Margaritas at the Beach House Hotel Page 6

  In the dark that followed, the pool lights lit the water in a blue shimmer, and I decided to swim a few laps before going inside. The moment I pushed off, Vaughn followed, and we swam side by side.

  A chill entered the air as we got out. He wrapped a towel around me and hugged me to him. “I’m going to miss this in New York. But I’m hoping you’ll come to visit me. That would be a great way to meet Darla.”

  I thought about it. “That might work. Angela is due to have her baby soon, which means I’ll have to cover for Rhonda at the hotel, but, perhaps, after that, it will be a good time to come to see you. Hopefully, before Nell, Clint, and the baby come here for a visit.”

  “Sounds good,” said Vaughn. “I’m getting hungry. How about you?”

  “Yes. I’ll get dressed and then get dinner started.”

  We hurried to the bedroom together.

  ###

  After getting dressed, I went into the kitchen to fix the salad while Vaughn grilled the fish that he’d rubbed with the herbal spices as Jean-Luc had instructed.

  These quiet evenings, with a comfortable sense of peace between us, were what I’d wished to find with Robert. I’d given up hope of ever having them until I met Vaughn. He was, deep down, a man with simple tastes for someone comfortable in the trappings of fame. I loved that about him.

  We’d just finished our meal when Robbie burst into the kitchen. “Guess what? Brett and I had dinner at the Burger Palace! And we played Space Cowboys! See!” He held out his arm where he’d drawn an X on his arm. “X stands for the secret code.”

  I hugged Robbie. “Sounds like you had a perfect evening. I hope you thanked Brett’s Mom and Dad.”

  Robbie glanced at me with a proud look. “Yep. Just like you said.”

  “Good. That makes me happy.” I glanced at Vaughn. “I’ll have to thank them myself.”

  Vaughn winked at me, and I returned his smile.

  ###

  Dropping Vaughn off at the airport was always a sad time for me, but I understood how much he enjoyed his job and was grateful for all it provided us. And knowing I might be traveling to New York to see him made the departure easier.

  I pulled up to the curb and waited for him to retrieve his luggage. Then with a kiss and a last wave goodbye, he entered the terminal, and I pulled away before the policeman could reach my car to tell me to move on.

  As I made my way back to the hotel, I thought of the days ahead. Amelia Swanson had said she’d be gone a week. I hoped the remaining days of Lindsay’s stay would encourage her to find a refuge somewhere where she could heal and rethink her life and what she needed to do to recover from her trauma. I knew what it was like to suddenly lose your identity as someone’s spouse and be forced to forge a new life.

  The hotel gates were crowded with reporters once more as I drove into the property. As before, I continued past the front entrance out to the back, where I’d be assured of privacy.

  Wondering what had happened to cause new interest, I parked the car and hurried inside.

  On my way to my office through the kitchen, I snatched a warm cinnamon roll, thanked Consuela, and kept going.

  Rhonda was in the office when I got there.

  “What’s going on?” I asked her.

  “Amelia’s back. She’s going to hide out here for a couple of days while she and the president work out the final details of the announcement about the female news reporter who was taken captive in Guatemala has now been freed.”

  “What does this mean for the hotel?” I asked. “Will they have all the equipment they need?”

  “She told me not to worry about it. Her press secretary is working things out with one of the local television stations.” Rhonda grinned. “She said it should be good publicity for the hotel.”

  The thought warmed me. The hotel business could be spotty, depending on weather and other factors we couldn’t control. Heads in beds for every day of the year was a goal we always strived to meet.

  “Vaughn has gone back?” Rhonda asked.

  “Yes.” I took a seat at my desk and began nibbling on the sweet roll that had helped introduce The Beach House Hotel to the public when the recipe and article about the hotel were featured in a New York magazine.

  Rhonda rose. “How about a cup of coffee? I’ll bring it to you.”

  I gave her a thumbs up.

