Chapter 4 #2
Her dad laughed. He, like Hallie, always seemed to know the right thing to say. Mostly because it seemed like he was always speaking from the heart, and he never worried about how he’d be perceived.
Brynn was picking up on the policies and procedures with ease, but the soft skills were outside of her depth. People were finicky. Illogical. Unpredictable. And as someone who’d spent years trying to learn a framework for understanding the world, people still escaped her.
It was part of what she’d liked about Grant when they’d started seeing one another. He hadn’t seemed to mind that she was a little awkward. That she didn’t always have the right words on the tip of her tongue. That, sometimes, she asked clarifying questions that seemed to annoy other people.
If there was anything to take away from the Grant situation, it was that what people said and what people did could be vastly different things.
And now, with the frustrating acceptance of that knowledge, she didn’t know what to think. About anything, it felt like some days. Which was why it was easier to be alone.
Easier said than done, though, where her parents were involved.
And even though she was supposed to be manning the desk alone today, and it was still fifteen minutes until seven a.m., she heard Hallie’s apartment door open and could picture her walking decisively down the carpeted hallway, just a few seconds from reaching the lobby.
“Hey, Dad. I’ve gotta go. Love you and Mom. ”
She didn’t wait for a response to hang up, knowing that her dad loved a slow fade on their goodbyes. If she didn’t disconnect the call, she may never get him off the line.
There was just enough time for her to put her phone away before Hallie bounded around the corner in her bouncy, signature high ponytail and headed toward the coffee carafes. “Morning, Brynn.”
So far, Brynn really liked Hallie. She was also more than a little intimidated by her, given how well Hallie managed all the competing priorities at the inn.
She had been incredibly helpful in getting Brynn up to speed, and if her willingness to answer Brynn’s millions of questions were any indication, she had the patience of a saint.
She had this stability—yes, that was the word Brynn settled on—that she was drawn toward.
And it wasn’t just her feelings on Hallie; after all, she hadn’t been the most trustful of her own opinions as of late. But there were actual, factual data points that she had to back up her hypothesis that Hallie was, in fact, a good person.
For example, over this past week, Hallie never seemed to get frustrated with Brynn’s inability to pick up social cues from guests. Hallie just took control of the situation, and then they’d discuss it after. And she always seemed to know what to say, no matter what turn a conversation took.
They only had a week left together before Hallie was set to head to Colorado, and Brynn was trying to soak up as much knowledge—pretty much a crash course in human understanding—as she could during this time.
With a coffee cup in hand, Hallie ambled over to her.
Brynn instinctively sat up a little straighter.
She was generally a people pleaser—she knew this about herself—but she also, specifically, wanted Hallie’s approval.
“Hey, Hallie. I didn’t know if I’d be seeing you this morning.
I’m on the desk, right?” she confirmed, knowing it was what they’d agreed to yesterday.
Hallie took a long, decadent inhale from her mug before answering. “Mm-hmm… trial by fire,” she said with a playful smile. Hallie seemed to be the epitome of a morning person.
Brynn’s eyes grew wide, and she knew that the alarm was apparent on her face. “I hope not.”
That earned a laugh from Hallie, which helped quell Brynn’s racing nerves. Especially when Hallie added earnestly, “And I know you have the fire plan diagram ready if so.”
She wanted to do a good job. For Reese. And for Hallie now, too.
They hadn’t spent a lot of time together outside of work, but she could tell that Hallie cared deeply about The Stone’s Throw.
Brynn sincerely appreciated that level of effort, especially when Hallie was, these days, an employee like her.
She almost jumped when a soft, warm hand rested on her forearm.
Her focus lifted to meet Hallie’s bright hazel eyes, an arresting combination of brown and green with gold speckled in.
Hallie must get compliments on them all the time.
She was about to say as much when she noticed a group of two people—she decided not to assume whether they were a couple or not until she had more information—heading toward the counter.
