The Setup Read Online Free PDF Page A

take a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. It was like being in a time warp. Even inside the hotel he could smell the sweet scent of honeysuckle and gardenias.
    It seemed to go with the territory. The spacious lobby had warm gold-colored walls, hardwood floors and patterned burgundy, black and gold carpets. The sofas and chairs were a mix of neutral creams and reds, with just enough colorful tapestry pillows here and there to wake up the senses. Thelobby was also filled with lush greenery and floral arrangements.
    There was grace here, he thought. Grace, beauty and a sense of heritage that inspired awe and could only be admired and respected. Though he knew no one in the hotel, Jefferson felt a sense of homecoming. It pervaded everything. He was twenty-two again and the world was before him, full of promise and love.
    He silently blessed Emily for being such a pushy kid and not giving up on him.
    “Welcome to the Hotel Marchand,” the man behind the front desk said the moment Jefferson drew close.
    It was a phrase that the young clerk must repeat several hundred times each month, Jefferson thought, yet somehow he managed to make it sound fresh, warm. Personal. All part of the New Orleans charm, he mused. He was glad he’d come, glad he’d given in to Emily and Blake, who was meeting him later for a drink. Jefferson had resisted at the last moment, just before boarding the plane. There were contracts on his desk to go over and he wasn’t thrilled about leaving Emily behind, even if it was in the capable hands of Sophie Beaulieu, his late wife’s mother.
    He supposed, if he thought about it, that there were a hundred reasons for him not to come, and only one real reason for him to be here. Because he needed to be.
    Even though he would have hated to admit it outloud, Blake and Emily were right. He needed a break from being Jefferson Lambert, full-time corporate lawyer, full-time dad and no-time man. Somehow, he’d lost himself in the shuffle. There had to be more to him than just work and fatherhood.
    There had been, once. Being here was a chance to reconnect with the man Donna had fallen in love with.
    “Your name, please?” the desk clerk asked brightly.
    “Jefferson Lambert.”
    Keys began to click quickly as the young man typed in his name. “Is this business or pleasure?” he inquired with a wide smile as he hunted through the reservations for the name he’d been given.
    “Pleasure.” Jefferson had almost said “business” because business was the only thing that ever took him out of town, away from Emily. The last time he’d been away from home for reasons other than business had been on his honeymoon. A long time ago, he reflected.
    The desk clerk frowned as he looked up from the computer screen. “I can’t seem to find a reservation. Would it be under any other name?”
    Jefferson shook his head. “No. Just mine.”
    Trying again, the clerk came up with the same results. He looked truly upset. “I am sorry, Mr. Lambert, but you don’t seem to be listed here.”
    “Are you sure?” Jefferson curbed the urge to turn the computer around and do the searching himself. “The reservation was made over a week ago. My friend, Blake Randall, called it in for me.”
    “Blake Randall,” the desk clerk repeated. More clicking as his fingers flew over the keyboard. “Maybe there was a misunderstanding and the reservation was placed under his name.”
    Without losing an iota of the wide, genial smile on his lips, the clerk flipped from one screen to another. After a few minutes, the smile began to fade.
    “I’m sorry. It doesn’t appear to be under Blake Randall, either.”
    There was no point in insisting that the reservation had to be there. Jefferson knew when to roll with the punches. “All right, maybe there was a mix-up. Just give me any room, then.”
    The desk clerk sighed. “I’m afraid that’s impossible.”
    Jefferson stared at the man, puzzled. It seemed a reasonable enough request.