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Clara stood behind the registration desk. She skipped any kind of cordial greeting. “You said you’d be here right after lunch.” The annoyance in her tone said as much as the words.
Grace had been right. Clara was going to be a handful.
“We had a problem at the store,” I explained. Me complaining about the ordering software wouldn’t solve a thing, and my visit with Case was none of her business. I paid Clara to worry about the hotel, not the store.
She sighed. “I told Sarah-Sue you’d be here after lunch, but when three o’clock rolled around, she left.”
“You should have called.”
“I did. This morning. You blew me off.”
She had me there. I’d prioritized the store over the hotel. “Sorry. I guess I’m too used to Grace taking care of things here. I should have taken your call more seriously.” I offered an olive branch. “I’ll catch her first thing tomorrow.”
“Too late,” Clara sighed. “She’s gone and said she won’t be back.”
“Just walked away?”
“She and Jeannine are both going to the new Garden Inn opening up in Scarsville.” She stopped talking as the elevator opened and a couple exited toward the back terrace overlooking the lake.
Two in one day wanting to leave for a competitor meant said competitor was recruiting our people. It was time for a sternly worded warning from our lawyer.
The door closed behind the guests, and Clara started again. “Which brings me to the big problem. We were already short in housekeeping.”
I’d heard this complaint before.
“With Sarah-Sue gone, we might be able to finish all the occupied rooms today, but we can’t get to any of the departures.”
“So you can get to them tomorrow,” I suggested.
“It doesn’t work that way.” She tapped on her computer. “Occupancy is going up every day this week. The only two options are canceling reservations or falling back to reduced cleaning. We can tell the guests it’s part of being more environmentally friendly.”
We’d discussed the reduced-cleaning option before, and it sounded like a total loser to me. Reputation was everything, and failing on our promise of an absolutely first-class experience was not a good idea. We weren’t a cut-rate motel where straightening the bed instead of a complete change of sheets would be acceptable. The latest articles inBoutique Hotelierhad confirmed as much regarding anything less than full daily housekeeping.
“If you’d gotten here early enough to head off Sarah-Sue, this might not have happened,” Clara continued. Her raised eyebrow said she enjoyed sticking it to me. “So which option do you want to go with?”
I blew out an exasperated breath. “Neither.” Both were terrible. “We have to find a way.”
“Call Grace if you don’t believe me. Or you can handle some of the rooms yourself.” She didn’t hide her grin. Apparently, she thought the idea of the boss pitching in to help with housekeeping was hilarious.
I nodded. “I’ll be in after dinner, and you can show me how it’s done.”
Her grin disappeared.
Didn’t see that coming, now did you?“See you at seven thirty.” I turned and left before she could argue. How hard could it be?
* * *
Angela
I’d been payingattention when Boone drove us in this morning, so the house was easy to find.
I walked around to the shack. Calling it a cottage was just too much of a stretch for me today. The dogs were eager to see me, and even King got up off his bed to greet me with a lick on the hand.
For the next little bit, walking them and petting them distracted me from the fact that my life had turned to shit today. I located Grace’s brushes and gave the dogs some of the loving attention that had been lacking in my life. How long had it been since someone brushed my hair and cared about how I felt?
After living with Kevin, the only answer wastoo long.
I couldn’t come up with even one recent example of him showing a caring side that went beyond words.
