Page 19 of You Know You Wanna

“It’s a pity,” I said. “Have you considered making another entrance? It wouldn’t be too much work to put in another gate so that they enter from a different side. That way, they wouldn’t be walking past all the little kids’ stuff and you won’t have to waste so much time convincing them that it’s as much for older kids as for the babies.”

“That’s actually a great idea,” she said after thinking it over for a moment. “We laid it out so that the stuff inside is separate, so if we just make another gate, they’d hardly see the playgrounds for the littler kids at first.”

Gracie pushed my drink across the bar, then looked at Birdie with raised eyebrows. “Maybe you can do it when you take over.”

“That’s not happening.” She rolled her eyes at her friend. “It’s just a rumor.”

I leaned forward, my interest piqued. “What’s the rumor? Why do people think you’re taking over?”

“Alan is leaving the place to Birdie in his will.”

She waved Gracie off. “I doubt it, and even if it’s true, I wouldn’t want it. I have no idea how to run a resort like this and I’m perfectly happy with my life the way it is.”

Well, well, well. This is an interesting development. I arched an eyebrow at her. “That’s the beauty of it being your place. If you like your life the way it is, you can keep it exactly that way and bring in other people to help you run it.”

“Ultimately, the responsibility would still be mine and I don’t want it,” she said easily. “I’m just not cut out for office work, and bookkeeping, and keeping track of reservations. This place has thirty rooms, plus two suites, and then we’ve also got the cabins. I mean, those are mostly staff housing, but do you have any idea how much admin it is to keep up with which guest is in what room and all that jazz?”

“The computer does that part for you,” I said. “Unless you’re on some kind of ancient system.”

“A lot of things around here are pretty ancient,” Gracie said. “Our system keeps track of most of that stuff, but it’s very dependent on human oversight, and our online booking system is a mess. Birdie could bring us into the twentieth century.”

“It’s the twenty-first century,” I said.

Gracie nodded. “I know but I’m not asking for miracles.”

“The age we’re in works well enough,” Birdie said, gesturing to the full restaurant and bar. “Take a look around. Everyone is happy and we’re at full capacity all summer. Why fix something that isn’t broken?”

“Because if it’s old enough, then soon enough, it will break,” I said. “Thirty rooms, huh? That’s not bad, but it could be better. There’s a lot of open space left on this property. And this place is popular.”

“Building it up would be a disaster,” Birdie said, her eyes wide as she shook her head. “We’d become just like any of the fancy resorts that have no character and no trees left. It would be awful.”

Awful for you, perhaps, but very profitable. I decided to leave it at that for tonight, though. This was nothing more than a fact-finding mission right now, and if I pushed too hard, she might get suspicious about my motives for being here. I might also end up making her dig her heels in later on, standing on a principle she decided on right here and now instead of looking at the bigger picture when we got to it.

Instead, I approached it from a different angle. “If you’re at full capacity, you must be doing something right. What do you think that is?”

While she and Gracie went back and forth about the services they offered, the new Nordic spa, and the appeal of a personalized experience where the staff knew guests’ names and vice versa, I made mental notes and didn’t interrupt much. A lot of what they were saying had real merit.

A little while later, I checked my watch and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Excuse me. I’m just going to call up to the suite to make sure Laurene got back okay. The movie should be done by now, right?”

“Right,” she said, also checking the time on my watch by cocking her head slightly to be sure. “Can Gracie get you another drink?”

“Yes, please.” I got up, going to use the phone at the front desk since cell service was spotty even in the main building. When Laurene picked up, relief washed over me in small waves. “Hey, honey. You got back okay, then?”

“Of course, I did,” she said, but I didn’t think she realized how much I’d worried that she wouldn’t. I wasn’t sure if we were at sneaking-off-with-a-boy age yet, but considering how angry she was at me, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d decided to rebel and go someplace else just for the heck of it.

With or without a boy.

“How was it?” I asked.

“Fine,” she said. “I’m going to bed. I ate too many French fries and now, my stomach hurts. See you in the morning.”

I nodded, but my heart gave a weird squeeze. “I’ll see you in the morning, baby. Good night.”

She hung up, and I held the receiver for another moment before I sighed and set it down. I headed back to the bar, wondering how I was ever going to earn her forgiveness.

When I sat down again, Birdie smiled. Again. It felt like the girl was always smiling. “She’s okay?”

“She’s okay,” I confirmed. “Still pissed at me, but she’s safely back at the suite and going to bed.”