  After she left, my thoughts flew back to Wilkins Jones, a free-lance writer who’d died at the hotel while doing the article for a New York magazine on the sweet rolls at the hotel. His death while in bed with a woman who wasn’t his wife was my introduction to the need for Rhonda and me to be discreet when it came to our hotel guests.

  Rhonda returned with the coffee, handed me a cup, and sat in her desk chair facing me. “I talked to Angela this morning. She asked me to meet Katherine at the airport.” Rhonda gave me a worried look and let out a sigh. “I know she wants us to be friends, but as much as I love my daughter, I will never be friends with her mother-in-law. Especially after Angela told me she’s planning to have Katherine be with her at the hospital while the baby is born.”

  “Oh,” I said, doing my best to hide my surprise. I knew how upset Rhonda was. It took me a moment to come up with something to say. “But you’ll be there too.”

  “Yes, but Angela is my daughter, not hers.”

  “But you’re both grandmothers to this baby,” I said.

  “I know. Will says that too. But, knowing Katherine, she’ll take over. Angela says she’s asking her to come here to help Reggie repair his relationship with his parents. But the reason his parents are upset is because of me and Will. They don’t think we’re good enough.” Rhonda’s chest heaved with the release of another sigh. “That, and the fact Reggie chose to work with Will.”

  I leaned forward. “Listen, Rhonda; you have nothing to be worried about. I’m guessing Katherine will be on her best behavior. After Reggie overrode their wishes for him to marry someone else and stay in New York, his relationship with them changed. While that can’t be denied, no mother wants to lose contact with her child.”

  “I’m going to do my best to be pleasant to her, Annie, but if she gives me a whole lot of trouble, I’m not holdin’ back.”

  “One day, one step at a time, remember?” If Rhonda vowed not to hold back, I could only imagine what might come out of her mouth. “When is Katherine due here?”

  “That’s another thing. She’s coming tomorrow, a whole week before the baby is due. She says she’s going to take care of Evan, but I bet it’s to try to get Reggie to change his mind about New York. And then what would I do? I love having Angela and Reggie and the baby here. And if this new baby is a girl like I think, I’d be devastated to have her live close to Reggie’s parents. She’d become as pretentious as Katherine.”

  “Mmm. Like I said, one day at a time. Better not project too much. Give Katherine a chance to make up to you for the horrible way she acted toward you before and after the wedding.”

  “I’ll try,” grumped Rhonda. “Now, let’s talk about Amelia. She called, but I think you and I better go see what’s happening.”

  “Good idea. I want to know where all the extra security people are going to stay? I don’t think we have any rooms for them here unless Amelia made those arrangements directly with Bernie.”

  As we walked over to the guesthouse through the back path, I thought of all the changes we had made to the property since Rhonda and I worked to turn it into a hotel. On my first visit, I was awed by the beauty of the seaside estate, the number of rooms, the fact that it sat right on the beach. It had at one time been a small hotel. It seemed natural to see it that way again.

  The path ended at the guesthouse driveway where a compact mobile home now sat, complete with what looked like satellite gear atop it.

  “Guess we have our answer,” said Rhonda. “Looks like security has already set up there.”

  We walked up to the door and knocked.

  After several seconds, the door c
racked open, and Debra waved us inside.

  A man sat at the kitchen counter, sipping a cup of something that smelled like coffee. Though he did nothing more than gaze at us, I’m sure he noted many details about us, what we were wearing, and if there was any reason for him to be alarmed.

  I gazed out the sliding glass door in the living room and saw that Lindsay and Amelia were sitting at the outside table talking.

  “Is it okay if we speak to Amelia?” I asked Debra.

  She glanced at the man in the kitchen and then nodded. “Come this way.”

  It wasn’t until I stepped onto the patio that I saw a man in the far corner lounging in a chair under an umbrella. His shoulder holster distracted from the short-sleeved, Hawaiian-print shirt he wore.

  Amelia looked at us and smiled. “How are you both?”

  “Good, thank you. We thought we ought to see what you might need from the hotel and how we could help in any way,” I said.

