“I wish we’d known. I’m sure Mom and Dad would have come and brought you home to live with us.” Bella glanced at the others and they nodded their heads in unison. “We would have loved you growing up with us.”
“You’re all very sweet but we can’t change things now. All I’m hoping is for Noah to get to know his family and have things go smoothly. He’s had a pretty rough few years with Rake’s illness. I want him to get to know Ethan and have fun with him even if there isn’t anything between us.”
Dakota smiled at her. “And what do you want with Ethan, Mari?”
“Excuse me, Mari?” Her barman, Keith stuck his head around the door. “The builder’s looking for you. A problem with the ceiling in the attic and he said he needs to discuss it with you.”
She stumbled over her own feet as her sisters cat-called and thumped their palms on the bar making a ruckus she wished they wouldn’t.
“Ooh, Mari. Ethan needs you.” Dakota burst out laughing at her attempt to tease.
“Shut up, you.” Mari swiped at her to cover up the sudden rush of heat she felt at those words. “As owner, I can hardly ignore the man, can I?” She smoothed down her hair and glared at her sisters.
“Amuse yourselves for a minute will you?” She ignored the raised eyebrows of her sisters and hurried out to find Ethan. Just how much more was this going to cost? She didn’t have a never-ending supply of money.
There was no point blaming either Ethan or Christian for the problem even though they did the inspection when she purchased the Lake Hotel. It was an old building and, anything with this much age on it, she had to expect problems. Not ideal but there she had it.
She bounded up the stairs, glancing down the first level hallway for Ethan before continuing up to the attic. She walked into the crowded storage area looking for him. “Ethan?” She walked around an old hutch dresser laden with dust-covered boxes and pulled up short when a resounding crack of timber sent a shiver up her spine and her blood went cold.
“Mari!” Ethan’s voice came up the stairs along with his footfalls. “Do not go in the attic.”
Too late! The floor gave way and she stumbled to escape. Mari launched herself toward the doorway but found herself falling.
*
“Don’t move, anyone.” Ethan tried to calm his breathing while surveying the situation.
Nothing good would come of him panicking. Not with Mari lying facedown, teetering close to the hole in the floor, her fingers clawing at the dusty boards for grip. Her foot seemed to be stuck in another rotten spot close by to the area he’d already discovered. He shouted out to anyone that could hear him. “Call 911.”
Footsteps pounded up the stairs and stopped behind him.
“What the heck?” Keith gripped the doorframe and stared over his at Ethan. “What can I do?”
“Nothing until emergency services gets here. It’ll be quicker than us moving the scaffolding over and we’d never reach her from where it is now.” He lowered his voice. “Mari, I’m coming to help you. I want you to try and keep as still as you can, sweetheart. Okay?”
Her panic-stricken face was pale with fear.
“I’m going to come and get you. You’re not alone. Do not move a muscle.” He lay down and slithered over the floor to distribute his weight and hopefully make it safer for him to reach her. If he walked across as she’d done, there was a good chance they’d both fall through the ceiling. The rot must be more widespread than he thought. She was yards away from the damage he’d discovered in the double height ceilings moments earlier.
“There must be something else I can do?” Keith spoke from the door.
“Stay where you are for now and don’t let anyone in here. I don’t want to risk anyone else on this floor. We have no way of knowing how far this goes.” Ethan moved between a dusty trunk and an old rocking chair on his belly, the dust catching in the back of his throat.
He could see the situation better now that he was closer. Mari’s foot was jammed in a rotten patch of flooring close to where he’d been working earlier. The gaping hole behind her reminded him just how dangerous and widespread this situation was.
“Hey, Ethan, can you hear me?” Ben called up from the ballroom.
“Yeah, I hear you.”
“Fire rescue is on the way. What more can we do?”
“Pray.” He inched forward, sweat trickling down his face.
He reached out, grabbed Mari’s hand in his. Her fingers dug into his palm. A trickle of tears rolled down her pale cheeks. He needed to defuse the situation before she panicked and moved enough to fall any further. He’d seen how quick the timber disintegrated when he was pulling out ceiling boards. A small puff of dust was the only warning he had before a massive dump fell around his head. “Funny. You always had me believing you were fearless.”
A laugh escaped her lips then caught on a sob. “I’m good at illusion then.” She blinked. “Ethan, I don’t know if I can hold on. Please don’t let me fall.”
“I promise I won’t. I need you to relax and let emergency services do their job. We’ll get you out of here safe and sound.” He slithered closer and grabbed her other hand. “I don’t want you to make a single move, okay?” Years of stale dust clung to his clothes reminding him just how old this building was.
“I wasn’t planning on it.” Mari closed her eyes and breathed through her mouth. “Talk to me. Tell me something, anything to keep me from panicking.”
“Not much to tell that you don’t already know.”
“Ethan!”
“Okay, go with me here then. I work with Christian and
