The Inn at Willa Bay: A Willa Bay Novel

by Nicole Ellis

  Recognition dawned on his face as he reached out to shake her hand. “Oh, Zoe’s mentioned you. I’m Shawn Curtin. Nice to meet you.” He looked over at Celia. “I can leave if you want some time alone with her.”

  Cassie waved him off. “No, no. That’s fine. I wasn’t planning on staying long. I just like to check on Celia and let her know that we’re all here and pulling for her to get better.” She reached for Celia’s left hand and covered it with her own as she sat next to her in a plastic folding chair.

  The elderly woman didn’t look much different from the last time Cassie had seen her. Her face was pale, but her breath was steady, and it looked like the hospital staff had recently washed the cloud of white hair that spread out across the pillow.

  “Have the doctors given you any idea of what to expect?” Cassie asked.

  He shrugged, then stretched out his arms and back, as though he’d been sitting for a long time. “Not really. They’ve been pretty vague. She’s still healing from her hip and leg surgery. Once she’s recovered enough, even if she’s not awake, they’ll move her to a rehabilitation facility where they’ll be able to exercise her muscles while she’s in bed.”

  “Oh.” Cassie stared at Celia. She had rarely seen her elderly friend sit still for very long, so it was hard to see the once-lively woman this motionless. “I wonder if she knows what’s going on.”

  “I like to think so.” Shawn sat back down across from Cassie. His gaze was soft as he looked at Celia and squeezed her hand. “Sometimes she seems to react to what I say.”

  Cassie remembered Zoe mentioning that Shawn planned to visit his father the day before. “Did you have a chance to see your father yesterday?”

  “I did.” The overhead vents blew a strand of Celia’s hair into her eyes, and Shawn moved it to the side with surprising tenderness. He was different than she’d expected from a career-military man.

  “What did he say about Celia?” Cassie looked directly into his eyes.

  He sighed and looked down at Celia. “He said she’s my mother’s birth mother.”

  “Celia’s your grandmother?” Cassie focused on Celia’s face. She could have sworn that her lips had started to curve into a smile, but then any expression faded from her face. “I thought she and her husband didn’t have any children.”

  He peered at Celia as though he’d also seen the faint glimmer of a smile. “She gave my mother to a cousin of hers to raise.”

  “Oh.” Cassie wasn’t sure what else to say. “So, your mother never knew about Celia?”

  He frowned. “No. She knew. She just didn’t want Celia to be a part of her life.”

  “But you feel differently?” Cassie asked. She suspected she already knew the answer based on how he treated Celia.

  He sighed and ran a hand over his short, bristly hair. “I want a chance to get to know her and find out why she did what she did.” His eyes were bright with tears as he looked at Celia. “I only hope I get that chance.”

  A sense of sureness ran through Cassie, although she didn’t know where it came from. Her life was falling apart, but for some reason, she knew things would be okay with Celia. “You will.”

  They sat together for another half hour, chatting about a random assortment of topics until Cassie had to leave to meet her friends. She also wanted to call Debbie as soon as she had a chance.

  “I’m supposed to meet Zoe and another friend of ours, Meg, at a local cafe. Did you want to come?”

  He hesitated for a moment, then smiled. “Nope, I think I’m going to stay here with Celia for another hour. It’s too dark to get much done around the Inn right now, so I might as well stay and keep her company. I hope you have a good time with everyone.” He added hesitantly, a faint blush tinting his cheeks, “Tell Zoe I said hi.”

  Cassie grinned. She’d thought there was something going on between him and her friend. “I will. Goodnight.” She gathered her belongings and left the hospital room.

  Cassie waited until she was out of the hospital and in her car to call Debbie. The air outside was brisk. While she’d been visiting with Shawn and Celia, the sun had set, causing the temperature to drop. A blast of wind hit her, and she shivered as she hurriedly got into her car and turned on the engine to warm it up.

  With the heat turned on full blast, Cassie dialed Debbie. The phone rang twice, then Debbie answered. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Debbie, it’s Cassie.”

