Unexpected Entanglement (Echo #3)

10. Chapter 10

ten

The chefs had rolled into the main house when Chris poured his second cup. Rowan had given him a brief on the wedding in the short time between their truce and the chefs’ arrival. The plan sounded solid, with many elements in the works, but one of the most essential matters—staff—was still half-resolved. Rowan had arranged with Frankie to borrow some of the farm team for the wedding weekend. He hoped they could train them to be hotel staff in a week.

Since they had come in, Oliver had whipped up a batch of blueberry muffins using the wild blueberries Frankie had brought in yesterday, while Alex had made omelettes. Chris was putting the dishes into the dishwasher when someone rang the bell. Rowan ran out to answer the door and returned with the leggy lady he’d seen with her yesterday.

“You need a top-up before we start?” Rowan asked the woman as they entered the kitchen.

“I was hoping you’d offer.” The other woman nodded. “I didn’t have time to refill it as I rushed out this morning.”

“We got a fresh pot and blueberry muffins.” Rowan led her to the kitchen table where the glass cloche of muffins was. Also sitting there were Alex and Oliver discussing the menu for the four-day wedding weekend.

To make things simpler, they’d agreed to provide fixed menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the guests leading into the wedding day. Meals would be served at set times, lodge style. Though Alex and Oliver were confident they could do a cook-to-order egg bar for breakfast. They were only hosting twenty people belonging to the wedding party and families. Other guests would stay in town or in other rentals.

“Hey guys, this is Bobbie,” Rowan introduced. She landed a hand on Alex’s shoulders. “This is Alex, my oldest friend in the world. And this is Oliver, my newest savior. They’re chefs and will cook for the wedding.”

“Wonderful. Nice to meet you.” Bobbie shook Alex’s hand, then turned to Oliver to shake his, but it was met with empty air.

Oliver stood when Rowan started introducing Bobbie with a wide-eye look on his face.

“Earth to Oliver!” Alex snapped her fingers in front of Oliver’s face and broke him out of his trance.

“Uh… hi.” Oliver stumbled and belatedly shook Bobbie’s hand.

Just like Rowan, Chris barely covered his amusement and managed not to laugh at Oliver’s understandable reaction to the beautiful woman, because she was that. And it looked like Oliver’s response wasn’t one-sided. He noticed a faint blush on Bobbie’s cheeks as she smiled at Oliver. He wondered if something might blossom there.

“You want some cream and sugar, right, Bob?” Rowan went to pour some coffee into Bobbie’s thermos.

“Uh, yes, thank you.” Bobbie broke eye contact with the Korean-American chef and fixed her coffee with the cream and sugar Alex had pushed toward her on the table. “So, Rowan mentioned picking you up at the ferry yesterday. How was your trip in?”

“Uneventful.” Alex shrugged. “It’s good to be back on the island. There’s a vibe here that resonates with me. You feel it, O?”

“Uh, yeah. Totally,” he answered, still distracted by Bobbie’s beauty.

“I know what you mean,” Bobbie agreed with Alex. “I felt it when I first came here two years ago. It was supposed to be a brief vacation for me and my son, Logan. And we never left.”

“Oh, how old is your son?” Alex asked.

“He just turned four. He’s starting preschool next fall.”

“And his dad is a local here?” Alex dug for more information.

“He passed when Logan was just two,” Bobbie answered.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Alex clamped her mouth and stopped prodding .

“You want a muffin before we start?” Rowan quickly changed the subject.

“I’m good. Those look delicious, though. Logan would love one.” Bobbie eyed the oversized muffins bursting with wild blueberries.

“I’ll pack you a few to bring home when you’re done,” Oliver offered.

“Oliver baked them this morning,” Rowan added. “So moist. Rivaling Sheila’s.”

“Oooh, that’s high praise. I’ll look forward to trying one later, then.” Bobbie smiled at Oliver, making him red.

Chris had waited patiently and wondered if Rowan had forgotten about him as they chatted. He went to join the rest of them at the kitchen table and cleared his throat behind Rowan. She jumped slightly and turned to him.

