Authors: Kate Sweeney
“Is she pretty?”
“Yes. And she’s nice. I’ve just been so wrapped up in this. I haven’t had time. But I see her from time to time.”
“Well, that’s something,” Bess said. “Woman does not live by work alone.”
Roz laughed. “Words to live by.”
“Yes, they are. And since you’ve asked my opinion—”
“I don’t recall…?” The front desk bell rang once again. “Saved by the bell.”
Bess glared. “That thing is annoying.” She looked at her watch and smiled.
“Hey, it’s my business. I’m grateful for that little bell. It means I can keep this place.” Roz gave her a suspicious look. “Why are you smiling?”
Bess easily jumped off the barstool, albeit with a groan, and pushed Roz. “No reason. Let’s go see who it is.”
“Okay, I’m going.” Roz allowed Bess to propel her out of the dining room. “Why don’t I trust you?”
“Because you’re very discerning. Another annoying trait of yours.” Bess grinned as she walked behind Roz.
When they walked into the foyer, Roz stopped so abruptly, Bess ran into her with a grunt.
Oh, good Lord, Bess thought as she looked past Roz. It was almost surreal. Bess watched, almost in slow motion, as Roz stared at the front desk. Bess looked at Roz and saw such sadness, such despair, and that mingled with sheer astonishment, well, it broke her heart.
Bess then looked at Kit, who stood at the desk so visibly stunned she dropped her luggage with a thud and just rapidly blinked. With her jaw sagged open, she looked bewildered and at the same time, so forlorn and like Roz, sad. And…she looked as though she might faint; Bess felt the same way. Oh, good Lord, she thought again. What in the world is Kit doing here?
“Kit? Why...How?” Bess asked when she could speak.
Roz stood there dumbfounded, just staring at Kit.
“Bess? What…?” Kit started; her usual rosy complexion faded with each passing second.
Roz whirled around so fast, Bess literally backed up. “Did you know about this?” Roz asked in a hissed whisper.
“Know about what?” Kit asked, sounding almost as if she were in a trance.
“Of course not. This is not what I expected,” Bess whispered indignantly.
“Just what are you expecting?”
“I—”
“Oh, my aching bunions!”
All eyes were on the elderly woman standing in the doorway. One might say she leaned on that stylish cane because of her age, but Bess knew better; they all knew better.
“That,” Bess said dryly, sweeping her arm in Helen’s direction, “is what I was expecting. The guest who ordered the champagne.” She gave Roz a sick look. “Surprise?” She felt horrible. Why would Kit…? A better question—how did Kit…?
Then, realization struck her like a sledgehammer to the temporal lobe. Bess slowly turned and glared at Helen, who smiled evilly as she walked in. Bess’s incredulous expression asked—For Kit’s
fiftieth birthday, Helen? Really?
“What champagne?” Helen asked Bess. “Well, someone help an old woman with her luggage.”
With Roz and Kit still shocked into silence, they stared at each other until Bess gently nudged Roz, who nearly stumbled into the desk.
“Roz,” Kit whispered, almost in awe. “Is this…?”
“Hello, Kit,” Roz said when she could speak. “Yeah, this place is mine.”
They both glared at Bess, who vehemently shook her head and pointed at Helen.
What a disaster. Bess looked at the carnage before her. Neither woman knew what to say to the other. You could cut the horrible awkward feeling with a buzz saw. Bess still glared at Helen; Helen shrugged and walked up to her daughter. When everyone wasn’t glaring at Helen, there was awkward silence.
“Mother, what did you do?” Kit asked through clenched teeth. She kissed the offered cheek.
“It’s for your birthday. I told you.”
“I know,” Kit said, rubbing her temples and avoiding Roz. “But you might have mentioned this.”
“But I did. Didn’t I?” Helen asked innocently. “Oh, hello, Roz, dear. You look tired.”
“Hey, Helen,” Roz said softly. “So…” She tried to continue, but neither Weston woman listened—some things never changed.
“No, you didn’t tell me,” Kit said with a sigh.