  “Oh hi, Cassie. How are you doing?” Debbie’s warm voice on the other end of the phone lifted Cassie’s spirits. Cassie had been friends with Debbie’s daughters since she was a small child, so talking to her was almost like talking to her own mom.

  “Pretty good. But I do have a favor to ask of you.”

  “Sure. What is it?” Debbie asked.

  Cassie took a deep breath. “I was hoping to borrow your catering kitchen for a few weeks, maybe more. I need somewhere to bake and decorate the cakes for my side business.”

  “Oh.” Debbie was quiet for a moment. “Hmm …”

  Cassie’s heart sank. This wasn’t going to work out. “If you can’t do it, though, don’t worry about it. I can find somewhere else.”

  “No, no, honey. I’m sure we can work something out. It’s just that since I’m feeling better now, Libby and I were planning to bid on more catering jobs. We’d like to get the business back up and running full time.” A TV blared in the background on Debbie’s end of the line and Cassie heard her say, “Peter, can you turn that down please? I’m on the phone.” The noise lessened and Debbie came back on to the call. “What happened with baking cakes at the Lodge though?”

  Anger welled up in Cassie’s chest, and she fought to swallow it down. “Lara Camden. She told her dad that she doesn’t want me using the Lodge kitchen for my side job.”

  “Because she’s now a competitor of yours.” Debbie sighed. “What a spoiled little brat. I never did like that girl.”

  Cassie grinned. “Me neither. Unfortunately, I’ve only got about another week to use the Lodge kitchen and then I need to move my business to another location.”

  “Okay. We’ll make this work, at least until a better solution presents itself. I know you’ve put a lot of effort into your cake decorating business and I’d hate to see you lose that. How about you give Libby a call early next week, and she can put you on the schedule to use our catering kitchen.”

  Cassie thought her heart might burst with gratitude. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” Happy tears blurred her vision. “I promise I’ll locate to another space as soon as I can. George didn’t give me much notice that I needed to move, and I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

  “Don’t worry,” Debbie said. “Everything will work out. Now, I’d better get back to watching Wheel of Fortune with Peter. He always ends up with more money than me anyway.”

  Cassie laughed. “Good luck. And thank you again. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

  “No problem. Good night.” Debbie hung up the phone.

  Cassie leaned back against the seat of her car and closed her eyes for a moment. Crisis averted, at least temporarily. Having permission to use Debbie’s catering kitchen was a welcome reprieve that gave Cassie some breathing room. If she was lucky, maybe everything else in her life would fall into place just as easily.

  15

  Meg

  After helping Taylor and the rest of the kitchen staff clean-up for the night, Meg left the Lodge to join her friends at their favorite place to eat, Pondera Bistro. As she walked to her car, she checked her phone’s voicemail. It had vibrated an hour or so ago, but she’d been too busy putting food back into the walk-in refrigerator to answer it. Now, she pressed play to find out what the caller wanted.

  “Hi, Meg,” a familiar voice said, “it’s Tammi Gables. How are you doing? Have you given any thought to moving back to Portland? I’m calling because I heard through the grapevine about a sous-chef position at La Lobessa, and I think you’d be perfect for it. The chef’s a
friend of mine, so I bet I could snag you an interview. Let me know what you think. I’d love to see you again. Talk to you soon.”

  Meg stuffed the phone back in the pocket of her wool coat and pulled the heavy fabric tighter against her body. She walked quickly down Willa Bay Drive as she considered Tammi’s voicemail. With her mom getting a clean bill of health, Meg was free to return to Portland and resume her old life. But was that what she wanted?

  She moved on autopilot toward Pondera Bistro, lost in thought. There were so many things to consider. Even if she got the job, she’d have to rent an apartment in Portland and move everything from her place in Willa Bay. But she liked her life here. Portland had been wonderful career-wise, but her demanding job hadn’t left her any time to develop strong friendships like the ones she’d made in Willa Bay.

  Pondera Bistro was located on the river side of Main Street. On nice summer days, Meg loved to eat on their back deck overlooking the water. Today, though, it was too cold to eat outside. When she got to the restaurant, Cassie and Zoe were already there, seated at a table for four near the back of the room. Meg slipped off her coat and hung it on the back of the black metal chair next to where Cassie sat.

