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Christine made a few sarcastic remarks as they rushed from the house to the Inn. “I come all this way, tell you everything about my life, and the next thing I know, you’re making me run.” Eventually, the panicked expression on Susan’s face made Christine close her mouth and carry on. They stumbled a bit when they reached the Inn, both of them a little glossy from the afternoon wine. Christine gripped Susan’s elbow—the first physical contact they’d had since she had arrived, and whispered, “My goodness. He really let the thing fall apart, didn’t he?”
Susan swallowed. “I don’t know what to do about it. If you have any ideas...”
“This was his life. He gave everything to this place. He would have traded any one of his daughters and even his wife for this place. And now look at it. It’s a dump.”
Susan cast Christine a dark look and cleared her throat. “Let’s just go see what’s going on.”
Christine and Susan entered the Inn to find Wes Sheridan more irate than Susan had seen him since they’d been girls. He stood, holding some kind of clipboard in front of what appeared to be a husband and wife in their mid-thirties and their three young children, all of whom blinked up at Wes, terribly frightened.
“I’ve told you, again and again, you only booked for one week!” Wes cried. “It’s right here in the books.”
“Mr. Sheridan, please understand. We talked on the phone months ago. I told you that we needed to be on Martha’s Vineyard for two weeks. You echoed it back to me‚ ‘Two weeks!’ And you told me that you would give it to me at a reduced price. Remember?” The husband shifted his weight and glared at Susan’s father. “And now, you tell me this morning that we have to leave our room one week early... And you don’t have a single other room in your Inn for us.”
“You only booked one week. I know this for sure. I wouldn’t make a mistake like that. I’ve worked at this Inn since I was a little boy,” Wes insisted. “Younger than these kids, even.”
Susan leaped up to stand next to her father. She gave the family a big smile, hoping to quell the anger and tension in the room. Natalie still stood behind the front desk, rubbing her palms together anxiously.
“What seems to be the problem, then?” Susan asked.
The father arched his brow. “And who might you be?”
“I’m an associate of the Inn. Susan Harris. So glad you decided to stay with us here at the Inn.”
“Yes. Well. It was terribly pleasant until this very moment. Mr. Sheridan here doesn’t have another room for us, and we checked in the rest of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown. It’s all booked up,” the man explained his situation. He rubbed at his sweaty neck, while one of his young children grabbed his hand and tugged at it hard.
“I see,” Susan said. She clucked her tongue and said, “I really am sorry. Mistakes do happen. I hope you can understand that.”
What was it about the hospitality business that enraged people so much? Susan had worked as a criminal lawyer, and still, she had never seen people more riled up than when they were tourists who hadn’t gotten their way.
Granted, this was a bit more complicated.
“If you don’t have anything to offer us, I don’t know what we’re going to do,” the man said. His voice rose, probably due to his child tugging at him so hard.
Susan swallowed and turned to her dad. “Mr. Sheridan, do you think you could head to your office and wait for me there? Now.”
Her father’s nostrils flared. He wasn’t the sort of man to welcome being told what to do. But he was angry, volatile, and nobody needed his continued help in this situation. He nodded and cut back toward the office. When he was out of earshot, the father scoffed, “Thank you for getting him out of here.”
Susan cast him a dark look as she turned toward Natalie. “So, you’re telling me that there’s not another room?”
Natalie shook her head, her eyes wide. “There is nothing available. And there’s really nothing I can do at this moment. I—I don’t even think I was around when Wes booked them. I took a few weeks off around then and...”
Suddenly, a voice boomed out from the hallway that led to the bistro. “What seems to be the trouble?”
Susan turned to find Scott Frampton all decked out in what seemed to be his freight clothes: dark green shorts and a dark green shirt, his face tanned and handsome, with a perfect five o’clock shadow across his cheeks.
The father of the family seemed overly willing to declare what had happened to him to any onlooker. He blurted, “They overbooked the Inn and are leaving us out in the cold.”
Scott arched his brow. “Well, first of all, I hope you understand that the people of the Sunrise Cove Inn would never leave you out in the cold.”
Susan felt Christine’s enormous eyes on her. She gave a slight shrug as Scott took the last few strides across the rest of the lobby floor and shook the husband and wife’s hands.
“You’ve stayed here how long?” Scott asked.
“A week,” the man answered.
“But you seem pretty angry. I wouldn’t think a week on Martha’s Vineyard should make anyone as upset as you are right now,” Scott said with a smile.
This was Scott’s way. He could always calm any situation. Across the lobby, Christine mouthed the words, Is that Scott Frampton? Her eyes remained locked on Scott.
“It’s just we don’t know what to do,” the husband said.
“Well, you’ve checked the other hotels and inns on the island, haven’t you?” Scott said.
The husband gave a lopsided shrug. “At least for tonight, they’re all booked.”
“And what about tomorrow?” Scott asked. “Any sign about that?”
The father collected his phone and clicked for a second or two. “I guess there are a few rooms available in Edgartown tomorrow through the rest of our stay.”
“That’s fantastic news!” Scott said. “And in the meantime, I guess there’s really only one option as to what you should do next.”
“What? Sleep on the beach?” the father asked.
“Absolutely not. You’ll stay at my place,” Scott affirmed.
Christine’s jaw dropped even lower. Susan’s heart leaped. The husband looked as though he was prepared to say no, but the wife grabbed his elbow and whispered something in his ear. The husband grumbled and said, “If it really isn’t putting you out.”
