Page 9 of Hargrave Flame Out
“I think I’m okay,” Celeste protested. She didn’t want to slide back into the fog she’d been in since yesterday. She might be getting apologetic and emotional, but she could think and she didn’t want to lose that. “We need to talk about stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Natalie asked.
“It’s a half dose.” Veronica’s gaze was unrelenting. “Humor me.”
Celeste didn’t want to make a scene. “Fine.”
“What’s up?” Natalie pressed. “Shouldn’t you be ignoring business for another few days?”
“Probably,” Celeste allowed. “I’ve been gathering notes and looking at the numbers to change the business model to a full house rental instead of the daily juggle of booking by the room.”
“She made me download her notes last night,” Veronica said to Natalie. “It’s not a bad option, but we’ve just started brainstorming.”
Changing their business model was more than a brainstorm for Celeste. But they were right. There wasn’t any need to rushinto the changes. “I’m thinking we can earn more with less effort if we switch to the full-house rental,” she said.
“I’m all for that,” Natalie’s blue eyes sparkled. “Anything that gives me more time to put into my artwork.”
A mixed-media sculptor, Natalie crafted big projects by commission, supplementing with teaching art classes and creating smaller works for sale through galleries.
“We need to consider the potential for more wear and tear on the house with longer, un-hosted stays,” Veronica countered. “But it’s worth thinking about. We have time to make up our minds and change the schedule. We only have a few holiday weekends on the calendar right now.”
Maybe she was jumping the gun. On the verge of apologizing again for being hurt, Celeste forced herself to change the subject. “Tell us about the art classes, Nat.”
Natalie swiped one last hunk of bread through the last of her soup. “It’s way more fun than I thought. The kids were hilarious. A couple of them show some promise, though maybe not for full-blown artistry careers.” She cocked her head, her blond braid sliding over her shoulder. “Definitely several kids with strong design and color skills.” Her mouth tugged into a frown. “I don’t know how teachers grade these projects. It’s all so subjective, y’know? I’m so glad I didn’t have to do any of that.”
“Mm-hm.” Veronica elbowed her. “What about their teacher? Any sparks?”
“Stop it,” Natalie scolded. “Doing these special sessions isn’t like hopping on a new dating app, you goof.”
“Youtold me he was hot!” Veronica shot back.
“Well, he is. And so is his wife.” Natalie shrugged. “They have the cutest twin boys. Two years old. Dynamos from the stories and pictures he shared.”
Celeste smothered her laughter at Veronica’s astonishment. It felt wonderful to be caught up in the chatter over something simple and real. She had the best sisters in the world.
“He’s supporting a family of four as a high school art teacher?” Veronica whistled. “He’s not just hot, he’s tough.”
“Either way, he belongs to someone else and they are ridiculously happy.”
“Which is everything you’ve always wanted,” Celeste murmured.
Natalie wanted the husband and kids and all the love and craziness that went along with it. Once, Celeste had wanted that too, but so far, life had scoffed at her hopes and plans.
“It’s nothing less than all of us deserve,” Natalie countered, her tone sharper than usual.
So far, none of them had enjoyed much luck with love and happy endings. But that wasn’t their focus today and it certainly wasn’t the emotional roller coaster she wanted to ride while she was hurting.
“Look, I know Celeste wants to talk about changing up a few things, but first we need to make sure we have a B&B at all.”
“What does that mean?” Natalie demanded.
Veronica shushed her. She glanced around, but at the tail end of the lunch rush, no one was close enough to overhear them.
“We know Celeste didn’t set the fire, which means the B&B was attacked by someone else,” Veronica said. “Probably random,” she allowed. “I called Jess this morning about those extra cameras that were installed.”
Celeste scooted forward in her seat. “Did they pick up anything?”
“Not much that was useful,” Veronica reported. “We weren’t thinking about sight lines. You know how fast things grow here.”