“Oh, yeah. This is…” Rowan trailed off as if she’d forgotten his name.

“Chris,” he supplied with a smile, and extended his arm to Bobbie for a handshake. “Pleasure to meet you, Bobbie.”

Bobbie shook his hand politely with a curious smile. He could tell she recognized him from the day before when he’d spoken to Rowan by her truck.

“You’re here to help Rowan with…” Chris said before she could say anything else and deliberately trailed off his sentence.

And as he expected, Bobbie filled in the blank, “I run a cleaning business with a team of good, hard-working women. We’ll provide housekeeping for all the rooms and cottages at the inn, at least for the wedding weekend.”

“Excellent.” Chris nodded.

Rowan gave him a side eye for jumping in for information instead of waiting for her to supply it. But Chris wasn’t the type who waited around. He couldn’t help unless he knew what was needed. And he was glad she got this one handled.

“I’m giving Bobbie the tour. You might as well tag along,” Rowan said to Chris, gesturing to both him and Bobbie to follow her. “Let’s start with the room upstairs.”

“Excellent,” Chris agreed, and let Bobbie go ahead. “After you.”

“Have we met before?” Bobbie asked Chris as they walked to the lobby.

“I think I saw you with Rowan at the cafe in town yesterday. ”

“Yes, that’s it.” Bobbie nodded with a big smile. “Are you a chef like Alex and Oliver?”

“No, I’m—”

“He’s my assistant,” Rowan cut in.

Chris looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but he didn’t correct her.

“Your assistant?” Bobbie sounded surprised.

“I’m here to help Rowan in any capacity she needs me,” Chris played along.

Rowan looked grateful for his answer.

“Oh, that’s good. I told her she shouldn’t take on this task alone. I’m glad you’re here to support her, Chris. Welcome.” Bobbie patted him on the arm.

“Thanks, Bobbie. It’s so great to be appreciated.” He returned the smile.

“Okay!” Rowan clapped her hand once as she stood on the second step on the main stairs, looking at them still standing on the lobby floor. “If you two are done, maybe we can start this tour. We don’t have all morning.”

Chris and Bobbie exchanged grins as if they were two students caught by a teacher chatting at the back of the class.

“You’re the boss,” Chris said.

Bobbie went ahead with Rowan up the stairs, while Chris grinned as he trailed behind them.

He got a feeling it was going to be an interesting two weeks.

“So, I’ll have two four-person teams dedicated to you during the wedding weekend. One team will work from morning to noon to tackle early clean-up, especially in the main house. The other team will come in the afternoon to handle the cottages, if there’s any extra cleaning requested,” Bobbie repeated their agreement.

“Yup.” Rowan nodded and handed Bobbie the original signed contract while she kept a copy. “You’ve got the work details, hours, and overtime covered here.”

“Both teams will come next Wednesday morning to help you with the pre-cleaning and familiarizing themselves with the spaces and how you’d like things done,” Bobbie added as they walked to Bobbie’s SUV.

“The first guests arrive next Thursday afternoon, so that should be fine,” Rowan said. “Thank you for rearranging your team for this. I know you have standing clients you need to maintain.”

“I just had to reschedule their cleaning to an earlier or later time. And they have no problem with it. Besides, I’ll have a couple of new ladies coming in this weekend who I’ll train. They’re eager to start their new lives.”

Rowan smiled at her friend. “You’re giving them a new start. I bet they’re eager.”

“It’s not much of a new start, but it’s a decent, well-paying job.”

“You’re doing a good thing, Bobbie. You should be proud of what you’ve built in the two short years you’ve been here,” Rowan reminded her.

“I am.” Bobbie nodded. “So should you. Your dad would be smiling down at you.”

The reminder of her father gave Rowan a bittersweet punch in the heart. She just smiled at Bobbie’s well-meaning sentiment. They said their goodbyes, and in the next minute, Bobbie drove away, leaving Rowan with one less thing to worry about.

She walked back to the house and heard chuckles and chatter as she entered. She discovered Alex, Oliver, and Chris in the kitchen, looking at the lunch and dinner menu. Chris was giving his inputs to the chefs.

