Page 17 of The Magic of Sea Glass
“Say it,” he urged her.
His mother took in a tight breath. “She’s the daughter of a handyman and a maid. What if she’s only after your money? Have you thought about that? She’ll take you for everything you’ve got. Your entire fortune.” His mother shook her head, clearly still reeling.
“No she won’t. She doesn’t care about any of that.” He put his face in front of his mother to break her anxious stare at the wall. “I told her I’d love her forever. And I will.”
“How could you be so irresponsible?” his mother barked.
His father, who’d remained silent the entire time, hung his head.
“Iloveher,” Phillip proclaimed, ignoring his mother’s stab at Penelope’s motives. Having grown up with wealth herself and then marrying his father, heir to the most successful corporate expansion and acquisition firm in the country, she didn’t understand Penelope’s way of life. Phillip didn’t either, if he was being honest with himself, but he wanted to.
“You don’t know what love is, child,” his mother said. “You’re eighteen.”
“Yes,” he said. “A legal adult. I know how I feel about her.”
His mother took a step closer to him, the lines forming between her penciled brows the way they did whenever she was upset. “In our family, you have to consider more than just your fleeting fascination. You’re going to Stanford in a week. How do you propose to do that whilemarried?” The word came out as if it put a bad taste in her mouth.
“I’ll think of something.”
His mother sucked in a long breath through her nose. “And what are we supposed to tell people when they ask?”
“I don’t care! Tell them whatever you want. She’ll be mywife. What more is there to say?”
“Son.” His father stepped forward. He was a man of few words, yet he could command a room in an instant. “She willnotbe your wife. This will ruin your future.”
“You don’t know that to be true.”
“I absolutely do.” He gritted his teeth. “I forbid you to see her. And if you move forward with this, I will have no other option but to withhold your inheritance.”
“You can’t do that,” Phillip spat.
“Oh, yes. When the fate of our family line is at stake, I certainly can.”
FIVE
Rodanthe, North Carolina
“Right now, you’ve got the website set up so that people can call you for bookings,” Lauren explained to Mary later that morning when she came downstairs to the office, “but I can add a feature so guests can reserve rooms and suites directly through the website, and it will automatically appear in the scheduling program.”
“That’s amazing.” Mary leaned over to view Lauren’s computer screen.
“But that’s not all it will do,” Lauren added, clicking a few keys. “It can automatically alert the staff of the room booking so that they can prepare for the guests, in case they need fresh flowers or little treats thanking them for their stay.”
“Mm.” Mary frowned.
“What is it?” Lauren asked, noticing her concern.
“Well, I’m a bit short staffed, so the rooms just get a one-time cleaning. There’s nothing to prepare. Things like mints on pillows and fresh flowers don’t happen here anymore.”
“That’s fine. You don’t have to use that feature,” she said. “I know you’ve been adding in a few things to match your competition, so this might be something small we could work toward.”
“Yes,” she replied, brightening, “maybe you and I can prepare the rooms.”
“Not to worry. I can do things like welcome baskets with my eyes closed. But right now, let me show you the rest of the program.” She hit one of the buttons on the screen. “It can also collect bills and create payments for the guests so they can check out without ever needing your assistance. Eventually, we can even move to electronic keys and they won’t even have to return it.”
Lauren decided not to go into all the other technological features, given the slight bewilderment on Mary’s face, instead focusing on Mary’s favorite topic—the guests.
“Here’s something you might like: this option will give you a total number of guests that you can provide to people like the chef you mentioned. That will give you more time to focus on the needs of the guests themselves.”
