Page 158 of Sapphire Sunset

And just like that, it seemed, he’d earned the right to akiss, a true one, a long one, a lingering and grateful one that coursed withgratitude, connection, and relief.

“I have to ask you something,” Connor finally whispered.

“Ask away.” Logan smoothed Connor’s bangs back from hisforehead.

“Knowing that I will take you any way I can get you, do youstill want me to accept your resignation?” Connor asked.

“What are the conferences saying?” Logan asked.

“I have to let the Lighthouse Foundation know of ourdecision soon. And it looks like Sylvia Milton is giving them a donation to getthem to hold the line.”

“And if they cancel?”

“It’s not good any way you slice it. A sale might be likely.Especially if it inspires other conferences to pull out. But the interviewmight change things. There’s no telling how they’ll feel tomorrow.”

“I don’t think they’ll want Sylvia Milton’s money any less,and I’m not sure heaven and earth could get that woman to change her mind aboutall this.”

“I wish I could disagree, but I can’t,” Connor said.

“I love this place,” Logan said. “I really do, always have.But I love you more, and I can’t turn you into the reason everyone might losetheir job in a few months. I can’t be the reason either. We wouldn’t just bemaking a decision for us. We’d be making a decision for everyone who workshere. I can’t live with that, and neither can you.”

Suddenly, Connor was looking over Logan’s shoulder. Worriedhe’d angered him, Logan reached up and caressed the side of Connor’s cheek withone bent, crooked finger. But Connor was thinking, deeply. Planning.

“What if we don’t make the decision?” Connor asked.

Connor thought they might have troublewrangling at least a handful of Sapphire Cove’s employees. But the crowd thatgreeted them in the Seahorse Ballroom the next morning was expansive, and LoisPenry assured him it included everyone currently employed by the hotel.

The cushioned conference chairs were arranged in close, evenrows, spanning the length of the hotel’s smaller ballroom. Behind them, a wallof glass offered a view south down a coast painted with morning sun. Throughit, a few lingering wildfire evacuees paused during their morning strolls togaze curiously inside, wondering what urgent matter called for assembling thehotel’s staff in such an organized way.

Lois Penry and Harris Mitchell stood off to one side, watchingthe gathering crowd with blank expressions. And then there was Logan, standingby himself, a few feet from where Connor was getting ready to speak into thewireless microphone they’d handed him. The sight of Logan back inside histypical uniform of blue blazer and khakis made Connor wobbly inside.

Behind Connor were two rolling white boards. When it wastime, Lois Penry would turn them so the room could see the large-print bulletpoints taped to the other side.

The room needed no time to settle. There’d been noconversations or whispers as everyone filed in. They could feel the seriousnessin the air, and their eyes were glued to Connor from the minute they sank intotheir chairs.

He took a breath, raised the microphone, and began to speak.

“I want to thank all of you for gathering on such shortnotice. Especially those of you who came in on your day off. Although, for mostof us, days off feel like a thing of the past.” There was some graciouslaughter, all of it telling him the attendees were as nervous as he was. “Assome of you may already know, the Lighthouse Foundation is scheduled to hosttheir annual conference with us in three weeks. What you may not know is that threedays ago they contacted us and made a specific request. If this request is notmet, they will very likely cancel their conference altogether. If that were tohappen, there’s a good chance that in the next few months Sapphire Cove willhave to seriously engage an outside buyer. In other words, we’d have to sellthe hotel.” A few gasps went up from the crowd. “And given the actions of myuncle and Buddy Haskins and others, there’s a high likelihood a new buyerwouldn’t agree to retain most of the current staff, most of you.”

Connor took the quietest deep breath he could and continued.“The request the Lighthouse Foundation has made is that Sapphire Cove would berequired to terminate Logan Murdoch’s employment immediately.”

More gasps this time, and a low murmur of angry conversation.Connor waited for them to settle.

“The reasoning expressed is that he’s the only remainingmember of a security department that was once supervised by Buddy Haskins andmy uncle. And for those of you who haven’t heard, Buddy Haskins entered a guiltyplea this morning. Now as you’re probably all aware by now, Logan Murdoch and Ihave entered into a relationship, and as a result of this relationship we feel stronglythat neither one of us is objective enough to make a decision of this magnitudeon behalf of all of you. And so we’re going to put this matter to a vote. Avote by you, a vote by secret ballot. And while I would have preferred to giveeveryone more time to consider their decision in this matter, given the timeframe placed on us by the Lighthouse Foundation, this vote will need to beconducted within the next few hours.”

Connor signaled to Lois. She stepped forward and turned bothrolling boards so that they faced the audience. Most of those seated satforward a little to better read the large, bright print spelling out the consequencesof a vote to accept Lighthouse’s condition on one, and a vote to reject on theother.

“The matter on which you’ll cast your vote is whether toaccept or reject this condition placed on Sapphire Cove by the LighthouseFoundation. On the boards behind me, you’ll see a clear outline of theconsequences of both votes. These bullet points were not prepared by me or byLogan Murdoch, nor were they subject to our approval. They’ve been prepared bythe manager of the trust that currently owns this hotel, using detailedfinancial projections, and in the most objective and comprehensive manner possibleso as to give you a clear, unbiased portrait of how a certain vote will impactthe hotel and your employment here. We also have handouts for each of you to reviewbefore you cast your ballot.”

Connor had only been able to bring himself to look at theother sides of the boards once before his stomach clenched up. The phrasepossiblecascade of cancellations into the next calendar yearwas as far as he goton the REJECT board. But right now, all he could see was the sea of facesbefore him. Some were sad. Others looked shocked. A few were openly angry.

“As I said, your ballot will be secret,” Connor continued.“There will be no repercussions from me or anyone who answers to me as a resultof this vote. Everyone’s vote counts the same, whether you’ve been here threeyears or three weeks. All of you, everyone sitting in this room, had theopportunity to abandon this place during its worst moment, and all of you choseto stay and fight it out.”

The next point was the hardest for him to say. Logan hadinsisted on it. Connor hadn’t fought. But still, it was a bitter pill, and hehadn’t swallowed it all the way yet. “Given the magnitude of the decision, asimple majority will not suffice. The winning choice will require athree-fourths vote.

“Now I need to say something before I turn the microphoneover to Logan,” Connor said. “My grandfather founded this place on a singleprinciple—that if he treated the employees well, they would treat the guestswell, and he would have a successful business because of it. For the most part,this place has done its best to stay true to that spirit. To his spirit. Butthere’s no doubt my uncle’s crimes will tarnish that legacy for some time tocome, and it will take years of work to overcome it. And so it’s my job to staytrue to it now. Sapphire Cove isn’t a building. It isn’t a piece of property.It isn’t a bunch of rooms. It’s certainly not the general manager, and it isn’teven the guests. It’s you. You deserve the right to decide its future. Not me,not the bank. Not a room full of lawyers or board members. But all of you.”

Connor nodded at Logan. He approached and took themicrophone. They both avoided each other’s eyes, knowing they’d probably tearup if they didn’t.

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