Hallie clocked their presence as well—of course she did, even though she wasn’t facing them—and with another gentle squeeze, which only made Brynn feel strange because it did actually comfort her, moved to the side and whispered, “You’ve got this.”
“I’ve got this,” Brynn muttered quietly, psyching herself up before she remembered to smile as the guests reached her.
“Good morning. Beautiful morning, isn’t it?
How can I help you this morning?” She felt the heat flame across her cheeks.
God, she sounded silly. Not practiced and at ease the way Hallie did, like talking to guests was as easy as breathing.
She was both grateful for Hallie’s presence in case she needed to do damage control and wildly embarrassed that she was going to be present for Brynn bombing on her first attempt out of the gate.
The guests, people in their fifties or sixties who were dressed in heavy winter jackets, both eyed her curiously. The woman spoke first, thankfully choosing to ignore Brynn’s flub. “My husband and I were going to take a walk around the grounds and wanted to know how late breakfast is served.”
Brynn furrowed her brows, flipping through all the information that she’d learned over the past week in her mind’s eye.
She could see the leaflet placed in each hotel room, which listed the FAQs.
“Nine a.m. on weekdays and ten a.m. on the weekends. And since today is Monday, breakfast will be available until nine a.m.,” she finished with a decisive nod and a smile.
Unless Brynn felt comfortable with someone, she was usually nervous, and given that the only people she was comfortable with were her parents, Gregory, and Reese, she spent a lot of time fretting about social situations.
“If you head out the back patio doors and to your right, there’s a lovely little path that will take you right along the coastline,” Hallie added from beside her.
The woman’s tepid smile morphed into a more genuine one. No surprise there. Hallie had that effect on people, Brynn included. “Good to know.”
Hallie pointed toward the breakfast area, two sets of eyes following her gesture.
“There are also to-go cups for coffee and hot chocolate, if you’d like something warm for your morning stroll.
” The way she said “morning stroll” so airily, like she was painting a picture for the guests, was something Brynn tried to file away.
Her own words were usually targeted. Precise. They weren’t meant to be so… evocative.
But now, Brynn could picture it, too. Gravel crunching beneath booted feet as they wandered through the pine trees and out toward the rocky shoreline, where the waves continued to crash with tidal predictability no matter the time of year.
Taking a deep inhale of a warm drink as a lone seagull cawed in the distance, swooping fluidly in the cloudless sky.
The couple—she could call them that, now that they’d confirmed it themselves—wandered over to the drinks to take Hallie up on her offer. Brynn turned to where she stood at the end of the counter, her elbow resting on the wood. “You are so good with people. It’s really incredible.”
A faint blush dusted Hallie’s cheeks, like she was surprised at the praise. If anything, Brynn was just stating a fact. Regardless, she enjoyed causing Hallie’s reaction. “It’s not an essential job requirement, but it sure doesn’t hurt when you’re dealing with them all day.”
Brynn straightened her name tag, matching the smile that had bloomed on Hallie’s face once she’d accepted the compliment. “If it was, I probably wouldn’t have been hired.”
Hallie rolled her eyes at her, but not in the way people usually did.
Instead, it made Brynn feel, well, good.
Like she was a part of some secret conversation, which didn’t usually happen to her.
Her parents looked at her lovingly, no matter what she said, and Gregory, she thought, treated her more like a little sister than anything else, not that she could really remember anymore what it was like to be one of those.
That realization made her heart squeeze a little tighter than she wanted, and she took a calming breath, smiling through it like she always did.
Hallie, still leaning over on the desk, played with a tendril of hair that was framing her face.
Luckily, it seemed like she didn’t notice Brynn’s moment of unsteadiness when she said sincerely, “You agreed to spend your holidays working here so that I could visit my family. I’ll take effort over execution any day. ”
Brynn was… delighted by Hallie’s words. That was the emotion she realized was soaking into her chest and making her feel warm.
It washed away the sadness she’d just been feeling, which made her even more grateful to be able to bask in it, even if only for a moment, until her phone buzzed in her pocket.