At around one in the morning, two couples arrived, and Dee was grateful for something to do after almost falling asleep behind the desk.
“We’re here!” a short, stout man chirped as the glass door to the lobby jingled Dee awake. “Bet you’ve been holding your breath with great anticipation!”
He shoved himself through the door, dragging a large red suitcase behind him. A woman the same height and shape as he followed, a huge smile on her face.
“Sorry we’re so late,” she called. “Melvin, did you leave your wallet in the car? Please tell me you didn’t leave your wallet in the car!”
Another couple joined them, a tall slim man and a shorter man, with a similar build. All of them looked to be in their mid-to-late sixties, though it was hard for Dee to tell for sure.
Suddenly the lobby became crowded as they lugged in numerous suitcases and duffel bags.
“I have it right here, pussycat,” Melvin replied, and he smiled at Dee. “Oh wow. Apparently, they hire supermodels to work the late-night shift. Holy smokes, you’re a beautiful girl.”
Dee blushed. She hadn’t been called a girl in a long time and her vain heart enjoyed hearing it again.
“Oh, jeez Louise, Melvin, stop hitting on the poor girl, eh?” the tall man spoke now. “Forgive my friend, he’s been cooped up inside the rental car too long. Forgets his manners. And that his wife is here.”
“Well, she is beautiful,” Melvin’s other half said. Dee assumed this was his wife. “I’m Daphne, by the way. This is our fourth year here! We should be under Roy. Melvin and Daphne Roy from Marquette, Michigan. And I can’t tell you how happy we are to finally be here!”
“Yeah, we drove here,” Melvin said, plopping a thick wallet on the desk. “Never again. What a disaster.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Daphne explained. “He’s just grumpy.”
“Can’t blame him,” Dee nodded. “Sounds like it was a long drive.”
“See? Someone finally on my side!” Melvin exclaimed as he pushed his driver’s license and credit card across the polished front desk. “I already like you. What’s your name?”
“Dee,” she said as she started to punch the keys.
Suddenly she realized no one was talking anymore.
“Is everything okay?” Dee looked up and realized they were all staring at her in astonishment.
“Dee.” Daphne was speaking now. “Robert’s Dee?”
Dee’s stomach dropped.
This is our fourth year here!
Of course they knew her father.
“Yes,” Dee responded. “I hope that doesn’t change your mind about liking me.”
Daphne, who now had tears in her eyes, shook her head.
“Are you kidding me?” Daphne cried. “Seeing you here knowing… Well. Robert talked about you constantly. His wish in life was to have you back here working at the motel. Oh, my goodness, forgive my emotion. He passed away two weeks before our visit last year. I didn’t know if I could come back, I even told Melvin on the way here this might be my last year; it’s not the same without Robert, but seeing your beautiful face feels like a sign!”
The men were nodding.
“Your dad was one of the best people I ever knew,” the tall man said offering Dee his hand to shake. His grip was tight.
“I’m Horace. Horace Belk, from Thunder Bay, Ontario. I’ve been coming here eight years. I can’t even tell you how many great talks Robert and I had over the years. I called him my Florida brother. He even threw a reception for me and my husband Chase three years ago to celebrate… Well, this is him right here.” Horace put his arm around his partner. The shorter man, Chase, waved and Dee noticed tears were sliding down his cheeks.
“He was so supportive,” Horace continued. “He always made everyone feel so special.”
Dee was biting the inside of her cheeks now, trying desperately not to cry.
“He really loved the mess out of you,” Melvin said. “I’m sure you knew that.”
Dee nodded, unable to speak. She was terrified if she opened her mouth only a sob would escape.
“Oh, my goodness, look at us getting all worked up!” Daphne dabbed at her heavily mascaraed eyes. “What a wonderful way to start our time here! You’ll be around all season?”
Dee took a long breath before answering.
“It seems that way,” she finally said.
