Page 11 of Hargrave Flame Out
“Already cutting her back?”
“She wanted to be clear-headed while we were out,” Veronica explained. “I didn’t want her pushing too hard too soon.”
“Which is what she’s doing,” Reed observed.
“Preach,” Veronica muttered. “But we’ll wrap this up soon.”
“Then I suggest whatever business you’re conducting, you don’t make any final decisions today,” he said with a smile.
“The biggest decision we need to make is an adjustment to the scheduling portal. How much time should we block out?” Veronica asked. “We’ve never had a problem like this.”
“You don’t have anyone coming in this weekend, do you?” he asked.
“No,” she explained. “We had some scheduled maintenance for this week. The next reservation doesn’t arrive for another four days.”
“Can we ask Chief Miller to hustle the investigation along?” Natalie asked.
Reed shook his head. “He’ll need time to ensure he has all the evidence before y’all clean up, but he won’t drag his feet.”
“From your lips,” Veronica murmured. “We’d really like you to weigh in on this next issue though.”
That surprised Celeste. It sounded as if Veronica was on her side about the changes. Not just on her side, but ready to put things in action.
“I’m all ears.” Reed kicked back and sipped on a glass of sweet tea.
Celeste listened to Veronica explain the pros and cons of moving away from their initial B&B business plan. “We’re just brainstorming,” she finished. “What do you think?”
“Definitely a market for the whole house rental,” Reed mused. “You said you’d redecorate and turn Celeste’s place into a fifth suite.”
“That’s right,” Veronica confirmed.
“Hm. Two things.” He tapped his empty glass against his knee. “First up, where will Celeste live? And secondly, if you do this, you’d separate yourselves from the house that was so important to your family.”
“Right.” Veronica’s gaze fell to her notebook as she drummed her pen on the paper.
Celeste hadn’t thought of it like that. She could see, despite her weariness, that her sisters hadn’t considered that either. “We’ll need to think about that for sure,” she agreed. “But since we’re brainstorming, we need to remember nothing is forever or final.”
“True. And in that vein, if you have the fifth suite, you’re sleeping ten. Easily.”
Natalie chimed in, “Couldn’t we raise the rate and add a four-day minimum or something?”
Veronica made more notes.
“Y’know, if we added bunk beds to one of the bedrooms upstairs,” Nat continued, “maybe even put a sofa bed or daybed in Mom and Dad’s room…I’m sure we have the floor space. Then we could bump that nightly rate a bit more.”
“Furniture is an expense,” Celeste said. Though Natalie’s suggestions wouldn’t put much of a dent in the maintenance and contingency fund she’d built up. “But we’d be smart to change the dining room situation if we’re targeting bigger groups.”
“Surely the furniture isn’t as much as private security,” Natalie quipped with a sassy smile.
“I’m not giving that up right now.” That was the hill she’d die on. Today. “Talk to me once they have the arsonist in custody.”
Reed tutted, diffusing what might’ve blown up into an argument. “Another thing is parking. It’s not like y’all have public access anywhere close. You might be able to put all kinds of people in that house, but you’ve got to think of your occupancy rating too.”
“And the general clientele,” Celeste added. “We’re consistently booked as we are right now. Changing our approach removes that high-end, luxury, pampered feeling we’ve cultivated from the start.”
“But it leans into the privacy angle with our exclusive beach access,” Natalie pointed out.
“More to think about.” Veronica pursed her lips. “Celeste can live with me. Until she doesn’t want to anymore.”
