Page 60 of Bubbles at the Beach House Hotel

I hugged each of our girls and turned to Rhonda. “Let me know what I can do to help.”

“Thanks. I complained about not having enough time alone with Will. Now, it might be too much togetherness. But I’m very thankful to have him around and am grateful the doctors seemed to have done an excellent job with him. All I have to do is convince Will that changing his ways won’t be so bad, and he can finally relax.”

I hugged her and left, worrying about how much Will would be able to relax after working so hard since Arthur had breezed into town.

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Later, sailing withVaughn and the boys, I began to let go of my worries. When I was under sail, they seemed weightless. Time would help Will heal, and his friends would step in to help in other ways.

The boys, best friends since they were toddlers, were fun to watch as they took turns sailing the boat under Vaughn’s watchful gaze.

We kept our conversation light. It was always interesting to hear what the boys had to say about their activities and school. Normally, it wasn't easy to get more than one-word responses from either one of them. I’d learned not to ask questions that could be answered with just a word or two. Open-ended questions were much more successful.

The wind picked up as storm clouds appeared on the horizon.

“We’d better head back now,” Vaughn said to the boys. “Announce when you’re coming about, and we’ll take it from there.”

“Okay, here it goes. Coming about!” said Robbie.

Sitting in the cockpit, I ducked my head as the boom swung and the boat headed back to shore.

Vaughn helped Robbie trim the sails, and with a stronger wind, we moved fast across the water.

Later, after motoring into the inlet, Vaughn and the boys washed the boat down and tidied it before closing and locking the cabin.

While they worked, Cindy and I hurried out of the rain.

Inside, I put away the food from our picnic and prepared to serve the chocolate cake we hadn’t had time to eat aboard the boat. No one could resist any dessert I brought home from the hotel. Not even me.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The next morning, itseemed like old times as Rhonda and I went down the hotel’s front steps to greet Jessica and Ryan Winchester for their Pampered Couples Package.

Gazing at the two of them emerging from the limousine, I noticed how strained their smiles were, and I hoped they hadn’t just had a fight. We couldn’t back away from it now with so many people lined up to help make this PR move happen.

“Hello, welcome to The Beach House Hotel,” I said to Ryan, offering my hand as Rhonda spoke to Jessica.