Passions in the North Country (Siren Publishing Classic) by Summer Newman

know. The hotel didn’t fall apart in a day and it’s not going to recover in a day. It’s going to be a long road back to respectability.” He paused. “I know you just got here, Jenny, but maybe with your experience you have some suggestions.”
    “How bad is business?” she asked quietly, almost as if afraid of being overheard, even though there was no one else present.
    “Terrible,” Henry said flatly. “The east wing is scheduled to open tomorrow, but it’s not ready and there’s no buzz around town. The room you’re in and three others have been ready for two weeks, but you’re only the third person we’ve had in all that time. I hate to sound skeptical, but I’m afraid this experiment is going to flop.”
    “Hmm,” Jenny mumbled with a pensive look.
    “What can we do?” Henry asked with grave concern.
    “To tell you the truth,” Jenny noted, “I was at a hotel that already had a solid reputation and an established clientele. Here you’re essentially starting from scratch.”
    “Worse than that. The Riverview Hotel has a negative reputation that has to be overcome.”
    “I’m sure it will work out.”
    “Why did you leave you last job, Jenny?”
    Jenny had no intention of mentioning the fact that she left because she was literally running for her life. Nor was she going to mention that she feared Ivan so much that she was even afraid to call the police. Better to run and forget about him. Maybe he would forget her. Maybe he would go on with his life and file her away simply as a past experience.
    If only she knew.
    “I was burned out,” Jenny lied, lowering her eyes. “I was putting in ten- and twelve-hour days, and for the last year I was taking courses, too. But more than that, I got tired of the atmosphere. The hotel seemed like a fast food restaurant. People were just faces. You moved them in and out as efficiently as possible and you never got to know anyone as an individual.”
    “You’d find it a lot different at our hotel. It’s sort of, I don’t know, kind of homey here. At least it was.”
    “I’m sure it will be restored to its former grandeur, Henry. You can feel the personality and history in this building. It really does have tremendous potential.”
    “Then you’ll stick with us? You’ll try to help get this juggernaut turned around?”
    “I don’t know,” Jenny said, forcing a smile.
    Henry looked knowingly at her. “I understand. I wouldn’t want to take it on either.”
    “It’s not that,” Jenny said shyly, as if conflicted.
    “I’m sorry. I’m badgering. You’ve been working hard and you probably need a break. The last thing you want to do is jump right back into the fray, especially with a hotel so down on its luck.”
    “It’s not that,” Jenny said again.
    “What then?”
    Jenny didn’t feel completely comfortable in revealing her thoughts, but there was no denying that Henry was the type of person with whom she felt an instant rapport, as though she knew him all her life. In many ways he reminded her of Arnie back in Florida.
    “It’s that man,” Jenny suddenly blurted out. “I don’t like the thought of dealing with him. He obviously doesn’t want me around.”
    “Devon? Oh, he’ll be all right. He probably just had a bad day. I’m certain that if you can figure out a way to make his hotel more successful, he’ll love you for it.”
    “I don’t want him to love me,” Jenny retorted. “I’d settle for him promising not to bite me.”
    Henry laughed. “I’m so glad you’ve come, dear. I can see you’re going to be a ray of sunshine around here.”
    Jenny felt a warm glow at the compliment. “Thank you for making me feel welcome.”
    “So,” he said, looking hopefully at her, “you plan on staying for awhile?”
    “I’m sort of playing it by ear.”
    “All right. That’s fair enough.”
    Jenny looked down at the newspaper and saw a picture of a beach and a large gothic house on the hill in the background. For some