  “Hey, Meg.” Zoe held up a tortilla chip coated in cheese sauce and gestured with her chin at an oval plate piled high with nachos. Specks of red pepper and spicy taco meat clung to the creamy yellow cheese, punctuated by rings of bright green onion. “Feel free to take some. Their portions are huge!”

  Cassie groaned. “I’m pretty sure these aren’t on my diet.” She lifted a chip and stuck it in her mouth anyway. “They’re so good though.”

  Meg laughed and dug in. “You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m always starving after work.”

  “You work in a restaurant,” Zoe pointed out. “How are you hungry?”

  “Yeah, but it’s like the cobbler’s son not having any shoes. I’m smelling yummy food all night, but I don’t have any time to eat.” Meg finished chewing and picked up the menu. “Are there any specials tonight? I always like to try the new stuff.”

  “You’d have to ask the waitress,” Cassie said. “I already ordered a cheeseburger and fries. I’m not one to mess with a classic.”

  The waitress came over to their table, and Meg placed her order for the fried local oysters, which the waitress assured her was the best thing on the menu that day.

  “Excuse me,” Cassie said to the waitress. “Can I have a glass of Chardonnay please?”

  The waitress nodded and hurried off to the next table.

  “It’s been a long day,” Cassie said. “I finished up a cake and brought it to my client, then popped in to see Celia.” She cast a glance at Zoe. “And I finally met the famous Shawn. I see what you like about him.”

  Zoe’s cheeks turned pink. “Oh? Did you have a chance to talk with him? Did he tell you about Celia?”

  Cassie nodded. “He told me she’s his grandmother.”

  Meg sat up. This was news to her. “Grandmother? But Celia doesn’t have any kids. I’ve known her since I was a baby. How could I not have heard about this before?”

  Zoe shrugged. “I don’t know much about it, other than what he told me when I saw him last night, but apparently, she’s his mother’s birth mother.” Her expression turned troubled. “I hope she wakes up soon.”

  “Me too,” Meg said. “It’s killing my grandma to be in Arizona right now, but she hates flying with a passion and doesn’t want to drive back up here yet.” She eyed Zoe. “Do you think Grandma knew about Celia’s daughter?”

  “I think she had an inkling,” Zoe said carefully. “She knew enough to tell me to call Shawn when Celia had her accident.”

  “I’m sure Celia’s going to be fine,” Cassie said. “She just needs a little time for her brain to heal.”

  “I hope so.” Zoe sipped her glass of iced tea. “I need to talk to her about a few things going on with the Inn.”

  Cassie turned to Meg, “Hey, your mom said I could use her catering kitchen for my cake business, at least for the near future.”

  “Oh good. Zoe mentioned it to me yesterday, but I hadn’t had a chance to ask her about it yet.” Meg drank deeply from the glass of water the waitress had brought her. Although it had been cool outside, Pondera Bistro was over a mile from the Lodge, and she’d mindlessly speed-walked the entire way.

  “That’s great,” Zoe said. “I’m sure something will come up for use later.” She wrinkled her nose. “Or maybe Lara will move back to wherever she was before she came back to Willa Bay. That would solve a lot of problems.”

  “No kidding.” Meg frowned. “I’m sorry all of this has been happening to you guys. I can’t believe how much havoc Lara’s return has caused in the last two weeks.”

  “I know.” Zoe sighed and stared at her plate. “I’ve actually been thinking of leaving the Lodge and finding a new job.”

  Meg’s head shot up, and she dropped her hand away from the chip she’d been reaching for. “Leaving?”

  “Yeah. It’s crazy at work now. When Joan leaves, I won’t even have her around to act as a buffer between Pearson and me.”

  Meg looked from one friend to the other. “One of my former co-workers in Portland called to tell me about a possible job there.”

  “Ooh,” Cassie said. “That’s so exciting!” Then, her lips turned downward. “But we’d miss you if you left. When you lived in Portland, I only saw you once a year.”

  Zoe didn’t say anything but eyed Meg thoughtfully.

