CHAPTER NINETEEN
T he next morning, I went to the hotel early to check on Jessica and Ryan. They were scheduled to be filmed having breakfast in bed, and I wanted to be sure they were ready.
When I knocked on the door, Ryan answered it, looking a bit ragged. “Morning. We’re running a little late, but Jessica and I will be ready for the photoshoot.”
“Great. Liz and Angela will be here shortly and will help you prepare.” I glanced into the room and realized the housekeeping department might need to be called into action.
Disappointed but leaving it to Liz and Angela, I went into the kitchen for my morning coffee.
Consuela was there pulling sweet rolls out of the oven. My heart warmed with love. She was the epitome of who I’d always wanted as a mother instead of the stern grandmother who raised me. She was kind and loving.
Consuela turned, saw me, and smiled.
As soon as she set down the hot pan on the counter, I went over to her and hugged her.
“Everything okay, querida ?” Consuela asked.
“Yes, I’m just so grateful you’ve always been part of my hotel family.”
She cupped my cheek with her hand. “ Te amo.”
I hugged her again. “Me, too.”
I grabbed my cup of coffee, accepted a sweet roll from Consuela, and headed into the office.
I was still looking through email on my computer when Rhonda came into the office carrying a cup of coffee and a plate with a sweet roll.
“Morning!” I said, noting the scowl on her face.
“Hopefully, these will brighten my day,” she grumbled. “It feels as if I have added a toddler to the family. I’m trying to be patient with Will, but he’s difficult to live with right now.”
“It must be hard for both of you,” I said. “I don’t think you’ll do any relaxing here. Let me tell you about my morning visit to our special, romantic couple.”
“Uh-oh. What’s wrong now?”
I told her about the condition of the couple and their hotel room. “I think it’s best to let Liz and Angela handle it.”
“Yeah, me too, because right now, I’d want to shake them both. They signed contracts to do this.”
“We’ll see about things at the spa, but again, leave it up to Liz and Angela to handle any problems.”
“Probably that’s best. Let’s go out to the beach and look at the progress on building our storage shed by the sunset deck. With Brock’s interference, it took forever to get the permit.”
“We certainly don’t want the shed to be obvious, so there was no reason for him to make such a fuss.”
Rhonda’s eyes narrowed. “It’s all about his ego.”
As soon as she finished her coffee and we’d talked about any issue that might need our attention, we rose and went outside to take a walk on the beach. It was always an excellent place to talk and plan about the future.
The day was warm and humid, and the threat of rain was present when we walked out to the beach. The waves rolled into shore and back again and had a darker tone to them without the glare of sunlight. But I still thought they were beautiful as they met the shore with a timeless rhythm. The salty hiss left behind as they pulled away was something you could hear only in quiet moments.
I was standing at the water’s edge, eyes closed, when an annoying voice said, “Well, the two ladies I wanted to talk to.”
Feeling as if I’d been smacked awake, I turned to face Brock.
“What do you want, Brock?” growled Rhonda, and I knew she was trying to hold in her temper. She had no patience for him, especially when he’d given us such a hard time with a building permit.
“I just needed to see when your new construction will be complete,” said Brock.
“The construction is complete,” I said. “As to the exterior finish, we’re working on that now. It is to be stained the same color as the sunset deck structure so it will be less obvious. But as you no doubt know, the structure can’t be seen from the beach, so the rest isn’t your concern.”
“Mind your own business,” said Rhonda, putting her hands on her hips.
Aware she was about to lose all control, I grabbed her arm and all but dragged her away from him.
Brock must have been aware of how close Rhonda was to unleashing her frustration on him, and he said nothing as we left.
“Thanks, Annie,” said Rhonda. “All I needed was another whining person near me to make me want to explode.”
“Let’s walk for a while. We can talk as we do,” I said. Rhonda might be blunt and outspoken, but she wasn’t usually this volatile. Things must be stressful at home.
During our conversation, I said, “Vaughn is going to visit Will again.”
“That would be great,” said Rhonda. “Will was going to talk to me about some of his work while we were away, but we never got to have that conversation. So, right now, any diversion would be helpful to him. He’s stewing about something.”
I told her how Will had asked Vaughn if he’d had any dealings with Arthur and was pleased he hadn’t.
Rhonda shook her head. “I don’t know what is going on between Will and Arthur, but it’s tearing Will apart. I think it might have something to do with their competition for Reggie’s attention.”
“It’s hard to have family work for you,” I said.
“Will and Reggie are close, and they’ve been working well together. I think that’s what is driving Arthur crazy. I think he wants Reggie to know he could be making a lot more money working for him.”
