Page 58 of Forever Fallen

Pressing the button, Sophie hesitated, realizing that if she was going to make this an actual working bed & breakfast… she was going to have to bring some things into the modern era – like the telephone.

A voice crackled loudly on the speaker.

“Hey Ruby… just wanted to confirm our booking before we came into town tomorrow? I’m going to have everyone with me, and I really appreciate you helping us out for the weekend. See you tomorrow.”

Ryan appeared at the doorway, looking at her in surprise.

“What was that?”

“Apparently there was a reservation that wasn’t put on the calendar…” Sophie began, calling back immediately. A voice picked up on the first ring.

“Ruby… hey, it’s Jess…”

“Hello? This is Sophie, Ruby’s granddaughter and…” Sophie’s throat closed off, unable to utter the words aloud. She hadn’t realized just how hard it would be to say, ‘she’s dead,’ and thank goodness for Ryan.

He stepped forward, handing her a paper towel.

“This is Ryan, Sophie’s husband. Ruby passed away and we are trying to get things handled. How can we help you, Jess?”

“Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that!” the woman exclaimed, sounding genuinely upset. “We stayed with Ruby last year and had a wonderful time – and thought that we could do so again when we came into town for a friend’s wedding.”

“Of course. That’s no problem.”

“Ryan…” Sophie hissed in disbelief.

“How many rooms did you have booked and for how long?”

“Just the one night – it was six rooms.”

“Six?” Ryan said, frowning, as Sophie stared at him, shaking her head ‘no’quickly. “That’s fine.”

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head in shock.

“We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ryan ended the call before she could say anything – and the moment she did? It sounded like a drowning cat screeching.

“Weonlyhave six rooms – and we are in two of them!”

“There’s seven and we can make do for one night.”

“No, we can’t.”

“Yes, we certainly can – besides? There’s been zero traffic here and if you are going to make this work then we need to drum up business for you via word of mouth. We can ask her to leave some reviews, pass out business cards, or something else…”

“Ryan – we only have six…wait…” she stared at him in disbelief, feeling tears sting her eyes as she realized what he was suggesting. He was saying that they use her grandmother’s room – the main master bedroom of the house.

The master was incredibly nice and had been a living room or den of the house at one point. There was a fireplace on one of the walls, a wall of bookshelves along with a built-in secretary, as well as a private bathroom that was to die for.

Her grandmother had it remodeled several years ago with an updated slipper tub, new toilet, heated floors, and a stunning vanity that made you feel like a movie star. There was a large walk-in shower that her grandmother never used because the marble was too slippery… but it was gorgeous and looked quite extravagant.

“There’ssevenrooms, Sophie,” he said gently. “You should be down here, close to the front door, the kitchen, and it would give your guests a little privacy… as well as you.”

“I don’t know if I can… “ she breathed. “It washerroom and…”

“I know,” Ryan began. “The memories are in your mind, not in that room. I think your Grammy would have wanted you to take the reservation and had planned on having six rooms available. Your grandmother would have never imagined that two of the rooms were occupied by us.”

“But what about… us?” she uttered, choking out the word. “We can’t. I’m not…” She saw the even, unfazed, slightly bitter expression on his face before he ever spoke.

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