CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next morning, as I often did when Vaughn was home and able to see Robbie off to school, I drove to the hotel to walk along the shore. The calmness I found there gave me a few moments to catch my breath and see things more clearly.
It looked as if it was going to be a stormy day, as the weather reports indicated.
Quieter than usual on the beach, I headed off, walking briskly.
After several minutes, I stopped to take in the scenery.
As usual, the waves with their predictable rhythm soothed my troubled thoughts.
Today, when the edge of the wave met the sand, it was with a bit of a slap rather than a caress.
I looked up at the gray sky, seeing the fast moving clouds and knew it would be a difficult day at the hotel, with guests milling around, complaining.
Luckily, Lauren, in the events department, would post a list of suggestions for hotel guests to do in town.
This might be another way Harper could fit into that department.
Checking my watch, I headed back to the hotel.
As I approached, I noticed Philippa and Luciano talking.
Philippa called, “ ‘Morning, Ann.”
I waved and walked over to them. “ ’Morning. How are you?”
Luciano gave me a little bow. “Nice to see you.”
“We were just talking about Luciano’s stay,” said Philippa. “We’re not sure how long he’ll be visiting, and we want to make it as comfortable for him as possible.”
“It depends on so many things.” Luciano turned as Harper arrived. “Harper is doing a great job of showing me around. I really appreciate it.” The smile he gave Harper made it clear he was interested in more than tours with her.
Harper beamed at him. “We had fun last night after I got off work.”
“I’ll see you all later,” said Philippa. “I promised Chet that I’d wake him this morning. We stayed up late last night talking.”
“Before you go, tell me about the special dinner. Were the guests pleased with it?” I asked her.
“It was a huge success. Guests wondered if they could sign up for a prix fixe meal next week,” said Philippa. “We explained this was something special, but they could check with you and Rhonda for future possibilities.”
“Great answer. We have to be careful how to handle the situation with Jean-Luc,” I said. “And we would want to offer different international choices.”
“Speaking of Jean-Luc,” said Philippa. “Lindsay brought him to the hotel in a wheelchair to see for himself how things are going. As soon as he’s fitted to a walking apparatus, he’s going to come back to work.”
“You can’t keep a chef like him away from his kitchen,” I said. “Thank you for being such a help. We still need to fill out papers for your work, and we want to talk to you about another opportunity.”
“That’s what I was telling Luc,” Philippa said. “I like it here and have no intention of going back to Italy anytime soon.”
I quickly glanced at Luciano.
“Philippa is right,” he said. “There’s no romance between us no matter what our families want. We have other interests.”
“Have you told your families?” I asked.
“Not in so many words,” said Luciano. ‘I promised Philippa’s father I would discuss the situation with her, and I have. No one wants to dishonor our grandparents.”
“Luciano is like a beloved brother to me,” said Philippa. She checked her watch. “I really must go.”
I stood by with Luciano and Harper as she left.
“It’s all right,” said Luciano watching her. “It was not meant to be.”
“Have a great day, you two,” I said and walked away hoping Rhonda and I wouldn’t be criticized for allowing Chet and Philippa to work together, as if promoting their relationship.
I stopped in the kitchen before going home to get news from the staff about the dinner and to hopefully get some treats for Vaughn and Robbie.
Consuela and I hugged hello. “Any chance I can take a couple of sweet rolls home to Vaughn?”
She chuckled. “Is that lovely husband of yours home again? How nice. They will be a gift from me to him. I’ll get them ready.”
I walked to the main kitchen and saw Ricardo.
He came over to me. “ ’Morning. How are you?”
“Fine, thanks. I heard the special prix fixe dinner was a success.”
A broad smile crossed Ricardo’s face. “It was a big success. I hope you and Rhonda and Jean-Luc decide to do this often. We have a list of people who want to come back for another one like it.”
“We’ll have to see about it,” I said. “I heard Jean-Luc stopped by.”
“He couldn’t stay away,” said Ricardo. “He told me to expect him back to work in another day or so, that he can guide us from his office or on a special scooter.”
We exchanged amused glances.
“I’ll leave you to today’s activities,” I said.
“Chet is taking the morning off, but will be in at noon,” said Ricardo. “Tomorrow, I will do the same.”
“Whatever schedule you want to work is fine with me,” I said. “As long as our hotel meals don’t suffer.”
###
Back at home, Vaughn and Robbie were pleased to have Consuela’s cinnamon rolls with their breakfast while I got cleaned up to go to work.