“Has Angela mentioned the tension between them to you?” I asked.
“Yes. She told Reggie that she trusted him to do what was right and that while she’d support the choices he made, she didn’t want to become embroiled in any disagreements. While she recognizes that Arthur is Reggie’s father, Will is hers.”
“That’s so smart of her,” I said. “But if anything serious is going on, Reggie owes it to her to fill her in.”
“Right,” said Rhonda. “Reggie continues to show his loyalty to both Angela and Will, so I don’t think the problem is there.”
The longer we walked, the calmer we both felt.
“Let’s see the storage shed. The stain should’ve settled by now.”
Rhonda shook her head. “Brock needs to be careful with how he conducts himself. I’m not the only one who’d like to see him disappear.”
As we approached the sunset deck, I hoped Liz and Angela would be able to have their special couple photographed.
Pleased with the progress on the building, we left the beach to see if any new problems had arisen.
###
L ater that morning , we met Angela and Liz at the spa. Jessica and Ryan were already getting massages.
“How are things going?” Rhonda asked.
“They were in pretty rough shape this morning,” I said.
“We got them through the breakfast in bed scene after a private talk with Jessica, who’s been going through some emotional times,” said Angela.
“Oh?”
Angela made a face. “Ryan wants another baby, and Jessica doesn’t. That’s why she was so mad at him for getting her drunk. She thinks he did it on purpose to get her pregnant.”
Rhonda and I exchanged worried looks.
“I tried talking to Jessica myself for a while, simply as a friend,” said Liz.
“Be careful what you say,” I said, and Rhonda nodded in agreement.
“None of us is a professional,” said Rhonda.
The photographer arrived, interrupting us. “You wanted some shots of his and hers massages?”
“Yes,” said Liz. She looked at her watch. “We should be able to do that now.”
###
L ater that afternoon , Angela called to invite us to a high tea session with Jessica and Ryan.
“We thought since it was cloudy, we’d do a beach shot tomorrow. We’re still aiming to do a sunset shot. Then tomorrow will be a relaxing day for Jessica and Ryan before they have to return home.”
“Smart idea,” I told Angela. “Are Dorothy and her friends joining you for tea?”
“Yes,” she said. “They’ve agreed to be photographed in the background.”
“Perfect,” I said and handed the phone over to her mother.
“Be sure the waitress is dressed in costume,” said Rhonda. “We talked about it at our meeting.” Rhonda listened and then laughed. “Okay, okay. I know you girls have control of the project. Thanks.”
Rhonda ended the call and turned to me, looking downhearted. “I guess our daughters don’t need us to tell them what to do.”
“Rhonda, we want them to do more and more projects for us. Right?”
“I’m a mess,” admitted Rhonda. “I have too much going on at home and have to learn to give up some control at the hotel.”
“Just give it time,” I said. “Now, let’s see about the high-tea photo session.”
We left for the library, where a section had been decorated for high tea with pink tablecloths on two tables for four. Each table held a small crystal bud vase holding a single pink rose. Special flower-patterned white dishes and teacups sat at each place.
Jessica and Ryan had changed into clothes suitable for the occasion, with Ryan in pants and a golf shirt and Jessica in a sundress.
The visit to the spa and, perhaps, Liz’s talk with Jessica seemed to put them in a relaxed, almost loving mood.
“Hello,” I said. “I hope you enjoy our high tea.”
“It looks delicious,” said Jessica. “I can’t wait to taste the treats.”
“Me, too, even though those sandwiches sure are small,” said Ryan, chuckling.
I laughed. “Have as many as you want after the photographer is through.”
Dorothy approached us. “Hello, I’m Dorothy Stern. I volunteer here at the hotel. My friends and I are delighted to be here for the photoshoot. We’ll be in the background.”
Rhonda made the introductions, and then Angela came over to us. “We thought we’d have some shots of the two of you alone from different angles. It’ll be easy like the rest. Just follow the instructions from the photographer.”
I left them to join Dorothy and three of her friends, who were loyal customers of the hotel restaurants.
“Thanks for joining us, ladies. I have no idea how long this will take, but enjoy yourselves.”
“Oh, we will,” said one of Dorothy’s friends, beaming as two multi-layered trays filled with tempting treats were placed in front of them.
Rhonda and I didn’t stay long. We’d put our daughters in charge and owed them their privacy.
As we walked toward our offices, Rhonda stopped me. “Let’s see what treats are in the kitchen. Everything looked delicious. Maybe I’ll take one home to Will. That might sweeten him up. Anything is worth a try. Right?”
I grinned. “Maybe then, he’ll tell you what’s bothering him.