Chapter Four

Confident that she’d gotten Franklin settled, Kira went back to her office to get her own work done. It wasn’t long before trouble came calling.

“What were you thinking?” Gail said, rushing into the room with her hands on her hips.

Kira looked up from her laptop and deflected. “Do you really remember him?”

“Yes, vaguely. He was in one of my classes at Clover High. He hasn’t been around here for years, and you hire him? Something is wrong with you, girl.”

Kira stood, waving her hands. “Calm down. There’s nothing wrong with me. He’ll only be here for three months, until Mrs. Potter comes back.”

“That’s three months too long, in my opinion.” Gail threw herself down on the chair and rested her elbows on her thighs. “Kira, you’re going to get us into trouble. You’re asking for it.”

“Gee Gee, it’s going to be okay. You worry too much.”

She hoped calling her by her nickname would soften her a bit. But with the dissatisfied look on her cousin’s face, Kira knew that Gail was going to tell their aunt, so as soon as she could get her out of there, she’d give the news to their aunt Mary Louise herself.

“I told them that you didn’t know what you were doing,” Gail shouted. “You’re going to mess it up for the rest of us.”

Kira didn’t believe that for one minute. Her cousins had made messes of their lives before she came to Clover, so that had nothing to do with her or how she ran the inn.

“Look, we both just got started here. Give this a chance.” Kira slid into the seat next to her cousin. “I thought when you got the sous chef position here that we could work together and do great things. You know, make the family proud.”

“You’re going to make them mad,” Gail said as she stood.

Kira needed to talk fast, or her cousin would blow up her whole plan before they even started. She reached out to Gail. “Please don’t say anything to anyone. At least for now. Let’s give Franklin a chance.”

Gail wouldn’t make eye contact with her. That was it, then. She’d lost the battle. She’d have to defend her choice to her family without Gail’s support. But still, she gave it one more try.

She faced her cousin. “Come on, Gee Gee. Haven’t you ever done something daring in your life? I think the feud is so old nobody will care that he’s a Bennett as long as the place is running smoothly.”

Finally, Gail met her gaze. “I care. You’re not being loyal to the family.”

I know this girl ain’t talking to me about loyalty. Kira had done her best to plead with her cousin. She was done playing nice. “I don’t have to prove my loyalty to you.”

“Kira, you’re always flying off, doing stuff without thinking. I hope this doesn’t come back to bite you.”

Gail’s eyes shifted. Kira had made up her mind, though, and she wasn’t about to change anything. Franklin was the manager at the Red Rose Inn. She was going to have to say a little bit more to convince her cousin to keep her mouth closed, at least for now, and there still was no guarantee. She wanted Franklin to have a chance to prove himself before anyone in her family kicked him out. “Look, I need you to try to get along better with Ben. I know he hurt you by leaving Clover, but you’ve got to get past it.”

Her cousin’s eyes softened and her body slumped a bit. She probably still had feelings for Ben, and now she had to figure out how to work with him daily. Kira had been there and done that. She knew it wasn’t easy.

“We can create something special,” Kira said. “You know, use some of those brilliant ideas you’re always talking about to create the amazing meals you’re helping to prepare.”

Gail’s face lit up. “You’ve been getting good feedback?”

“Of course, I have. You’re doing a great job. I’m so glad that Auntie asked you to work with me here at the inn.”

It wasn’t a flat-out lie. She didn’t mind Gail being there, and her cousin really was an excellent chef. It was her crossing the line and trying to tell Kira what to do that got on her nerves.

Gail dropped her shoulders with a sigh. “Okay, I won’t say anything. But I will be keeping an eye on him—and you, too.”

“I’m sure you will.” She wasn’t concerned about her cousin watching her. Gail and the rest of her cousins had been doing that ever since Kira moved back to Clover, five years ago. For now, a Bennett was safe to start working at the Red Rose Inn, and she went back to her desk, wearing a hopeful smile.

