Chapter 5
Chapter Five
E loise had no idea what to do, and as she helped Jean and Kristen clear away the taco bar, she said, “Well, at least the first fight has already happened.”
Jean gave a light scoff that could have been a laugh, and Kristen simply shook her head.
“Do you think everyone will come back for our nightly meeting?” she asked.
“I’ll text them,” Kristen said. The reminder coming from her would probably be best, as no one wanted to disappoint Kristen, and she never took sides. Everyone felt like they could tell her things, and she would listen and agree with them.
El put the plates and silverware in the dishwasher until it was full, then she started it. Jean did the same with the second machine, while Kristen put the leftovers into plastic containers and bags.
Robin had done a great job organizing the kitchen so that everyone had a job to do at some point throughout the next few weeks, whether that was prep, serving dinner, being in charge of the menu, or cleanup. Robin had not put herself on cleanup for tonight, yet she’d brought dishes from the dining room and cleaned up a teen table before she said, “Oh, Mandie’s calling. I’ll be right back.”
She’d been gone for fifteen minutes, and Eloise couldn’t judge her, because she had no young women living on their own in the city and didn’t know how long a conversation with one might last.
Alice and Arthur had brought their own dishes over, and then Alice said she was going to go change, and they’d disappeared upstairs. The teens had gone down to the game room, which had a foosball table, a billiard table, several gaming consoles, and a big screen TV. Eloise didn’t even think the TV was needed, as the home theater sat right next to the game room and could seat thirty people comfortably.
“I just can’t believe it was Kelli and AJ,” Jean said. “They’ve always gotten along so well.”
“Something must have happened,” Kristen said.
“You really think so?” El asked.
“I don’t know.” Kristen finished putting the shredded cheese, leftover lettuce, and diced tomatoes in the fridge, and turned to face Jean and Eloise. “I really don’t, but it’s very odd to have those two at each other’s throats.”
“I didn’t even think AJ was that strict with Asher,” Eloise said.
“She’s not,” Jean said. “Teenagers are hard.”
“And so are babies,” Kristen added.
Jean glanced into the living room where Ruben sat holding their two-year-old, Heidi. El loved holding Heidi because she had such a sweet spirit. She liked to babble to everyone, even herself, and she simply relaxed into whoever held her.
Eloise had never been pregnant and never had a child of her own, though she loved Aaron’s girls unconditionally. She and Aaron had tried for a baby of their own, but it hadn’t worked out, and Eloise had passed the age where it would be safe for her to get pregnant. So she simply held her friends’ babies as often as she could—and tried to stay out of parenting discussions.
“Well, I want to go over the charity tomorrow,” Eloise said. “Laurel’s been working on it, and it would be unfair to have everyone stay away because they’re mad.”
“I’ll text them right now,” Kristen said, a slightly cooler note in her voice. She pulled out her phone, and by the time Eloise made it out of the gourmet kitchen and past the eat-in dining table to the family room, she had a text.
Kristen: Don’t forget, we’re all meeting tomorrow at nine a.m. about our Christmas charity this year. Breakfast will be served right afterward.
“Where’s the meeting?” Kristen asked, her voice echoing slightly from the kitchen. She started toward them as Eloise said, “I believe Laurel has a presentation, so it’s in the home theater.”
“In the home theater, nine a.m.,” Kristen repeated as she typed on her phone. That text came through next, and several replies started coming in. Relief washed through Eloise when she saw AJ had said she’d be there. Kelli, Alice, Robin, Clara—they all confirmed too. She added her own RSVP and tucked her phone away with a sigh.
She met her husband’s eyes, and he smiled at her and patted the couch. “Come sit down, love,” he said, and Eloise curled into his side. He stroked her hair and whispered, “You worry too much about how other people feel.”
“I know,” she murmured, because she couldn’t argue with him. She did worry too much about how other people felt, and she wanted this Christmas to be joyous, relaxing, and beautiful for everyone.
With two of the better friends in the group already arguing, a sense of foreboding settled in Eloise’s stomach that she couldn’t quite swallow away.
“Who’s on breakfast tomorrow?” Jean asked.
“I don’t know,” Eloise said. “Robin’s binder is out in the foyer, and I’m sure we could look.” But dealing with the food was not her circus, nor her monkeys. And Eloise had already spent countless hours planning this holiday retreat for everyone at The Starlight Manor.
She’d received plenty of praise and gratitude, so it wasn’t that. She simply felt like she was running an inn with fifteen rooms instead of only six, and it felt like the opposite of what she wanted to accomplish this December—a relaxing, safe haven away from the stress of inn management, personnel issues, employee differences, running payroll, worrying about what they were going to feed guests the next morning, and everything else she shouldered at the Cliffside Inn.
Eloise had fought hard to get the Cliffside Inn, and she’d given up a lot to do it. She couldn’t believe that now, only a few short years later, she was considering selling it. Aaron made plenty of money, and they didn’t need the income that the inn generated.
