Page 2 of Something Real with the Sea Monster (Kraken Cove #3)

TWO

Jack

The phone rings, interrupting what I’m saying.

I suppress my sigh. The lady on the other side of the counter isn’t really listening anyway.

She’s trying to stop her baby from snatching the oversized sunglasses from the top of her head while she keeps one eye on the toddler slowly plucking leaves from the potted plant in the small seating area.

“Alex, honey, we don’t pick other people’s plants, OK? ”

“Would you excuse me one moment?” I keep my warm smile in place, despite the fact that there are now tiny white pebbles scattered all over the carpet along with a trail of soil and Alex appears to be moving on to ransack the stash of tourist brochures on the magazine stand.

“Huh?” She blinks at me, and her baby makes another swoop for the glasses.

Taking advantage of her distraction, I scoop up the phone and bring it to my ear. “Inlet Views Kraken Cove, how may I help you?”

“Good morning.” The male voice on the other end of the line is polished and proper. Internally I guess a Sydneysider. I don’t say anything out loud except, “Good morning.”

“My wife and I are arriving to stay at the Inlet Views today, and I wondered if it would be possible for us to check in early? It looks like we’ll get to Kraken Cove at about lunch time.”

I wonder to myself what time that means.

In my experience it could be anywhere from 11:30 to 2 p.m. It doesn’t really matter of course.

The customer is always right. “Let me see what I can do for you,” I tell him calmly, grimacing as Alex’s mother scoops him off the white armchair before he can perform a backward flip onto the floor. “What name is it under?”

“Chesterfield.”

On the computer, I bring up the booking and sigh.

I have the new couple in the same room this family is currently checking out of, and I can tell without looking there will be extra cleanup.

If I divert the cleaner to prioritize that room, I can have it ready by one, but I usually try to have her do the room refreshes for the ongoing guests first. I guess that can wait.

I’m about to answer when Mr. Chesterfield speaks again.

“Oh, I see. Hello? Are you still there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It seems we’ll arrive at eleven. I hope that’s not too much trouble.”

I’m sure my eye is twitching, but I keep my voice friendly. “Of course not, sir. I can have the room ready for one, and in the meantime, I’ll reserve a table for you at our in-house restaurant, The Snapper. How does that sound?”

“That would be perfect. Thank you.”

“We’ll see you soon.” I look up just in time to see the little wooden ship that sits on the bookshelf go crashing to the floor as both Alex and his mother reach for it at the same time.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” The baby triumphantly snatches her sunglasses along with a huge chunk of hair, and she winces. The boat is lying in pieces on the floor.

Coming around from behind the desk, I crouch beside Alex and hold out my hand with the fidget spinner I keep behind the counter in my palm. “Hey, buddy. You want to have a look at this for a minute while I talk to your mom?”

The little boy snatches it with a grin as big as his little sister’s. I collect the pieces of the boat and deposit them behind the counter.

“Say thank you,” his mom says weakly.

I lift him into one of the armchairs and turn to her. “Let’s get your checkout sorted. I’m sure you’re keen to get these rugrats some brekkie.”

She smiles gratefully. “We’ve been up since six, so we’ve already had breakfast, but it must be time for morning tea!”

I check her out and hand her a business card and two lollipops from a little jar I keep next to my laptop. “Thank you for staying with us. Please consider writing a review.”

“If I ever get a minute to myself, I’ll definitely write one. This place is lovely,” she says. “And you’ve been so accommodating.”

“We do our best.”

“Come on, kids. Let’s go find Daddy.”

I wave them off. The moment they’re out of reception, I pick up the phone again and call down to The Snapper. My brother Noah has done such an excellent job re-establishing its reputation that it gets very busy. Hopefully they’ll be able to squeeze in an extra table at short notice.

The young woman working today picks up the phone. “Hi, Jack, what can we do for you?”

“Hi, Jenny, can you reserve a table for two at 11:30? I’ve got an early check-in I need to distract for a while.”

She sucks in a breath through her teeth. “It’s tight, but I’ll work something out. Lucky it’s today and not tomorrow. With Noah away, we’re not doing a full seating.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I thank her then call the cleaner’s mobile phone. She picks up after only one ring. “Hi, Joanne. I was just about to call,” she says, assuming my mother is calling, not me.

Uh oh. That doesn’t sound good. “It’s me, Jack. Mom and Dad are away until the end of next month, remember?”

“Oh, of course,” says Carmen. “Silly me. Well, I was just about to call because my daughter rang me to ask if I can drop the kids at school this morning. She’s not feeling well. So I might be a little bit late. I hope that’s not a problem. I can work later to make up for it.”

The corner of my bright smile drops for a moment, and I sigh again. “Yeah, that’s fine. Family comes first.” I get it. I really do. I’d do the same thing. But that’s the third time in the last fortnight that Carmen has been late. I guess I’ll be doing room six myself.