  “I don’t know if I even want to interview for it.” Meg’s stomach twisted. “I like living here, but …”

  “But there’s room to grow in Portland,” Zoe finished Meg’s sentence.

  Meg nodded. “If I stay here, I’ll always be Taylor’s assistant. I’ll never get to achieve my dream of having a restaurant of my own.”

  “It sounds like you’ve got a lot to think about,” Cassie said.

  The waitress brought their food, and all three women dug in. Meg was glad for the reprieve from thinking about the possibility of moving away from her family and friends again. It might be the best thing for her career, but was it the best thing for her overall?

  16

  Shawn

  The rustling of nurses and doctors running into Celia’s hospital room jolted Shawn awake. He bolted upright and blinked his eyes a few times to clear the haze. After spending most of the day working on shoring up the old decking at the Inn, he’d been exhausted and had dozed off while sitting next to Celia. Now he was wide awake, trying to figure out what was going on.

  One of the nurses was fiddling with Celia’s monitor, while another was taking her pulse by hand. A doctor stood off to the side, taking notes on her tablet while she waited for them to finish. This was the most crowded Shawn had seen Celia’s room in the week he’d been visiting her. Had something happened?

  Shawn’s gaze slid over to Celia, and his breath caught. Her eyes were open. Beautiful dark-blue eyes, a mirror image of his mother’s.

  “Celia?” He stared at her, almost forgetting the medical professionals in the room.

  Her eyelids fluttered down, as if struggling to stay open, but a smile spread across her face.

  “Mrs. James, we’re so glad to see you’re awake.” The doctor beamed at her.

  Celia’s eyes snapped open and darted around the room wildly. “Whu—” she tried to say.

  The doctor put a hand on her upper arm. “You had a little fall, but we’ve been taking good care of you in the hospital.”

  Shawn’s heart clenched at the confusion on Celia’s face. He wrapped his hand over the top of hers like he had so many times before, but this time, she squeezed back.

  A nurse helped Celia to drink some water. It dribbled down her chin, and the nurse wiped it away with a cloth.

  “What happened? Why am I in the hospital?” Celia asked.

  The doctor and nurses turned to Shawn to allow him to explain. He felt odd telling her what had happened, since th
ey’d never met before, and he hadn’t been the one to discover her the day she fell.

  “Your neighbor, Zoe, found you on the floor of your living room. She said it looked like you’d tried to reach for something and fell over.” He watched her face. “You apparently hit your head and have been unconscious.”

  She touched her scalp, and the confusion stayed on her face. “My head?”

  He nodded. “That was about nine days ago, so it’s mostly healed now.”

  The doctor intervened. “You broke your hip and femur in the fall as well, but we’ve patched you up.”

  Celia glanced at her left leg and winced. “It hurts.”

  “That’s to be expected,” the doctor said. “You’ll need some time in a rehabilitation center before you gain full mobility in that leg. The pain should lessen with each day though.”

  Her lips trembled, and she blinked her eyes. “I’m feeling a little tired now.”

  “That’s fine, Mrs. James.” The doctor smiled at her. “We’ll leave you alone to get some rest. Things will be better in the morning. All of us here are so happy to see you awake though.” She ushered the two nurses out of the room, then turned to Shawn. “Please let us know if Mrs. James needs anything.”

  “I will,” he said, although Celia had closed her eyes and already appeared to be asleep.

  The doctor left and Shawn got up from his chair. He walked over to the window and stared at the freshly plowed fields outside. He’d been waiting for Celia to awaken, but now what? Did she have any idea who he was? She’d eyed him with confusion, so maybe not. If she woke up again while he was there, should he say something about her being his biological grandmother? It seemed like a lot to toss at someone who’d just come out of a coma.

  With a start, he realized he needed to let Zoe know that Celia was awake. He quickly dialed her number and waited for her to pick up.

  “Hello,” she said brightly.

  Hearing her voice calmed him and made him feel like everything was going to be okay. It surprised him that someone he’d known for less than two weeks could have such a strong effect on him. “Hey, Zoe. I’m at the hospital—”