Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Ali
She’d prepared a little send-off. Ali knew the Hafners and the Nobles were hitting the road at 9 a.m., so she made five “go bags” of coloring books and treats. She’d also printed out a couple of photos of the family frolicking on the beach that she’d snapped and put them in little frames. She made a note to check on getting custom frames with the Sea Turtle Resort logo on them.
No, Ali, bad Ali, that’s not what someone who’s going to SELL does.
It was hard to not plan improvements or stop her brain from coming up with hospitality ideas. That had been her career, and this place was tailor-made for her to do what she loved on a way more personal scale than Frogtown.
She found the Riveras back to work, doing their best to keep up. Jorge was supervising as Didi got to work on washing the linens for the next round of guests.
The booking calendar showed that they had two families again headed for the cottages, and Didi said they had four families booked for the next week, which was spring break for a lot of people.
“Unless?”
Didi knew that Patsy Gleaner had toured the resort.
“Look,” Ali reassured her, “I know we’re selling, but I wouldn’t dream of ruining a family’s hard-earned vacation.”
“That makes me so relieved. The Fromer family has been here every year since the pandemic. We’re so fond of them.”
“Of course. But the cottages, are they all up to snuff? I need to do an inventory to be sure they’re ready.” Ali had stepped into managing the resort almost seamlessly. She realized she wanted to be sure the guests were well taken care of—in a place she didn’t even know she owned until a few weeks ago!
“Have you considered staying?” Didi asked. “You’re good at this! Look at you, making sure they all have treats.” Didi pointed to the go bags Ali had made.
“Oh, I think it’s a lovely life here, but no. It’s not just me involved. My sisters are equal owners, and this is a lot of money to turn down.”
“I understand, I do. But you know, everyone who stays here becomes a member of the family. It will be tough to see that end.”
Didi looked a bit deflated at Ali’s answer, but other than that wistful moment, she didn’t push. It was clear that even if Ali hadn’t come along to sell, Jorge and Didi were going to have to really retire soon. It was too much to manage at their age. They’d done enough.
By nine a.m., Ali stood in the parking lot to help see off the Hafners and Nobles. She’d earned hugs from the little ones and gratitude from the moms for all the things she’d done to make the place special.
The moms had become her new friends in the short time they were here. Didi was right about that.
“I really hope you don’t sell,” Kerry Hafner said.
“You too? How’d you hear?”
“It’s Haven Beach gossip that you’ll sell. If so, it will probably be our last trip down here. There’s nothing this cute or affordable unless you book in July. But uh, July?”
She laughed. Ali figured the summer months would be a bear, weather-wise.
As she said goodbye to their guests, she was immediately caught in another hug.
An Uber had pulled in, and Faye had popped out. She was simultaneously waving goodbye and hello.
“Baby Sister!”
“Big Sister!”
The two embraced, and Ali was so happy to see her face. This was the longest she’d ever gone without seeing Faye. She realized her quick visit had turned into three weeks.
“Who were those families?”
“Well, we had two guests here in the cottages this week. There’s only one in the hotel, and today is move-out day.”
“You sound like you own the place.”
“Ha, yeah, well?”
Ali helped Faye with her bag, and they strolled the little paths that made the Sea Turtle Resort look more like a village than a group of cottages.
“Oh my gosh, is this Yucca? And this might be Passiflora!” Ali didn’t know what Faye was talking about, but she was running from plant to plant. “Passiflora, passion flowers, I cannot imagine what it would be like to grow in this zone all year.”
“You’re being generous. This place needs some serious landscaping.” Through Faye’s eyes, though, Ali started to have a new appreciation for the overgrown foliage.
“Oh, for sure.”
Ali watched Faye get distracted by the palm fronds that drooped low over the deck of the Mango.
“I’m going to put you here, second best view of the beach but best mattress.”
“This is so cute; I can’t stand it. Like I cannot stand it.”
“Well, don’t fall completely in love. The water pressure isn’t great, and I’m pretty sure that four of the six light fixtures need replacing.”
“Nitpicking, that’s your attention to detail that we all, uh…love, that’s it, love.”
“Ha, ha.”
“Seriously, what in the world? How did we not know this was ours? It’s like Fantasy Island or something!”
“Dad, he knew. He was the one who packed up all that stuff of Mom’s. He had secrets from us, and this was the biggest one.”
“Let’s have this conversation out there, yeah?” Faye’s eyes were on the beach.
Just a few days prior, the water had pulled Ali’s gaze out there in that same hypnotic way. She was glad to see she wasn’t the only one affected by how stunning it was.
