Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Elaine dipped her spoon into her dish of ice cream as she laughed over a joke Audrey had just made.
She was sitting in the parlor with Audrey and Michelle, and the three of them were celebrating the fact that they had completed the interior design of The Birchwood House.
Soon, all the rooms would be available to guests.
“I’m serious, somebody give me one of those mountaineer outfits,” Audrey said, laughing at her own silliness. “I’ll even put on a big gray beard. I feel like I just scaled a mountain using mostly my bare hands.”
“We sure did use our hands a lot,” Michelle said, holding hers out in front of her. “I didn’t dare get a manicure for weeks since we were doing all that cleaning. And I’ve gone through like four bottles of hand lotion. But now that we’re done, I get to have fancy hands again.”
Elaine chuckled. “Your hands look beautiful, Michelle. I love that polish.”
“Thanks.” Michelle grinned. “Normally I go with something subtle like light pink or white, but this was a special occasion. Teal is my favorite color, and they had this slightly shimmery polish at the nail salon. I’m just obsessed.”
“Your nails look like summer,” Audrey said, smiling affectionately at her daughter.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but don’t forget we’re still going to have to do a lot of cleaning,” Elaine said. “We are running a hotel after all.”
Michelle laughed. “Don’t worry, I know. But we’re not going to be dealing with ten years or more’s worth of old dust anymore. I can put on some cleaning gloves and do some basic scrubbing, no problem. The cleaning extravaganza we all just went through is officially over.”
“Here, here,” Audrey said, lifting her bowl of ice cream in a kind of toast.
Elaine laughed, feeling happy and excited. They’d made sundaes using all kinds of fun ingredients like caramel sauce, hot fudge sauce, candy pieces, and marshmallow fluff. They’d all been giggling together for the past hour like a bunch of teenagers.
It’s always exciting to reach a new step in life, Elaine thought. But it’s especially nice when you worked hard to get there. I think we’re feeling so happy not only because we’re excited, but also because we’re so proud of ourselves.
“All right,” Audrey said, setting down her bowl when she’d finished her ice cream. “Let’s take a look at that checklist, Mom. I’m itching to know how much we have left on our to-do list before we can have our grand opening for The Birchwood House.”
“Oh, good idea,” Elaine said, standing up and going over to her desk, which was an antique bureau resting in a corner of the parlor.
She kept their official to-do list there, since she preferred to make lists with paper rather than her smartphone, like Audrey and Michelle.
She picked up the list almost lovingly and carried it back over to her seat with a pen.
To her, it represented all of the teamwork and fun times that she’d shared with her daughter and granddaughter as they were getting the mansion ready.
“All right,” she said, adjusting the way she was holding the list so that she could see it all right without her reading glasses.
“First thing on the list, clean out all of the bedrooms.”
“Done!” Audrey and Michelle chorused excitedly and then gave each other a high five.
Elaine laughed. Although they’d finished the majority of the cleaning weeks ago, there were still things here and there that had needed to be done in most of the rooms. Knowing that each of the bedrooms was formally clean enough for guests was a relief indeed.
“Decorate each of the bedrooms,” Elaine said.
“Done!”
“Fill the cupboards and/or shelves in all of the bathrooms with extra towels, toilet paper and back-up soaps.”
“Not done,” Michelle said. “We still need more toilet paper and bars of soap. I’m determined to stick with my scent theme for every room.”
Elaine chuckled. “Sounds good. And that’s an easy fix anyway. Next item is, prepare toiletry welcome baskets for every room.”
“Done,” Audrey said proudly. “I just finished the last one this morning. It’s got a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, hand lotion, a little box of mints, and some other toiletry items people might need.”
“Those baskets are going to be such a nice touch,” Elaine said warmly. “Great idea, Audrey.”
“Thanks.” Audrey grinned. “Nothing worse than showing up to your hotel and realizing you forgot your toothbrush.”
They continued to talk through the list. Most of the items had been completed, although there were a few tasks—some tangible, like buying new doormats for the back door and side entrance, and others that were digital tasks such as updating the Instagram account and running a new marketing ad campaign—that were still in need of completion.
“There,” Elaine said, crossing off the final item on their to-do list and sitting back with a sigh of satisfaction.
“We’re very nearly ready for our grand opening.
Oh! And I have a surprise for you girls.
