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Gran patted her hand. “I needed to know you were happy to be back at Sanderling Cove. If I sensed you weren’t, I wouldn’t ask you for your help. It’s that simple.”
“You’d give up your trip?” asked Charlotte.
“We’d sell the property if we had to, then take the trip John has always wanted.” Gran’s eyes filled. “We’ve loved living here, and he’s been so good to me that I want him to be able to drive through Europe for several weeks as he wants.”
“When you say his heart is failing, what do you mean? How serious is it?” asked Brooke.
“He has weakening heart muscles. If he slows down and takes care of himself, he’ll have longer to live than if he keeps to the schedule that he now has,” said Gran. “You know, Johnnie, he’s going to keep going until the end. That’s why this vacation is so important. It’s a way for him to slow down.” Her voice wavered. “I’d like to keep him with me for as long as I can.”
Charlotte glanced at her cousins, saw the emotion on their faces, and said, “I’m in.”
“Me, too,” chorused Brooke and Livy.
“Tomorrow, we’ll discuss details,” said Gran. “Right now, I’m about partied out. See you in the morning. I love each one of you.”
She kissed and hugged them individually before turning away and heading into her bedroom.
After she left, they were silent.
Finally, Charlotte spoke. “Gran’s right. We can do this together. Even make improvements. Brooke, you can work the numbers, I can do the marketing, and you, Livy, can oversee the kitchen and food production. Does that sound about right?”
“Yes,” said Livy. “We can all pitch in however and whenever we can. One of my favorite small hotels is here in Florida—The Beach House Hotel. The two women who put it together and own it had a unique way of setting up their hotel and growing it.”
“I know that hotel,” said Charlotte. “I stayed there once. It’s a gem. They’re more upscale than we are, but we can use some of their ideas to bring the Sanderling Cove Inn back to its former glory.”
“We’ll have a better understanding of what’s happening after we get into the numbers,” said Brooke. “I’m happy to work with Jake on that. Especially now that I know what the real situation is.” She clucked her tongue. “I would hate to see someone outside the family take over the Inn. It just wouldn’t seem right.”
They studied each other.
###
The following day, the three of them toured the Inn’s property from one end to the other, assessing it with fresh eyes. The two-story main building held sixteen guest rooms upstairs. Some had balconies that overlooked the pool below and the beach beyond. Others faced a garden view. In the two-story attached wing, another twenty rooms were available for guests, making a total of 36 guest rooms. Each room had a small refrigerator, a microwave, and a coffee maker in a mini kitchen with a sink and cupboards.
The first floor of the main building held a sizeable office, a small commercial kitchen, and a dining room that included a separate area for private parties. In addition, there was a small conference room and a large open area where guests could gather to relax, read, watch television, or play games. One wall of the gathering room held bookshelves loaded with books of all kinds. In an area called the “back of the house,” there was plenty of storage space for cleaning supplies, pantry items, maintenance equipment, and the like, along with an employee coffee and locker room.
Outside the gathering room, a screened lanai offered a large pool with a spa at one end. Beyond that, a gleaming white gazebo sat in a flower garden designed for weddings and other occasions.
“Impressive,” said Brooke.
“But no question that the guest rooms and public areas need sprucing up,” said Charlotte.
“We should replace some of the patio furniture around the pool,” said Livy. “The kitchen is another area of concern.”
“Lots of opportunities for us to make it better,” said Brooke.
“Oh yes,” Charlotte quickly agreed.
When it came time to meet with Gran, Charlotte, like the others, was full of ideas. The family should’ve known that Gran and John couldn’t keep up with the work of managing an upscale Inn. If all rooms were filled, over seventy guests could be there.
Charlotte followed her cousins to Gran’s house and into the kitchen.
“What do you think?” Gran asked them.
“It’s going to be helpful for me to go over the numbers with Jake,” said Brooke. “You’ve run a pretty tight operation in the past. There’s no reason to think that can’t continue. Maybe do even better. Especially if we’re able to bring in new business.”
“That’s where I come in,” said Charlotte. “After some refreshment to the property, I’m going to set up a whole new marketing campaign. I’ll work with the PR people you’ve hired in the past and go from there.”
Gran shook her head. “I haven’t done anything new for a couple of years because a lot of our old-time customers have slowly stopped coming, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.”