  Amelia waved us over. “Come sit. I was just talking to Lindsay about what she wanted to do in the future. With your approval, she’d like to stay here in the house for the next several weeks. Debra would stay with her, of course.”

  Rhonda and I exchanged glances. Did they realize how difficult it might become if word got out Lindsay was here? I looked at Lindsay. There was no way we could say no. She looked much better, but I suspected she would still need more time to recover.

  “We’ll work it out as best we can. If needed, Lindsay is welcome to stay at my house. It worked well for Tina. I’m in a small gated community where people pretty much mind their own business.”

  “Unlike some guy named Brock,” said Debra, standing by. “I met him on the beach this morning.”

  “Brock Goodwin is an asshole,” said Rhonda. “Don’t worry about him. Someday I’m gonna take care of him permanently.” She gaped at the man with the gun sitting in the corner and clapped a hand to her mouth. “Hold on! I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  We all laughed.

  “He’s been a constant pain, trying to interfere with any plans we make,” I said. “He was dying to get me to tell him if you were at the hotel, Amelia. I explained that we never give information about our guests to anyone.”

  “That’s why we’re here,” said Amelia smiling. “But I’ll do you a favor. With your permission, I’ll make an announcement from the front steps of the hotel about the recent release of one of our news reporters. It will appear as if all transactions took place at the hotel, not during a secret trip to Guatemala.”

  “That would be nice,” I said. “Perhaps we could invite a few of the city officials to the announcement.”

  Amelia thought about it and nodded. “We could work that out. Perhaps it would be better if the announcement came from the library and not the front of the hotel. If I remember correctly, there’s a small stage and room for a few reporters there.”

  “Yes,” said Rhonda. “It’s a versatile room. My daughter was married there.”

  “How nice. Okay, then, let’s go with that plan.”

  “Are you going to be comfortable here at the house?” I asked.

  “Oh, yes. Lindsay and I have a couple of slumber parties planned. Don’t we, hon?” Amelia’s features softened with affection.

  Lindsay’s lips curved into a smile I liked seeing. “It’ll be fun. Jean-Luc has promised us a couple of nice meals.”

  I observed how the mention of his name had sent a flush to her cheeks. I hadn’t paid much attention to his comings and goings, but he must have come here more often than I’d thought.

  “He and I have been talking about France,” Lindsay continued. “I was once a foreign exchange student there, and I loved it.”

  “Hey! Maybe you and he ...” Rhonda started to say, ending abruptly when my foot stepped on her toe.

  “Sorry,” I said, catching myself, not meaning it at all. Rhonda thought she was a terrific matchmaker. To this day, she still thought she was the reason Bernie had married Annette. But it was not an appropriate time to introduce the idea of Jean-Luc becoming more than a friend to Lindsay.

  “I’ve yet to meet Jean-Luc, but I can’t wait to have him join us for lunch. The dinner he prepared for us last night was scrumptious,” said Amelia.

  “Yeah, he’s a great chef and a good man. He’s been lonely since his wife died,” said Rhonda, moving away from me. She knew I was about to pinch her.

  “I’ll send a list of things we would like the hotel to do before my announcement, which I will make tomorrow afternoon,” said Amelia. She turned to Lindsay. “Anything you want to add?”

  “I just want to thank you both for your hospitality. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m meeting with Barbara Holmes as Ann suggested, and I like her a lot. That’s one reason I want to stay here. Even though I’ve filed for divorce and soon will be free from the past horrors, I want to work on me before I move ahead.”

  “Oh, right,” said Rhonda. “That makes sense.”

  “As I said, no matter what, we’ll have room for you here in town,” I said.

  Amelia stood, and I knew the time for talking was over.

  Rhonda and I said our goodbyes and left.

  Outside, Rhonda rubbed her hands together. “I see another love match coming up.”

  “Patience. It’s not even close to the time to think of it.”

  “Aw, Annie, for once, just let go.”

  I turned to her. “I didn’t say I don’t like the idea. I just said it was too early.”

  “That’s better.” Rhonda threw an arm around my shoulder, and we walked back to the hotel. Rhonda was as good for me as I was for her.

