Last Chance Motel 1 (Last Chance Romance Series)

by Abigail Keam

  Eva tried it. It worked. YEAH!

  The floor was old linoleum, which could be easily covered in bamboo flooring or maybe one of those nifty new linoleum designs. Eva salivated at the thought of picking out new flooring. That was her idea of fun.

  Going into the living quarters, Eva was surprised at the good condition of the building. The roof seemed intact and the windows were useable.

  The stove and oven in the kitchenette needed to be replaced, but Eva thought she would keep the old fridge. It seemed to be working fine and was clean. She would have an electrician check it and if he gave the okay, Eva would refurbish it, as she loved its mid-century look. Plus she would keep the old-fashioned stainless steel sink.

  Unfortunately, all the walls of the bungalow were covered in the same knotty pine. Eva thought the knotty pine paneling and cabinets could be salvaged for another building. She liked the retro look, but a little here and there was plenty. An entire building of knotty pine paneling was too much for her tastes.

  Giving the kitchenette one last look, Eva marked down “dishwasher.” She refused to live without one.

  Now for the bedrooms and bath.

  Not so good.

  The floor was buckling in one bedroom, paint was peeling off the walls in strips and the only bathroom was covered in garish pink tiles.

  Eva released a big sigh.

  A forties-era bathroom. That was good and bad.

  The sink was in good condition, but didn’t have a countertop. The old metal medicine cabinet was rusting and would have to be replaced. Eva hated the cast iron tub and decided right then and there to replace it with a glassed-in shower complete with a seat.

  The toilet was too low for her height and she would replace it with both a new comfort toilet and bidet.

  The pink tiles were chipped and some of the tile border was missing. Eva thought this would be the perfect time to update the walls with new stylish glass ones. The bathroom was going to be the most expensive room in the building to renovate.

  Eva would have to do most of the work herself to keep costs down. She sat on an old recliner in the living room and added up costs. Not too bad for the first building.

  It was time to inspect the ten bungalows. The outsides of the bungalows were in dire need of paint, many of the windows were broken, and most of the wooden decks were rotting. All of them had spiders and other creepy crawly critters, which caused Eva to run outdoors screaming more than once.

  The last two bungalows closest to the bay were the worst. Eva thought she might have to scrap them.

  Regardless, all the bathrooms needed major upgrading, as did the kitchenettes. Also some of the rentals would have to provide handicapped facilities, which none possessed at the moment.

  The dock was listing sideways and half of it had fallen into the bay. It would have to be rebuilt from scratch. That would be a small fortune. Last but not least, Eva went over to inspect the pool.

  “Golly, this takes the cake,” said Eva. The pool was full of nasty green water. Already she could see places where tiles had popped out.

  Eva sat in one of the old pool chairs. It was the only one that still had all four legs intact. After reviewing her rough cost estimates on the legal pad, Eva almost broke out into tears. “What have I done?”

  The confidence that Eva had once had as a designer was gone. She was not sure of her plans or if the money would hold out. The last thing she needed was to go broke.

  “Why did I buy this place? I could have gotten a job with a firm in Miami. This is the stupidest thing I have ever done!”

  “Having buyer’s remorse?”

  Eva swiveled around in the pool chair to see a man standing behind her wearing aviator sunglasses, shorts, a tight green T-shirt, and tennis shoes with holes in the sides. He was tall, tan, and obviously hit the gym a lot by the guns he was packing. He was also wearing a sloppy grin.

  She took an immediate dislike to him. “You startled me.”

  “Sorry. I knocked at the office, but no one was there. Then I saw you sitting here and walked over. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Mike Bishop. You hired me this morning on the phone to be your general contractor.” He reached over and gave Eva’s hand a hardy shake.

  “You’re late.”

  Mike’s grin disappeared for a moment and then reappeared like the sun emerging from a dark cloud.

  “No, I’m not. As I told you this morning, I have another job. I will be available for you only in the afternoons until my current project is completed. Then I’m all yours.”

