Page 26 of Bubbles at the Beach House Hotel

CHAPTER NINE

Inside the hotel, Iwent into the kitchen for coffee and one of Consuela’s sweet rolls. She smiled when she saw me, and I went over to her and gave her a warm embrace, enjoying moments like this. She was the mother I never had, and I loved her deeply.

“It’s going to be another busy day,” she said.

“As always. Annette’s handling a bridal shower and luncheon for the Vincente party. They’ll have their wedding dinner here at the hotel but will hold the ceremony at the bride’s grandmother’s house. Some sort of family promise.”

“I like that we have so many weddings here,” said Consuela. “It makes me happy to think my granddaughter will be married here someday.”

“That will be a special day for all of us.” Consuela’s granddaughter, Pila, worked for us from time-to-time on special occasions, and she was a smart, sweet young woman. Though she had no special gentleman in her life, we told her that whenever she was ready, we’d be here to help her make her wedding special.

“Consuela handed me a plate with two sweet rolls. “One for you and one for Rhonda. She’s been waiting for this batch to come out of the oven.”

I lifted the plate and my mug of coffee and blew Consuela a kiss. “See you later. Thanks.”

Rhonda was on the phone when I entered our office.

She nodded hello and continued her conversation. I quickly understood she was talking to our lawyer, Mike Torson, who helped us with the hotel even before we opened. He was older and almost ready to retire, but he still worked for us.

“Okay, thanks, Mike. We’ll get right on that,” said Rhonda. “Talk to you later.”

She ended the call and let out a long sigh. “Remember that wedding guest who got drunk and fell into the pool? He’s saying that someone pushed him, and he hurt his back. Now, he’s suing the hotel for damages because he had to miss work for a month.”

“There is no way the hotel or other guests are to blame. We checked him over carefully, had one of the doctors look at him, and he told us he was fine. He was quite drunk, as I remember it.”

“Yes. Bernie had him fill out an accident report and a release form saying no one nor the hotel was to blame.”

“Still, we know how these things work. Sometimes it’s easier and cheaper to settle out of court,” I said, feeling myself grow tense at the thought. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it made my blood boil.

“We’ll talk to Bernie about it. He can take it from here and report back to us,” Rhonda said. “I also told Mike what we wanted to do for Bernie. He’ll work on suggestions for setting it up. What else is going on? Have you spoken to the ‘Fabulous Five,’ as I think of our book club guests?”

“I have. We both are invited to their house late afternoon today to share their bubbly champagne.”

“Why the celebration?”

“Nothing in particular. They’re visiting the Everglades today. I think they wanted to do that before any storms headed our way.”