Page 45 of A Package Deal

“I thought you liked it here.” Mrs. Hart sounded hurt.

“I need my space.” Pris shrugged.

“Well, if your inside-out sweater and the rug burn on your neck are anything to go by, I guess you do,” Mrs. Hart said, smiling sweetly.

Pris blushed and placed her hand on her neck. “Let me know when I can move in,” she mumbled as she slumped in her chair.

“You’re cutting back your hours, moving in with us until we find something else”—Chet pulled her close against him—“and starting a new cake business. Is there anything else?” He looked at her like she’d just earned a blue ribbon at the state fair, and she knew what his favorite change was: her being with him. Forever.

“I’m taking my dad on the Alaska cruise he’s talked about going on for years. In August. I already booked the tickets and we’re taking the train to Denali National Park and spending a few days there before we fly back.”

“Well, I’ll be.” Gus grinned. “That sounds wonderful, Nelie-girl.”

“And I never got my FL vacation, so I want to go this month. And I want to rent a convertible.”I won’t own one, but I can sure as heck rent one!Nelie looked up at Chet. “Can we pull the girls out of school for a few days?” From the dazed look on Chet’s face, she knew he was thinking about the red bikini.

“Family members get a huge discount. Go anywhere you want,” Jackson said.

“But leave the girls with us,” Suzanne said. “Between me, Pris, and my mom, I know we can handle it.” The three women beamed at Chet.

“Hard to say no to an offer like that,” Chet said. “Let’s do it.” He dropped a kiss on Nelie’s head.

“No eloping though.” Gus waggled his finger at them with a scowl on his face.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Dad.”

“Anything else on your oyster list?” Chet asked.Only you, she thought, hoping he’d see the love on her face.

“That’s it for now. Does anyone have any questions or concerns?” Nelie held her breath. Surely Gus wouldn’t be the only one thinking she was crazy.

“None for me, but depending on where you’re going, I might have you secret-shop for us, in which case, you’ll stay for free,” Jackson said.

“Let me know the properties, and we’ll chose one of those. Gotta pitch in, right?” Nelie said.

“If you’re all done rebuilding yourself with oysters and Legos, I’m going to get some more of that bread pudding. There’d better be more of that spicy sauce, too,” Gus mumbled as he walked past and patted her shoulder. Nelie knew they’d be okay. Her family loved her for her, not what she could do for them. And if anyone else didn’t like Nelie’s new attitude, they could stuff it!

“There’sonemorething,”Suzanne said once everyone settled in with more dessert and wine. “We’d like this to be in the paper. We don’t want to hide it anymore.”

Nelie looked surprised by her birthmother’s announcement, but Mrs. Hart and Gus nodded their heads.Three against me, Chet thought. “I hate to disappoint you, but this isn’t news. It’s interesting, but it isn’t newspaper worthy.”

“Well, Hart Hotels has its first new board seat in over thirty years and there’s a new one for CHART, or Chance Resorts. That’s business news,” Suzanne argued.News to me, too,but he wasn’t concerned Nelie hadn’t told him. With all her other changes, this was nothing. He wondered how much of an interest she’d take in the Hart and CHART businesses, but since it was family, he knew she’d make it a priority.

“Sure, that’s news, and I could publish that. But the metro papers might pick it up. If that happens, it will just add speculation and fuel the grapevine.” Chet hated being in this position. New board seats were news, boring business news, but still news. If it was anyone but Nelie, he’d have no qualms about publishing it. But it was Nelie, and he didn’t want her hurt by speculation on why she had board seats.

“Which is why you need to explain the backstory,” Gus said.

“But that’s not news.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Suzanne drained her wineglass. “You ran an article last month about a man who wears a top hat around his backyard with birdseed on it. There were at least three chickadees and two juncos perched on his hat in the picture.”

“That was a human-interest piece.”And a slow news week with a page I had to fill.

“This is a human-interest story. We don’t want to hide this anymore. Help us make this right,” Suzanne pleaded.

“Please?” Nelie looked at him as if he was her only hope. “It will help us control the story, and everyone will learn about it at the same time.”

“What about your immediate circle of friends? Shouldn’t they know before everyone else?” he asked. Nelie’s brows furrowed in concentration.

Jackson snapped his finger. “We’ll invite them to our house and tell them all at once. Time it so they hear a few days before the newspaper article.” He looked around the room as if it was a done deal.

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