It took her away from Billy and Grace during a crucial time in their lives, and while she’d tried to step back by hiring more managers, she still found herself entrenched in the daily busyness of the inn.
Even on days when she didn’t physically go to Sanctuary Island, to the inn, she spent time thinking about how to improve it—which rooms needed renovation, what it would cost to keep the pool open all winter, what new breakfast options they could provide, and many more things, even when she wasn’t there.
She’d only mentioned to Aaron, and now Robin and Alice, that she’d started to feel overwhelmed and run down by the inn. At the same time, her heart still pinched at the thought of putting it up for sale and walking away for good.
No one would run the inn the way she did—she knew that. She had emotional connections to that building, as her family had once owned it, and she’d reclaimed it after many years of neglect and after uncovering some treacherous secrets.
But could I still own it and simply hire someone to do what I do on a daily basis? she wondered silently.
“I need another one of me,” she said, only half-joking.
Aaron chuckled and kneaded her closer. “Don’t we all?”
They’d only been married for a couple of years, but Eloise felt like she had truly found her life partner in Aaron Sherman—and she wanted to be alone with him to talk through the evening, and maybe go through some options for the inn again.
She yawned as she straightened away from his side. “I think I’m going to go to bed.” Eloise glanced over at him; his eyebrows went up, and Eloise smiled, hoping he’d understand that she wanted him to come with her.
They had a suite on the second floor, which only housed bedrooms and bathrooms. There were three suites and two regular bedrooms, with Eloise and Aaron’s tucked away in the far corner. They had a nearly three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the property and the ocean in the distance. She might not go to bed right away, but she certainly didn’t want to stay down here and be social.
She stood just as Julia came down the hall from her room. “Are you leaving?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Eloise said, and she stepped over to Julia and hugged her. “I’m so glad you could come this weekend.”
“Ooh, me too,” Julia said as she squeezed her back. “I’m working this week, and then I’ll be back the week after that, and then I have to work a couple days before Christmas.”
“Right,” Eloise said, as she’d been the one to shoulder all of the calendar items. She knew she could look in her binder and find out who would be at the holiday house on what days and nights, and she’d asked people to please pack up their things and either leave them in the closet or take them with them if they weren’t going to be staying at the manor for more than one night.
That way, if Matt’s daughter wanted to come into town, she could give Julia’s bedroom to Lisa, or if Lena didn’t want to sleep in the bunk room, Eloise would know where the young woman could take refuge.
She stepped away from Julia and smiled, then took Aaron’s hand and led him toward the steps. They had to climb seventeen to get to the second floor, and she knew why AJ didn’t want to do that with her toddler in tow.
She let Aaron pull the door closed before she turned in his arms and kissed him. He chuckled against her lips and said, “You don’t want to go to bed.”
“Yes, I do,” she murmured. “I just want you to come with me.”
She pulled away and met his eyes, somewhat shy and yet absolutely not at the same time. She loved and adored Aaron, and she loved the way that he loved and adored her. So as his smile faded and a glint of passion entered his eyes, Eloise tipped her head back to receive a much hungrier kiss from him this time.
His phone rang, which caused him to pull away. He frowned. “I have it on silent.” And that only meant one thing: the same person had called three times in the span of five minutes.
“I’ll go freshen up in the bathroom,” she said, assuming the call would be from the precinct on Diamond Island and that it would be extremely important. She hoped he wouldn’t be too upset, or keyed up, or too long, because she wanted to make love to her husband to truly drive away her stress and worry over providing the very best holiday this Christmas.
She took her time in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and changing into a sexy nightgown she’d brought, and after several minutes, she returned to the suite to find Aaron sitting on his side of the bed, shirtless.
“It must not have been too bad,” she said as she pulled back the covers on her side.
He set his phone on the nightstand and rolled toward her. “It was Carol,” he said, a definite note of darkness in his voice.
His ex-wife.
“Oh,” Eloise said as brightly as she could. “What did she want?”
“She’s landing tomorrow in Five Island Cove,” Aaron said. “She wants to see the girls.”
“Well, that’s not going to work,” Eloise said as she ran her hand down his chest. “We’re on vacation.”
“I told her I’d talk to them.” He sighed as he tucked her into his arms. “I like this nightgown.” He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her, and as he moved his mouth down her neck, he added, “I don’t want to talk about Carol.”
“Okay,” Eloise gasped, his hands already roaming south and touching delicate parts through the thin silk of her nightgown. He slid the spaghetti strap to the side on her shoulder, and then placed a kiss there.
“As much as I like this nightgown, it has to come off.” He pressed the hard length of his cock to her thigh.
“Yes, it does.” And Eloise let her husband undress her and make love to her, as a great way to forget about the fight—and the flickering lights—that had happened at dinner.