but there’s something about Kupid’s Arrow and Kupid’s Cove. It’s almost as if it breathes as a living entity. Maybe I feel this way because I live here, but I’m inclined to believe it’s because of Kate and Gideon. They treat everyone like family, from the employees to the guests, and the positivity of the staff at all times is noticeable. Sure, they have their problems like any business, but as long as you give them respect they will return it. Now it was time to step up and repay the two people who rescued me. Hell, they saved my life and asked for nothing in return. The least I could do is use my skills to better the resort and improve their business.
Wait. I paused as I crutched. Did Sawyer say ‘we’ll see’ when I told him I wouldn’t see him tonight? What’s up with him? Kate says he has a mammoth size crush on me, but I’ve lived here for eight months. He’s just getting around to talking to me now? Granted, I holed up in my apartment the first month I was here, and rarely left the daycare center for two months after I started working, but it’s been months since I met him. I wonder why he’s decided to crush on me now. Don’t get me wrong. I think Sawyer is a sweet, caring, handsome guy, and exactly the kind of guy I would date, if the last one hadn’t attempted to kill me. Kate says I can’t hold all guys to Jarrett’s madness, but it’s easy to say, and harder to do, when you’re still running from him.
I glanced up to see Gideon’s office in front of me. The door was cracked and Gideon sat behind his desk, his head buried in paperwork.
“Are you going to stand there all night or are you coming in?” he called out.