“Well, I thought it would be a good idea. And I wanted to see Bess, too. And I haven’t seen Roz since you two acted like idiots two years ago, and it has to stop.”
“Well, since—” It was a valiant effort on Roz’s part.
“Is it so wrong for a mother to want to see the people she loves?” Helen went on. “God knows how much time I have left.”
Kit raised an eyebrow and looked at her watch. “Who wants to start the countdown?”
“Okay…” Roz tried again, unable to take her gaze off Kit.
“You scoff now, but someday, I won’t be around. Then we’ll see who’s laughing,” Helen said indignantly. “But I’ll tell you this much, it won’t be me. Because I’ll be dead and you’ll be sorry.”
However, Bess saw the sparkle in Helen’s blue eyes; she loved, just loved to get under Kit’s skin. No wonder she welcomed Roz with open arms all those years ago. Helen Weston and Rosalind Maguire were like two peas in a pod.
“Well,” Helen went on, “I hope you’re not going to give our rooms away now.”
Roz painfully pinched the bridge on her nose. “I’m guessing you’re the one who made the online reservation for the suite?”
Helen grinned and nodded. “It was a stroke of genius.”
“A stroke of some sort,” Kit said.
“I had Jon Murray make them. You remember him?” She waved them off before anyone could answer. “Doesn’t matter. I knew if I put it in my name, you’d know, and I wanted to surprise all of you. So…” Helen looked around at the array of expressions with a maniacal gleam in her eye. “Are we all sufficiently stunned?” she asked in a flat voice.
“Overwhelmingly so,” Bess said.
“You see? One big happy family once again.” Helen ran her fingers through her silver hair. “Because you two will stop this foolishness this weekend.”
Kit rubbed her forehead, avoiding Roz, who stood behind the desk inanely shuffling paper avoiding Kit. Helen looked pleased and avoided no one.
Bess glanced over her shoulder and surreptitiously inched her way toward the bar and stopped with a jerk when Roz reached back and grabbed the front of her shirt.
“Well, at least nothing else can happen,” Bess offered with a weak smile.
“Surprise! Hey, what great timing.”
They all whirled around again to see a very young woman standing in the door. She looked like she was barely of legal age but in tremendous shape. Her unruly short dark hair stuck out underneath her ball cap, which she wore backward, and she adjusted the backpack that she had slung over her shoulder. She wore cargo shorts and hiking boots.
“Well, well! Hidey ho!” Helen exclaimed with a shake of her head.
Roz looked like she just fell off the back of a truck—and was run over several times. She gave Bess a questioning look; Bess held out her hands and shrugged. She had no clue who…then the sledgehammer appeared. Dale Caldwell, the woman Kit had been dating for the past few weeks. Kit had told her of the younger woman she met, but Bess never actually met her.
Dale walked up to Kit, who swayed precariously, as if she were on a fence—very fitting—and kissed Kit on the cheek. “Hi, Kitty Kat. Happy birthday. Are you surprised?”
Bess glanced at Roz, who watched the exchange with a deep frown. She looked as if she might explode.
Helen let out a delightful laugh and sat on the deacon’s bench by the desk. “The way this is turning out, I’m not at all surprised. Dale, my dear, your serendipitous timing is either dreadful or impeccable, depending on your philosophical bent.”
Dale turned to Helen. “Serendipitous? Is that from
Mary Poppins
?”
Helen’s mouth sagged.
“Hey, Mrs. Weston. You look lovely. It’s nice to see you again. I hope you don’t mind I invited myself…”
For an instant, Bess thought she sounded very much like Eddie Haskell. As a matter of fact, she resembled Eddie Haskell.
Helen raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’d be lying through my eye teeth if I said I—”
Knowing Helen, Bess quickly interrupted her. “Why don’t all of you check in? I don’t think Roz can get many more people around this desk.”
“Yes, might as well get that out of the way so we can start this weekend off with a bang,” Helen said cheerfully. “Do I need to get up?”
Kit glared. “No, stay right where you are.”
“There’s no need to sound so threatening,” Helen said.
