Page 69 of The Weekend Crashers
“My dad’s still asleep, but I’m heading back to the inn for breakfast with my friends.”
“No foraging? I’m sure your grandfather has ideas about finding some berries or something around here.”
“Good one. Nah, we’re hunting down some pancakes. But I wanted to talk to you before we go.” He looks around the tent. “So Cole never showed up last night.”
“No. He didn’t. He’s just dealing with some stuff. It’s nothing personal.” He puts his hands on his nephew’s shoulders. He hates to think of Scott and Cole at odds. Family is too important.
“This is messed up, Uncle Aidan.”
“Like I said—it’s not personal.”
“I know exactly what it is.” He takes a step closer to Aidan, lowering his voice even more. He nods toward the tent. “Let’s talk for a minute.”
Aidan turns back and opens the entry flap, holding it for Scott. “After you.” He follows him inside. Really, he just wants coffee. But he’s gotta clear this business out of the way first.
“So, what’s on your mind, Scott?”
“Grandpa told you about Cole and the married woman.”
“To an extent. I don’t know the details and I don’t want to know. It’s not really our business. From what I understand, Cole did the right thing. The relationship is over. So, let’s all just move on. It’s certainly nothing for you two to fight about.”
“Don’t you want to know how I found out about it?” Scott says. Clearly, he wants to tell him. But Aidan’s had enough of this. “The only reason I even know about it is because my fiancée works at the same school as the woman he’s had the affair with. She’s friends with the woman’s husband from college.”
Aidan is losing his patience. “Again, not our business.”
“Well, Cole made it my business. Or maybe it’s a coincidence, but I don’t buy that. She’s here this weekend. She’s part of the knitting retreat.”
Aidan isn’t sure he’s heard him right. He has to let that sink in for a few seconds.
“Who?”
“Kalli Dimitrou.”
The dark-haired woman. No wonder Cole was so enthusiastic about taking the knitting class. And he’s the one who chose seats at that table next to her yesterday.
“Tell me everything,” Aidan says.
The coffee will have to wait.
Maggie has no idea what Piper’s manager is doing in New Hope, but she welcomes the excuse to slip away from the campsite early and discreetly. A one-night stand is not respectable behavior for a mother-daughter weekend. She doesn’t need the whole rest of the inn to know about it. She’ll ’fess up to Piper, though. That is, if she ever gets to talk to her again. She still isn’t answering her phone or the hotel room.
By the time Maggie reaches the inn, she’s starting to worry. Belinda is behind the front desk and tells her, “Your visitor is right over there.” She nods her head to a seating area just off the main floor, where Gretchen Lundgren sits in a paisley wingback chair next to a wall of framed historical prints. With her stark hair and leather trench, the fashion executive looks more like a futuristic visitor. A character out ofThe Matrix.
Gretchen Lundgren looks up as Maggie approaches and introduces herself. The woman stands, revealing herself to be tiny.
“Apologies for intruding on your trip,” she says. “But Piper is ignoring my messages and I need an answer.”
Maggie’s confused. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Gretchen looks at her with undisguised irritation. “I’d like to talk to Piper.”
“Of course,” Maggie says, flustered. “I’m sorry she never got back to you. She might just need a weekend off.”
“Don’t we all,” Gretchen says. “But Piper has a brief window to turn failure into opportunity. I understand she’s probably embarrassed, but she’s got to dust herself off and get back out there.”
It’s Maggie’s fault. She’s the one who insisted on the weekend getaway. She didn’t imagine there’d be work for her so soon after falling on the runway.
“She told me you fired her as a client.”
