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“Don’t take this lightly. Watch your back.” Agnes settled onto her bike. “I can’t talk more now. I have others to warn. You can never be too careful.”
And then the woman pedaled off. Josie was left wondering if there was any merit to the prediction. As soon as she realized she was about to let some generic horoscope ruin her day, she gave herself a mental shake. Everything would be fine. As she continued her walk, she shoved aside the prediction.
The Brass Anchor Inn sat on the eastern side of the island. Its picturesque location was atop a bluff on the edge of the beach, giving their guests the most gorgeous view of the ocean. The building itself was more than a couple hundred years old, though you couldn’t tell it by looking at it. Sandra had stayed on top of the repairs until the last hurricane that had scraped northward along the east coast.
The storm surge had eroded the sand dunes, and the high winds had created a lot of destruction. Most of the damage had happened to the older section of the inn, especially the rooms on the beachfront. It had taken many months but the major repairs were finally complete. All that had to be done now was to decorate. And that would be taken care of in the very near future.
Josie was in early to work because there was so much to do now that the burden of keeping the inn on track had landed solely on her shoulders. With Sandra’s passing, the inn was being scrutinized. Numerous financial reports had to be submitted to the attorneys and Josie, being the inn’s manager, was their contact person.
When she reached the inn, she immediately checked in with the night manager, Harvey Coleman. He was an older gentleman. After the passing of his wife, he said he couldn’t sleep, and so, he’d moved into the position of night manager.
His face lit up when he saw her. Beneath his white mustache and short white beard, his mouth bowed in a smile. “Good morning.” He moved his gaze to his wristwatch. He had to adjust his black round-rimmed glasses. “You’re early again.”
She nodded. “I have a couple more reports to send off to the attorneys.”
“Don’t wear yourself out.” He cast her a look of concern.
“I won’t.” When he looked like he didn’t believe her, she said, “I promise.”
Thankfully, everything had been quiet. It was the type of news she loved to hear.
Harvey gathered his things. “By the way, there’s a letter on the counter for you. It was delivered last evening.”
“A letter?” She wasn’t expecting anything.
He nodded. “It was overnighted from a law firm. That’s all I know.”
“Oh, okay.” She moved to the counter and searched for the letter. It had gotten buried beneath some papers.
She picked up the large cardboard envelope and peered at the address. It was indeed addressed to her. And it was from Sandra’s law firm in Boston. She hadn’t been expecting anything from them. And then she wondered if it was another request for information about the inn. If it was, why hadn’t they called or emailed as they’d done in the past? This was something different.
Perhaps this letter was to inform Josie that the will had been located, and the new owner would be in touch. Her fingers moved to the pull-tab. Or was this notification to let her know the will had been lost and the next steps needed in order to keep the inn in operation? She hesitated.
Harvey placed a sticky note on the bottom of the computer monitor used to check in guests and then glanced over at her. “Aren’t you going to open that?”
“Not right now.” If it was bad news, she wasn’t about to open it with an audience.
She liked Harvey. He was very sweet and competent with handling the inn in the evening, but he liked to talk—a lot. And she had a feeling whatever was in the envelope was going to be serious and not something she would be ready to discuss immediately.
He frowned. “You mean you aren’t going to open it?”
“I will when I have a free moment.”
He glanced around as though making a point that there weren’t any guests requiring her attention. “Now seems like a good time.”
“It can wait.” She placed the envelope beneath the counter. It wasn’t the most ideal place to keep it, but she would move it once Harvey was gone.
“It might be time sensitive.” Harvey was now leaning on the counter as though he wasn’t leaving until he learned about the contents of the envelope. “You know, something about the future of the inn.”
“If it is, I’ll deal with it.”
She knew everyone was on pins and needles, waiting to see if they would have a job that summer. She tried to reassure them that Sandra loved this place as much as the rest of them. Josie couldn’t imagine her friend not doing everything to preserve the inn.
“Harvey, if you’re going to stick around this morning, I have some things you could do for the celebration.” She didn’t but he didn’t know that.
He sighed. “I’m leaving.” He started toward the door before he paused and turned back. “You sure you don’t want to read that now?”
“I’m sure.” She moved to the computer on the check-in counter and began to log in.
