Page 26 of Forbidden Dreams
She let out a breath. "Morgan was worried about you."
I stiffened. "Do I want to hear why?"
Reina sighed. "Don't take this the wrong way, but he was worried that you and Cooper wouldn't work well together, and you'd quit, or they'd lose the contract with the town."
I shook my head. "That's not going to happen."
"I'm sure he'll be relieved that it’s working out.”
"We met this morning to discuss the renovations at the inn, but then we went our separate ways. He'll handle the estimate and repairs, and I'm planning the events. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I can avoid him most of the time." It was probably dangerous to let anyone know that we were getting along. Next thing you'd know, they'd be asking if we liked each other. My family could be juvenile sometimes. And like it or not, Reina was part of my family now that she was engaged to Morgan.
Reina smiled. "That's good to hear."
"You have nothing to worry about. The season will be seamless, and the inn will have updated bathrooms before the winter ball."
Reina paused and looked at me. "You're trying to get the renovations done before the ball that's scheduled for this year?"
"Have you seen those bathrooms? They're awful."
"They're like something from the seventies," she agreed.
"Everything is so grand, and you think you're living in a fairy tale until you have to go to the bathroom. It's embarrassingly bad."
Reina laughed. "You're right about that."
"Cooper has plans for a sitting room. How lovely would it be to have a place to sit and rest, maybe chat about your evening? He proposed comfortable couches and end tables to set your drinks down."
She raised a brow. "In a bathroom?"
"It's separate from the bathroom. Remember how there's an empty room between the doors to the bathroom?"
She nodded. "I think so."
"He wants to make it a usable space, a sitting room."
"Not a bad idea. But my question is, are you going to the ball?"
I frowned at that. "I plan events. I don't attend them."
Reina shook her head. "That was your role before. But now you're the face of the town, the event coordinator, and essentially the mayor."
"I'm not the mayor."
Reina sighed. "You know what I mean. Eve went to the events as a representative of the town."
I had seen Eve at the winter festival, walking through the crowd, talking to people about their experiences while she was managing it. "That's true."
"So you're going to need a ballgown," she said excitedly.
"I wouldn't go that far. I'm still working the event. I could wear whatever the servers are wearing. Probably black pants, white button-down."
"Eve wore gowns. She probably has a closet full."
The truth was that I didn't have the money for anything like that.
"I'm sure she'd let you raid the gown shop and borrow a few."
"I'll talk to her the next time I see her." But I'd already vowed not to bother her. It was important that I maintain the illusion of control. I'd act like I knew what I was doing and hope everything fell into place. "It's going to work out."
