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They were especially impressed by the special theme nights and other events Ava planned. They brought huge crowds, and some of them even required us to sell tickets to control how many people tried to get in. As exciting as that was for all of us brothers and our mother, it also put a target on our backs.
This wasn’t something I had wanted to put too much thought into before. Most of the neighborhood had been very welcoming of us and excited for our success. After all, the more people who came to The Hollow, the more who were exposed to their businesses as well. It was especially true when we had the block parties and bar crawls.
Somebody clearly wasn’t happy for us. And I was very confident I knew exactly who that somebody was. We just needed to prove it.
I went to work calling around to all the hotels around the Astoria area trying to find rooms. As I packed up my luggage and stuffed it into the trunk of my rental car, I was losing hope. My options were getting thin, and I was starting to worry she and I were going to end up in the deadbeat motel after all.
By the time I got to the airport to pick her up, things were looking up a bit. I smiled at her as she walked toward me. I met her a few steps later and took the bags from her hands.
“Thank you so much for doing this for me,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”
“It’s not a problem,” she replied. “I’m happy to do it.”
“Well, again, I really appreciate it. Let’s go get settled, and I’ll show you around a bit if you’d like,” I said.
Amanda smiled brightly and nodded. “I would like that.”
“I have to warn you about something,” I said as I put her bags in the back of the car and we climbed into our seats.
“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just about where we’re staying. The only hotel I was able to find in Astoria was a complete mess. Nothing’s been done there since like the dawn of time and it hasn’t been having its best years for the last couple of decades. I couldn’t stand to stay there anymore, and I definitely didn’t want you to stay there. So, we’re going to go and stay a little bit outside of town. It’s not far, just not within the city limits,” I said.
“Oh,” she said. “That’s not that big of a deal.”
“Well, that isn’t the whole thing,” I said. “I called every hotel within a thirty-mile radius. Apparently, there is some sort of convention going on and the only one I found with any vacancies at all only had one room left.”
“One room?”
“Yes,” I said, pulling away from the curb and driving out of the parking lot. I reached in front of me to input the address of the hotel into the GPS of my phone sitting in the cupholder. “But it is a suite. So, we should be able to share it with no problem. Worst-case scenario, there’s a bedroom that you can have, and a living room with a pull-out couch where I’ll sleep.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Of course,” I said. “It’s no big deal. As long as you’re okay with it.”
She shrugged, the expression on her face like she couldn’t think of any argument. “I’m fine with it.”
“Good,” I said, starting to feel like things might be getting better. At least slightly.
We got to the hotel, and I went to the registration desk to check us in. The clerk handed us two key cards, and I brought a luggage cart out to the car to load up all of our bags. We rode the elevator up to the top floor and went to the room at the very end of the hall.
“I think I know why this was the last room available,” Amanda said.
I laughed. “What? You don’t usually stay in the Siberia section when you check into a hotel?”
“Not usually.”
We finally got into the room and dropped off our bags. Calling the room a suite was generous on the part of the marketing department. I was accustomed to traveling for work and staying in suites that rivaled small apartments. They usually offered a full bedroom and bathroom, a living room, another bathroom, and sometimes a kitchen and dining area.
This room was exactly what I thought it was going to be when I gave Amanda the worst-case scenario. A small room with a fold-out couch, a door, and a small bedroom with the bathroom. That might pose some interesting complications, but I was sure we could figure it out.
As soon as she got into the bedroom, Amanda set her bags on the bed and started unpacking. It didn’t surprise me that she was one of those people who had to fully settle into a hotel as soon as she got there. Organization was a way of life for her. She probably wouldn’t have been able to cope if she didn’t have her clothes in the drawer and closet, and her toothbrush beside the sink.
