Waiting for You
by Rose Grey
by Rose Grey
“Is he dead?” The child’s tone was a blend of delight and disapproval.
Startled, Aidy Jones cried out as the back of her head cracked against the underside of the table. Hotel furniture was unforgiving in the best of times, but this mahogany behemoth, one of three antique sideboards lining the second floor corridor of The Grand Hotel of Demerest Cove, was remarkably hard on the head. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on rubbing the sore spot. It wouldn’t do to snap at the child of a paying customer. Preston hadn’t meant to startle her, but he did have a habit of appearing unexpectedly at the most inconvenient of moments.
“Can I see?”
Aidy crawled deeper under the table, purposely blocking the boy’s view. The situation was exactly as bad as she had feared. She would have to come back with a shovel to deal with this problem, but she couldn’t do that until she got her six-year-old witness out of the way.
“Preston,” she said. “I think I hear your mother calling you.”
The boy squatted and cocked his head for a moment. “Nope,” he reassured her. “I didn’t hear anyone.”
“Well, I did,” Aidy lied.
“Preston Hubbard Sturgis!”
“Oh, thank God,” Aidy muttered.
Magenta running pants over puffy sneakers arrived beside the boy. “Bath time.”
"But I wanna see!” the boy said, wriggling ineffectively against his mother’s implacable grasp. “You never let me –”
“You shouldn’t bother Ms. Aidy when she’s working, Preston,” Mrs. Sturgis said, leaning over herself to peek.
“Just retacking the carpet.” Aidy tapped the wall in what she devoutly hoped was a sufficiently hammer-like sound.
“But I saw a –” Preston protested.
“Preston told me he saw a mouse,” Aidy interrupted. “But I am embarrassed to say it was just a dust bunny. I’ll be sure to speak to housekeeping.”
“It wasn’t a dust bunny,” Preston said.
“Look, Preston.” Aidy edged her head out from under the table and extended a hand filled with an ancient dust ball toward the little boy.
“Ugh.” Mrs. Sturgis pulled the child away. “At least it’s not a mouse. I hate mice.”
“I don’t,” Preston said. “I like them. I wish I could have one for a pet, but you always say –”
But whatever Mrs. Sturgis always said was mercifully swallowed by the firmly closing door of the Sturgis family’s suite.
Aidy breathed a silent prayer of gratitude and crawled out from under the table. She sat with her back to the wall, legs stretched out on the faded carpet of the corridor. It was not a good sign when showing a handful of dust bunny to a guest was the best option available. Something would have to be done. The paint in the hallway was peeling, the carpet was threadbare, the lights flickered every time there was a storm, the ceiling was stained from a leak no one had been able to find yet and now this. She rubbed her face, tired just thinking of the work that would have to be completed before The Grand was up to par.
Since Aidy had taken charge of The Grand for her parents eight years ago, she allotted herself exactly five minutes of self pity at the end of each day. Unfortunately, it was only mid afternoon now. If she had her pity party now, she wouldn’t be able to truly indulge when the inevitable big catastrophe occurred. Because as sure as shooting there was bound to be one.
She sighed and clambered up, brushing the ancient carpet fluff from her slacks. She must have an appropriate container somewhere. Something opaque would be best. She headed toward the garden shed first, dubiously eyeing the selection of rusty implements before settling on an ancient spade. Then she stopped at the dumpster which had unfortunately just been emptied. Darn. She detoured to the kitchen.
Barney, the chef, shot her a grin as he deftly assembled a series of platters and shoved them toward bustling underlings. She had a sudden clear image of him propping her six-year-old self on a high stool so she could whip her own small bowl of cream next to his enormous one. He would place his hand around hers to show her how to handle the whisk and then would let her lick up the results without comment as he created a mountain of the stuff in his own bowl. The man was seventy-five years old now, but he still moved the way he had when Aidy was a child, his hands a blur of efficiency.
The staff was in full cry as they dealt with the daily lunch rush, but Barney maintained a cheerful patter without breaking rhythm.
“Aidy, love, what do you need?”
“A box, if you have it,” she said.
“Check the back.” He gestured cheerfully. “It’s a big one.”
Big was an understatement. Barney made desserts for the dining room on a daily basis, but the hotel had an arrangement with Johnson’s Bakery to provide baked goods for large events. The white cardboard box was now slumped next to the recycling bins near the exit. Because it had held a vast sheet cake for the Rotary Club’s meeting, the box’s insides were rimed with frosting in lurid colors. It smelled like sugar and imitation butter. The cardboard was a bit soggy, but Aidy couldn’t afford to waste time looking for an alternative. She shuddered to think of the ramifications if Preston or his mother were to arrive back at the scene of the crime before she did. The Grand couldn’t afford to lose any more guests.
Want to read more?
When Max Durrell books a room at The Grand, Aidy Jones, hotel manager, signs up for a dating service. Aidy knows what she needs and Max Durrell isn’t it. Her ideal man is attractive enough to have children with but not attractive enough to fall in love with. Ideally, he’ll also have some roofing skills.Max Durell has returned to Demerest Cove to accomplish a lifelong dream. The Grand isn’t on the market yet, but convincing the eccentric owners to sell should be a piece of cake. His brothers will take care of the transaction. Max’s job is to flirt with the owners’ daughter so she doesn’t interfere.
Flirting is easy. It’s the friendship that’s the problem. He can’t help enjoying Aidy Jones and while he’ll never fall in love again (Been there. Bought the tux. Bride never showed up.) he is falling in like with her. Deeply in like.
But any day now, the sale will go through. And once Aidy learns Max is the one tearing her beloved hotel away from her, she’ll never want to set eyes on him again.
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4 comments:
This sounds like a really fun read! Thank you for being with us today!
Nice sample! Thank you for sharing on our blog.
Enjoyed the beginning! Best of success with the book!
Hi Everyone! I loved getting to know Max and Aidy and I know you will too. Thanks for visiting and thanks to HiDee for inviting me. I love the hot chocolate at The Write Way Cafe. And the company is terrific!
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