When Kit turned to Roz, her hands shook. What a nightmare, Bess thought as she looked at Dale; though she smiled happily, she looked confused, which might have been her natural state, the poor child.
“This place is wicked…” Dale exclaimed as she looked around.
She had no clue what was happening, and how could she? Bess realized there was a fine line between comedy and tragedy, but this was bordering on ludicrous. What were the odds? Whatever they were, and as rotten as they would be, she still wanted to strangle Helen.
Dale whispered to Kit, who stared straight ahead. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Kit said, trying to smile.
“Are you glad to see me?” Dale smiled impishly.
“Of course,” Kit said, avoiding Roz.
Roz turned the check-in register around to Dale. “Miss Caldwell, I presume?”
“Well, she ain’t Dr. Livingstone,” Helen mumbled. She held her hands up when Kit glared her warning.
“That’s me,” Dale said.
“Nice to meet you. I just need your ID. And a credit card, please, and you can sign in.”
“Oh, sure,” Dale said, taking out her driver’s license.
Roz took it and looked; her eyes widened and a smug grin flashed across her face. She looked at Kit, while handing it back to Dale. Kit’s expression dared Roz to say something.
“Thanks,” Roz said to Dale. “Here’s your key.”
Dale leaned in toward Roz and whispered, “The champagne?”
“And that answers that question,” Helen said.
Bess cautiously watched Kit, and for a moment, it didn’t register. But when the realization hit Kit right between the eyes just who the champagne was for, her rosy complexion returned; it now burned bright red. Bess leaned back when Kit’s big blue eyes widened. And again, Kit avoided Roz. Bess didn’t think they’d acknowledged each other since the initial bombshell when Kit walked in. What a nightmare, Bess thought.
“Are you old enough?” Roz said with a smirk.
Dale blushed. “You saw my license. But that was sweet.”
Oh, dear Lord above, she’s flirting with Roz. Helen and Bess exchanged jaw-dropping glances. Bess honestly thought she saw steam coming out of Kit’s ears.
“Yes. I have it for you. It’s been on ice for about, oh, I’d say two years now,” Roz said, smiling sweetly at Kit.
Bess winced as the sarcasm seemed to ooze from every pore in Roz’s body. From her perch, she heard Helen’s amused chuckle. Bess wouldn’t be surprised to see Helen doing a little happy dance behind her.
Dale didn’t get the joke—how could she—but she laughed. “Well, I think it’s cold enough.”
“Practically freezing,” Helen called out.
Roz hid her grin. “I’ll have it brought up to your room when you’re ready,” Roz said, still grinning.
“No time like the present,” Dale said happily.
“That’s the spirit,” Helen said, tapping her cane on the floor with enthusiasm. “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
“And the dead don’t speak.” Kit’s eyes blazed with anger.
“You made that up...”
Bess saw Kit’s cheek muscles clench and closed her eyes. Good God, what else?
In walked Mark, who noticed only one thing—Bess; he had tunnel vision as he tripped over Helen’s luggage. With a grunt, he stumbled into Dale, driving her into the front desk.
“Mark,” Roz said through clenched teeth as she reached to steady the vase of flowers that teetered on the counter.
“Oh, geez. Sorry,” he said with a nervous laugh.
“Easy there, young man. That’s Louis Vuitton you’ve trampled,” Helen said dryly.
“No need for you to check in, Kit.” Roz looked past her and glared at Helen. “I’ll check you in myself, Helen.”
“And I look forward to it,” Helen said with a smile.
“C’mon, Kit. Let’s see my room,” Dale said, dangling her key. “Which room is yours?”
Roz smiled sweetly and picked up another key. “Miss Weston has the adjoining room with her mother. I put you next to them. How’s that?”
“That’s great,” Dale said. “Thanks.”
“Mark, would you please help with the luggage and show this lady to room three?” Roz took the key from Dale and gave it to him.
“Oh, sure,” Mark said, smiling at Bess.
Roz handed Kit the key to her room, which Kit took without looking at Roz.
“Mark is it?” Helen said to him. “When you’re done, would you please take our luggage up, as well?”