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“I’M SORRY WE ALL HAVE to share a suite, Miss Rose,” Anna said quietly while they waited for the porter to load the luggage onto a rolling cart. “I’ll sleep on the floor; there’s no need for you and Miss Vera to share a bed.”
Rosemary sighed and brushed a lock of hair away from Anna’s face. “You’ll do no such thing. It’s not your fault, dear, and furthermore, it’s of no concern. We’ll have a grand time all together. It will be like a slumber party. Vera and I have shared a bed plenty of times over the years. She hardly snores at all.”
Vera aimed a mock-angry glare at her friend.
“Besides, we won’t be spending much time in the suite anyway, and Fred and Des will be just fine sharing a smaller room.” The girl appeared slightly mollified, and Rosemary wondered if she would ever convince Anna to stop worrying so much.
While they waited, the famously imported lift returned to the first floor. A balding man of advanced age stepped off and rudely pressed between Rosemary and Vera without so much as a glance of apology. As he approached the reception desk with a stormy expression on his pinched face, the look on Gloria’s made it clear she’d prefer being hanged, drawn, and quartered to dealing with him.
“What is it now, Mr. Wright?” she asked with a nearly audible roll of her eyes that didn’t go unnoticed by the cranky gentleman.
“You’d best think twice before using that tone with me, missy,” the man snarled. “Is it my fault your staff is hopelessly inept? Where is Miss DeVant? I’d like to have a word with her about the maid service, as well as your behavior. A high-class hotel like this hiring incompetents to run the place. It’s a damn shame, that’s what it is.” He paused for a moment and continued to glare at Gloria before demanding once more, “Where is Miss DeVant?”
Gloria’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “She’s indisposed at the moment, dealing with more important matters than your petty complaints. We’ve been more than accommodating to your requests, Mr. Wright, but even Miss DeVant has a limit. I’ll pass along the message.” She said the last with another roll of her eyes.
“You do that,” Mr. Wright snapped, “and while you’re at it, remind her I am still trying to contact the owner of this establishment. I intend to file a formal complaint.”
“The owner won’t talk to you,” Gloria replied, her voice just as icy as his. “Ever. So you might as well stop hounding Miss DeVant.”
Mr. Wright smirked. “We’ll see about that. We’ll just see. I expect my message will be received in a timely manner.” He strutted in the direction of the breakfast bar and missed the daggered look Gloria aimed at his back.
Rosemary observed the exchange with a mixture of horror and interest until her attention turned to the porter. She watched as he piled Vera’s many cases onto the cart in a precise configuration with hardly any gaps. He bit his lip as he loaded the last one and grinned to nobody, Rosemary could ascertain, but himself.
“Thank you,” she said. “That’s quite a stack, isn’t it? I’m afraid we have a habit of packing rather heavily.” Rosemary glanced at Vera, but her friend showed no sign of remorse.
“I might not pack lightly,” Vera mumbled, “but I’m always ready for all contingencies.”
“Yes, madam,” the porter mumbled, a blush rising in his cheeks. “It’s no problem. Miss DeVant says I can take two trips if I have to, but...” he trailed off as if he didn’t know quite how to finish his sentence. “I’m Benny. Follow me and I will show you to your rooms.” He smiled shyly and then lumbered off, pushing the cart towards the lift, where he squeezed past the operator.
It was a tight fit with the four of them plus Benny, the operator, and the luggage, and everyone held their breath as they ascended to the top floors of the hotel. Frederick and Desmond were first deposited in their smaller shared room one floor down from the women and agreed to meet them in the lounge after everyone had freshened up.
“Here we are,” Benny declared as the door to the lift opened on the next floor up. He pushed his cart towards the suite marked 303. “Mr. Wright, who you...er met downstairs, is just down the corridor in 305. There are only three suites on this level. They’re the nicest ones we offer here at Aphrodite Sands.” That part sounded rehearsed. “You can even call down to the reception desk from your room.”
“It’s a nice hotel, and I can see Cecily works hard to provide all the most modern amenities,” Rosemary said, her gaze wandering around the lavish suite.