  Eva disliked being contradicted, but didn’t respond. Mr. Burton had highly recommended Mike . . . saying that he did first-rate work.

  She was going to need a good man . . . to help fix up the Last Chance Motel.

  Ignoring Eva’s buttoned-up lip, Mike continued. “I passed the dump trucks coming here. Where would you like to start?”

  “Start?”

  “Yeah. I’ve got a man with me. I thought you might like to start the demo today.”

  Eva was totally at a loss. She didn’t know where to start.

  “Ma’am, have you done anything like this before?” asked Mike, looking around.

  Throwing up her hands, Eva confessed, “I have but this place is the pits. I have no idea where to start.”

  Rubbing his chin, Mike said, “You’ve got a landscaping crew coming tomorrow, right?”

  Eva nodded.

  “Why don’t we start on the grounds then? It looks like none of the picnic tables can be salvaged. Only two of the grills look like they still work.”

  “I was going to build an outdoor kitchen, but I’m not sure if I have enough money in my budget for that now.”

  “We will salvage what we can. I see broken glass everywhere. What do you want to do with the dock?”

  “Looks to me like it needs to go.”

  “I’ll see if anything can be saved.” He gave her another big grin. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.”

  At that moment the dump trucks arrived. Mike went to direct the drivers on the locations to deposit the dumpsters. He signed for them and then gave Eva the invoice.

  She looked at her yellow pad with resignation. It was sink or swim now. She was committed.

  As Mike and his helper began cleaning up glass and rotten wood, Eva returned to the office. She might as well jump in too. Eva pulled down frayed curtains, emptied drawers filled with old phone books, discarded decayed linens, and flatware that a mouse had pooped on. Dangling spider webs were sucked up with a vacuum cleaner Eva found in a closet.

  She worked all afternoon without noticing the time. Suddenly the trees were throwing long shadows. Eva looked across the bay. The sun was setting. She looked at her pre-paid cell phone. It was after six. She felt hungry. That was a good sign. Eva hadn’t felt hungry since Dennis said he wanted a divorce. Oh, she had binged on comfort food of course, but that was due to an emotional need. She had not been hungry, just needy.

  Mike poked his head in the office. “We’re taking off now.” He was covered in dust and his hands were grimy.

  Eva walked out to the parking lot with him and surveyed what had been done. She had to admit, the grounds already looked better.

  “I should be here before the landscaping crew finishes. Did you order a wood chipper?”

  “No, I didn’t even think of it.”

  “No problem. I’ll call the landscaping crew in the morning, make sure that they bring one with them. Will save us a ton of work and space in the dumpsters if we have a chipper, and they can use the wood chips on the pathways.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Eva and Mike stood for a moment staring at each other.

  Eva could feel heat rising to her cheeks. She didn’t understand why she felt so uncomfortable around him. There was something about him that she just didn’t like. “Well, see you tomorrow. I’ll lock the gate behind you.”

  Mike frowned but followed Ev
a to the front of the property. His new boss didn’t seem to like him and Mike didn’t know what he had done to put a burr under her saddle.

  As she was locking the gate, Mike noticed the ravaged sign for the Last Chance Motel. “I hope you’re going to change the name of this place. Last Chance Motel sounds so pathetic.”

  Eva inwardly bristled.

  He continued, “There’s a salvage yard in Homestead that has mid-century neon signs. Might want to give them a go. Anything would be better than that crappy sign. Surely you’re going to scrap it . . . ”

  “See you tomorrow,” waved Eva as she walked away from the gate.

  Mike turned to his man. “That was rude. I wasn’t even finished talking.”

  “Women,” said his worker, shrugging his shoulders.

  Eva acted as though she hadn’t heard their comments. She surely didn’t want anyone to know that she thought the Last Chance Motel might be her last chance.

  9

  The landscaping crew arrived at eight sharp and began working immediately. Eva almost wore her legs out keeping tabs on the six-man crew.

