Page 76 of Nightcaps at The Beach House Hotel

Liz and Angie arrived together, looking like healthy, young, active mothers in their short skirts and knit tops. A closer look allowed me to see how tired they were from handling their toddlers. But their spirits were high as they took seats at the small conference table in our office.

Liz, tall, with blonde hair, and Angie, short, with dark curly hair, were best of friends. I found it interesting that as far as personalities went, Liz was more outgoing like Rhonda, while Angie was more like me, taking care of details.

“Okay, we liked the graphics and videos you came up with. Now, tell us about the marketing plan,” I said.

“Well, as you suggested, we wanted to attack the privacy issue and the positives of staying at the hotel,” said Angie, pulling out a folder from her small computer carrying case.

“We also had to identify different markets for your guests,” said Liz.

Angie gave Rhonda and me a sheet of paper listing the type of guests we had. Among them were those taking advantage of the young mother’s retreat, the spa specials, weddings, anniversaries, etc.

“Then we listed the social media sites most would use,” said Angie. “Because many of your guests are older, we knew they wouldn’t use TikTok, X, and other sites younger guests might use. So, we came up with a few news releases for travel bloggers.”

“Those will do especially well as the weather changes up north,” Liz said. “But we can handle the social media sites ourselves for a very reasonable cost.”

“The PR company we use will be able to take care of advertising with your input,” said Rhonda, sitting back as Angie demonstrated the various posts they’d created.

“They’re great,” I said with genuine enthusiasm. “Let’s get started.”

“Yes,” said Rhonda. “We don’t want to wait.”

“Okay,” said Angie, sliding a contract across the table for us to sign.

Seeing it, I was pleased by how professional these two women were. When the time came to do it, I think they’d be excellent taking over for us. But neither they nor we were ready.

“Shall we have some lunch?” I said, after signing the contract.

“I’d love to,” said Angie.

“And while I have someone watching the T’s, I want time to do some shopping,” Liz said. “Maybe we can have a quick bite here?”

“Sounds fine with me,” I said, and Rhonda agreed.

“Let’s take our food up to the balcony in the Presidential Suite,” I said. “It’s private and beautiful.”

“Wait! Isn’t that where that woman died?” asked Liz.

“Yes, but any weird feelings about that have disappeared after Lily Dorio stayed there,” I said. “Let’s give that space some of our love to make ourselves comfortable about renting it out.”

“Annie’s right. It’s too beautiful to let a bad memory take over,” said Rhonda. “Luckily, no other guests were aware of what happened there.” She chuckled. “If I feel safe, you should too. You know how sensitive I am about those things.”

“I do know,” said Angie. “Remember when you thought you saw a ghost in the hotel right after you bought it, and it turned out to be a bird?”

I joined in the laughter, pleased that we’d make the Presidential Suite right again.

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Sitting with our daughters on the balcony overlooking the side garden, I breathed in the sweet air and studied the scene below. It was a perfect spot for a wedding. One we often used. It had taken a few growing seasons to turn it from a simple lawn into the garden it was today.

“Mom, you should hear the T’s say their alphabets. It’s adorable,” said Liz.

I focused on the conversation as it turned to talking about the six grandchildren Rhonda and I had. It was such a joy to have our families close by.

When the girls got up to leave, I turned to Rhonda, “I’m going to go home. I’ll be back in time for the dinner tonight at seven.”

“I’ll check on a couple of things and then I’m out of here until five.”

I called Housekeeping to take care of the suite and headed to my house, ready for a break. Vaughn understood when I had to work in the evening, but I always tried to balance that commitment with extra time for him.

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