“Not at all,” Scott said. “I can’t imagine a better way to use the place. Now, it isn’t the Buckingham Palace, that’s for sure, but it is my home, and it’s clean and it has its own little beach and dock for the kids to play in the water. I’ll let you stay there for free for all your trouble. Do you mind?”
The husband looked defeated. His shoulders sloped forward as he extended his hand forward to shake Scott’s in gratitude.
“Thank you,” he said. “I really do appreciate this. I’ll book the other hotel in Edgartown right now.”
The family scuttled off toward the bistro to finalize their booking. When they disappeared, Natalie jumped up and down and smacked her hands together. She looked close to tears.
“Scott! I didn’t know how we would get our way out of that one!” she cried.
Scott beamed at Susan and tilted his head. Susan laughed. “You look like you’re up to something.”
“Naw. It’s just—didn’t I tell you that I would help you out?”
“Didn’t think it would come so quickly. Thank you,” Susan said. A blush spread across her cheeks.
“Scott! I bet you don’t remember me,” Christine said. Her voice was brighter than it had been, almost false. She hugged Scott—something she had very noticeably and purposefully not done with her sister.
“Christine, wow! It’s good to see you again,” Scott said. The hug broke and he beamed at both of them. “Wow. Two of the three sisters back together again. What will happen when you get Lola back here?”
“The whole world will catch fire, probably,” Christine said, laughing. “Of course, it seems like we have bigger fish to fry at the moment. You just gave up your house for the night.”
Scott shrugged. “Oh, it doesn’t matter. I can always stay with Chuck if I need to.”
“Nonsense! You should stay with us,” Christine said. “We have space on either the pull-out couch or if Susan sleeps with me, that other bedroom. You really must. You saved us.”
Susan knew Christine was up to something. However, what she had suggested was kind and generous and everything Susan might have done had she been able to think clearly with Scott around.
Scott rubbed the back of his neck, contemplatively. “Chuck and I just have a few more rounds to make, and then, I guess, I can stop by. Yes. Of course. I’d love to.”
“Yes! Fantastic. That means we’re having a little party,” Christine said. Her smile grew wider. “Guess me and Susie will have to go shopping.”
“Anything you girls cook will be fantastic, I bet,” Scott said. “Although I have to say, anything would be better than what you used to cook me back in the day. That weird cheddar lasagna you made up.”
“Hey! It was cheese and noodles. What else do you want?” Susan asked with a laugh.
Scott said goodbye and hustled back to the truck with Chuck. Christine and Susan blinked at each other, a stand-off in the middle of the Inn lounge.
“What are you up to?” Susan asked.
“I guess I should ask you the same thing,” Christine said.
“I ran into Scott last night. That’s all. He offered to help out with the Inn,” Susan returned.
“I feel like there’s electricity in here. I can feel the spark myself, big sis,” Christine said.
On the other side of the front desk, Natalie nodded her head in agreement with a large smile splayed on her lips.
“I mean, we used to be in love like a thousand years ago it feels like. Of course, there would be something,” Susan said.
Why did Christine have to make everything so poisonous?
“Besides. I am a divorced woman,” Susan blurted then.
Christine looked like all the wind had been knocked out of her. Susan’s nostrils flared as she ripped her left hand into the air to show off her naked finger.
“Not that you actually care what’s going on in my life. Not that you’d ever call and say hi,” she blurted.
“Like I would want to call you after our last sister session in New York,” Christine called back.
Natalie pretended to take a phone call in the next room. Christine and Susan faced off for a long moment. Susan felt she might burst into tears or laughter—she wasn’t sure which.
With a jolt, Susan remembered her father in the office. She rushed toward it, with Christine hot on her heels.
“Don’t run away from me! You can’t just...”
Susan stopped short at the office to find her father up near the stereo system. He played an old song he’d loved ever since Susan was a kid, a track from the early ‘80s. He tapped his feet along with the music and swayed. When he spotted Christine and Susan in the doorway, he pointed at the speaker and said, “I love this song!”
Susan smiled. “It’s really good. Really good. Dad—I just wanted to tell you that we got everything worked out with the family in the lobby. It’s all fine.”
Her dad kept tapping his feet. He turned around fast and flashed his hands out and wiggled his fingers. His grin widened. It was obvious that he had no idea what she was talking about. He had already forgotten.
“Dad...?” Christine asked.
“Christine! Oh, my God.” He said, taking a step closer. He wrapped her in a bear hug as Susan stood back and watched them. Her heart swelled at the moment. Finally, they released each other.
“Hi, Dad. You look really good!” Christine said, smiling.
“You look beautiful, honey. It’s been so long,” he said as he looked at both of his daughters.
“Yes, it has been, but I’m here now and I’ll be staying for a few days so we can catch up. All right?” Christine said. She watched as her father shook his head in understanding.
“Dad, we’re going to run to the store and pick up some supplies. You’ll be okay here, right? Let Natalie know if you need anything,” Susan said.
Slowly, the girls backed out of the room. When they reached the hallway, Christine fell forward into Susan’s arms. This was the first hug they had shared. Christine shook as she poured her forehead into Susan’s shoulder. The weeping came next. Susan slid her hand across Christine’s back and whispered, “It’s going to be all right. We’re all going to be back together again. We’re going to find a way to be okay.”