Page 14 of Canapés at the Beach House Hotel
“Robbie will be home after swim practice,” I said.“I’ve arranged for a ride home.I thought you could make him his favorite tacos for dinner.”
“That’s easy.I’ll take care of it.I froze ingredients for them the last time I was here,” said Liana.“I know Mr.Sanders likes them too.”
“Yes, he does.”
“When is he coming home?”Liana asked.“I’ll make another batch of sauce and fillings for him.”
“He won’t be through filming for another couple of weeks,” I said, inwardly sighing.The last few weeks of any filming seemed to take forever.For everyone.
CHAPTER SIX
When I returned to the hotel, Angie, Liz, and Rhonda were sitting in the office.
“How did the interview with Harper go?”I asked them.
“Very well,” said Liz.“Harper is a perfect fit for the program that Angie and I are working on.”
“She’s really excited about the idea of blending an older crowd with younger people.She told us she’s spent time in the bar almost every day for a week, checking things out,” said Angie.
“She’s taken several marketing classes and wants to work with us on a variety of things but will gladly tend bar until we’re ready to focus on them.”Liz laughed.“She also understands about our having family responsibilities.She’s the oldest of five children.All her younger siblings are boys.”
“I know you think she and Chet are together,” said Angie.“But they’re not.We found out they’re just friends who are temporarily sharing a motel room.”
“Interesting,” I said.“I like them both.”
“I’m excited that it’ll be up to Liz and me to carry on with the hotel after you and Mom decide to retire,” said Angie.“We’ve talked about it for years, but this project seems like a fresh start to our involvement now that our families are complete.”
“Yes, four are enough for me,” said Liz.“I want each of them to feel special.”
“Theyarespecial,” said Rhonda with feeling.Like me, she’d wanted to have lots of children but couldn’t.Rhonda had only Angie for years until she married Will and had been surprised to have two more children with him.
“Is Harper working the bar tonight?”I asked.
“Yes,” said Angie.“We know the hotel is busy with the special dinner and the wedding, and with Chet already working here, Harper was delighted to be asked to begin.”
“She filled out some paperwork and will go to the HR office tomorrow to take care of the rest,” Liz said, rising.“I need to go home.The Ts have dentist appointments.”
I chuckled.‘The Ts’ is what we sometimes called the triplets rather than speaking all three names.Olivia, Emma, and Noah.
Angie left with Liz , and Rhonda and I sat a moment before leaving to go to the front of the hotel to greet the Ambassador and his wife.From the first time guests arrived at the hotel, Rhonda and I made every effort to greet them ourselves.It was part of the vision we had to change Rhonda’s seaside estate into a small, upscale hotel that welcomed guests as if they were arriving to our home.And with guests like the Ambassador, it was something we felt we needed to do.
“How’s the cooking coming?”I asked Rhonda as we left the office a few minutes later.
“I’m impressed with Chet.He’s very organized.And we agree on special seasoning.”
“Any reaction from Jean-Luc about the two of you in charge of this dinner?”I asked.
Rhonda shrugged.“We’re being very careful to stay out of the way of the other staff.I’m sure Amelia had a positive talk with him.He’s so happily married to her sister, Jean-Luc would do anything to please them both.”
“Few people can say no to Amelia,” I said.We never wanted to upset Jean-Luc enough to leave.Aside from being a talented chef, he’d become a dear friend.
We stood at the top of the hotel’s main entry staircase and waited while a white limousine pulled up to the front.
“Here goes,” said Rhonda, descending the staircase quickly, her rose caftan flowing behind her.
I kept pace, and when the driver opened the back door of the limo, Ambassador Enrico Ferrara emerged.He was a heavy-set man of average height with black hair and a mustache.
He turned and helped a tall, attractive, blonde woman out of the car and stood a moment while she fussed with her brown-linen dress before turning to face us.
