Page 64 of Gulfside Girls
“I have to clean this up. She’ll forget, and it’s dangerous.” Ali tilted her head to her mother.
“Okay, well, how about I hold the dustpan for you?”
“That would be nice. Thank you, Auntie.”
The two helped Joetta back into the bed. The cut was small, thankfully, and the paper towel seemed to staunch the blood quickly. Joetta closed her eyes, seemingly unaware of the mess and that her daughter was managing it.
Belinda watched the beautiful, sweet girl efficiently wield the broom. Belinda dutifully assisted with each sweep of the broken glass.
“There, I think that’s it,” Belinda said. “You did a great job.”
“Stand back, one more check.”
Belinda stepped back as her little niece asked. She watched as Ali took her hand and gently glided it across the planks of the floor in light sweeping motions. With a quick intake of air, Ali looked at her hand. There was a tiny spec of blood in her index finger.
“See, missed a piece, they’re hard to see. But they could cut Mama’s feet.”
Belinda nodded, acknowledging the pretty little girl’s attention to detail.
Ali did another pass over the floor with the broom that was taller than her. Her face was serious, her eyes focused on every inch of the floor.
Belinda tried not to cry.
She had to be at least as tough as her nieces.
Twenty-Five
Ali
Ali’s management of the Grand Finale was still in her mind when she woke up. The smile on the little ones’ faces as they ran up and down the beach was contagious. She’d caught a hit of their joy, and it woke her up this morning. Not a bad way to wake up!
Even more than the kids, she had given the parents, the families, a memory. Well, the gorgeous sunset had done that, but she’d gilded the lily, as they say.
Thanks to the location, a little snack, and good company, the sunset spectacular was its own fireworks at the park event. And there were no lines to get in or overpriced souvenirs to contend with.
Erica and Henry had showed up to lend their easy vibes and veterans’ perspectives, and in the end, Ali was also glad to have given Jorge and Didi a night off.Did they have an official backup? What would have happened if I wasn’t here?The questions added to the many that Didi needed to answer.
As wonderful as it all was, Ali realized she had a job to do for her own family now. It was time to see the books, time to get the real estate agents involved.
Didi had done that, at least. Put the books out on the desk for her to see.
Ali was used to budgets and schedules. This would be easily surveyed compared to all she had to manage for Frogtown, from payroll to building regs.
She opened the current year…and the imbalance was terrifying.
The bookings were down to a trickle.
She looked at the expenses of the operation.
Utilities, maintenance, taxes, and salaries for Jorge and Didi were listed. Their salaries were minuscule.How in the world do they manage?
Well, she did remember both were retired from other careers, so this was their “extra,” maybe? But they were working full-time for a decidedly part-time income.
It was all managed from a central checking account.
They weren’t in the red. They were even. She went back through a few years and did see that the rentals brought in so much more, even three or four years ago, but certainly, since the pandemic onward, things had gone downhill here.
She made a few notes.