Oh now, he’s talking.

The guy had toured every inch of the main house, the cliff house, and the cottages, and hadn’t said a word the whole time. He’d just listened to their conversation, sometimes nodding, sometimes frowning, but always observing.

His eyes had taken in every detail of the buildings, down to the crown molding. He’d touched the quilts and spread his hand over the pillowcase in the other room she’d made up. He’d smelled the soap and other toiletries she’d formulated for the inn. But she didn’t fault him for that. She’d do the same. That was why she put a lot of thought into each room.

Though Chris didn’t make a comment during the tour, Rowan knew he had thoughts about everything. She could imagine what he had to say .

“Well, you got your tour,” Rowan said to Chris when the party of three looked up at her entrance. “What do you think? You’ve been awfully mum all morning.”

“I didn’t want to intrude into your meeting.” Chris flashed an innocent smile. “You have something great here. I think you’ve done a beautiful job renovating this house. And adding the new cottages is a brilliant move.”

Rowan frowned, not believing what she was hearing.

Is he pulling my leg?

“He’s saying he likes the place. Look a little happy.” Alex poked her on the shoulder.

“Bright Head isn’t like any of your resorts,” Rowan replied, still not believing Chris’ compliment. She’d looked up Chris’ The Eve Resorts. They were the picture of subtle luxury. Nothing was ostentatious, but everything about them echoed the comfort that came with money. Something the Bright Head didn’t have. She provided a comforting, homey feel in quality, but she couldn’t compete with The Eve.

“It isn’t, nor does it need to be. It is perfect for its location and offers cozy comfort, New England beauty, summer fun, and good food. I can think of a few other things you can offer.” Chris sat back, relaxed, still smiling at her, challenging her to rebut him further.

Rowan found she sometimes wanted to wipe the constant smile on his too-perfect face, even after they had their truce. But she didn’t have an argument.

“Thanks,” she tried being gracious instead. “What other things are you thinking?”

“Add-on services that people on vacation like—massages, body treatments. You have the honeymoon cottages, and honeymooners love their couple massages. You can start with that and expand to offering a whole spa experience when you can.”

“I have a plan for a spa and health classes like yoga,” Rowan said.

“You do?”

“The budget is tied up at the moment.”

“I see.” Chris’ brow furrowed slightly. “You could still offer yoga classes on the lawn. Is there a yoga studio in town you could have a special arrangement with?”

“Already on it. I’ve also negotiated a deal with a couple of massage therapists.” Rowan had done all this last summer in the anticipation of opening the inn’s doors this spring. But life happened. No. Death happened. And everything came crashing down.

“I have other things to worry about before I think further about these extra services,” she said. “Though I’d love to open the inn officially this year as we planned, I just don’t see it happening.”

Chris didn’t disagree with her.

“Lucky us, we have an expert right here!” Alex chimed in brightly and patted Chris on the shoulder heartily. “Who knows more about opening a hotel than our man here?”

Alex turned her gaze to Rowan with an earnest face. “Take advantage of his experience. Pick his brain while he’s here.” Then she turned back to Chris. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all.” Chris gave a brief shake of his head.

“I still don’t know what has brought you to us, Chris. But you’re exactly what Rowan needs: a mentor,” Alex claimed.

Oliver studied Rowan with a calm smile and commented, “I feel a resistance in your vibe, Ro. What is it you oppose?”

Rowan’s lips parted in surprise. Oliver’s observation was spot-on, but the way he’d asked it—without judgment or accusation—made her stumble.

“Uh… I don’t,” she finally replied.

“Good!” Alex pounced and jumped up. She pulled Chris up and grabbed Rowan with her other hand. “Then what are you waiting for? Get working.

“O and I need to work on the food stuff. You guys do your hotel stuff,” Alex ordered. But before she let the door swung back shut, Alex winked at them. “I have a good feeling about you two.”

Rowan stared at the swinging door. “What the hell just happened?”

Chris just chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders. “So, what’s next, Boss?”