  Most of the flowering trees were saved, but she had all of the fruit trees removed as they attracted scorpions which she had discovered that morning when she shook two out of her shoes. All but four of the mature banana trees were kept.

  After lunch a crane arrived to trim the palm trees. By three the crew was doing the last of the cleanup when Mike pulled up in his jeep.

  Eva tried not to show that she was peeved. He was supposed to be at the motel by one.

  Mike jumped out of his jeep and upon seeing Eva yelled, “Sorry, but got held up.” Not waiting for a response he began helping the crew with the last of the cleanup and then went over the job with the head gardener. All the plants had been trimmed, pruned, mulched, and watered. All ground debris and broken glass was gone.

  A truckload of sand had been brought in. Local stone replaced old chipped brick for the sidewalks and solar lights flanked all the pathways, whether stone or sand.

  Eva had to admit that the grounds looked great and the lush greenery provided a needed privacy screen from busy Highway 1.

  The guests would have both beauty and seclusion needed for a restful vacation.

  She had recovered her good spirits when she wrote out the check for the invoice Mike handed her. Determined to pay as she went, Eva didn’t want anyone hounding her for payment of goods.

  Before they left, Eva made a deal with the head gardener about coming once a month and keeping the grounds in good condition.

  “Looks nice,” commented Mike, standing beside her.

  Eva didn’t respond but she had to agree with him.

  “Sorry again about being late. I’ll make up the time.”

  “I was working by eight this morning. I hardly want to work twenty-hour days just because you’re not putting in your time.”

  “Look, lady. I said I was sorry. It was unavoidable, but I will make up the time. You don’t have to follow me around, peeking over my shoulder. Just give me a list of jobs and they will be done in record time.”

  “Okay. Here you go,” groused Eva, thrusting a folded list at him.

  Mike looked at the long line of tasks to be done. “When do you want all this done?”

  “Tonight.”

  Mike’s mouth dropped open. “You gotta be kidding. This would take a four-man crew a complete day and the sun’s going down soon.”

  “I need all the broken sashes taken out of the bungalows. You know the glass and door man is coming tomorrow. We need to get the bungalows sealed up before we can proceed or we’ll be repairing raccoon and water damage all the time. Plus, if I find one more snake curled up in a bathtub, I’m going to lose my mind.”

  “That snake was harmless.”

  “I don’t care. I don’t like snakes or scorpions or anything else that slithers and stings, and neither do paying guests. Can you do the list or not?”

  Mike put the list in his pocket. “I’ll get ’er done.” At that moment, Mike’s employee showed up and Mike grabbed his toolbox and joined him.

  Eva stormed off to the office. She didn’t understand why Mike irritated her so. Maybe he couldn’t get to the motel on time due to an unavoidable situation. She’d had many crises at job sites in her career. She should understand that some things happen which could throw the day off.

  She threw herself in the recliner and stared out the sliding glass door. Eva needed to get her emotions under control. She was sure she was taking her anger at Dennis out on Mike. They both were of similar age. Both had an easy way about them. Both were good-looking. Both were hardworking. She hoped that’s where the similarity ended. Eva realized that she was being unfair.

  To make up for her bad behavior, she called a pizza joint in town and ordered two large pizzas, salad, and soft drinks. Hopefully this would say she was sorry.

  When the pizzas arrived, she took them down to the bungalow where the two men were working. It was almost dark . . . the gloaming of the day.

  “Hello,” she called. She found them in one of the bedrooms fighting with a sash. “I thought you guys might be hungry so I ordered some food,” she said as she laid pizza boxes on a dresser along with some paper plates and napkins.

  “Smells good,” offered Mike’s man, Juan, who climbed down his ladder and went to wash his hands.

  Eva put some pizza slices and salad on a plate and offered it to Mike who was still working. “Mike, don’t you want something to eat?”

  “Not hungry now. Just leave the plate there. I might eat some later.”

