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“I wish we could do it all. I’d love to bring this place back to life.”
I wanted that too. I wanted to keep Fiona in this heightened state of passion. I had to curl my hands into fists so I wouldn’t cross the room and kiss her.
“What are you doing down here?” Marley’s voice came from the doorway.
I felt like we’d been caught doing something we shouldn’t when all I’d been doing was showing Fiona the space.
Fiona crossed the room toward Marley. “I hope you don’t mind. Aiden mentioned the theater, and I had to see it again. This place is more gorgeous than I remembered.”
Marley grimaced as she looked around. “It’s something all right. It’s dusty and worn. No one’s been down here in years.”
“What do you think about restoring it, keeping as much of the original architecture as possible?” Fiona asked.
“I told her we didn’t have the money for a full renovation now. But maybe we could look into what it would take to have a working theater again,” I said to Marley.
Marley looked at Fiona. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I didn’t want to get Fiona’s hopes up, but Marley had an instinct for this kind of thing. She knew when something was valuable and when it wasn’t. So I backed away while Fiona took her through the theater, telling her everything she wanted to keep: the chairs, the curtain, and even the wood on the floor of the stage.
“We’d have to get a contractor’s opinion. Maybe have Heath take a look at it and give us an estimate,” Marley said.
“I can help with the work,” I offered.
Marley raised a brow. “How are you going to do that and run the front desk, fix whatever needs to be repaired, and handle breakfast for the guests?”
I let out a breath. “If you’re on board with renovating the theater, I’d consider hiring someone to handle the front desk.”
Marley nodded. “I think Cole’s sister, Charlotte, is looking for a job. She’s been helping around the shop and the farm. We could talk to her about it, but are you sure you’re ready to give up the day-to-day running of the inn?”
“I’ll still be around. I’ll fix things as issues arise, but it would be nice to have more freedom and not be tied to the front desk.” Marley and Heath used to live at the inn to assist with the daily operations. When I got more comfortable with it, Marley and Heath moved back to his cabin. It wouldn’t be easy handing that duty over to someone who wasn’t family but I wanted to free up time to work on the theater.
Marley grinned at Fiona. “I’ve been trying to get him to hire someone for ages. I guess we have you to thank.”
Fiona’s eyes widened. “I don’t know about that.”
I waved Marley off. “Let’s not make a big deal out of it. You wanted to show movies to the guests, and we can play them in the great room on a projector, but a theater would be even better.”
It was small, nothing like a regular movie theater, but it could hold a decent amount of people.
“If you want to keep the original seats, we’d be able to get more people in here for showings. Most theaters have those recliner-style seats, and they take up more room.”
Fiona peeked under one of the cloths, sending dust into the air. “I think we should keep them. They add to the ambiance.”
“I agree.”
“Do we sell tickets, or is it something we offer for free?” Marley asked Fiona, and I could tell she was testing Fiona’s knowledge of marketing and business.
“I think people expect to pay for a movie, especially in a setting like this. Hotels host movie nights, but guests usually sit on the floor, and they’re directed toward kids.” Fiona leaned a hip against the arm rest. “This will be a full-service theater. There’s even a concession stand.”
I was positive it was the tone Fiona used when she consulted with various hotel managers on site.
Marley nodded. “Let me think about it. I’ll get Heath over here to inspect the space. I suspect we’ll need to add larger bathrooms to comply with building regulations.”
From what I remembered, there was only one individual bathroom down here, but there was plenty of space to expand.
Fiona considered Marley. “What do you think about renovating the entire space?”
“Fiona worked for a large hotel chain in management.”
