The Sterling Brothers Ebook Bundle

"We can't put the repairs off any longer." My sister dropped into the overstuffed armchair in the great room where a fire crackled in the fireplace, and a large tree took up the corner, decorated with gold and white ornaments.

When our parents died in a car accident, we inherited money, and I was finally able to realize my dream of owning an inn. The only problem was
that it was Christmas-themed and was part of a package deal. Christmas Town, a small town with shops and restaurants lining one street, were part of it.

I had been hesitant that we could handle it, but Eve had convinced me
that we could do it. She said we'd be selling an experience, not just a hotel
room. Besides, how could we run the inn if the surrounding streets and shops were vacant or run-down?

It was nice to be surrounded by the cheer of the holidays year-round. If we were able to stay in business that long.

"We got the place up and running like we planned," Eve continued. "Now we need to invest in infrastructure before everything falls apart."

When we first opened, we splurged on bedding, linens, silverware, and plates. The sale came with an extensive collection of holiday decorations and furniture. "Are you sure we can't hold off just a little longer on the renovations?"

"Reviews state that the inn is charming but dated." Eve glanced up from her tablet. "This place needs a facelift, or we're going to lose business."

It needed more than a facelift, but I was hoping to wait before we sunk our meager profits into costly renovations.

"You don't want to discourage guests from returning," Clara, the owner of the Christmas Shop, said.

The locals and tourists enjoyed coming to Candy Cane Lane to shop,
but we needed the overnight visitors to sustain the inn, which was my pride and joy. It wasn't that I didn't want the updates; I just wasn't sure we could
afford it yet, and I didn't want to do more than we could handle.

We didn't have a safety net. We'd spent our inheritance purchasing
this place and buying new things for the inn. We'd lose everything if it
failed.

"Who did you have in mind?" I asked Eve, who served as the town event planner. We affectionately called her
the mayor.

She glanced at her tablet, where she kept spreadsheets of information. "The Sterling Brothers do good work." Then she looked up. "I know you'd prefer not to work with Ford's family—" Eve started.

I waved a hand, dismissing her concern about my ex and high-school
sweetheart. "There's no reason not to."

After high school, I'd gone to college, and Ford had enlisted. I thought we could handle long-distance, but we drifted apart. He was consumed
with his new job, and when he stopped communicating, I thought it would be better for me to break things off. When I confronted him, he'd actually looked relieved. That had been the worst part.

As far as I knew, Ford was still in the army, so there'd be no chance we'd run into him if we hired his family's construction company.

"I think you should hire a local business. You want to be part of the community as much as possible," Clara said.

"We can start with an estimate. What do you think is our most pressing issue?" I asked her.

"A fair number of visitors are coming from out of town. We want them to have a great experience and come back every year. This is the beginning of a family tradition. Everything starts with the inn," Eve said.

Eve was great at selling her ideas, and
this was no different. "We have reservations, and we're heading into our busiest season. I don't want the place to be a construction zone."

"You can talk to whoever comes out to do the estimate. I'm sure they'll keep it confined so that we can carry on with business as usual," Eve said confidently.

We were our own bosses, which was incredible but also scary.

"You should be getting a call about it," Eve said, tapping something on her tablet.

She was efficient, managing the events in town, whereas I preferred
the hospitality side of the business. I had to admit that the place needed
upgrades. I was worried about lengthy construction, dust, and noise.

Hopefully, whoever came from Sterling Brothers Renovations would have a solution.

Eve set her tablet aside and lifted her mug of hot chocolate.

"To Christmas Town."

Clara lifted her mug. "To Christmas Town."

I did the same. "To Christmas Town and friendship."

"May we be successful and the guests come back year after year," Eve said before she sipped her drink.

When we invested in the town and the
inn, we made a promise to the existing shop owners that we would revitalize the town, nurturing their existing customer base while cultivating a new one. Not everyone was happy with our takeover, and there were a lot of people depending on us to make this endeavor successful. We couldn't let them down.

***

I was working the front desk, checking in guests and ensuring they had everything they needed for their stay.

I'd just finished with a couple checking in when I noticed a man walking around the great room. I approached him. "Can I help you?"

He turned to face me. "I'm here because someone requested an estimate."

It was Ford Sterling.

My heart pounded, and I felt hot all
over. "Ford? What are you doing here?"

His biceps strained the limits of his T-shirt, and his thighs looked thick under his jeans. He'd filled out since he was eighteen.

He patted the printed words over his
chest. "I work with Sterling Brothers now."

There was a roaring in my ears. "I didn't know you'd moved home."

He nodded. "I left the military, and there was nowhere else I wanted to be.

"You're working in construction?" I didn't want to deal with renovations, and now I had to interact with my ex? I wanted to pretend that him being here didn't affect me, but that would be a lie.

He raised a brow. "If you want to
work with someone else—"

I pasted on a smile, which might have
looked like a grimace. "I can work with you."

His brow creased. "Are you sure?"

I'd broken up with him after all. I should be able to be in the same
room with him. "Why don't I talk to you about what we need before we agree to anything?"

He nodded, switching easily into work mode when I wanted to ask more
questions.

When had he come home, and how had I missed it? We'd been busy with
the funeral, clearing out my parents' house, then buying the inn and Christmas Town. Still, this was a small town, and someone could have warned me.

"Eve said you needed some updates."

I moved behind the counter to put a
barrier between us. "When we bought this place, we wanted to get it up and
running as soon as possible, so we didn't do much more than cosmetic
changes."

"You didn't have the place inspected?"

