Page 19 of Sunset Cove
Claire sat down and pulled her phone from her purse before frowning.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
She nodded quickly, throwing it back into her purse. “Yes, everything’s fine. I just realized that my phone’s dead again.”
“Is it broken?” He shifted in his seat. It wouldn’t be easy to replace it if so. Living on an island had many perks, but buying new electronics wasn’t one of them.
“No, nothing like that,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s a silly thing, really, but it didn’t charge last night.”
He leaned forward. “You mean at the hotel? Did you lose power in your room?”
“No, it was –” She stopped herself. “I don’t want to complain. I stayed in the Sunshine Suite, and it was lovely, and the view was wonderful, and….”
“Please,” he said, trying to soften his voice. “I want to hear.”
She waved a hand. “It’s just that the electrical socket was loose, and I didn’t notice, so the charger fell out. I marked it down as one of my potential improvements, which I now realize are silly.”
“That’s not silly.” Chip shook his head. “Not at all. That’s an easy fix, too.”
She smiled.
Chip kept talking. “I can see if they have a charger here. If you’re waiting on a call, I –”
“No, it’s okay.” Claire cleared her throat. “I’m sorry that I was so distracted earlier today. And I know that words don’t mean much, but I’m not normally like this.”
“Of course not,” he said.
She smiled. “My goal was to give you my full attention, and from now on, I will.”
Her graciousness only made him feel like more of a jerk. Chip had a reputation for being tough. Someone had to be, especially since Steve was overly kind to everyone. Chip wasn’t afraid to enforce rules, or to be the bad guy.
Usually, it worked well, but this time, he’d gone too far.
“You are completely fine,” he said. “I’m just – well, I don’t come from a hospitality background either.”
“It seems like you really care about the hotel,” Claire said.
Her eyes were the prettiest shade of green. He had never seen eyes quite like hers before.
He nodded. “I do.”
“I’m not going to pretend to know half as much as you do, but I also want it to succeed,” she said. “I’ve been reading books, and I hired Ken, and I just want everyone to work well together.”
“I agree with that. I think it’s exciting that you hired an expert,” he said, lying through his teeth.
Ken seemed like an idiot, and Chip had hoped that he’d never have to meet him. However, if his penance for the way he’d treated Claire was to tolerate this guy, he would do it.
The waitress stopped by and immediately started gushing about Claire’s bracelets.
“Those bangles are stunning!” she said, gently touching the shining metal. “Where did you get them?”
Claire clasped her hands together and looked down admiringly at her wrist. “Thank you! They were made by an artist here on the island. I was over in Olga at that art store. Do you know the one?”
She nodded. “The Artworks, yeah. One of my friends sells her paintings there.”
Claire was busy slipping one of the bracelets off of her wrist to hand to the waitress. “Her name is inscribed on the inside there. She’s so talented.”
The waitress studied the dainty, silver bracelet, as did Chip. It had tiny, intricate designs in the metal which blended into the hammered surface.