“Oh, that’s so wonderful!” Daphne grabbed Dee’s hand and squeezed it. “I can’t wait to get to know you! I feel like I already do! And oh, my goodness, your sister! How happy is she to have you back? I can’t imagine!”
Dee’s stomach dropped again.
“We love Meg,” Horace said. “She’s so lovely.”
“Yeah, she’s great,” Dee responded. She gently pulled her hand away from Daphne. “I’m so glad to meet you all… I know you’re probably tired though. Let’s get you all checked in.”
The foursome excitedly chatted away as Dee typed on the computer, the screen blurred by the tears she was desperately holding back, tears on the brink of falling down her cheeks, the kind she wasn’t sure she could stop once they started.
Nine
Meg fell asleep on the couch around 4 am, her cell in her hand. Jessa gently nudged her awake around six.
“Can you drive me to school today?” she asked. Meg sat up, wondering if maybe the previous day had just been a bizarre dream.
“Of course,” Meg replied as she noted the time on her phone. “I need to run by the motel anyway and make sure the front desk is covered.”
“Can I come?” Jessa asked. “I want to see how Aunt Dee’s night went.”
Meg closed her eyes. So, it was still true. Dee was here.
“I don’t want you to be late,” Meg replied, standing up. She winced and grabbed the back of her neck. She was going to regret falling asleep on the couch. She could feel it. “Especially after missing yesterday.”
“School doesn’t start until eight!” Jessa pointed out. Meg was annoyed by her eagerness.
“Fine.” Meg sighed.
Jessa skittered away to find some breakfast and Meg wondered what the morning and rest of the day would bring her.
She assumed nothing good.
As they drove east down Front Beach in Meg’s Camry, they sipped their coffee in silence as they passed condo high rise after condo high rise. It seemed a new one was going up every week.
“Why do they call this the Redneck Riviera?” Jessa suddenly asked. “It’s all condos and rich retirees. What’s redneck about it?”
“It wasn’t always like this,” Meg explained as she braked to let some pedestrians cross. “The Siesta used to be one of dozens of motels that catered to a different crowd. People brought their families down here from all over the south to get a taste of paradise on a budget. But, like all the best things, rich people found out about it and ruined it for everyone.”
Jessa laughed. “Rich people aren’t all bad.”
“You haven’t lived long enough to make that assumption,” Meg said as she slowly accelerated again, waving back to the thankful pedestrians. “In my experience, they’re mostly awful.”
“So, if I’m ever a rich person, you’ll automatically think I’m terrible?” Jessa challenged her.
Meg smiled. “Depends on how you got rich, I guess. I’ve learned that it’s almost impossible to get there without stepping on some people on the way up.”
“Like Aunt Dee?”
Meg didn’t answer, and Jessa knew her momma well enough to know not to ask again.
Meg had hoped to find the motel abandoned if she was being honest.
Dee leaving town would be the best news Meg had heard in a long time. Even if it meant the night audit didn’t happen, it would be worth it.
But, unfortunately, Dee was not only still at the motel, but she seemed pretty damn happy.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Dee said as Meg and Jessa walked into the lobby. “Ran the reports. Checked the last snowbirds in
. And the motel still stands! Your sister didn’t let you down!”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Meg muttered. She took pleasure in Dee’s smile disappearing when she said it.
“Great job, Aunt Dee!” Jessa cheered giving Dee a high-five.
“You can go to the house now,” Meg said, her voice flat. “I’ll wait for Marion and Rita to come in. I left it unlocked and you can sleep in the guest room. Jessa made the bed for you.”
Dee opened her mouth and swiftly shut it.
“There’s some breakfast burritos in the freezer too if you’re hungry,” Jessa piped in.
“Thanks, Jessa.” Dee looked at Meg again. “And thank you again…”
Meg held her hand up. “Don’t.”
Dee bowed her head and didn’t say anything else.
“But Mom,” Jessa realized. “You have to drive her home. She can’t walk, it’s like 8 miles.”
