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As one of the hotel’s owners, her responsibilities had multiplied in recent months, thanks to the ongoing renovations and the unexpected challenges that life had thrown her way. Her sister, Steph, who helped her run and manage the hotel, was now on maternity leave after the arrival of twin baby girls, Faith and Hope. Steph’s absence left Lorry shouldering the burden alone, navigating the intricacies of the day-to-day operations and heavy duties of hotel management. The weight of overseeing renovations—a task she had been opposed to from the start—pressed heavily on her shoulders.
Lorry looked out over the sea. The once serene island had become a canvas for change, a transformation that she was reluctant to embrace, especially now that their charming hotel with a rich history stood in the midst of renovation chaos. Lorry couldn’t even enjoy her usual few moments of peace and fresh air she took before she went to work. The fresh early morning sea air hung heavy with the stench of pain while the serene sound of the waves gently lapping the shore was drowned out by the sounds of construction echoing through the air. The noise didn’t help the tension that Lorry had developed from her fight with her angry teenage daughter, Tammy, over visiting her father for the summer.
Lately, with each passing day, it felt as if the threads holding the fabric of Lorry’s life together were fraying. The argument with Tammy, who was growing more rebellious by the day, lingered in the air like an unresolved chord adding to the hotel’s chaos. Her eyes fell on a tall, well-built man with sandy brown hair entering the hotel, and her irritation grew—Tom Barnes, the architect of the upheaval in her hotel. Tom’s father, James, owned Barnes Construction, the contractors working on the renovations with Tom at the helm.
Lorry had a strong inkling that her mother Pat, who had instigated the renovations and hired the construction company to do them, was romantically involved with James. The thought of her mother dating another man sent a wave of anger through her. She knew it was unjust and childish, as her father had passed away three years ago, but it still felt like Lorry’s mother was betraying him. To Lorry, it was another reason to dislike the Barnes men and make her set against the renovations. Renovations that had encountered nothing but unexpected delays since they’d begun nearly a year ago.
Lorry took another deep breath and rubbed her throbbing temples. With a heavy heart and her world seemingly on the brink of unraveling, she walked back into the living room. Tammy had left to go surfing with her cousins, Liam and Jack. While she loved her daughter more than anything in the world, a bit of tension left Lorry as the silence of the apartment embraced her. That was until she turned into the kitchen and found Tammy’s clothes scattered like bread crumbs as she’d undressed down the hallway.
Her head fell back onto her shoulders as Lorry stared up at the ceiling and breathed before shaking her head and picking up the discarded garments. She decided not to go into Tammy’s room as she could imagine the state of it. Tammy loved to wreck her room when she was angry with Lorry.
“I don’t have the strength for that room right now,” Lorry mumbled, turning into the family bathroom and dumping Tammy’s clothes into a laundry bin.
As she shoved a pair of shorts that fell back out of the bin, a photo fell out of one of the pockets. Lorry bent and scooped it up, her heart freezing when she read the back of it.
This is my new daughter - Glory.
Lorry turned the picture over. A spurt of anger shot through her at the face of her ex-husband, Grant, and his new wife, Jackie, with their newborn baby. She had to stop herself from ripping it up. Not because she was jealous of Grant or his new family. Lorry had been over Grant a few years before the divorce ten years ago. The anger she felt toward him was because of Tammy. He was the most insensitive father.
Lorry’s phone rang, distracting her. She shoved the photo into the pocket of her high-waisted maroon cotton slacks that hugged her flat belly with two rows of gold buttons before the wide bottoms floated just above the floor. Lorry answered the phone while turning to the bathroom mirror and straightening her cream cotton blouse with an off-center V-neck and short sleeves.
“Lorry Scott,” Lorry said into the phone, smoothing out the soft, messy bun her shoulder length soft, thick, strawberry blonde hair was pulled into.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Pat Scott’s voice echoed through the receiver.
“Mom?” Lorry’s brows furrowed as she checked the number on the phone. It was listed as an unknown number. “What number is this?”
“I borrowed a friend of mine’s phone at the country club,” Pat explained.
“Where’s your phone?” Lorry asked, worry creeping in to top off all the other stressful emotions that had started her day.
“That’s why I’m calling,” Pat told her with a catch in her voice that, over the years, Lorry knew well—her mother needed help. “I’ve had a little mishap.”
“Oh no!” Lorry’s eyes widened as she exited the bathroom and hurried back down the hallway, grabbing her car keys from the bowl on the table next to the front door.
“Are you grabbing your car keys?” Pat asked.
“Yes, I’m on my way,” Lorry said.
“I haven’t even told you what’s happened!” Pat exclaimed.
“Mom, I’ve known you for forty-eight years.” Lorry slung her purse over her shoulder and yanked open the front door. “I know that tone in your voice. You need my help.”
“You always were the most perceptive out of my daughters.” Pat sighed.
“I think that would be Hannah,” Lorry corrected as she rushed to the private elevator and pressed the button to call it.
“There’s no hurry, sweetheart,” Pat assured her.
“I’m already on my way,” Lorry told her, glancing at her wristwatch, her frown returning. “Why are you at the country club so early?”
“I’m helping Marjorie set up for her daughter’s wedding,” Pat answered.
“On a Friday?” Lorry pushed the elevator button several times, wondering why it was taking so long. “What the heck is wrong with the elevator?”
“Did you fight with Tammy?” Pat’s question made Lorry grit her teeth and shake her head.
“Right!” Lorry hissed, turning and walking toward the stairs. “I’m going to take the elevator keys away from her.”