  Stung by his refusal to eat the food she had ordered, Eva tried another tactic. “Can I help?”

  “We’re fine. You’ll just be in the way.”

  “Oh. Okay then. See you tomorrow.”

  “Sure thing. I’ll try to be on time.”

  Juan passed Eva in the hallway. “Hey, thanks for the food.”

  Eva gave a brief smile and nodded goodbye as she left the bungalow.

  As soon as Mike heard the door slam shut, he got off his ladder and helped himself to some bottled water and salad.

  “Why didn’t you tell her you can’t eat pizza?” asked Juan, looking inquisitively at his boss.

  “I don’t like people to know that I’m diabetic,” groused Mike. “It might hurt me getting a job.”

  “I don’t think that is it. You’re sulking.”

  Mike reared up. “Sulking. That’s ridiculous.”

  “If you say so.”

  “She makes me feel stupid.”

  Juan laughed. “Why would that woman make you feel stupid, a big man like you?”

  Mike pointed a fork at Juan. “She doesn’t like me. I can sense it.”

  “Must all women like you?”

  “I’ve never had a woman not like me. I don’t like it.”

  “You think too much of yourself. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t flirt with you.” Juan stuffed his mouth with salad. “She brought us food. That’s good enough for me.”

  “That’s just to keep us working late tonight, the dragon.”

  Juan mugged. “We work late because you were at the doctor’s. Should have told her.”

  Mike shook his head. “The less people know about my life, the better. I don’t want to give anyone reason not to hire me. I need the money too much.”

  “Your secret is safe with me. Next time you’re late, call me and I will come right over. That will placate this woman. As long as she sees someone working, she’s happy. Happy woman, happy life.”

  “That’s happy wife, happy life, you idiot.”

  Mike reached for a pizza slice.

  Juan grabbed the box out of Mike’s reach, shaking his finger at him.

  “Sugar too high. Maybe another day for pizza but not today.”

  “Damn. It smells so good.”

  “If you had eaten breakfast or lunch, you wouldn’t have passed out. It’s your own fault.”

  “Juan, there are times when
I just hate you.”

  Juan gave Mike a wide grin and stuffed more pizza in his mouth.

  10

  Eva awoke to the lonely sound of a whale calling in the distance. Since it was a full moon, she stumbled out of bed and made her way to the bay. Eva had to admit the grounds looked fantastic with the solar nightlights sparkling like diamonds surrounding the pathways and with the small LED lights she had positioned on bushy trees. After sunset, the motel looked festive and friendly and above all, comforting.

  The night was bright with the moonlight reflecting off the water, but Eva couldn’t see the whale. Maybe it wasn’t a whale but the repeated call of a lost ship. Or maybe it was the wail of a mournful mermaid.

  In the distance a pod of dolphins surfaced and then dove back into the water. They looked like they were playing.

  Eva gasped with delight.

  “You like dolphins?”

  Eva swung around with her hands folded into fists.

  Mike was standing behind her watching the dolphins.

  “You scared the holy crap out of me! Damn it. You need to quit sneaking up on me.”

  “I was already out here. There was no gentle way of announcing my presence. How was I to know that you would traipse out to the water’s edge at three in the morning?”

  Eva was furious. “What the hell are you doing here at this time of night?”

  “Never left. Got finished a little while ago and thought I’d sleep here since I put in a full day tomorrow. No sense going all the way home for just a few hours of sleep.”

  “You should have told me that you were staying.”

  Mike was starting to become angry. He was breaking his back for this woman and she didn’t appreciate his efforts. “You were already in bed. I didn’t want to disturb you, but I left a note on the office counter since you left the door open. You really should lock that door at night.”

  “My key broke in the lock yesterday. That is why the doors are being replaced tomorrow,” seethed Eva.

  “Today.”

  “What?”

  “They are being replaced today. In fact, only four hours from now. Enough time to get some sleep in.”