CHAPTER SIX

MALCOLM BLAKE KNEW what he was doing. At least she could cross that concern off her list.

Serena flipped through the last page of the report and stacked it neatly in the file folder on Muriel’s dining room table. The hotel was doing well. They were within range of the revenue goals and occupancy rates Jamie and Andrea had laid out in the business plan, and customer satisfaction was high, judging from both online reviews and the comment cards guests left upon checkout. Malcolm was managing things exactly as he ought.

On the other hand, their high spring occupancy was due to an unexpected article in a London-based travel magazine. It was a huge break, but one they couldn’t count on to be repeated. That meant Serena had to come up with creative publicity ideas to keep pulling in new customers while they recovered the repeat guests they’d lost during the renovation closures.

Serena opened the next report and scanned the payroll statement. They were indeed understaffed. She ran her finger across the row that contained Malcolm’s information and sighed at the figure there. Not only would she not be firing him, but she might actually have to give him a raise. Not right away, of course—doing it now would only reinforce his arrogance at a time when she needed him to act like a team player. They might have agreed to a cease-fire, but the whole situation involved far more tension than she liked, especially considering the way he’d drawn attention to her wardrobe malfunction to gain the upper hand.

Heat rose to her face at the recollection. She shoved the file folder back into her satchel and reached for a notepad and pen instead. Several minutes later, a cup of tea appeared just beyond her right hand.

Muriel slid into the seat beside her, mild curiosity playing over her face. “What are you working on?”

“Some ideas for the hotel, though I doubt Malcolm will be pleased with me adding to his responsibilities.”

“Malcolm, hmm? When did you two get to be on a first-name basis?”

Serena blinked. She had always thought of him as Malcolm, though she’d been very careful to address him as Mr. Blake. “We’re not.”

“Does this mean you’ve decided that he’s not quite such a boor after all?”

Serena set her pen neatly on her notepad. “No, I still think he’s a boor. But he’s doing a good job.”

“Well, that’s a start. I hate to see you two at odds. He’s a good man. I think you probably have a bit in common.”

“What do you know of him anyway?”

“What has he told you?”

Serena shrugged and took a sip of her tea. “Absolutely nothing. It’s not like we’ve been spending all our time giggling and plaiting each other’s hair.”

Muriel narrowed her eyes. “Serena Marie.”

“Sorry.” Serena buried her smile. Muriel hated sarcasm, and the fact that Serena was thirty-nine years old did not exempt her from the rules of the house. “I don’t feel the need to get to know him on a personal level as long as he’s doing his job.”

“If you say so.” Muriel nudged the notepad beneath Serena’s hand. “What’s this about?”

Serena told her how she had made sightseeing suggestions to several guests, and they’d come back looking for her. “I’m thinking we should offer self-guided tours to hotel guests.”

“That’s an excellent idea. What sort of tours?”

She turned the notepad so Muriel could read her list. “Driving tours, walking tours, stargazing outings. I’m sure we could do more, but these are the ones that come to mind. We would offer routes, maps, perhaps boxed lunches. Most visitors to Skye want to be in nature but have a luxurious room and good food at the end of the day. We’ve got the second part, so it makes sense that we get involved in the first.”

Muriel pushed away from the table and stood, then squeezed Serena’s shoulder. “You’re a smart girl. This is a wonderful idea. You should talk to Malcolm, though. He’s the one who will have to keep these going after you’re gone.”

“I’ll talk to him once I have a full plan in place,” Serena said. “Right now it’s just a sketch.”

“Good. I’m going to sleep now.”

“Pray that Max stays asleep, or it won’t last long,” Serena said wryly.

“Ach, child, he’s fine. It won’t last forever; I promise. You may not think so now, but one of these days you’re going to look back on these years and wonder how they passed so quickly.”

“Right, because without a full night’s sleep, the entire decade felt like one long day,” Serena said. Muriel just chuckled and bid her good night, leaving her alone in the quiet dining room.

Muriel was right, though. Her children were growing up fast, and she was somehow missing it. She’d been thinking of this trip merely in terms of responsibilities and duties and, yes, reclaiming some part of herself that she’d lost along the way. But it could be more than that. This was her chance to give Em and Max a taste of an island childhood, even if it were just for a little while.

