Nothing good ever comes from a knock on your door in the middle of the night, and I sat up straight in bed, startled awake from the good night's sleep. Springing to my feet, I wrapped my short silk robe over my barely-there pajamas and rushed to the door.

After peeking through the peephole, I swung it open to find my head night janitor, Victor. He tipped his green Reynard hat and kept his eyes respectfully on my face as he said, "Deepest apologies for interruptin' your sleep, Miss Fox, but we have a major problem in the basement."

I stepped outside into the hallway and crossed my arms over my chest, my heart already sinking at the mention of yet another issue to deal with. "That's all right, Victor. What's going on?"

"I went down to the basement to gather some more cleanin' supplies when I heard a rushin' sound. I could guess what it was, and when I took the first step down, I knew I was right." He held out his legs one at a time to show they were soaked to the knees. "Water main break. The entire basement is flooded. Water risin' as we speak. Kenny is tryin' to get the flow to quit, but you may need to call your brother."

I gripped my hair in my hands and clenched my jaw. This was bad...really bad. "My brother is in Boston for the weekend. Larry and Lloyd are gone. What am I gonna—"

"We'll help." Soren stood shoulder to shoulder with Archer at the end of the hall. They looked like some creepy, sexy twins from a porn spoof of The Shining.

We? I slowly turned my head and smiled at Soren, and in the same split second, cut my eyes to Archer with a scowl that I hoped made him feel like the shithead he was.

"Thank you, Soren," I said, pointedly refusing to further acknowledge his brother's presence.

Archer shook his head and rolled his eyes as if I were being childish. "You're welcome, Gemma," he said before his brother had a chance to speak.

Soren nudged him in the shoulder—a discreet shut up.

"Let's go see how bad the damage is," I said, breezing past them.

It was worse than I could have imagined. The water was rising quickly and almost to Soren and Archer's thighs as they trudged across the basement to help Kenny. I waited just above the waterline on the stairs, clenching my robe around me and shivering from the cold, damp air. The lights in the underground room were flickering, like they were ready to combust at any moment and add a fire to the hotel's problems.

"I'm going to have to cut off the water to the hotel," Kenny said. "The leak is bubbling up through a crack in the concrete."

"I know where the valve is," said Soren, making his way back to me.

Kenny seemed unfazed by a "stranger" knowing the ins and outs of the hotel. It seemed to be the way of the staff to pretend that it wasn't strange that two twenty-something men were always hanging around and not paying for a room. Kenny just kept pressing whatever it was in his hands to the entry point, trying to slow the flow.

"Arch, can you call around and see if we can get a plumbing company out here that has an industrial sump pump. Don't bother with a local company; go for the bigger cities," Soren said, raising his voice over the water sloshing around his legs.

"I'm on it."

I pressed my back to the wall to avoid any contact as Archer took the steps two at a time.

"You're going to have to evacuate the hotel, Gemma," Soren said, the side of his mouth kicked up in a sad smile. "Hopefully, we can get someone out here before the water does too much damage to the foundation. But until we know, this isn't safe for your guests. Not to mention we can't leave them with no running water."

I rested my head against the cool stone and closed my eyes, gritting my teeth so hard that my jaw ticked. Why could nothing be easy for me? Just when I feel like I've handled one challenge, I'm thrown an entirely new one. It was exhausting in a way that left me not only tired but questioning if I could do this.

"Soren, where am I going to send them? What am I supposed to do? I don't know how to handle this!" I opened my eyes and met his gaze, hoping to find some answers there.

"Call the Spelling Inn and the Cauldron Hotel; both owners had a good relationship with Hazel, and they will help you to relocate everyone. You're going to have to start processing refunds, but Larry can help you with that when he gets in." He squeezed my arm. "It will be all right. I hate to leave that all to you, but I've got to get this water shut off."

"Go. I've got this," I said with more certainty than I felt.

Soren nodded and trudged back through the water, calling out to Kenny across the room, and I ran back upstairs to the front desk to begin the process of breaking it to my guests that they'd have to leave.

Six hours later, Larry was processing the last refund and the hotel was empty except for the employees, all the guests safely at neighboring hotels. I pushed open the screen door and collapsed into one of the Adirondack chairs on the back porch. Now that everything was quiet, the weight of the night's events crushed me, and tears began to fall down my face.

How did I go from booming success on Halloween to disaster in December? I was finally starting to feel like I was getting the hang of it when the fines popped up, and now this? How would I ever dig myself out of this hole?

If Raven could see me now...she'd have the Reynard in her name before New Year's Eve.

I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my forehead on them, my tears soaking my bare skin. I'd never had time to change out of my pajamas, even though I probably should have for professionalism's sake. But that was honestly the last thing on my mind.

The screen door creaked and slammed, and footsteps sounded off the recently repaired deck. "They're setting up the pumps now, and your brother is waiting for the insurance adjuster. How are you holding up?" Soren asked, sitting in the chair next to mine.

I lifted my head and met his gaze, my eyes no doubt red and swollen, my cheeks tear stained. "What do you think?"

"I think all your guests are safely relocated, your staff is working hard to get things cleaned up, and hopefully the insurance company moves fast. But we can always be grateful for two out of three." He smiled, and it was annoyingly contagious.

"You're right. It's just—my parents are coming in two weeks. What if it doesn't get cleaned up before then? It'll all be over for me," I said, fooling with a loose hem on my shorts and my teeth chattering.

Soren stood and shrugged out of the wool coat he was wearing. He draped it over my shoulders before squatting in front of my chair, a hand on each arm, caging me in and unintentionally taking my breath away.

"Look, I've watched this place go through ups and downs, and every time it pulled out all right. And to be honest, most of your relatives before you were truly incompetent people. The Reynard is in good hands with you, so don't let the high expectations of your parents set you up to fail now."

I looked down at him and slid my arms into the sleeves of his jacket. "Thank you, Soren. For helping me. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up."

"You're welcome." He squeezed my knee, his hand lingering, warm on my skin.

The energy between us was a minuscule spark that rapidly snapped the closer we got. Soren watched my mouth, and I focused on his eyes. When he drew closer, I licked my lips, tasting the air to see if it was coated with that same sweet electricity. I exhaled, and his gaze met mine.

"I should go," he whispered, letting go of the chair and standing, putting some space between us.

I held back a sigh, but it came out as a strangled noise in the back of my throat. I nodded to try to cover my mortification. "O-okay," I murmured, running my fingers through my hair and looking down at my feet, my cheeks heated to an uncomfortable temperature.

"Gemma, I—"

I shook my head and stood. "It's fine. Thanks again for everything," I mumbled, shrugging out of his coat and pushing it to his chest. I slid around him and entered the building before he could say another word.

When I was out of his sight, I leaned against the wall in the hallway and ran my hands over my face. It was weird, I knew it was—me wanting to kiss Soren after Archer. But it didn't soothe the sting of knowing he didn't want to kiss me in return.