…

Franklin quickly unpacked his things in the small space that would be his home for the next ninety days. He rested on the bed, which sat high off the floor, and looked around the room. The sun shined brightly through crisp white curtains. He had a mirrored dresser to store his clothing and a small nightstand. The space was much smaller than his room at his parents’ house, but it would be his place of refuge for the next three months.

Franklin pulled out the little notebook he used to write down his thoughts and feelings. He found it to be very therapeutic, especially when confronted with a new situation or task.

Thirty minutes later, he went into the small office that Mrs. Potter had used and checked if she’d left anything undone. He quickly found that Mrs. Potter was very organized, just the way he liked it. He could think and process better when everything was sorted and in its place.

Staring at the computer he was locked out of, he jotted down a note to ask Kira for the password. He needed to get a to-do list started as soon as possible.

“Knock, knock.”

Franklin looked up. “Hey, Kira, you must have read my mind. I need the password for this?”

Kira walked over to the desk. “Of course.”

“Thanks,” he said, watching her jot down the eight letters, numbers, and symbol combination.

She handed him the slip of paper. “There’s a party coming in for their family reunion starting tomorrow.”

“Are the activities here at the inn?”

“No,” she said, “we’re just giving them a place to sleep.”

“Oh, really? I assumed there was a lot to do here. When I came into the building, a couple passed me dressed in full fishing gear.”

“Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Martin come every year and stay for a few days. They love to fish in a certain spot farther along the property. But most of what we offer here is peace and quiet, a nice place to relax. These folks want their reunion to be more of a celebration-type event.”

Fishing was an amenity that should be highlighted, though. “As the inn manager, what other duties would I have if someone was coming to view the place?”

Kira turned and opened the top drawer of the cabinet behind them. “You’d go over the services offered to potential clients and out-of-town guests, giving them a tour of the inn and the grounds.”

“Do you offer catering or hold events, like weddings and special occasions?”

Kira shook her head. “Right now, the knitting and chess clubs use the small rooms for their meetings, but that’s about it.”

Such a beautiful place should be utilized to its full potential. Kira and her family were leaving a lot of money on the table, so to speak.

He looked up when he heard a knock on the door.

“Hank,” Kira said, walking over to open it so he could step inside the room.

“Franklin?” He moved closer.

“Good morning, Hank.”

“I’m so sorry to barge in on you two like this. Gail said that you were in here.”

“What’s going on, Hank?” Kira said.

From the worried look on the older man’s face, something was wrong. “Why don’t you have a seat?” Franklin suggested, sitting up straight in the chair.

“I didn’t know you were working here, Franklin.”

He didn’t want the visit to get off track. “Yes, just started today. But what can we do for you?”

“Well, I just came back from the Holiday Inn in Waycross Landings, and they told me their renovations won’t be completed in time for the Clover Rotary Club’s Fiftieth Anniversary Gala.”

Kira threw her hands up to her face. “Didn’t you know that they were going through a renovation when you booked the place?”

“They said that it was emergency repairs, but not much else.”

“So I’m guessing you want to have it here?” Kira asked.

Hank nodded.

“Fantastic idea,” Franklin added before Kira could protest. He pulled a sheet of clean paper from the stack next to his desk.

“But what about the church fellowship hall? Surely it could accommodate your group,” Kira said.

Franklin frowned. “I don’t think the church fellowship hall is the best place for that kind of event.”

“I’m just saying…”

“Listen to him, Kira. He wants to have it here,” Franklin replied before asking Hank, “So how many people are you planning?”

“At least one hundred and fifty, because they’ll be coming from neighboring towns.”

Kira held up her hand. “I think the most important question is when is this event?”

Constantly nibbling on her lip, Kira was clearly nervous. But once he glanced over at Hank, Franklin understood part of her anxiety. The older man’s face had turned crimson. He’d never seen Hank silent, either, so it must be bad.

“Don’t be shy,” Franklin said. “We know you’re in a bind, but we can’t help if we don’t know the date. It’s the only way we can tell you if we can accommodate.”

“It’s in a month and a half.”

