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Chapter Six
The two ofthem stopped by the front desk to inform the perky woman of the room change for the guests in room 109. Holly led her mother out of the hotel and toward the beach. Neither of them spoke until they were out on the sand, the waves crashing against the shore only a few feet away from them.
They weren't alone out there, not by a long shot. But they had enough privacy to talk without anyone overhearing, for the most part. But when Holly turned to face her mother, the older woman looked into Holly's eyes and then promptly burst into tears. Holly opened her arms and held her mother even as the tears soaked into her blouse.
Her heart, which had been breaking, completely fell apart. God, how had she let things get this bad? How had she let herself get so sucked into her job that she'd completely neglected her family? Sure, she had raised and taken care of Gabby and Sean, helped mold them into fine young adults. But she had barely spared a thought for the family that had helped mold her all those years ago.
It wasn't just her mother she had neglected either. It was also her father before he died and her siblings. When she had left the Keys, she had left them all behind and had barely spared any of them a second thought.
It didn't matter what had happened that had allowed the inn to fall into such disrepair; Holly knew she was ultimately responsible for at least part of it. She should've been there or at least kept in touch and made an effort to visit more often. Holly should've been able to see the signs that things weren't right long before they had gotten to this point.
God, if Uncle Roger hadn't called, would she have ever known the truth? Would her mother have called asking for her help?
For what felt like an eternity, Holly stood there holding her mother. It was the least she could do, all things considered. God only knew how many times her mother had held her over the years.
Nelly Archer regained some of her composure. She pulled out of Holly's embrace and took a step back, wiping away tears with the palm of her hand. When she blinked and looked at Holly again, there was a shimmer in her gaze as she looked at her eldest daughter up and down.
"Gosh, I swear you've grown so much," Nelly said, her lips curved up into a smile.
Holly chuckled and shook her head. Every time she came back to visit, her mother said the same thing. Holly highly doubted she'd grown much at all since leaving the Keys at eighteen. No, that wasn't true. She had certainly put on a few extra pounds since then. No matter what anyone said, you never truly regained the figure you had before kids.
But she didn't bother correcting her mother. Instead, she raked her eyes up and down the older woman, taking in how much she had aged in the last two years since she had seen her last. The poor woman looked closer to eighty than the sixty-nine-years of age she actually was and Holly wished Roger had called her sooner.
"What's going on, Mom?" Holly asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She glanced back at the inn, frowning as she took in its dilapidated appearance once more. The inn had once been the pride and joy of not just the Archer family but all of Islamorada. Now, it was the one thing in the town that looked like a relic that had been lost to time.
Nelly opened her mouth to respond, then closed it and shook her head. She glanced up at the inn for a long moment, then turned her gaze back on her daughter and let out a sigh. "Not here. Let's go eat while we talk." She didn't give Holly a chance to argue. She took her daughter's arm and guided her back up the beach toward the small outdoor dining area the inn had set up for its guests.
Apparently, being the owner and daughter of the owner warranted them special treatment. The head chef came out personally to take their orders, and in no time, they both had gourmet food placed in front of them. That was one thing the inn still had going for it, at least. The plate of grilled salmon and fresh veggies Holly had ordered made her mouth water just looking at it.
It wasn't until they were both halfway through their glasses of white wine that Nelly finally started to open up about the inn's woes. "Things have been tough around here since your father's passing," Nelly said. She kept her eyes downcast on the plate of food in front of her like it physically hurt to risk a glance up at her eldest daughter. Then again, maybe it did. "Even before your father died, things were tight. We were scraping by. Now…"
Holly frowned at her own food. She picked at it aimlessly. It was as delicious as it looked, but she didn't have much of an appetite. She hadn't had much of one since her life started falling apart. It was hard to enjoy eating when everything around her appeared to be crumbling to pieces.
And now that wasn't just a metaphor. Her childhood home, the business her entire family had dedicated itself to at one point or another, looked ready to fall apart at any moment. But while she was helpless to stop her business or marriage from falling apart, maybe she could at least salvage the inn.
What did she have to lose by trying? She didn't have anything left in Miami. She didn't have a place to live. Holly had planned on staying with Sean for a little while and help look after her granddaughter while she tried to figure out what to do with the rest of her life, but nothing had been set in stone.
Holly knew Sean didn't need her there. Not really. He and his fiancé were doing fine without her help, though they would never turn her away. But here, Nelly did need her help. The entire inn needed someone's help, and if not her, then who?
Holly set down her fork and looked over at her mother. Nelly still hadn't looked up at her, but Holly could read the shame and embarrassment clear as day. More than that, she felt it. Nelly wasn't the only one who had let things crumble around her, and Holly wasn't going to blame her mother for not being able to stop it.
"I'll stay and help you get everything going again, at least for a couple of weeks," Holly declared. She wasn't sure how much she would really be able to accomplish, but she had to at least try. Maybe if she spent enough time pouring over the inn's finances and accounting, she could find expenses that could be cut or money that could be reallocated to hiring people to help on a more permanent basis.
Hell, if she had to, she would go out and buy some paint and brushes and start doing some manual labor around the place herself. It had been a long time since she'd had to do anything like that, but with some time and a few YouTube videos, she was certain she could turn herself into a regular handywoman.
Nelly's gaze snapped up to meet Holly's. She stared, mouth open like she couldn't believe the words Holly had just uttered. Not that Holly could blame her. She could hardly believe them herself. After all, she had left the Keys at eighteen, determined never to come back for more than a quick visit.
And, up until today, she had kept that silent promise. But if everything else about the life she had built in Miami was going out the window, why shouldn't her stupid little promises go along with it all?
"Oh, my God, Holly!" Nelly finally exclaimed. She hopped up from her seat and quickly made her way around the table to throw her arms around her daughter. For such a small, frail woman, Nelly sure had a grip!
Holly fought back a laugh as she hugged her mother back. If she still had that much strength, that had to be a good sign, right? Maybe with Holly there to take some stress off her mother's shoulders, Nelly could bounce back physically alongside the inn. She had to have hope if nothing else.
When Nelly pulled back, she chewed on her bottom lip, frowning at Holly. She shifted from foot to foot for a moment and then let out a sigh. "Are you sure you can? I don't want your business back in Miami to suffer because you're out here and what about Will and the kids?"
"Oh, it'll be fine, and they'll be fine," Holly said, waving away her mother's concerns. She didn't have the heart, or the courage, to tell her mother the truth about Miami. She would find out, but Holly wasn't going to rush into that discussion if she didn't have to. No, she would wait until her mother was in a better frame of mind, then sit her down and explain everything. Otherwise, the poor woman might have a heart attack or a stroke or something, and Holly didn't want that on her conscience. "It's only for a few weeks, after all—just to help figure out how we can get a handle on everything."
The rest of the meal went by in a whirlwind. Nelly was so excited to have her eldest daughter back home that she talked almost nonstop, even after they finished their food. They would have sat there all day and night if Holly hadn't convinced Nelly to give her a tour around the property, so she could start really getting a feel for all the things that needed work.
And boy, were there a lot of things.
