“You’re stubborn,” he teased.
“Absolutely.”
He brought my knuckles to his lips. “I like that you’re stubborn. But I’d like it even more if you loved your job.”
“I don’t dislike my job.”
“That’s not the same.”
“I know,” I mumbled. “Eloise would not be happy with you if I told her you were trying to get me to quit.”
“Eloise wouldn’t be happy with me for a lot of things where the hotel is concerned.” He blew out a long breath. “My parents have been asking me to take it over.”
“What?” I sat up straighter. “When?”
“It’s been a discussion for a while. I haven’t really wanted to make a decision so I’ve put it on the back burner. But . . . I can’t ignore it forever. Their vision is to have all of the family businesses stay in the family. Griffin has the ranch. Lyla has Eden Coffee. The hotel is the next question mark and they’d like me to take it.”
Knox? Really? “Don’t get mad at me for this, but . . . I’ve always seen it as Eloise’s.”
He gave me a soft smile. “I’ll never be mad when you’re honest. And it is hers.”
“Then why wouldn’t they want her to have it?”
“She’s young. I love my sister’s heart, but there have been times when she’s led with that heart and made the wrong business decision. Mom and Dad just got out of a lawsuit with a former employee. It’s been . . . stressful.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize.” Eloise had told me a lot about her family and the hotel and Quincy in general, but not about a lawsuit. “Do you even want to run the hotel?”
“Not really,” he admitted. “But I’d rather take over than have Mom and Dad sell it.”
I grimaced. The hotel wouldn’t be the hotel without the Edens. Without Eloise.
“If I did it, hopefully nothing much would change. I don’t want to take Eloise’s job. But rather than her answering to my parents, she’d answer to me. And I’d be fairly hands-off, just there to step in for the harder conversations.”
Considering I rarely saw Harrison or Anne at the hotel, I doubted Eloise would mind going to Knox instead. Maybe she’d actually like having someone closer to bounce ideas off of. Still . . . why did this feel so wrong?
“Feels like a betrayal.” He voiced the answer to my unasked question. “Did you know that Eloise was named after our great-great-grandmother, Eloise Eden? It was her hotel.”
“She told me that on my third day.”
“She’s proud. She should be. She’s worked hard.” He waved it off. “Anyway . . . I wanted you to know. Get your thoughts. We don’t have to talk about it today.”
The nerves I’d been battling all morning spiked as we drove underneath a log archway. At its apex was the Eden ranch brand.
“Why am I nervous?” It wasn’t like I hadn’t met Knox’s entire family. His siblings were often at the hotel. His parents were too. Talia was Drake’s doctor.
But today was a family function at Harrison and Anne’s home. And I was the girlfriend joining a holiday gathering for the first time.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about. Well, except Eloise mentioned baking cookies. Steer clear of those.”
I giggled as he rolled down a gravel road bordered by barbed-wire fences. Beneath the evergreens that towered over the land, the ground was covered in a blanket of snow. It was peaceful. Serene.
“This is lovely,” I said.
“It’s a beautiful slice of the world.”
I smiled. “It is. But I love your slice on Juniper Hill more.”
“Me too.” He winked and drove the rest of the way while I studied the countryside.
My heart raced when a log house with a wraparound porch came into view. The home stood proudly in a clearing through the trees. Beyond a wide, open lot was a shop building.
Opposite it was an enormous barn and stables.
Every roof was dusted with snow. A plume of smoke came from the house’s chimney. A string of vehicles was parked outside.
“Are we late?” I asked.
“No. We’re not eating until later,” he said, parking the car.
“But I’m guessing everyone’s been here most of the day, hanging out.”
“Okay.” My fingers shook as I unclipped my seat belt.
My family’s holiday meals were usually short and quiet.
We’d sit around the table, staring at our phones through the meal. After our last Thanksgiving, the staff had barely begun clearing the empty plates before we’d all scattered.