I was just inserting pearl earrings into my ear lobes when my cell phone rang. Rhonda.
“Hi, what’s up?” I asked her.
“I’m here at the office and just ended a conversation with one of Jonny Arno’s people. His PR person, a man named Edward Thompkins, called to warn us of deceitful behavior by trying to undercut the opening of Osteria Arno.”
“Deceitful behavior? What’s he talking about? The prix fixe dinner?”
“Yes, the dinner. He told us that we are deliberately competing with Jonny before the restaurant is officially open this weekend. He said that if we don’t cease doing it, he will put us out of business with bad publicity.”
“He can’t do that, can he?” I asked, feeling queasy.
“He can lie about us,” said Rhonda, “but those of us locals will know better. It’s the other people who don’t know us or the hotel who could be affected.”
“Oh, my God! We can’t let something like that happen! What exactly does he want us to do?”
“End the special Italian meal today. He thought it was outrageous that we’d do something like that to another restaurateur in the area,” said Rhonda.
“Oh, come on! What’s he doing about other Italian restaurants here in Sabal? Is he going after them too?”
Rhonda let out a snort. “I asked him that and he said we’re special and the only real competition Jonny has. I told him there were several other excellent restaurants around.”
“And?”
“And he said that he had information from a reliable local person that we’re number one in the area.” Rhonda sighed. “Guess who that local is?”
My lips thinned. “Brock Goodwin. How did you end the call?
Rhonda huffed, “I told him to eff off, that we’re doing our business our way without any intention of harming anyone else.”
“Maybe like Vaughn says, we need to go to the police with this information. It’s just a threat, I know, but I want the local police to be aware of the situation.” I was beginning to get scared.
“Listen, Annie, I grew up with tough guys like this. You can’t let them see your weaknesses. We’ll do the dinner tonight and then stop until things have settled down after the opening of Jonny’s restaurant.”
“Okay, because we can’t be put in the position of defending a smear campaign,” I said firmly.
“On a better note,” said Rhonda. “I stopped off at Angie’s before coming to work.
With the help of a tutor, Sally Kate is doing better in school.
And Evan is on the soccer team. And little Bella is happy in pre-school.
All of that makes me unbelievably happy.
I know you shouldn’t worry about your kids and grandkids so much, but I can’t help it sometimes. ”
“It’s a mom thing,” I said. “Even though we don’t get to see enough of Vaughn’s two children, we’re interested in all the news and sometimes worry about them as much as those who are here in town.”
“I knew you’d make me feel better,” said Rhonda. “When are you coming in?”
“I’m about ready to leave. When I get there, I’ll tell you about who I met at the beach.” I ended the call before Rhonda could pressure me into telling her now.
###
At the hotel, Rhonda and I met with Bernie to discuss the threat from Edward Thompkins and to ask him to meet with the police. Having our concerns come from Bernie would make it seem less confrontational than a fight between Jonny and Rhonda and me.
“C’mon, let’s go for a walk on the beach,” said Rhonda. “I’m spitting mad about being caught up in this battle with Jonny and I need to work off some steam.”
“Me, too. We can’t run our hotel if we’re afraid that it’s going to be ruined by someone else,” I said.
We walked through the lobby, where people were gathering for their day. At the pool, sunbathers were already stretched out even though the gray clouds from earlier were slow to move on. The sun was due to come out later, but some couldn’t wait to stake their claim on a chaise lounge chair.
We quickly discarded our sandals and headed for the water’s edge. We stood quietly, letting our worries settle between us.
I turned to Rhonda. “Maybe we should send flowers to Osteria Arno for their grand opening. That would seem like the neighborly thing to do.”
Rhonda made a face. “True. We’ve done it for others. But I didn’t like the tone of voice Edward Thompkins used with me. Even though I lost my temper and told him to fuck off, I think we need to be careful. But I don’t know about flowers.”
Her cell phone rang. Rhonda checked it. “Speak of the devil.” She answered the call.
I listened to the conversation and became startled when Rhonda said, “Okay, thank you. We’ll let you know.”
“What’s that about?” I asked.
“We have been officially invited to a celebration at Osteria Arno tonight. Some of Jonny’s backers and friends will be there. Seven o’clock. Our spouses are invited, too.”
“That’s a big change of attitude,” I said. “But I think it’s wise for us to be there. I’ll call Vaughn and see if he wants to go with me. I’d certainly feel better if he was along.”