Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
It was hard waking up in an empty bed.
Piper had gotten used to having Sullivan next to her, but she had sent him home last night after they had made love. She wanted to be focused on the first group of guests which had arrived yesterday.
Check-in was from three until six each afternoon, and Sullivan had brought by a beautiful bouquet to place on the desk to greet guests.
Piper had gone shopping for groceries, stocking the pantry and fridge.
She had picked up fresh cookies at Seaside Sweets and set them out, along with cucumber water.
She told each guest at check-in that cookies would be available each day at three, along with a flavored water.
It would be interesting to see which guests availed themselves of the treat, and she would need to adjust the amount she set out daily based upon their preferences.
She had spent Thursday in Corpus with Sullivan, looking at cars.
She had seen a few models she liked but wasn’t willing to commit so quickly on such a major purchase.
Having the luxury of driving either Keaton or Layne’s car gave her time to make an informed decision.
Since Layne’s car was brand-new, Piper opted to take Keaton’s keys and use his vehicle until she had one of her own.
Getting out of bed, she did a series of stretches before dressing. She decided to get in an exercise session after she cleaned the rooms each day, then she would shower.
Piper had been determined to make the Bay Breeze as green as possible and had set up recycling bins, as well as trash cans, in each guest suite.
She placed cards in the center of the beds, saying the sheets would be changed every third day as long as guests left the card on the pillow.
If not, a fresh set of sheets would be placed upon the beds.
The card also said that guests could choose to reuse towels if they so desired.
Towels still hanging on a bar or the hook on the bathroom door would be neatly folded, while those on the floor would be washed and replaced.
Sullivan warned her that most people would want fresh sheets each night, along with clean towels.
He said people might be more conscious of those things at home, but on vacation, they would take advantage of someone doing laundry for them.
She would have to see if he were right or not.
Entering the kitchen, she set out plates and silverware for the breakfast buffet.
She heated water and poured it into the chafing dishes, lighting them to keep items warm.
She would serve a hot breakfast from seven until nine each weekday morning and until ten on weekends.
Layne had told her that most people would eat by eight-thirty, wanting to get a jump on the day’s activities, whether that meant a day at the beach or shopping.
Piper would need to keep track of who came down for breakfast so that once everyone had eaten, she could clean the dining room and kitchen.
The same would be true of guestrooms. At check-in yesterday, she had asked each guest to place the hangtag on their outer door handle to indicate whether they wanted privacy or the room cleaned. Check-out each morning was at eleven, and she wanted to be near the desk for that.
She realized because she was on her own, unlike the Larsons who had shared duties, she wouldn’t have as much free time as she’d anticipated.
Mornings would be busy with cooking breakfast, cleaning rooms, and checkout.
Then she would need to be back at the front desk from three until six.
At least each guest had been issued a key not only to their room, but one to the front door.
Piper wouldn’t need to remain on duty every evening as people came and went from the B&B.
She also would have no days off between now and Labor Day.
While Piper didn’t mind hard work and was used to long hours in the theater, she hadn’t anticipated being involved with Sullivan when she agreed to manage the inn.
He still hadn’t informed her of his last day in the Bay, and she already missed the carefree days she had spent in his company.
Heating two pans on the stovetop, she began scrambling eggs and frying up bacon, which would be this morning’s main offerings.
She also cut up fresh fruit and placed it in a large bowl, taking it to the dining room.
A loaf of bread and sleeve of English muffins sat next to the toaster, and Piper added butter and jams to the table.
The small fridge in the corner was already stocked with yogurts and bottles of orange juice and water, along with small cartons of milk.
She had moved the coffeemaker from the kitchen into the dining room and had a tree pod which made it easy for guests to see available flavors.
As she placed eggs into the chafing dish, the first two guests appeared in the dining room.
“Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson,” she said brightly to the couple who had been the first to check-in yesterday. They were annual visitors to the Bay Breeze and came several times a year. “How did you sleep?”