Kira dropped her head. “Oh my goodness,” she tried to whisper, but it came out like a boom. Her eyes were wide as they connected with Franklin’s. She hunched her shoulders and shook her head.

Franklin realized that he’d seen the same frustrated look and tense posture in her before. From her reaction, it seemed they hadn’t done anything like this at the inn before, which was surprising. He needed to step in and handle the situation. He got up from the desk and came around.

“Tell you what. Why don’t we all go to the dining hall and check out the space?” He turned to Kira. “Are you good with that?”

“I guess so.”

“If we feel it would work, we’d have to schedule a meeting so that everyone who needs to be involved is there.”

He looked at Kira to confirm. “I think it’s a start,” she said, then blew out a long breath and looped her arm over Hank’s. “I’ll escort you,” she said playfully.

…

Kira was excited about this possible expansion of her family’s business. She just wished that Franklin hadn’t been so quick to accept Hank’s suggestion. She could tell that he was geeked about it, and it was probably in some small way his wanting to prove something to her. But she didn’t want to put her family’s business in jeopardy if it failed.

The wrinkles in Hank’s forehead all but disappeared once Franklin said they’d try to help. She didn’t want him to give Hank false hope, though, since they hadn’t held any event that large at the Red Rose before. There was so much more that went along with hosting an event of that magnitude.

“See, there are two rooms that the chess club uses on Tuesdays, and the Knitting by Nature have their weekly meeting,” she pointed out. “These are way too small, even if we opened them up.”

Franklin looked around. “If we closed the doors to the private dining room and open up this partition between these two rooms, it should be.” Since most of the guests were out of the building right now, he opened the walls so that they could survey the space.

It was a good idea, and now Kira felt more open-minded about hosting the event at the inn. “Okay, I can see that we might be able to fit that many people.”

“Now,” Franklin continued, “will you need a dance floor? Will you have a DJ?”

Hank looked stricken. “The venue was taking care of all of that.”

“We don’t have a disc jockey on staff here,” Kira added.

“Don’t worry about it,” Franklin said. “We’ll provide all of it.” He gave Kira a wink, but she only rolled her eyes once she knew Hank wasn’t watching. Franklin walked over to her and grabbed her hand. “Trust me,” he whispered before moving on, following Hank to see if he had any more questions.

“Let’s pull in the kitchen staff so that we can go over your menu,” Kira suggested.

Franklin nodded. “Hank, why don’t you tell us what you’re looking for in a meal? Would it be plated or family style?”

“Since it’s supposed to be really fancy, I want to go with family style, that way folks don’t have to stand in line in their pretty clothes.”

“Perfect,” Franklin said. “We will meet with our staff and give you a call back later this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest.” Once again, he looked to Kira to confirm.

“Yes, yes,” Kira said quickly. “We’ll also have to talk about centerpieces and some kind of token for the guests to take home with them,” she said. “We’d be happy to host your event.”

Hank’s shoulders relaxed. “This sure is a blessing,” he said. “It’s my first time as committee chair, and I don’t want anything to ruin this.”

“It won’t,” Kira said. She stepped forward to shake his hand. “We’ll handle everything.”

Hank smiled as he looked between the two of them. Kira braced herself for whatever he was about to say. “You two work well together. Your parents would be proud. You saved me. Now, I’ve got to get back to the store.”

Kira swallowed hard and waited until Franklin escorted Hank out. She needed to talk to him about making promises to customers without discussing anything first. She’d never hosted an event like this before. He could have just set her up for a huge failure.

“Why did you do that?” Kira almost shouted once Franklin returned.

She noted the frown on his face, but she didn’t care. She had to think about the integrity of the inn.

“This is a great idea,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here with you to oversee everything.”

“That’s not the point. We only have a month and a half to get this done.”

Franklin gently touched her elbow to guide her through the room. “Let’s discuss this in my office.”

For some reason, when he said “my office,” Kira felt a twinge of guilt knowing that she hadn’t talked to her family about him working at the inn. People were watching and probably listening, too. But worrying about what folks said was not productive, and she’d have to remind herself not to think about it.