” She smiled gleefully. “I didn’t put it on the to-do list, because I didn’t want you to be disappointed if it didn’t work out, but I went to Shep’s bakery, and he’s officially agreed to be business partners with us.
” She clapped her hands together, feeling triumphant.
“The first time he’s going to supply us with pastries will be at the grand opening.
He gave me a form to fill out, and I told him I’d bring it home so that the three of us can decide together on what to order for the opening. ”
Audrey’s eyebrows were lifted in surprise. “Wow, Mom. Good job—I mean, I know we talked about this, but honestly, I’m floored. Getting Shep to agree to be business partners so quickly must have taken some doing. Shep is quite the curmudgeon.”
Elaine’s eyes glittered. “Well, it did take more than one meeting.”
“I’m surprised he agreed to meet with you at all,” Michelle said, popping the last spoonful of her sundae into her mouth. “He’s basically a hermit, I’d say.”
Elaine shrugged, feeling a little impish. “When you want someone to listen, sometimes you need to march right into their kitchen and tell them what’s what. And that’s exactly what I did.”
Michelle’s jaw dropped and Audrey blinked at her mother in shock.
“You what?”
“Mom, honestly?”
Michelle and Audrey turned to each other and burst into laughter. Elaine laughed along with them, remembering the look on Shep’s face when she’d first stepped into his kitchen.
“He was surprised, that’s for sure.” Elaine ran a hand through her hair.
“I don’t think anyone’s ever done anything like that before.
It’s not something I would have thought twice about if it wasn’t Shep, but I had a suspicion that he wouldn’t agree to meet with me if I tried to set up a meeting with him.
He’s famous for making up excuses to avoid any kind of social interaction.
So I figured the best course of action was to just barge in on him and outline what a great deal we’re offering him before he had a chance to say no. ”
Audrey shook her head, still laughing. “I never would have had the nerve. Weren’t you worried he was going to get mad and just totally refuse to see you?”
Elaine shook her head. “I know Shep pretty well. Underneath that grumpy bear exterior beats a heart of gold. Besides, I think he’s got a bit of a soft spot for me. I wasn’t worried about him getting upset with me—at least, nothing a little charm wouldn’t cure.”
“Grandma, you are something else,” Michelle said, shaking her head and looking impressed.
“Thank you,” Elaine said, grinning.
“I need to hear all of the details,” Audrey said. “Did you actually just walk right into his kitchen?”
“I did.” Elaine felt amused by the recollection. “I talked with Iris first, and she tried to get me to just talk to her instead. She seemed pretty protective of his solitude, which I thought was sweet.”
“She’s his guard dog,” Michelle said dryly. “A very pretty human guard dog.”
“Oh gosh,” Audrey snorted with laughter at the comment.
“She’s not loyal enough to be a guard dog,” Elaine said, laughing. “She gave in, and then the second time I went into his kitchen, she just seemed amused by the whole thing. She was definitely my ally in all this.”
“You barged into his kitchen twice?” Michelle squealed.
“Wow, Mom.” Audrey chortled. “I never would have thought you had it in you to be that demanding. You’ve always been so polite to everyone.”
“Oh, I never would have done it if I thought it would really upset him.” Elaine chuckled. “Besides, like I said, Shep and I are friends. And it was something I was ultimately doing for his own good. So yes, that did make me pretty audacious.”
“I need to hear how he reacted to you,” Michelle said. “Like, what was his expression when you stepped into the kitchen?”
“Extreme shock,” Elaine said. “He looked like he’d seen a ghost or something. His eyes got all big and he kind of leaned forward, like this, as if he was trying to look at me closer to see if I was real or not.”
Michelle and Audrey laughed so hard they started to wipe away tears of mirth. Elaine laughed too, knowing part of their amusement was due to the surprise they still felt about the whole thing.
It’s always a little funny when things we never thought would happen occur, as long as they’re good things, Elaine thought. I think they think Shep is even more of a curmudgeon than he actually is, so to them, this all seems like some kind of miracle.
Sure enough, once Audrey had caught her breath, she said, “I think getting Shep to agree to sign on as a business partner is an even bigger win than transforming The Birchwood House into a hotel.” She shook her head, her lips still tilted upward in a grin.
“You did well, Mom. I never would have thought that Shep would agree to all this, especially after you invaded his kitchen, but you seem to be a grumpy baker whisperer.”
Michelle and Elaine laughed at the comment.