“Yeah, I’ve got snacks. Meet me out there after you get changed.”
A short while later, Ali and Faye sat with their toes in the sand. Ali was so glad to be able to talk to Faye. Faye’s reaction to this place was the same as Ali’s. She watched her sister take a deep breath of the sea air.
“I’m so glad you’re getting to see this, and when you meet Jorge and Didi, you’ll fall in love with them, too.”
“The two that let the pool turn green?”
“It’s just bad luck. He had a hip thing. She seems like she’s near 80. This is a lot to manage, I think.”
“You seem to be doing just fine.”
“You know, I love this kind of thing. It’s sort of like the convention space. Still, instead of worked-up vendors jockeying for position and complaining about the sound system, I have been able to help families have a luxurious vacation on a reasonable budget.”
“Um, what you did for Frogtown all those years—heck, for me and Blair too, for that matter? This is your gift, making magic for other people.”
It was the same thing Ali had heard Henry say about Didi.
“I did turn it out when Dad took us to Cedar Point.” It was true. Ali had done her best to be sure Blair and Faye had fun, and had Magical Moments, ala Disney, without actual Disney. Maybe Faye was right. She should have been a travel agent.
“You know, if we make all this dough the real estate agent says we’re going to make, you could get a bed and breakfast in Northern Michigan or Irish Hills or something. That’d be a cool job.”
“Ha, I’ve heard Irish Hills property is hard to come by these days. Dad wouldn’t believe how his old summer lake is turning into the Hamptons of the Midwest.”
“Right?”
“But yeah, that kind of money is potentially life-changing. I’ve been thinking a lot about life changing. Divorce, Dad gone, no job. It’s been a month,” Ali said. She had barely unpacked all the changes. She also hadn’t looked forward.
What do I want to do—other than make sure the guests coming tomorrow have a lovely first Grand Finale?
“It seems sort of weird to sell a place like this and then buy another one, I guess. Oh my gosh, is that a shark fin?”
Ali looked out to the water. “No, school of dolphins. Look over there!”
Three more fins bobbed in and out, and it became clear that what they were seeing was play not searching for prey.
“Oh wow, just wow.”
They sat in silence for a moment and let the breeze and the waves fill the space.
“I feel like my shoulders just released from my ears,” Faye sighed, “and I didn’t know I was scrunching them up.”
“Yeah, there’s a very chill vibe out on this beach.” Ali remembered the wave of calm that had washed over her the first time she was here.
“Man, let’s never leave.”
“Yeah, easy to say, but uh, ten million bucks?” The number didn’t seem real. What seemed real was breathing this air and feeling the sun on their legs.
Ali’s phone buzzed and interrupted her moment of calm. “Oh, it’s Barb Burns, that divorce attorney!”
She had alerted Barb that she was going to be formally separating from Ted but hadn’t done anything about it yet. Time enough when she got back to Toledo to get into the divorce settlement. She figured she’d keep the house, Ted would get an apartment, he’d keep his car, and she’d keep her 401K.
“Barb Burns, here.”
“Hi Barb, yes, how are you?”
Barb didn’t mince words or answer how she was. “I needed to give you a heads up.”
“What about?”
“Did you get an appraisal of the property in Florida?”
Ali had no idea why Barb would care or know about it. “Nothing formal, but it appears we’re sitting on a decent-sized real estate investment.”
“Well, I just got a document request for everything related to the Sea Turtle resort.”
“From whom?”
“Ted. He wants a formal appraisal, and it appears he’s going to claim half of whatever you get if you sell it.”
“What? He doesn’t even know about this place.”
“Hiding assets isn’t allowed in a divorce.”
“I haven’t filed yet, and I’m not hiding anything. I haven’t even got this place on the market. How does he know any of this?”
“I don’t know. But if you’re sitting on a ten-million-dollar windfall, split three ways, make sure you know that you’re going to be splitting your third by half with Ted. I’ll email you the information I need.”
“Okay.” Ali’s heart sank. What was Ted thinking? Fighting over something he had no right to, something he shouldn’t even know about, really?
“Was that what I think it was?” Faye asked.
“Yeah, Ted’s attorneys want half of my theoretical third of whatever we get for this place. How in the world does he know what we’re sitting on here? And the gall to think he should have a piece of it!” Ali was livid. Ted had called a lawyer and decided to pick through her business, all the while sleeping with his teaching assistant.
Faye’s face was red. And they hadn’t been out long enough for sunburn. Faye got up, paced a few times, and then turned to Ali.
“Um, yeah…that’s my fault. Oh my gosh, it’s my fault! I rubbed his nose in it.”
“What?”