Page 61 of Sea Breezes at The Beach House Hotel

“I don’t put it past Brock to do that. He can’t stand not knowing more about our hotel. But much of our success is based on maintaining a sense of privacy for our guests, our staff, ourselves.”

“What’s going on?” asked Rhonda, coming into the kitchen. I automatically handed her a cup of coffee while Consuela loaded a plate with a sweet roll.

“I ran into Brock at the beach. I’ll tell you about it later. By the way, you two, I heard from Tina Marks. She and her family will be here in a week, and she can’t wait to see everyone and have some of your sweet rolls, Consuela.”

Consuela beamed. “They are The Beach House Hotel’s secret weapon.”

Rhonda and I laughed, but it was true. They played a significant role in the hotel's early publicity.

“You’ve got that right, dear lady,” said Rhonda.

“Love you,” I added, and then walked with Rhonda to our office.

We took seats at our desks, and I faced Rhonda. “Brock told me we were being sued by someone who notified the Chamber of Commerce about us and the hotel, claiming it was unsatisfactory.”

Rhonda shook her head. “No, that’s not true. Someone is spreading lies. Most likely Brock. He hears something, and he builds onto the scrap of information until it’s a completely different story. I’ll contact my friend to see what she has to say about it.”

“We don’t need bad publicity when we’re trying to end our year well.” I shook my head. “Some days, I wonder why we seem to have so many struggles.”

“If we weren’t doing such an outstanding job, no one would notice us. Now, with the spotlight on our hotel, we must be prepared for attacks like this,” said Rhonda. “When is Nell coming back?”

“She was going to come back today, but she’s staying in D.C. to help Clint,” I said. “Vaughn is leaving for New York City this afternoon for a couple of days. It’s a good thing we have a contract with Liana for babysitting. It’s been a little crazy at my house.”

“And here at the hotel,” said Rhonda. “I’m going to call my friend at the Chamber of Commerce, and then we’d better let Bernie know what’s going on.”

While Rhonda made the call, I returned the dishes to the kitchen and took a moment to walk through the lobby to see what was happening there.

I loved the striking difference between the holiday decorations inside and the tropical scenes outside. The smell of pine filled my nostrils as I studied the floral and pine displays inside, adding a brightness to the lobby area. But it was the large sparkling Christmas tree I loved the most, looking regal with its silver and gold theme.

Rhonda caught up to me. “There you are. My friend says there was no mention of any legal action in the complaint that she told me about. She said Brock is a nuisance at the office and we should ignore him. I told her I wished we could.”

We went to Bernie’s office and knocked.

He was on the phone but waved us inside.

After he ended the call, he turned to us. “What’s up?”

Rhonda told him about the email the Chamber had received, and I told him about my meeting with Brock on the beach.

He listened quietly and then said, “We’ll just keep on keeping on. That dummkopf is nothing but trouble.” He turned to me. “Is Nell still out of town?”

“Yes. I don’t think we can count on her for another few days. I hope you understand,” I said. “Working at the hotel is very important to her, but there are details she needs to handle in D.C. to make the move here.”

“As long as the hospitality department can function without her for a while, I’m okay with it,” said Bernie. “But as you know, it’s our busy time. I’ve heard that everyone likes Nell and likes working with her. It’s too bad that the timing is off.”

“I know,” I said, wishing Nell had had a stronger beginning. Even though Rhonda and I owned the hotel and wanted family involved, Bernie was right to be concerned when a staff member was unable to work.

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Following a pattern that we’d begun when we were dating, I drove Vaughn to the airport and picked him up there whenever possible. In our busy lives, it gave us a rare chance to be alone before saying goodbye or greeting his arrival back home.

“What are you auditioning for?” I asked Vaughn.

“A fairly small but important part in a movie that sounded great when my agent pitched it to me,” he said. “It’s a fairly short shoot schedule, and I like that more and more.”

Returning his smile, I said, “Me, too.”

“Thanks for all you’re doing for Nell and Clint,” he said. “I’ve purposely stayed out of a lot of discussion about it as we’d promised one another. But it’s important Nell has you to talk to about it.”