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April looked around the room that used to hold her mother’s crafts and smiled. “It’s perfect. I don’t know how you came up with all these ideas, but they’re brilliant. I didn’t realize you had a knack for interior design.”
Georgia shrugged. “I tried to tell you. I took a course in school.”
Yeah, but April had taken woodworking and didn’t know how to use a single saw. Though she had to give her daughter a break, because she’d been out of school for years and Georgia had just graduated.
“What’s the color scheme for this one again?”
“Blue and dark wood. We’ll hang a television here and place a microwave in the corner. To open up the room when people walk in.”
April crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway. “I love it. Draw it up.”
For every room in the house, Georgia was in charge of creating a vision board. It included the color scheme, layout, necessary renovations, and everything else she could think of that they would need to know. It was more than helpful to April, who only had time to do rough sketches before she felt the need to call more contractors and find the best deal.
Logistics was more her thing to begin with.
Which made her even more impressed when Georgia would come up with the most creative ideas. Half of the bedrooms were already designed. They took into account what kind of people might be vacationing: families, couples, single people, even elderly travelers who needed an accessible room. Georgia thought of all of them and made sure they would be comfortable in this new home.
April tapped her foot on the ground nervously waiting for Bobby to pick up. “Hey!” he said when he finally did. “I got good news and I got bad news.”
“Tell me the bad news first,” she said with a sigh.
“Bad news is it’s going to take a little longer to get some of the other permits. But the good news is that we can officially apply to be re-zoned as a rental property.”
It wasn’t as bad as she thought. Her biggest worry was that her daughter was doing all this designing for no reason, because they wouldn’t be allowed to make the changes they wanted. Thankfully, Bobby the local contractor was becoming an incredible asset to their team.
April’s shoulders relaxed. “That’s alright. We can wait for the permits. Why don’t you send me over that paperwork now and I can go through it with you in case I have any questions. Do you have time?”
“Sure, sure,” he replied. The phone stayed silent as he sent the emails with everything attached that they needed to do for their applications. “Did you get ‘em?”
“I did,” she said as she opened and began filling it out.
The silence between them was so long that April almost forgot she was on the phone. “Uh, Bobby?”
“Yes? You got a question?”
“No, no. I was just thinking… Do you know much about tourism in the area? I’ve talked to a few locals, but I’d love to hear from everyone. It’s important to know the market, you know?”
Bobby’s voice grew cheerful. “Yeah, actually. My wife used to work at the hotel closer to the bridge. It’s probably the most popular on the island because it’s so close to the cities. She was practically laid off in the winter because the hotel would close down. No one would come in. There aren’t as many tourists when it gets even remotely cold out.”
April was grateful for the voice as she filled out her forms. Sometimes being somewhere new made her feel separated from everyone else. Especially here where some people were more likely to make fun of her for not knowing everything about the place.
“I did hear about that. It’s so strange how they all leave around that time.”
Bobby paused. “I didn’t say they all leave. In fact, some people want families to visit over the holidays. It’s hard to get them to come because there’s no hotels to stay in. I know you have a nice place over there, but not everyone has a spare room to let their parents stay with them.”
April stopped typing. She never realized that while she was living large at the estate every chance she got, there were people on the island who couldn’t spend Christmas with their loved ones because the hotels shut down.
She wondered why her parents had never offered to help their neighbors before. This was exactly why she was building this place. April wanted to help others connect with this beautiful house.
In her dream, it wasn’t just strangers that came to stay at the house. It was everyone, including locals and their families. She vowed now that every winter she would keep a few rooms ready for the handful of people that want to visit the island. It was her way of paying back the town for everything they’d been doing for her already.
“April?”
She jumped at his voice, forgetting once again that they were on the phone. “Yes, sorry. That’s horrible. I hope we can fix that for the town someday here soon. That’s what we’re here for. Thank you for your help. I’ve sent back the application forms. Did you get them?”
Bobby typed something on his computer. “Yep! All right here. They look good to go. I’ll send them over today.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate all your help. Call me as soon as the permit information comes in?”