  ###

  That afternoon as I was thinking of leaving, Rhonda popped into the office. “Time for girl talk and a margarita.”

  “Sounds wonderful,” I said. “Meet you in the hotel bar in fifteen minutes. We can pretend we’re guests and do some undercover spying on the staff.”

  Rhonda grinned. “I’ll wear my sunglasses, so nobody recognizes me.”

  I laughed. If she wrapped herself in paper and tied a bow around herself, Rhonda would still be recognized by her boisterous voice and the colorful caftans that were the signature pieces of her wardrobe.

  After making sure Elena would pick up Robbie from school, I entered the lobby, walked into the bar, and headed to the far end. The bar offered comfortable seating arranged for private conversations and was a welcome opportunity for me to see the hotel as others did. Working behind the scenes, I sometimes forgot what a stunning property it was.

  Rhonda sat in a corner chair and waved me over. “I’ve already ordered. Margaritas at The Beach House Hotel. What could be better?”

  “At this moment? Nothing,” I said, happily sitting beside my best friend.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The next morning, I’d just dropped off Robbie at school when my cell rang. Rhonda.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Annie, I know we talked about it, but I just can’t do it. That woman is such a bitch. You know what Katherine told Angela? She said she’d rather have a cab meet her at the airport than me.”

  I could hear the hurt in Rhonda’s voice, and if I didn’t know Katherine Smythe, I might think Rhonda was overreacting. But Katherine wasn’t a pleasant person. It was a miracle her son was. But he’d spurned a lot of his mother’s ideas about being superior to anyone else and had mellowed nicely here in Florida.

  “How did you leave it with Angela?” I ventured.

  “I told Angela that if she asked me to pick up that woman, then I was going to do it whether Katherine liked it or not.” She paused. “But, Annie, promise you’ll go with me. Please?”

  The thought of Rhonda facing Katherine alone was frightening for so many reasons. “Sure, I’ll go with you.”

  “Bless you!” said Rhonda. “I owe you big time for this.”

  “No worries. I’m happy to help you out. You’ve done so much for me.”

  “Okay. Co
me to my house. We can have coffee and try to relax for a while. I have to pick her up in an hour and a half.”

  “I’ll call Bernie and let him know we’ll be late. There’s nothing on my schedule until this afternoon when I meet with Lorraine Grace about upcoming weddings.”

  “Right. I’m meeting with Dorothy to talk about the next Neighborhood Association meeting. Brock is still against our putting up a gate on our back property.”

  “See you soon.”

  ###

  A few minutes later, I pulled into the circular driveway of Rhonda’s enormous, two-story house. I parked, grabbed my purse and phone, and headed inside, hoping Willow and Drew hadn’t left yet for their pre-school. I loved her children. At just four, Willow looked more like her dad with light-brown hair and hazel eyes. But she had an attitude just like Rhonda. Drew, thirteen months younger, was a combination of Rhonda and Will in appearance and was both easy-going and then stubborn under Willow’s constant supervision. Luckily, he adored her.

  I rang the doorbell expecting Rita Ramos, their housekeeper, to answer the door. Instead, Willow beamed at me. “Hi, Auntie Ann!”

  As she threw her arms around me, I hugged her close. “How’s my special girl today?”

  “I’m going on a field trip,” she said, grinning.

  “Nice. Where are you going?” I asked, gazing into her sparkling eyes so full of excitement.

  “To the Naples Zoo. And Drew isn’t coming.” She folded her arms in front of her and looked at Drew, who’d approached us.

  “No fair,” said Drew.

  “Babies can’t come on the trip,” Willow said. Seeing Drew’s face begin to crumple, she put an arm around him. “But I’ll tell you all about it.”

  Mollified, Drew let me pick him up. He was a cuddler, so I held him as often as he’d let me.

  Rita joined us. “Hi, Ann! Rhonda said to come on up to her room. I just delivered coffee for you there.”

  “Thanks, Rita. What would we do without you?”

  “More like what would I do without my Graysons?” she replied smiling.