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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHARLOTTE
Charlotte met with her cousins in the kitchen the next morning, eager to see what new roles they each might have. She was already excited about the idea of a fresh look at the marketing, and she and Brooke were working together on décor for the rooms.
“What’s going on? Why did you want us to meet with you and Gran?” she asked Livy as she helped herself to a cup of coffee.
“In order to make this work, we all need to take over for Gran in addition to the jobs we created for ourselves,” said Livy. “Gran is waiting for us at the Inn. Let’s go.”
Charlotte was impressed by the way her two cousins had taken on leadership roles. She didn’t mind. She was used to being in charge with a personal assistant at the office. This was much easier.
Gran met them when they walked into the Inn. “Glad to see you here. Our first two guests of the eight in-house couples will be arriving for breakfast soon. Greeting them is something you all need to do on a rotating basis. Livy, of course, will be limited in what she can do if she’s cooking, but she can have her turn too. And I suggest Brooke work with Beryl in scheduling the cleaning staff and inspection of the rooms. That leaves you, Charlie, with the bulk of greeting breakfast guests. But, as I said, all of you need to become comfortable with the task.
“After all the guests have eaten and have either departed or left for the day, we’ll meet again, and I’ll re-introduce you to Beryl and the two women who will be cleaning the rooms today. You all have to know all the routines so you can establish schedules to make sure everyone has some time off. Of course, if we have a full house, nobody gets much time off.”
“And if we want to provide special dinners for small groups or special nights for locals, we’ll have to hire more temporary help,” said Livy. “After seeing how dining is handled at Gavin’s, I am full of new ideas.”
“Gavin’s? Is that where Austin took you?” said Brooke.
Livy smiled and held up a hand. “It was a business dinner. He’s still caught up in Charlie.”
“Me?” said Charlotte. “Why would he be? I admit he’s adorable, but he’s not for me.”
“Of course not,” said Livy. “You’re hooked on his brother.”
“Shane?” Charlotte shook her head. “I’m not interested in anything more than helping him with the non-profit he formed with his partner.” She knew she might be lying, but if she admitted it, her cousins would be impossible with their teasing.
“We’ll see,” said Brooke, giving her a knowing look. “Shane is a great guy.”
It was a moment before Charlotte noticed Gran on the sidelines beaming at them and realized she and her cousins sounded like high school girls before an upcoming prom.
“Okay, everyone,” said Charlotte. “Guests are heading this way.”
She stood in the background with Livy and Brooke, listening as Gran greeted them cheerily.
Gran spoke as if she was a gracious hostess to the guests she’d invited to her special home. Soon, she had them chatting about some of the local restaurants, where they lived, the purpose of their trip, and the details of their lives the woman was more than happy to share. When Gran offered to make reservations for them at the restaurant they’d talked about, Charlotte noticed the look of delight that crossed the woman’s face.
Charlotte and Brooke followed Livy into the kitchen, where Livy and John began to work on the food order.
“Gran sure is smooth,” said Brooke. “It’s perfect that you’ll more or less be in charge of that, Charlie. I’m better at working with Beryl and the housekeepers.”
Charlotte realized that running the Inn in addition to handling the upgrades and marketing was going to be a full-time job. She looked at John helping Livy prepare the breakfast and wondered how John and Gran had managed to do all the work they did. No wonder they wanted an extended vacation.
Later, as they observed Gran and Beryl working with the cleaning crew, she realized how important it was to have high-quality bedspreads, sheets, and towels. She also understood that though it might be nice to have different colored towels in the rooms, it was much more practical to have towels of one color, so they were interchangeable between guest rooms.
When Beryl handed out her checklist for the cleaning of any room, Charlotte appreciated the details. But then, you couldn’t expect guests to pay top dollar for a room that wasn’t spotless. She decided to make a call to The Beach House Hotel to see if she could speak to one of the owners. She had a question or two to ask them.
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That afternoon, Charlotte sat in the office with Brooke and Livy. She’d made arrangements to speak to Ann Sanders at The Beach House Hotel at three o’clock. Both Brooke and Livy had paper and pen in hand. She punched in the number she’d been given and waited.
“Good afternoon, Ann Sanders speaking,” said a soft, pleasant voice.
”Hello, Ann. This is Charlotte Bradford from the Sanderling Cove Inn. You agreed to answer some questions for my cousins, Olivia Winters, Brooke Weatherby, and me. The three of us are doing an upgrade to the property this summer and have admired what you and Rhonda Grayson have done with The Beach House Hotel and wanted to get your perspective on the success of it.”
“I’m happy to answer any questions you have. I’ve heard of the Inn. It has an excellent reputation.”
“It did, but it’s fading a bit. May I put you on speaker phone so my cousins can hear?”