I winced. "It was sold as is, but things are running. The bathrooms are functional but dated. I'm just not sure how things are going to look once you
start ripping stuff out."

He headed toward the stairs.

"That's always the issue in older places like this. It would have been
easier if you'd done this before you accepted reservations."

"The restaurants and shops were already in operation when we took over, and we wanted to keep things running." I followed him up the stairs, trying not to check out the way his ass filled out those worn jeans.

He paused at the top of the stairs, waiting for me to lead the way.

I continued up the stairs to the top
floor. "I'll show you my room first, so you can get an idea of what you're
working with. Then we can make a plan of how to tackle the guest rooms."

"You live here?" Ford asked as I continued to the end of the hall.

"I have the innkeeper's room." I unlocked the door, pushing it open. It was the largest because it had a kitchen and a living room. It was
a corner apartment with views of the town square as well as the mountains.

The kitchen was all dark wood cabinets with stained laminate countertops.

"Do you want us to update your place?"

"I think we should focus on the guest rooms. I just wanted to give you an idea of the age of the bathrooms." I led the way through my bedroom, pleased that I'd managed to make the bed before I went downstairs. In the bathroom, I stood off to the side
so he could look around.

The bathroom was stuck in the eighties with brass fixtures, a mirrored wall with vanity lights, and a soaker tub surrounded by wood paneling.

Ford whistled. "You weren't kidding when you said it was dated."

I grimaced. "I don't think the previous owners did any renovations."

His brow furrowed. "We could run into significant issues when we rip things out."

I nodded. "That's why we want to start on them now. I can show you one of the vacant guest rooms, so you can get an idea of the square footage."

"That would be good to see."

I led the way out of my bathroom.

When I locked the door, he said, "You always wanted to run a bed-and-breakfast."

I smiled, pleased that he remembered.

"When my parents passed away, we finally had the money to buy something."

"I was sorry to hear about your parents. I know you were close to them."

"Thank you. Although it's weird that we're only living our dream because they died." I moved down the hall to a vacant room, unlocking the door and pushing it open. "This is a good example of the size and scope of the guest baths."

He took measurements and notes on a yellow pad, then tucked the pencil behind his ear. "If you get to me the number of bathrooms you'd like renovated, I can work up an estimate for you. We can do the building in
sections."

He gestured at the floor and then the
walls. "You could use new carpet too and a fresh coat of paint."

I blew out a breath. "Can you give us an estimate for everything?"

"Have you thought about updating
the decor?"

"I thought it would be neat to have paintings of the mountains and the town in the rooms." I just didn't know who could provide those on a large scale at an affordable price.

"We don't handle interior design and contract out for the carpet."

I figured as much. "That's fine."

"I can get you the estimate in a few days. Then you can decide if you want to see me every day."

I had thought he was still in the military, and I could carefully avoid him whenever he was home on leave. Now he appeared to be home for good.

The idea of seeing him every day was difficult.

We made our way downstairs, with him checking the lighting and testing the railings. "The electrical probably
has to be updated, along with these bannisters. They're loose."

The list was only getting longer.

"Write everything up, and we'll have to figure out a game plan."

"Are you planning to get more estimates?"

I shook my head. "We want to work with someone local, and that's Sterling."

"I appreciate you giving us your business."

He was so formal and stiff. Maybe that
was the military training. Or the fact that it was awkward to be in the same
room again.

Eve walked in the front door, a gust of cold air following her. She took off her knit cap. "The contractor said he'd be by this morning."

I waved a hand at Ford. "He's already here."

She lifted her gaze, seeing Ford for
the first time.

He offered his hand to her. "Ford
Sterling."

Eve tipped her head to the side.

"I didn't realize you were home and working for your family's business."

I waited with bated breath for his response.

He nodded. "Yeah, it was time."

I wanted to know why it was time. Were his parents in poor health, or
was this always his plan? I figured he'd retire from the military.

Eve smiled. "I'm sure your family is happy to have you home."

"They are." He cleared his throat. "I'll write everything up and get that to you in a few days."

"Natasha is worried about renovating while guests are staying here. Will you be able to keep the dust and noise to a minimum?" Eve asked, and I was relieved that she was asking the questions that I'd forgotten about.

"We could work in sections or maybe even by floor. It depends on how many rooms are reserved," Ford said.

"Think how much nicer it will be to update the pictures on the website with updated bathrooms?" Eve Appealed to me.

"We talked about paint, carpet, and decor too," I said.

Eve nodded. "We'll have to see how much everything costs and then decide."

"Well, I'll let you two discuss things. I'll get the estimate over to you as quickly as possible." He walked through the doors that led to the parking lot.

Eve rounded on me. "Ford Sterling?"

"I had no idea he was home," I said flatly.

Her forehead creased. "Are you sure you can work with him?"

"We haven't dated since high school. It's not a big deal.” I moved around the counter, focusing on the computer screen, hoping she wouldn't press me on this issue. Because now that I'd seen him, I wasn't so sure if I could see him every day and not have feelings.

She stood on the other side of the counter. "We can go with someone else if you want."

I shrugged even as I was reeling inside. "It's fine."

Eve lowered her voice as a guest walked behind her. "I can't believe Ford is home. Are you sure this isn't going to be awkward for you?"

I raised a brow. "I broke up with him, remember?"

"And why was that again?"

"He'd enlisted in the army, and I was away at college. The long-distance
piece was insurmountable." A part of me hoped he'd argue with me and insist that he would try harder. But he hadn't. If anything, he'd seemed relieved.

It was easy for him to walk away, so being near each other was only going to be a problem for me.

I was living my dream, and I wasn't going to let anything get in my way.

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