Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Audrey stuffed her hands in her pockets and sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. Her stomach growled and she glanced at Elaine, who was busy perusing one of the shelves in the bookstore they were in.
“Have you gotten a text yet?” Audrey asked, trying her best not to feel impatient.
Elaine chuckled. “Not yet. I’m sure it will be soon, though. That restaurant is big, there’s bound to be a table soon.”
Audrey and Elaine had walked to an Asian Fusion restaurant that was near their hotel for dinner, only to discover that because of its high ratings, it was packed.
They’d added their names to the wait list and gone across the street to wander around a bookstore while they waited for their table to be ready.
An entire hour had already passed, and Audrey was becoming hangry.
Her mouth kept watering whenever she looked at a cookbook, and she’d glanced at her watch twice as many times as she’d sighed with impatience—although the actions often coincided.
“I almost wish we’d decided to go somewhere else,” Audrey said with a groan. “This wait is lasting forever.”
“I’m sure it will be worth it,” Elaine reassured her with a calm smile.
“And I doubt it will be that much longer. But I think I’ll sit over there and start looking over all the brochures and the informational packets we received today during the seminars and at all the booths.
” Elaine said the words “brochures” and “informational packets” as if they meant “jewelry” and “cupcakes.”
Audrey shook her head, laughing. “You don’t seem hungry at all, Mom. I feel like I could eat every picture of food in this place.”
“Don’t do that,” Elaine teased. “You’ll give yourself indigestion.”
Audrey chuckled. “I think I’ll call Michelle while we wait. It’ll be a good distraction.”
“That’s a great idea,” Elaine remarked, opening up one of the brochures with a cheerful smile.
Audrey dialed Michelle’s number and stepped out into the breezeway of the bookstore. It was a little chilly there, but she wanted to go somewhere quiet, since the bookstore was playing jazz music over its loudspeakers and she thought it might be hard to hear Michelle over the music.
“Hey, Mom.” Michelle sounded slightly breathless, and Audrey’s Mom radar immediately went off. She could tell immediately that her daughter was stressed.
“Hey, hon. How are things going over there? Is everything okay?”
“Oh, swimmingly.” Michelle gave a laugh that sounded a little fake. “Everything is great here.”
There was a long pause. Audrey listened to the muffled sound of the jazz music. Down the street, a car honked loudly.
“Um, are you sure?”
“What do you mean?” Michelle countered. “What? Did you hear something?”
Audrey frowned with concern. “No. Why would I have heard something?”
Michelle sighed with relief. “Oh, nothing, I just thought one of the guests might have complained.”
Audrey blinked. “Complained about what? Michelle, everything isn’t going fine there, is it? It’s okay, you can tell me. I won’t be mad.”
Michelle groaned. “I mean, nothing terrible has happened. No one would complain about it unless they were being really fussy. It’s just—well, right after I dropped you guys off at the airport and came back, there was a slew of new arrivals.
A whole bunch of people came early. And even though I had two rooms ready, I didn’t have a third, and it was almost a disaster but then this really kind woman offered to just change the sheets in her kids’ room since she felt bad it was going to end up being really messy in there anyway. ”
“That was really kind of her,” Audrey agreed. “But you also shouldn’t feel bad. That wasn’t your fault at all. You’re not expected to let people check into their rooms early—they can always wait if necessary, since that’s the policy.”
“I know, but I’d already told the family they could have the two rooms and then this really cold couple showed up and they really looked like they needed it, and it was just awkward because the dad in the first group told them that everyone’s rooms were ready when that wasn’t true.”
“Oof.”
“I know. So that was all okay, but then I found out that Puddle had been let out of the closet and she totally destroyed this grumpy guest’s pillow—”
“Oh no!” Audrey gasped, feeling alarmed.
“But that was okay too,” Michelle said hurriedly.
“He wasn’t here at the time, so I was able to clean it all up and get him a clean pillow in time.
It was really stressful, but all’s well that ends well—but for a second there, I thought maybe I missed some of the feathers that were all over the floor of his room and he was upset. ”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Audrey shook her head. “That sounds so stressful. Did you have to run out and get him a new pillow? I never thought to keep any extras in stock in the linen closet.”
“No, I gave him one of my extra ones.” Michelle laughed. “And yeah, we should probably grab some extra pillows soon. We weren’t planning on adopting a little angel-faced terror. I guess I should add that to my to-do list.” She sighed.
“Hey, it can wait until your grandma and I get back. We’ll help you take care of everything then, okay? Don’t stress.” Audrey paused, biting her lip. “Did anything else go wrong?”
