Page 28 of Nightcaps at The Beach House Hotel

“I certainly don’t want to be part of that mess,” said Tina. “I appreciate your telling me this. How long is Everly staying here?”

“She’s booked in the Suite for two weeks,” Rhonda said. “We don’t know if she’ll stay that long. She’s changed her arrival.”

“I’ve spent some time with Darryl, of course, through training times together. He’s a very nice man,” said Tina. “And, Rhonda, I think you’re right. Abbie is starting to fall for him. She’s very accustomed to working with high-profile people, but she says he’s different, very genuine.”

“We heard that Abbie has four older brothers. I bet she’s a little spoiled,” Rhonda said.

Tina shook her head. “Abbie’s tough physically and mentally, but she’s a sweet person. It’s very interesting, now that you’ve mentioned it. Both Abbie and Darryl are the youngest of five siblings, four of which are the opposite sex. Maybe that’s why they get along well. It’s certainly happened fast.”

I held back a chuckle at the glow of success on Rhonda’s face. If she beat the odds and things did work out between Darryl and Abbie, she’d never let me forget it.

We talked about Tina’s boys, Vincent and his younger brother, Tyler, and then Abbie arrived.

After greeting us, Abbie said to Tina, “Ready to begin?”

Tina groaned and got to her feet. “Guess I have no choice.”

“You’re doing very well,” said Abbie. “A couple more weeks and you’ll be glad you listened to me.”

Rhonda and I stood.

“Safe trip home,” I said to Tina. “Please let us know when you return. We want to make sure our security team will assist you.”

Tina gave each of us goodbye hugs. “I’ll talk to you later.”

On the walk back to the hotel, Rhonda said, “I wish I didn’t have a bad feeling about Everly coming here.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

As we often did to greet guests, Rhonda and I stood at the top of the stairs waiting for Everly to arrive. Bernie had spoken to the valets and front desk staff about the need for confidentiality and had informed them newspeople were not allowed to trail after Everly on the property. She loved to be photographed for any reason. Even now, Everly or someone who worked for her must have called the local television station because a cameraman and reporter were waiting for her arrival just inside the hotel’s gates.

“I’m tellin’ ya, Annie, this guest spells trouble before she even gets here. Look, there’s Terri Thomas, from the Sable Newspaper. And now more local television crews. What are we going to do?”

“They can’t get beyond the front lawn. We’ll have to trust our security people will do their job.” I tried to sound as convincing as I could, but I was furious that Everly or her staff had arranged this. Was she going to make her stay at The Beach House Hotel all about her? It looked that way.

A white limousine pulled inside the gates and stopped. One of the back windows rolled down and an arm extended from it, eagerly waving a hand.

Rhonda and I started down the stairs.

The limo pulled up in front of us, and we waited for the driver to open the passenger door. A sandaled foot and thin leg emerged before the gaunt figure of Everly Jansen came into view. We’d seen photos of Everly before, but nothing prepared me for the sight of a woman who’d once been beautiful and now looked … well, used.

“Welcome to The Beach House Hotel,” said Rhonda, in a tone that wasn’t very warm. No doubt because she, like I, was very worried about this guest.

“Hello,” I said. “Why don’t you come this way and we’ll get you registered into the hotel and comfortably settled in your suite.”

“Oh, no. Not yet. My supporters know I’m here, and I want to thank them for the help and encouragement they give me.” Smiling, she turned and waved to the cameras. “Hello, dear fans, I want you to know how much I appreciate you. After all the horrible things that have been said about me by my ex-husband’s lawyers, I needed to have a rest before I continue to carry on the fight for what is mine.”

“You already have a divorce settlement. Why do you think you can open a case against that?” asked one reporter.

“The cost of living has gone up in the last two years. I’ve discovered I can’t get by comfortably on what the settlement provided. It’s only fair for me to get more money.”

“Are you doing this because of your ex’s possible lucrative new contract with ACBE?” asked another reporter.

“I’m going to let my lawyer sort all of that out. I just want what is due to me,” Everly said. “If it wasn’t for me, Darryl Douglas might still be working at some nightclubs on the road.”

“But you didn’t have much success at being known at ACBE before marrying Darryl,” said one of the reporters. “I think it’s the other way around.”

Everly shot the newsman such a look of fury, he inched closer hoping for more information.

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