Now it was time for Connor to utter the words that madeLogan want to take the guy in his arms and shield him with his body.
“I’ll be happy to take a few questions,” Connor said.
During the eruption of shouts, Connor pointed to anewscaster crouched down in front of the crowd. Due to the glare, he could onlysee her silhouette, but her voice was TV ready. “Mr. Harcourt, what are you goingto say in response to people who claim you’re simply using the victims of a naturaldisaster to distract from this scandal?”
“I’d say the only people who can answer that question willbe the evacuees themselves. When they’re free to return to their homes, askthem directly, and if they say they felt used during their time here, then Iwill have failed to live up to the promise I made today. But my goal and thegoal of everyone who works here is not to use their status as victims, but tomake them forget it for as long as they’re sheltered at Sapphire Cove.”
“Mr. Harcourt,” another voice in the crowd shouted. “Haveyou put a timeframe on how long you’re going to allow them to stay?”
“For as long as they’re unable to return to their homes.That’s the timeframe. Next?”
The next questions were the ones they’d anticipated—mostlyattempts to get details of the FBI investigation the hotel didn’t have andwouldn’t share if it did.
Then came the one they’d feared most.
“Mr. Harcourt,” another voice shouted. “Earlier today,Sylvia Milton, the widow of one of your uncle’s alleged victims, had this tosay about your hiring this morning, and I quote ‘It remains to be seen howswiftly installing the nephew of the perpetrator of these crimes will doanything to purge Sapphire Cove of its culture of criminality and corruption,especially given the young man seems to have no experience in hotel managementwhatsoever.’ What do you have to say to that?”
Logan waited for Connor’s face to flush or his jaw toclench, but instead, their new general manager cleared his throat and spokewith the steadiness of a seasoned politician. “Yes, it’s true I have noexperience in hotel management. I have experience in event planning, whichthose of us in the business like to say is managing one crisis after another.And hotels, for the most part, are a series of contained crises. Like this one.
“Five years ago, my family expected me to take a position atthis hotel. Rodney Harcourt, however, believed my homosexuality would damage thishotel’s brand, and so he waged a campaign to convince my father and grandfatherof the same thing. Rather than allow my family to be further divided by hishomophobia and abuse, I chose a different path, which is why I spent the lastfive years working in New York City as an event planner.
“I’m back now because it was the wishes of my late fatherand grandfather that I take the reins should Rodney Harcourt’s troubled pastbring charges of this nature against the business they’d spent decadesbuilding. And so it’s now my responsibility to ensure the FBI is unimpeded intheir investigation and to ensure that those staff members who had nothing todo with this alleged scheme are given the opportunity to keep their jobs. Jobs,I might add, that they’ve performed so well over the years that Sapphire Covehas been the recipient of multiple awards and accolades from the travelindustry. And in a very short time, it will also be our responsibility to carefor some very frightened people who are in need of shelter, comfort, and a respitefrom troubles that make ours here at Sapphire Cove today pale in comparison.Thank you for your time, but I need to get ready for our new guests. That’s allfor today.”
There were more shouted questions, but most of them drownedeach other out.
Once they were standing in the lobby, Logan and Connor weregreeted with smiles and enthusiastic nods and even a thumbs-up or two from thestaff members who’d watched the press conference on their devices. A sign thatmaybe, just maybe, it had been a success.
“How’d I do?” Connor asked.
“Most excellent,” Logan said.
“Are you sure?”
“Most sure,” Logan answered.
Naser appeared next to them. “While I’m not sure the lawyerswill agree with the extent to which you dragged Rodney’s ass back and forthover hot gravel until we saw bone, I certainly enjoyed it and will probably bere-watching it several times before bed.”
“All right, well, excellent,” Connor said. “We’ve got someguests to prepare for then.”
When Connor gave him a heart-melting smile, Logan tried tosmile back in a way that wouldn’t make clear to everyone in the lobby that ConnorHarcourt made hard parts of him melt and soft parts of him hard. Also, he wasrelieved that no one, especially Connor, had figured out how long he’d spent inthe bathroom fighting tears after he’d been granted the promotion he’d wantedfor five years. And on a day when he thought he might have to say goodbye toSapphire Cove forever.
12
Most of the evacuees arrived in school buses.Bright yellow, shockingly out of place as they rounded the ornate Frenchfountain in the center of the motor court. The dazed passengers they disgorgedcarried plastic milk crates and bulging duffel bags and anything else theycould stuff with their most prized possessions before the fire department hadordered them out of their homes. Most cats were in carriers. Most dogs onleashes. The buses made things easier for the hotel, made it easier to matchnames of new arrivals to the lists the city officials had provided.
Others clearly weren’t comfortable leaving theirbelongings-stuffed cars behind at the city shelter parking lots, so they camein their own vehicles turned mobile storage units, some blackened by the smokeand grit of quick escapes from the flames, their back seats piled high withboxes and suitcases. They came quickly and eagerly, spurred on by cityofficials desperate to free up shelter space as the fire grew and grew. Anursing home was within its sights next. After that, an apartment complex.
Some evacuees, to Connor’s astonishment, were actuallysmoke-blackened themselves, the whites of their eyes shockingly bright as theystared up at the hotel’s pastel façade as if they thought they’d reached heavenafter a long trudge through hell.
The last thing he wanted was a crush in the lobby that madethese poor people wait any longer for a good rest. To say nothing of how bad itwould look to the cameras outside. Reception had fanned gateleg tables acrossthe lobby’s width, the kind they used for conference registrations, and thestaff had rolled out a remote check-in system they only used during peakperiods to take pressure off the front desk. Instead of credit cardinformation, they took names and driver’s license numbers and printed room keyswith handheld readers. Families of more than three were given the firstavailable villa or suite, groups of three or less were given regular rooms.
With Naser at his side, Connor circulated through the crowd,listening closely for any sign the headcounts provided by the city officialswere off. If they ran out of rooms, this would be a disaster. But so far, sogood.
For the first time that day, the lobby was full of peoplewhose expressions betrayed no harsh judgments or irritation or sick fascination.Given what they’d endured over the past two days, watching orange rims of firecreep over dry mountainsides toward their homes, it was doubtful they knewanything about the hotel’s scandal at all. They were people on the cusp oflosing everything they’d owned, and now they were close to a shower and acomfortable bed and surrounded by soft, warm light and cool air conditioning,and to them that was all that mattered.
It was amazing to watch this dance between the single-mindedneed of the arriving evacuees and the collective sense of purpose with whichthe staff rose to meet it, staff members who’d been in fear of losing theirjobs hours before. In essence, it was unfolding exactly how Connor had describedit to the reporters outside. This was an act that uncovered the fundamentals ofwhat a place like Sapphire Cove was supposed to do for all who stepped throughits doors. Provide for them, anticipate their needs, make them forget the worldoutside.
As they worked, Naser scrolled through coverage of the pressconference to see how it had gone over. Every now and then Connor shot him alook, and Naser gave him a thumbs-up that said whatever he was reading waslargely positive.