“Um, yeah—the Wi-Fi went out again and it took me a long time to get it fixed but then I finally did. And then while that was happening, I burned the quiche that I’d made for breakfast. That was probably the worst moment in all this—but then Puddle made me feel better and I made some pancakes quick. ”
“Good thing you thought to buy those pancake mixes,” Audrey said, feeling proud of her daughter. “I know it’s all overwhelming, but it sounds like you’re handling all this as well as anyone could, Michelle.”
“Thanks, Mom. That means a lot.”
“I mean it. But also, don’t feel like you have to keep struggling by yourself.
It sounds like the hotel is just too much for one person to handle, even for a few days.
Your grandma and I can come back if you need us to.
Or maybe just I could come back and she could stay here and keep learning things. ”
“No, no, you don’t have to do that. It’s okay.”
“I don’t know, I feel like I should have had a clearer head about this and not left you there by yourself in the first place.”
“No, it’s all good, Mom, really. I’m figuring out the swing of things.
These little hiccups have been some growing pains, for sure, but I’m going to figure it all out.
Like, I put a sign on Puddle’s gate asking the guests not to let her out, which must have been what happened when she ate that pillow. ”
“Do you think so? Or did she just jump the gate?”
“No.” Michelle chuckled. “It was open. She’s not that much of a show dog yet.”
Audrey laughed too. “Well, if you’re sure. But feel free to call if you end up needing backup.”
“I’ll be fine, really. I don’t want either of you to miss a second of that business conference. I’m so glad you’re there. I’m also glad you’ll be home soon, not going to lie, but I can definitely hold out until that happens.”
Audrey could hear the grin in her daughter’s voice. “Okay. But keep me posted, please? I want to be sure everything’s okay on your end.”
“I’ll let you know if anything catches fire,” Michelle teased. “How are things going at the conference?”
“Oh, it’s just amazing,” Audrey gushed. “Right now, we’ve been waiting for dinner for an hour, so that’s been frustrating, but the restaurant sounds like it will be worth it, so even that I can’t really complain about.”
“Oo, sounds fancy.”
“I guess so.” Audrey chuckled. “Right now, I’m hungry enough that anything would taste good, so maybe I’m in for the best meal of my life.”
“Amazing. And you said the conference has been good?”
“Incredible. Your grandma and I are both learning such useful things. We’ve taken so many notes, and we can’t wait to share them with you.
We went to a seminar on how to use social media to advertise the most effectively, and how to build a wider audience base.
You’re going to be so excited about it.”
“I’m excited already! You two will have to give me the condensed version of the conference once you get home. Make a few PowerPoints. That kind of thing.”
Audrey laughed. “I’m sure your grandmother would love to. She’s taken twice as many notes as I have, and she is studying the brochures as we speak.”
Michelle clicked her tongue against her teeth. “Well, it sounds like you two are learning things that are really going to benefit the hotel. I’m really excited for you guys.”
Audrey smiled, loving the way Michelle sounded genuinely happy for her and Elaine.
She was about to ask Michelle if she wanted some cute little Boston-themed gift, like a magnet or a keychain, when she saw Elaine waving to her out of the corner of her eye.
She turned and looked through the glass doors, and saw Elaine put her phone into her pocket and mouth, “Our table is ready!”
“Oh thank goodness!” Audrey blurted. “Hey, honey, I guess our table is finally ready, so I need to go into the restaurant. We’ll talk again soon, okay?”
“Sounds good. Enjoy your meal!”
“Thanks. Enjoy your puppy snuggles!”
Audrey and Michelle said goodnight and hung up. Audrey was just about to put her phone back in her pocket when she saw the screen light up with a notification from her weather app.
Severe weather warning? she thought, her eyebrows lifting as she read the notification. Severe cold? For a moment, she frowned, and then she shrugged. I’m not too worried. Cold is cold, after all. It’s winter, so what do I expect?
Elaine met her at the doorway, smiling excitedly. “I’m so ready to eat, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.” Audrey laughed as they left the bookstore and began to cross the street. “I’m starving.” An icy wind blew against their faces, and Audrey shuddered.
“What did Michelle say?” Elaine asked. “How are things at the hotel?”
“Going fine, generally—I’ll tell you more once we’re in the restaurant.” Audrey’s teeth chattered a little as she spoke. “I can’t wait to be somewhere warm, eating a good meal.”
“I second that!”
Audrey shivered again, thinking to herself that once they were back at the hotel, she would enjoy taking a hot bath and snuggling under her quilt and a couple of extra blankets. Winter might be winter, but the cold wind that was blowing seemed to be far icier than usual.