“Yes, miss. Still, the elevator don’t always run just right, and there’s an echo effect on the stairs.” Benny pulled a brass cigarette lighter from his pocket and absently spun the flint to produce a flicker of flame. “Miss Cecily says it’s to do with the angles and curves of the walls, but noises come right up sometimes.”
When Rosemary stepped further into the suite amid Vera’s squeals of delight and Anna’s soft exclamations, she felt as though she’d been transported to another world. Windows spanned the wall across from the entrance door, opening onto a balcony that overlooked the brolly-dotted beach and provided a breathtaking view of the sea and mountains beyond. Intricately carved woodwork spanned from floor to waist height and continued in the crown molding and ceiling, the wall between covered with fabric wallpaper that looked like hand-spun silk.
All the furnishings were of the highest quality, with a sunken sitting area taking up the center of the main room. Through the twin doors on either side, two large four-poster beds piled with pillows promised the experience of sleeping on a cloud. Even Vera, who had traveled far and wide and stayed in some of the most expensive hotels money could buy, was taken aback by the sheer luxury by which she, Rosemary, and Anna were now surrounded.
As he wheeled the cart into the room, Benny went into a rehearsed spiel about the hotel and how the management spared no expense to provide features found nowhere else on the island, including en suite bathrooms and hot running water. He didn’t mention the lift again, but he did add in his more normal cadence of speech that the boiler worked most of the time and the water was never rusty.
“Thank you, Benny,” Rosemary said after he’d unloaded the cart. “You’ve been most helpful.”
The man blushed again, mumbled something along the lines of “if you ladies need anything else...” then trailed off and beat a hasty retreat out the door.
Once he had gone, Rosemary flopped onto the bed and let out a giggle. “It’s even better than I imagined. I could stay here all day eating chocolates and taking in the view.”
“Well, Rosie dear, I have a feeling that’s what we’ll be doing the day after Desmond convinces us to hike up one of those mountains,” Vera said, her voice taking on a tired-sounding tone at the mere thought of physical exertion.
“We’ll cross that bridge when—and if—we come to it,” Rosemary said with a laugh. “For now, I’m going to take a nice long bath and hope my brother hasn’t gone three sheets to the wind before we make it down for tea. It’s quite early yet, but that’s never stopped him before.”
She rose and peeked into Anna’s room, where the girl lay sprawled out on the fluffy down mattress. She gave a contented sigh. “It’s not moving,” she said with a yawn. “I think I shall stay here and unpack rather than go down for tea, if that’s all right.”
“Ring down and see if one of the hotel staff can bring you something,” Rosemary suggested. “I wish I could do the same, but the men are expecting us to rally. I refuse to be called a stick in the mud. You know how Freddie can get when he feels we aren’t upholding our sacred duty to enjoy ourselves.”
Anna smiled and nodded as she spotted the telephone on a table with a card lying next to it. “Oh look, here’s a menu. Isn’t that simply topping.” She scanned the sheet, her eyes widening at the selection, and she said on a breath, “There’s too much to choose from, and they’re all dishes I recognize.” Once underway, Anna had fretted about having to eat things that might make her sick. “Should I order a scone or cake?”
“Get both, then, and enjoy yourself.” It didn’t take much to make Anna happy, and for all the little things she did to please her mistress, Rosemary wanted nothing more than to ensure she had the time of her life on the Isle of Love. The grin on Anna’s face was thanks enough.
While the tub filled with the hottest water Rosemary could stand, she tossed in a handful of bath salts, then stepped out onto the balcony and surveyed her surroundings. She’d kept a morsel of information from even her best friend: Cyprus was a place Rosemary and her late husband, Andrew, had dreamed of visiting. Being here without him was bittersweet, but it was something she needed to endure to move on. As long as this holiday went off without a hitch, she believed she’d find herself stronger at the end of it. With one last, lingering look at the beauty surrounding her, Rosemary strode back inside towards the fragrant bath that promised to soothe all her rough edges.
