Page 28 of Unexpected Entanglement

“Excellent,” Chris agreed, and let Bobbie go ahead. “After you.”

“Have we met before?” Bobbie asked Chris as they walked to the lobby.

“I think I saw you with Rowan at the cafe in town yesterday.”

“Yes, that’s it.” Bobbie nodded with a big smile. “Are you a chef like Alex and Oliver?”

“No, I’m—”

“He’s my assistant,” Rowan cut in.

Chris looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but he didn’t correct her.

“Your assistant?” Bobbie sounded surprised.

“I’m here to help Rowan in any capacity she needs me,” Chris played along.

Rowan looked grateful for his answer.

“Oh, that’s good. I told her she shouldn’t take on this task alone. I’m glad you’re here to support her, Chris. Welcome.” Bobbie patted him on the arm.

“Thanks, Bobbie. It’s so great to be appreciated.” He returned the smile.

“Okay!” Rowan clapped her hand once as she stood on the second step on the main stairs, looking at them still standing on the lobby floor. “If you two are done, maybe we can start this tour. We don’t have all morning.”

Chris and Bobbie exchanged grins as if they were two students caught by a teacher chatting at the back of the class.

“You’re the boss,” Chris said.

Bobbie went ahead with Rowan up the stairs, while Chris grinned as he trailed behind them.

He got a feeling it was going to be an interesting two weeks.

“So, I’ll have two four-person teams dedicated to you during the wedding weekend. One team will work from morning to noon to tackle early clean-up, especially in the main house. The other team will come in the afternoon to handle the cottages, if there’s any extra cleaning requested,” Bobbie repeated their agreement.

“Yup.” Rowan nodded and handed Bobbie the original signed contract while she kept a copy. “You’ve got the work details, hours, and overtime covered here.”

“Both teams will come next Wednesday morning to help you with the pre-cleaning and familiarizing themselves with thespaces and how you’d like things done,” Bobbie added as they walked to Bobbie’s SUV.

“The first guests arrive next Thursday afternoon, so that should be fine,” Rowan said. “Thank you for rearranging your team for this. I know you have standing clients you need to maintain.”

“I just had to reschedule their cleaning to an earlier or later time. And they have no problem with it. Besides, I’ll have a couple of new ladies coming in this weekend who I’ll train. They’re eager to start their new lives.”

Rowan smiled at her friend. “You’re giving them a new start. I bet they’re eager.”

“It’s not much of a new start, but it’s a decent, well-paying job.”

“You’re doing a good thing, Bobbie. You should be proud of what you’ve built in the two short years you’ve been here,” Rowan reminded her.

“I am.” Bobbie nodded. “So should you. Your dad would be smiling down at you.”

The reminder of her father gave Rowan a bittersweet punch in the heart. She just smiled at Bobbie’s well-meaning sentiment. They said their goodbyes, and in the next minute, Bobbie drove away, leaving Rowan with one less thing to worry about.

She walked back to the house and heard chuckles and chatter as she entered. She discovered Alex, Oliver, and Chris in the kitchen, looking at the lunch and dinner menu. Chris was giving his inputs to the chefs.

Oh now, he’s talking.

The guy had toured every inch of the main house, the cliff house, and the cottages, and hadn’t said a word the whole time. He’d just listened to their conversation, sometimes nodding, sometimes frowning, but always observing.

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