Mrs. Anderson smiled. “Best night I’ve had in months. I must say that George and I really think you’ve done a wonderful job with the Bay Breeze, Piper.”
“I can’t take credit for the renovations, ma’am. That was all Layne Larson. When she inherited the inn, she decided to do several updates.”
“Well, everything looks marvelous,” Mr. Anderson said.
“I’m just setting out eggs and bacon. Drinks are in the fridge here, along with some yogurts. If you prefer coffee, you can make your own.”
“Thank you, dear,” Mrs. Anderson said.
Piper returned to the kitchen, nerves flitting through her. She knew what she had prepared this morning was good. She just didn’t know how often she would need to replenish items. She danced a fine line between checking on her visitors and intruding on their privacy.
The next time she returned to the dining room, a second couple had arrived.
The Batemans had told her they lived in Corpus and liked to drive up and down the coast, trying out different B&Bs and rating them online.
She saw they had availed themselves of the buffet, both of them toasting English muffins for themselves.
Mrs. Bateman said, “Piper, I didn’t see any tea set out.”
She hadn’t thought about tea for breakfast. “Let me remedy that for you, Mrs. Bateman.”
Hurrying to the kitchen, she found a tea caddy, bringing it to the coffee bar. Hot water could be brewed in the coffeemaker.
“May I brew you a cup?” she asked, thinking she would need to add tea pods to her shopping list.
The woman stepped to the coffee bar and glanced at the selections in the tea caddy. “I don’t see any herbal teas. Or even decaf.” She sniffed in disapproval.
“I’m sorry we don’t have that available for you, ma’am. I’ll make sure that we have some for you tomorrow morning. In the meantime, could I interest you in a cup of decaf coffee?”
Mrs. Bateman’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t think so. I’ll just have orange juice.”
When the older woman returned to her seat, Piper retrieved an orange juice from the fridge and brought it to her, pouring it into a glass.
Apparently, the Batemans expected her to wait on them.
She glanced to the buffet and found she needed to add more eggs and bacon and returned to the kitchen.
It worried her, thinking Mrs. Bateman would give the Bay Breeze a low rating for a minor inconvenience.
After half an hour, both couples had left, and the Doyles didn’t appear until eight-thirty. She made certain they had everything they needed. Once they had eaten, Piper began cleaning up. Since no one would be checking out today, she had a little bit of a breather.
Once the kitchen was clean, she went upstairs and checked the three occupied rooms. Two, the Doyles and Andersons, had indicated for their rooms to be cleaned, and she got to work on those.
As Sullivan had predicted, both wanted their sheets changed and new towels.
She decided that would mostly likely be the norm and would plan accordingly.
Layne had bought beautiful linens for each room, as well as plenty of extra towels, so restocking wouldn’t be a problem.
It would simply be more time consuming, doing more laundry than she had anticipated.
She took all the sheets and towels to the laundry room and put the first load on to wash.
By the time she had finished servicing the two guestrooms, the Batemans’ hangtag also notified her that the room was available for cleaning, so she tackled it.
While the Andersons and Doyles had been fairly neat, the Batemans were very messy.
Somehow, that didn’t surprise her after this morning’s encounter at breakfast. Piper decided she would make a game out of predicting which guests would be high maintenance and messy and which would be what she would consider thoughtful guests.
As she worked she wore her earbuds, singing along with the music, but she decided that wouldn’t be wise in the future.
The earbuds were of good quality, blocking out all external noises.
If someone called her name, she wouldn’t be able to hear them, much less the bell which sat on the registration desk downstairs.
She would have to clean without music in the future, or at least hum quietly to herself to help pass the time.
Sullivan texted her, asking if she could talk, and she replied she could. Immediately, her phone rang with a FaceTime call. She drank him in as she answered, thinking of all they had done last night before he had left her for his room at the diner.
“How was the first breakfast shift?” he asked.
“I would give myself an A for the eggs and bacon. I screwed up, though. I didn’t have any herbal or decaf teas available.”
“I didn’t even think of that.”