Meg sighed. “Of course. Dee, I’ll take you home after I drop Jessa off at school.”
“Thanks,” Dee said, and she winked at Jessa who slyly winked back.
Ten
Marion and Rita were a pair of older women who had worked at The Siesta for over a decade. They only worked the morning shift because they were in bed by six most nights and they only worked as a pair because any time Meg had put anyone else on their shift they’d quit within a month.
Marion and Rita were what Meg’s father had diplomatically referred to as “selective listeners and challenging personalities.”
Meg sometimes thought she looked forward to having them out of her life more than she valued the money she’d get when she could finally sell the place. There wasn’t a morning that went by where Marion or Rita didn’t have something to complain about.
And that morning would be no different than any other when it came to their imagined grievances.
Marion always arrived first, ten minutes before she had to clock in. She’d count the drawer four times, always coming up with different amounts until Meg just ended up doing it herself.
“Good morning, Marion,” Meg greeted her as she slowly ambled into the lobby.
Dee and Jessa were sitting on the moldy couch that was meant for guests, watching a YouTube video on Jessa’s iPhone. Neither even glanced up when Marion walked in.
“Not such a good morning for me,” Marion huffed. “My granddaughter decided to drop quite the bomb on us last night.”
“Oh?” Meg really didn’t have the time for one of Marion’s rambling and often offensive rants.
“Yep. Apparently Jasmine is pregnant. She announced it last night. Dropped it on me as if we should be happy for her even though she’s not married, and the baby’s father is an enlisted man.” Marion droned as she walked through the door that separated the lobby from the front desk and back office. “And she chose to share this on my birthday to boot!”
“Yesterday was your birthday?” Meg asked, desperate to change the topic. “I had no idea. Happy Birthday, Marion.”
“No, my birthday is in March!” Marion grumbled. “I said my anniversary! Yesterday was my anniversary and my unmarried granddaughter decided to tell me she’s knocked up. Can you even believe it?”
“But you’re not married?” Meg replied and instantly wished she hadn’t. It was just best to let it go when it came to Marion.
“No, but I was once,” Marion pointed out. “And on a day that celebrates God’s union, my granddaughter chooses to bask in her sins and share it with all of us on Skype. She wasn’t the least bit ashamed either. Can you even imagine?”
“Okay,” Meg took a long breath and closed her eyes. “Marion, I understand you have a philosophy about life and such that sometimes clashes with the rest of the world, for whatever reason. But a baby is certainly always a celebration. And I’ve met Jasmine many times, she’s going to be a great mother. And her boyfriend is a lovely man who is serving his country…”
Marion, per usual, continued on as if she hadn’t heard Meg.
“In my day you just kept those things to yourself!” Marion declared. “You went away for a little while and you came back without the baby. Or your married sister would just pretend it was hers and no one was the wiser. This country is going to pot!”
“Yes, and so people lived quiet lives of desperation instead of getting to live authentic ones where they could be who they truly are,” Meg responded. “I’m sure it will all work out. You should be happy; you’re having a great-grandchild.”
“I’m certainly not happy!” Marion huffed. “I’m never speaking to her again. Her father, my son, is also not taking this as seriously as he should. I will not support an out-of-wedlock baby. I mean, in my day we had a very terrible word for that kind of thing that I will not share now. But between not being married and the father being in the military, I just can’t even begin to fathom how they’re going to make it.”
“Marion, you know, my father was a veteran…” Meg said it slowly because she was still confused about how Marion could be against anyone serving in the military. But then again, Marion seemed to live by her own rules and hypocrisies.
“Your father was an exception to the rule,” Marion replied. “Most enlisted men are there because they have no place else to go. And we spend so much money on their issues once they’re out.”
“Issues?” Meg was heated now, thinking of her father, a proud Navy veteran. “And what issues are those?”
“PTSD or whatever it’s called, not that it’s a real thing,” Marion explained, and Meg’s cheeks started to heat up. “But that’s kids today, labels for everything, excuses galore!”
