Page 90 of Sunset Cove
Epilogue
It wasn’t until March that Marty got to meet his other cousins, Lillian and Rose. They came to Orcas Island to see the hotel and to finally hear the truth about Claire’s inheritance.
They were shocked by Claire’s news, but they both handled it well. Lucy had already told them all about Marty’s FBI escapades, so there wasn’t much for him to explain there, which was nice.
The visit was short, but they made the time to commemorate the twenty-ninth anniversary of the plane crash, as well as Claire’s birthday. The twins also got Marty a gift – a shirt that read “FBI’s Most Wanted.”
He tried to act annoyed when he opened it, but it was too hard. The girls were giggling like fools. Marty ended up holding it up to his chest and telling them dryly, “Thanks. I’ll cherish this forever.”
They weren’t able to visit for very long, but they both promised to return soon. Marty sincerely hoped they would. He wanted to get to know them better.
Lucy cleared off not long after that, taking a new job in Seattle. “It’s about time I had an income again,” she reasoned. “Besides, maybe this job will be The One?”
Marty sorely missed her after she left. He’d never had a sibling growing up, but he’d always wanted one. As a kid, he’d imagined having a little brother, of course, but Lucy was like the big sister he never knew he needed.
Marty had decisions to make, too. The CEO of SureFired had been named in a lawsuit by Steel and Steal, then fired by the board.
A new CEO, Blaise Krentz, was brought in to clean things up. He reinstated Marty to his old position with a raise, and even offered to let him work remotely.
It was too good of a deal to turn down. Marty still believed in SureFired, and he wanted to see the program through. He accepted the offer, and when he swung by the office to pick up his things, his coworkers had a little welcome back party set up.
Everyone had fun with it and people apologized for doubting him. Well, everyone except for David, who never apologized for a thing, including ratting out Lucy.
It was just as well that he didn’t apologize. Marty would never forgive him anyway.
With his new remote position, Marty decided to stay on Orcas Island for a while and help Claire and Chip with the hotel. He revamped the website, uploaded new pictures, and taught Chip how to run promotions online.
On top of that, he designed a program that analyzed room rates of nearby hotels. It worked constantly to suggest rate changes and predict times of lower occupancy. The program was easy for Marty to make, and ended up being a huge tool for Chip and Claire.
Not that they needed a ton of tools to run the hotel. Together, Chip and Claire were an unstoppable team. They spent all of their time together, talking about the hotel, dreaming up new promotions, working on improvements, and generally being overwhelmingly perfect together.
Marty was happy for them. It seemed like Claire had really induced a change in Chip. He was much friendlier, and he hardly scared Marty at all anymore.
Heck, he even made Marty feel like part of The Grand Madrona Team. Marty felt like he belonged, and he was starting to process the anger and hurt he’d sustained from the shock of finding out about his adoption.
After he was cleared by the FBI, he’d called his parents and had a long conversation about what had happened. His mom was horrified that she hadn’t known. She said they would’ve flown back at once. Marty knew that was true, which was probably why he didn’t tell them anything. He had been too upset with them then.
Now, though, he could acknowledge the fact that his parents loved him, even if they’d made a mistake in withholding his adoption. Marty was learning to accept that they were human, too. They couldn’t wait to visit him on Orcas, though he told them to wait until the weather was better so they could enjoy the sites.
He’d been a bit worried that his mom might be jealous of Claire, too. That worry was unfounded. His mom couldn’t wait to meet her. She started calling her every few weeks just to chat.
It made Marty feel happy. There was something wonderful about piecing his life back together and getting a bonus family.
Everything seemed to be getting better. By the time their first event rolled around for Easter, the hotel was running at full capacity every weekend and near eighty percent capacity during the week. Chip said it was the best he’d seen it in years.
Marty was excited for the festivities – the Easter egg hunt, the train they’d set up for the kids, and the egg painting in the lobby. As an added bonus, Lucy made a surprise visit and volunteered to don the Easter bunny suit.
She was struggling with getting the bunny head on when Marty interrupted to tell her about David’s continued cold demeanor.
Lucy didn’t hold back. “If that weaselevershows his face around here, he’s in trouble.”
Marty laughed. “What are you going to do? Bury him in carrots?”
“I’ll bury him in something!” She laughed maniacally, throwing her head back.
“If the kids see you like this, you’re going to scar them for life.”
“You’re right. No need to scare the children. David will get what’s coming to him eventually.” Lucy put the head on and hopped out onto the patio.
