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Aiden’s jaw tightened. “I don’t want you to fund it. I think the business should run itself.”
Marley placed her hands on her hips. “I co-own the property. I want to invest in it.”
“You may have inherited it, but you added me to the deed when I retired from the military and moved home.”
“I did, and I’ll listen to your opinion on the matter. But I think this is something we have to do.”
“You follow your gut. But we need to look at the reality of a situation. It’s not feasible to do everything you want.”
Marley cocked her head. “I’m successful because I listened to my intuition. You’d do well to remember that.”
Aiden held up his hands as if to ward her off. “I’m proud of you. But I don’t know how you make decisions that way.”
Marley thought about it for a few seconds, then said, “You’re used to people telling you what to do.” Then she touched her chest. “You have to get in touch with yourself, listen to the feelings in your body. The more you do it, the better you’ll get. You’ll know when something is right for you.”
I couldn’t help but compare the situation to me and Aiden’s relationship. He wouldn’t have known what was right back then because he was so consumed with this idea that he wasn’t good enough. That he had to prove himself to someone. He wasn’t in touch with his true feelings. He had no idea what he wanted. That helped ease the pain because if I thought he broke things off because he truly didn’t want me, that was the worst.
“What do you think, Fiona?” Marley asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I leaned against a chair. I couldn’t wait until we could sit in the theater and get the full effect. “I want to see Heath’s plans for the space. I don’t think we can move forward without that. I’m just used to working with numbers.” I also didn’t want to get between the siblings in an argument over money. They’d have to make the hard decisions themselves. “I’m happy to help with the movie theater renovation and consult on the rest of it.”
“I appreciate that. I’m excited to work together,” Marley said to me, and then to Aiden, “I guess we’re stuck until Heath gets back to us. Good thing I know the contractor. I’ll make sure he puts us on the top of the list.”
Aiden sighed. “I’m sure he already did.”
Marley checked her phone. “I have to record my podcast. But I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something.”
She hugged Aiden and waved at me before she left.
“We can’t move forward with all the renovations, but if you’re sure we’re renovating the theater, we can at least clean it.”
I rubbed my hands together. “I can’t wait to get started. But I thought you had to stay close to the front desk?”
“I installed a video.” He showed me the feed. “And the phone is forwarded to my cell. Charlotte’s coming in later today to discuss the job.”
“That’s exciting. I bet you can’t wait for her to start.”
“I like to be in control, so it might be hard for me to let her handle the front desk and the incoming reservations.”
“Do you really want to handle the customers? You don’t seem like a people person.” I asked as we worked together to remove the sheets hung over the chairs.
“I can handle the basics: reserving a room, checking someone in, and showing them to their room. But what I don’t like is telling them about the paintings of the inn for sale or Holly’s ornaments.”
“You don’t like to sell to people.” I sneezed from the dust.
He gestured wide with his hands. “But this? I won’t have any issues telling the guests about it. It’s going to be perfect.”
“It’s this little gem that’s been hidden down here for too long. When we reopen it, there will be people who remember coming here when they were younger, and others who can’t wait to see a piece of history.”
“It’s like the ballroom upstairs. It’s unique for a small inn. I’ll run and get a couple of vacuums so we can clear out some of this dust.”
“What do you want me to do with these cloths?” I gestured at the pile we’d made on the ground.
“Throw them out. We won’t be needing them anymore.” I loved that Aiden was so into the renovation of the theater. I thought it would be good for him to do something for his grandmother. He was still deployed when Marley performed the other renovations. I wondered if being down here would bring up other memories for him.
I carried the cloths to the dumpster. It took several trips, and when I was done, Aiden was running one of the vacuums down the aisle. I took the second one and ran it over the red carpet. The aisles had tiny lights that lit the way for guests. When we finished with the floors, we moved onto the chairs that were red velvet with gold detailing.
Aiden stopped the vacuum and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Should we keep the wallpaper?”