I flip the sign on the front door to ‘back in ten minutes’ and wheel the cleaning trolley out of the storage cupboard.

As predicted, room six is a mess. The sofa bed in the living area needs to be stripped down and stashed away, and the sink is full of unwashed dishes.

I shake my head when I see the bath is still full of water and there’s a dirty nappy in the middle of the floor.

I’m interrupted while tucking the fitted sheet around the mattress when a buzzing from my pocket alerts me to a call. I straighten, looking at the time. That will be the Chesterfields.

That’s how my day goes, from interruption to interruption until I think I’m on top of things and finally sit down to eat the withered apple that’s been sitting on my desk for a few days now because every time I think I have a moment to myself someone calls.

I take one bite before the phone rings.

Why did I think I could run this place by myself? Mom and Dad have been running it together since my brothers and I were kids, and they’re both like the Energizer bunny: they never stop.

“Welcome to Inlet Views, how may I help you?”

“Hey, Jackie. It’s Dad. Sounds like you’re all over things.”

I give a halfhearted attempt at a laugh. “Yeah. Something like that. How are you? I’m guessing you’ve arrived in Hawaii?”

“Sure have. My god, you should see the size of the burger we just had at the airport. Oh. Hang on. Your mom wants a word.”

There’s a pause, and then Mom says, “Jack, love. We’re just calling to check, even though I know you’ve got everything under control, but I remembered we booked in the guy to check the fire alarms tomorrow, so I thought I should remind you.”

I curse under my breath. Out loud I say, “I know, Mom. Thanks for the reminder, though. Don’t worry about it. You two have a great time. We’re doing great here.”

After a few more minutes of reassuring her, I manage to change the subject, and soon they’re telling me one after the other about their flight and how long they spent on the plane and how the airport was so crowded.

“OK, Joanne, let him go now. If I don’t get some water on my skin, I’m going to crack.

” Dad’s voice is muffled, but then he obviously takes his hand away from the phone to speak to me.

“Jack, pass on our love to Lukey and Mia. Noah and Olivia saw us off at Sydney, but their flight doesn’t land for another few hours.

God knows how they do it. And you just give us a yell if you need anything, won’t you? ”

“Sure, Dad. Love you.”

“Love you too, son.”

I hang up the phone and shake my head. I absolutely will not be calling them.

Not for anything short of the Inlet Views burning to the ground.

They need this holiday. It’s the longest break they’ve taken all their lives, and they deserve it.

Now that Dad’s cancer is finally in remission, they deserve to enjoy themselves.

If that means I have to work a few long days here in the meantime, that’s fine by me. Though my aching feet and throbbing temples are arguing otherwise.

The bell over the door rings, and I look up to see Luke and Mia walk in carrying three large pizza boxes. “Hey, Jack. You look like you could use about three square meals. Did you eat today?”

I hold up my half-eaten apple and shrug. “No time.”

“Well, that’s where we come in. Come on, flip the sign over. Time to take a break.” I think about the fifty more things I should be doing, but they can wait. All the guests are checked in for the day, and I do need to eat.

We turn the ‘open’ sign around until it reads ‘please call our mobile’ and head upstairs to the four-bedroom unit I share with my parents.

It’s a little cool on the balcony this time of year, but worth it for the views over the inlet.

Luke grabs glasses and plates, and I sink into a deck chair and put my feet up with a sigh.

Mia hands me a pizza box. “Anything we can help with?”

“No. You guys have your own shit to worry about. I’ve got this.

” I mean, I think I do. I have to. I’m the one who said I’d help Mom and Dad around the hotel when they said they needed it.

It only made sense to move back in. I studied business at school.

I always knew I’d be the one to take over the family bed-and-breakfast when the time came.

I just never thought it would come so soon.

And I guess I never thought I’d be doing it alone. But a kraken’s fated mate doesn’t come around every day, and I’ve never been the type to settle.

Luke hands Mia a glass of wine and the pineapple from his pizza and plants a quick kiss on her forehead. I have to repress another sigh. There’s no one in the world who deserves love as much as my little brother and his mate, but boy it’s hard to watch sometimes.

“You know, you should consider hiring some more help around here,” says Luke around a big bite of pizza.

He’s not wrong. I could use the extra help, but finding the right person in a small town like Kraken Cove is challenging and things have only just started picking up. What if business takes another turn for the worse?

“Oh!” Mia fishes her phone from her pocket and glances down at the screen for a moment.

“Oh, that was Tegan. She’s here already.

Just driving into town. Hey, Jack, do you mind if my friend joins us?

She’s staying with us for a couple days.

” She lifts the phone to her ear when I nod.

“Bad breakup,” she mouths. There’s no time to ask more questions even if I had the mental energy because the next moment Mia is speaking to her friend on the other end.

“Teegs! We’re with Luke’s brother Jack up at his place.

Head down toward the inlet and find the Inlet Views. I’ll meet you out front.”