Page 40 of Saltwater Promises
Claire cleared her throat. “We’d better get going, Margie. We only have fifteen minutes to get to the hotel.”
They hadn’t picked a meeting time, exactly, but Claire felt bad for Mike. It was the first time that she’d seen him look uncomfortable, and as hilarious as it was, she didn’t want to prolong it any further.
“I suppose you’re right. Nice meeting you, Lynn. If you’re ever on San Juan Island, feel free to stop by!”
“Thanks, that’d be nice,” she said.
Mike gave them a nod goodbye.
Margie and Claire hustled back to the car, shut the doors, and burst into laughter.
“Well, that was not something I expected to happen,” said Margie. “And Claire! I’m so sorry. I swear that I had no idea he was seeing someone.”
“I believe you. I think he wanted to keep it that way.”
“Why didn’t he tell me? Am I really that bad?”
Claire shook her head. “No. Mike is just… extremely private, I think.”
Claire was happy for him and, honestly, quite relieved. One of her worries about moving to the islands was that Margie would never stop trying to set her up with her brother.
Now she had an out! The poor man wouldn’t have to suffer through any more painfully obvious setups, even though he usually seemed to be the last to notice.
Once they settled down, they drove to the other side of the island to see The Grand Madrona Hotel. It was a large, mansion-type place that overlooked the water, with two towering madrona trees adorning each side.
Claire got out of the car, staring at the scene in front of her. The trees of the hotel’s namesake were impressive. They were at least thirty feet tall, with red-orange bark peeling off in sheets, revealing the silvery trunk beneath.
Claire loved madrona trees, though she’d never seen them this tall before. Margie was fussing with something in her purse, which gave Claire the chance to take in the delicate sound of the ocean in the background. The hotel was bigger than she expected, though perhaps in her head, thirty-two rooms just sounded small. The outside was a beautiful, sandy-colored stone, with white and gold accents. The landscaping, though not overly grand, framed the building beautifully.
It was magnificent, even more than the pictures showed. But was it right for her?
They walked into the lobby and Margie asked to speak to Steve. Claire stood there, quietly studying everything around them. There was a grand staircase feeding into the lobby, which was decorated with elegant chairs and couches, complementing the elaborate marble floors. The ceilings of the lobby were tall, maybe thirty feet, and decorated with complex, geometric patterns. Chandeliers sparkled above them, and there was a balcony around the perimeter of the first floor, trimmed in a cool metal finish.
It was far more ornate than anything else she’d seen on the islands, truly the art deco style that the website had promised. It looked a bit dated, yes, but the decadence was there. It was nothing that couldn’t be spruced up. Claire felt her heart rate picking up.
Steve emerged from a back room a few moments later and gave Margie a hug.
“Margie! Always good to see you.”
She beamed. “You too, Steve. This is my friend Claire.”
Claire shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. The hotel is breathtaking.”
“You’re too kind. Let me give you the tour.”
He showed them around the lobby, talking about the history of the hotel and the owners it had passed through over the decades.
“We actually put a good deal of money into refurbishing the bar about fifteen years ago. It feels like it was just yesterday – it was such a headache! But keeping the style was so important to us. I had one designer who wanted to come in here and rip everything out, make it all granite. It would’ve looked like a casino.”
Margie laughed. “I’m glad you didn’t do that. This is much nicer.”
“It really is,” Claire said, admiring the beautiful designs. The walls, the counter, and the bar shelves matched everything, right down to the stools.
They took a golden elevator up to the fourth floor, and Steve showed them a few of the different types of rooms. “We’ve done the best that we could over the years to keep things fresh, but it’s a challenge. It’s a big investment, and a disruption, to fix up the hotel.”
“I can imagine,” Claire said.
“Not trying to put you off from buying the place,” Steve said with a laugh. “I’m ready to sell. But there are challenges, and I wouldn’t want you to walk into it blind. I do have an excellent property manager whom I believe would stay on.”
