Gina was excited about the prospect of guests. She wasn’t sure why, because guests entailed things like cleaning and laundry, and those weren’t things she was used to doing. But those were simple things, right? Maybe Gram had been onto something, because she was looking forward to all of that.
The pizza came, and they got to work. Maddie had already organized things in her head, so she was able to lead them through the discussion quickly. They decided to load up the shopping cart at the online stores where they wanted to buy the decor for the rooms, then they could simply click the Buy button if things worked out.
“Two-day delivery. Marilyn will make a quick decision, since the contest starts Monday, so if it’s a go, we’ll order right away and get the items here on time.”
While they were waiting for that, they could work on the building exterior, as planned already. It was starting to look good. And since Marilyn knew they were revitalizing the town, the renovations wouldn’t be off-putting.
“And, of course, we’ll get all the porch furniture out, buy some hanging plants and some hostas or shrubs to spruce up the front area.” Maddie sat back and grabbed another slice, folding it around her index finger before taking a bite. “We should take a quick inventory of the rooms and see if there’s anything we need to grab from the storeroom that can be used to replace any broken or missing pieces.”
Jules wiped greasy fingers on a napkin. “And what about the rooms? How many do you think they’ll need? We’re already taking up three of them.”
“We need to rent as many as they want, so we might have to bunk together. Room ten has the two queens. We could share it.” Maddie looked hopefully between Gina and Jules.
Surely she didn’t expect Gina to share with Jules? Gina was finding Jules to be more tolerable than she’d first thought, but she still didn’t want to get that chummy.
Apparently, Jules felt the same. “I’ll bunk in there with you,” she said to Maddie. “But I don’t know if all three of us can fit.”
“I can bunk in the storage room,” Gina blurted out.
“You will?” Maddie scrunched up her face as if the thought were distasteful.
The room wasn’t that bad, and Gina kind of liked the idea. “There’s already an extra bed in there, and it’s not so bad. Once we move the porch furniture out, there will be plenty of room. And besides, it’s only temporary, and I’ll be near the lobby in case the guests need something.” Gina hoped she wasn’t making it sound too pleasant. She didn’t want to risk either one of them wanting to move in there too.
As they finalized their plans, an unwanted feeling of optimism bubbled up inside her. Maybe Maddie was rubbing off on her, and it was only temporary, but for the first time in a long time, she was looking forward to the future.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Maddie met Marilyn at the shop early the next morning. She had to admit it looked pretty good, at least from the outside. Since she hadn’t come with Jules and Rose on the initial inspection, she’d only seen it in passing before, and her impression hadn’t been favorable. Someone had done a lot of work, and having the plywood off the windows made a big difference. And it appeared as if someone had put a fresh coat of paint on the trim. Dex?
Jules had mentioned he’d been working on it. It was ambitious and thoughtful of him, though Rose probably instructed him to do it. She was glad there were no paint cans or tarps sprawled all over the place. At least he’d picked up after himself.
There on the pier, the smell of the ocean was refreshing, and the sound of the water below was soothing. Someone had put two giant pots of colorful flowers on either side of the door, which created a nice effect. Maddie made a mental note to do something similar in front of the Beachcomber’s porch steps.
“This is a great spot.” Marilyn turned to take in the view of the pier. It stretched out a hundred feet into the ocean with a bumped-out section in the middle for fishing. There were two older gentlemen in ball caps on there right then with lines in the water. The donut shop itself was at the very beginning of the pier next to the parking lot, so people didn’t have to walk too far to get to it.
“It used to be an attraction.” Maddie relayed what Jules had told her. “You know, one of those must-see places. It had the largest variety of donuts in the area.”
“The location is good. And the parking lot right at the end of the pier is perfect, but let’s see the inside. We don’t have time to renovate something to suit our needs.”
Maddie crossed her fingers and opened the door. The inside was spotless; Rose’s cleaning lady deserved a raise. It had booths and a huge counter just like Jules had described.
“Not bad.” Marilyn walked around slowly, running a finger over the tabletops. She stopped at the counter. “This might work as a judging station, and if we moved those tables out of the way, the competitors could stand right in front with their dishes during the critique.”
So far so good, but the real test was the kitchen. “The kitchen’s through here. I’m told all the appliances are in good working order.”
Maddie was pleased to discover that the kitchen gleamed with stainless steel. There were plenty of commercial stoves and two fridges. Steel pantry shelves lined one wall.
“Not bad.” Marilyn turned one of the stove knobs, and the burner clicked a few times, then lit. She moved to the fridges, opening them and looking inside. “I’m going to send some pictures to Stacy. She stocks the kitchen and coordinates the production. We’ll see if she thinks this setup will work.”
Maddie sent out positive vibes for Stacy to approve the setup while Marilyn walked around taking pictures. After she was done, she took another tour, stopping in various places and talking about how they could position this or that to meet their needs.
Finally, Marilyn’s phone pinged, and Maddie held her breath.
“Stacy said the place looks perfect. I think we might be able to make this work.” Marilyn sounded excited as she put her phone away. “But I am a little worried about the town. It still looks…”
“Don’t worry.” Maddie hurried to reassure her. “The town will be all fixed up by Monday. We’re actually having a town meeting tonight to work out the details.” Maddie tried to smile reassuringly, even though she had no idea if the townies would want to fix things up before Monday. She would do it herself if she had to.
“Okay, well, honestly I don’t have much choice, so it’s either go ahead or stop the entire production.” Marilyn turned to look around the shop again. “If the town can rush through the required permits, I’ll need to know who to rent this from. Oh, and the crew and contestants will need a place to stay. Is there any place closer than the Driftwood?”