Serena stayed away from the hotel for the next couple of days, which Malcolm inexplicably regretted. He’d only meant to push some buttons, considering how determined she seemed to push his, not to scare her away completely. Since he had resented her presence from almost the moment she arrived at the hotel, he shouldn’t have been wishing his plan hadn’t worked so well.

He felt equally daft for his wash of relief when she popped her head into his office on Sunday afternoon. “May I speak with you?”

“Of course,” he said. “Please come in.”

She stepped inside and shut the door behind her, a leather satchel dangling from the crook of one elbow. Her sweater today lacked a zip, and he had to fight to keep a grin from bursting onto his lips as she seated herself in front of the desk.

“I have an idea.”

“Why do I suddenly feel a chill running down my spine?”

One corner of her mouth lifted into a wry smile. She removed a sheaf of papers from her bag and passed them across the desk. “You have only yourself to blame. You’re the one who got me thinking along these lines.”

He took the stack and flipped through it. It was a supplemental marketing plan, laid out like the one with which Andrea had tasked him when she hired him to manage the hotel. “Self-guided tours?”

“A value-added offering for our guests. It should cut down on your having to answer the same questions for each guest, and it gives us one more advantage over other area accommodations. We’ve already started to draw high-end travelers. This will appeal to the luxury-adventure set.”

She held her breath, and he realized that she was actually nervous about his answer. “I like the idea. But why are you asking me? You’re the owner. You can do whatever you want.”

“I’m not here all the time. You’re the one who has to make it work. I want to be certain you’re on board with the idea before I go any further.”

He continued flipping pages. There were walking tours, driving tours, even a stargazing outing. “So you really are interested in astronomy?”

“Hard to grow up on Skye without at least having some interest. And that’s one of the reasons holiday goers come here in the winter. It’s certainly not for the weather.”

“No, it certainly isn’t. If we advertised a ‘Winter with the Stars’ package, I bet we could get our off-season occupancy rates up even higher.” He looked up from the plan. “This is a great idea, Serena. Let’s do this.”

She looked surprised. “I’ve included some mock-ups of brochures in the back. I thought you might want to offer some input on the copy before they go to print.”

He flipped to the back, where indeed there were three full-color trifold brochures, professionally designed and laid out. “You did these?”

“I did.” A hint of pride hung in her voice, and she raised her chin as if daring him to say something critical about them.

“They’re perfect. Really impressive. I had no idea that you could do this.”

“That stands to reason, since you know absolutely nothing about me.”

The jab struck. Maybe he really had hurt her feelings by being so combative. But the conflict hadn’t been one-sided: she’d taken one look at him and assumed he was incapable of running a hotel. Not that he wanted to bring that up, especially now that they were finally having a civil conversation. “That’s true. I don’t suppose you happen to write as well?”

“Why?”

He leaned back in his chair. “We have Facebook and Instagram accounts set up, but there’s really nothing on them. We could use someone to take over the hotel’s social media. ”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Posts about Skye. Things to do, things to see, what makes the island unique. What makes the hotel unique. Really give the flavor of the guesthouse and the location. I can tie them into the website so new posts appear next to the booking form.”

“I like that idea. We could highlight local events, the bands that play at the bar.” Her voice gained excitement as she talked about it, her eyes sparkling. In that moment he realized just how pretty she was when she wasn’t giving him a hard time. Well, she was pretty even then, but now she was downright magnetic. His thoughts must have shown on his face, because her voice trailed off midsentence. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Sorry, was I? I was just thinking I’m glad you agree, because technical papers are the extent of my writing ability and I don’t think ‘great view’ is really going to cut it. So what do you think? Will you do it?”

Serena hesitated, then gave a single nod. “I’ll do it.” She paused, then added, “It’s a really good idea, Malcolm. We should have done it a long time ago.”

“Well, this—” he held up her papers—“is a great idea as well. So thank you.”

She didn’t seem to know what to do with his gratitude, so she rose and gestured to the marketing plan. “You can keep that. It’s a copy. I’m going to run the ideas past Jamie and Ian to make sure they’re okay with the changes. Andrea might have some ideas to contribute as well.”

“Perfect. I’ll let you know when I have the changes made to the website.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a faint smile, nodded, and then hightailed it out of his office as if she were on fire.

He stared at the door as it closed behind her, both unsettled and intrigued. The more contact he had with the new owner, the more he wondered if the high-handed, spoiled-princess persona had been simply an act. What would he find if he made the effort to dig a little deeper?