From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,49

while you’re here,” Vi said in a change of subject that practically gave Casey whiplash.

“Not necessary.” Vi’s brother Emery had to be in his early sixties by now. He had no business up on a ladder. “Finn will handle it once he’s the legal owner.”

“Finn? You can’t mean that man who’s been living here as a squatter?” Vi cried. “He doesn’t have a penny to his name.”

“He must have rich friends,” Casey said, not about to reveal Finn’s identity to this busybody. Vi would find out soon enough. “But thanks for the offer,” she added, remembering her manners.

“Emery told me to mention that he was worried about the old boiler downstairs,” Vi said. “He was trained in boilers, you know. They can be dangerous, he told me. He wouldn’t mind checking—”

“I’m sure Finn will deal with it,” she said.

Vi’s face wrinkled in a frown. “Emery gave his life to this place,” she said stubbornly.

Casey thought that was a bit overly dramatic. She remembered how her grandmother had kept the man on years after she should have. Casey had often found him napping in one of the rooms when he wasn’t hiding out in the maze of pipes and equipment under the hotel.

She suspected that some years he’d lived down there, even though her grandmother had forbidden it. But when she’d offered him a room in the staff quarters, he’d declined.

“I thought Emery retired to Arizona after my grandmother closed the hotel?” Casey asked.

“He did for a while, waiting for Anna to return and reopen the hotel. She’d told him she would hold his job for him.” Vi seemed nervous. Casey noticed how her hand shook as she picked up her cup and finished her coffee. “The new owner should hire him, just for his peace of mind. Emery could use the money. He’s been staying with us, but I know he wants to get a place of his own. Or he could stay in the hotel once it’s up and running again.”

So that was why she was pushing this. Emery was living with her and Axel. “I really doubt Finn will be running the place as a hotel. I would imagine he’ll raze it and build something else.”

Vi looked like she might cry. Did she really love this place that much? She did own an antiques barn. Maybe she had real feelings for old things.

“I’m sorry, Vi. It’s for the best.”

“Is it?” Her gaze swung to Casey, her look cold and brittle. “You have no idea what you’re about to do.” Vi stood awkwardly, clearly upset.

Casey began to load the tray with their empty plates and cups. All of this was hard enough without Vi trying to make her feel guilty. “I really need to get back to what I was doing.”

“Tina also worked at the hotel, you might remember. And Jen.” Vi suddenly shuddered, rubbed her arms with her hands as if feeling a draft. “This place is haunted, you know.” Vi looked as if she’d felt Megan’s ghost or one of the others said to cruise the place. “You can stop this before it’s too late,” she said as she picked up her purse to leave. “I’d hate to see the community turn against you. They loved your grandmother so much.”

Casey again tried to hand back the paperwork, but the woman pretended to ignore her. “Let me walk you out.”

“Don’t bother,” Vi snapped. “I know the way.” With that, she turned and left.

“We really need to start locking the doors,” Finn said as he came into the kitchen, where she was cleaning up the dishes only moments later. She wondered how much of the conversation he might have overheard.

“Thanks for the pastries.”

“No problem.” He seemed to hesitate. “She’s right, you know. It isn’t too late to change your mind.” Well, that answered the question of how much he’d heard.

She shook her head. Nothing could change her mind about selling the hotel. “But it’s strange that suddenly someone else wants to buy it.”

“I think all of it is strange as hell, especially this reunion. That’s why I plan to keep an eye on all of them. I just added Vi Mullen to my list.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

AT BREAKFAST IN downtown Buckhorn, Jason realized that everyone thought he was the organizer of this reunion. He wished he had been. Unfortunately, he wasn’t that creative.

But taking it over? He had no problem with that. Besides, everyone had let him. Even the person who’d planned this, which seemed odd. Not that he gave it