Meg shook her head. “Marion. Maybe you should go home today. I can’t deal with you moaning all day about this.”
“What was that dear?” Marion was fumbling through her massive purse. “I can’t hear a thing, I left my hearing aids at home.”
“She said leave!”
Dee was suddenly next to Meg now, her face red.
“Dee, no. Stop…” Meg started, but Dee ignored her plea.
“Go home and don’t come back,” Dee stated.
“Excuse me?” Marion asked. “Who is this woman yelling at me?”
“This is my sister Dee and she’s going to sit down now,” Meg was gritting her teeth. “Let me handle this.”
“Robert’s other daughter?” Marion replied, her eyes widening. “The one who had the nervous breakdown on national television? What is she doing here? I thought none of you spoke to her anymore.”
Meg closed her eyes. She knew there was no stopping it now, whatever happened.
“Yep,” Dee started, her hands on the front desk counter now, a counter that was the only protection Marion had, one she should probably be grateful for. “That’s me. The family embarrassment. And, unfortunately for you, half owner of this motel. And I want to repeat what my sister said. We would like you to go home today. And tomorrow when you’re supposed to show up? Don’t. The last thing I want is for someone like you greeting guests at my father’s motel.”
Marion’s jaw dropped and as frustrated as Meg was with Dee, she had to admit the jaw drop might be worth it even if this all ended in catastrophe.
“Someone like me?” Marion placed her hand over her heart in clear disbelief. “I can clearly see why no one speaks of you. What an ugly person you are!”
“On that, I can agree with you,” Dee retorted. “Which is why it’s very easy for me to fire you.”
“Dee.” Meg’s voice sliced through the tension. “We are not firing Marion.”
“The hell we aren’t!” Dee shouted.
“You don’t get to decide. Marion, go home.”
Marion eyed Dee as she clutched her purse to her chest.
“I’m not leaving until she does,” Marion said. “She’s unhinged.”
Dee laughed. “You have no idea.”
Meg pushed Dee by the shoulders toward the lobby doors.
Dee turned back to Marion over her right shoulder. “Do we have your correct
home address? You know, to mail you your final check?”
“Enough!” An exasperated Meg bellowed. “Go to my car. Now. Jessa go with her.”
Jessa, who had been watching the drama unfold slack-jawed from the couch, did exactly as she was told.
Dee looked at Meg, clearly wanting to argue, but relented instead.
As they left, Rita walked past them, staring at Meg in complete confusion.
“Who is that with Jessa?” Rita asked.
Meg watched them go out the door toward the Camry that was parked across the street.
“Good morning, Rita. Do me a favor and print out our check-ins today. I’m going to talk to Marion and then run Jessa to school really quick. I’ll be back by nine. Is that fine?”
“Sure,” Rita said as she shuffled to the back room.
Meg turned back to Marion who stood with a smug expression on her craggy and sour face from behind the desk.
“Thank you for being the daughter Robert can be proud of,” Marion acknowledged. “It seems like, sadly, your sister took after your mother.”
Meg froze.
“What do you mean?”
“Trailer park trash,” Marion spit out. “I never said it in front of your father of course, because he still loved her even after all of these years, but I know you know what I mean.” Marion gave Meg a knowing look.
Meg had always prided herself on being the level-headed Beckett sister. If Dee was beautiful, wild, engaging, and unpredictable, Meg vowed to be the opposite since she could never equal her sister in the ways that attracted people the most. So, Meg took on the temperament of her father. She tried to be understanding. Compassionate. Responsible. Stable.
Dependable.
And it had meant years of swallowing a lot of words and bitter pills. To run a business well you had to turn the other cheek a lot and not take things too personally.
But Meg had been putting up with Marion for a long time. And Marion had crossed a line today.
So, Meg would, for once, not try so hard to be her father’s daughter.
Yacht Girl Page 4