“I’ve tried. I even tried to get my old position back at Shapiro’s, but they’d already replaced me. I haven’t been able to find another job close to here that would pay me enough to afford to live on my own. I can’t live here with you for the rest of my life. And, really, Anchor Bay is only a couple of hours away.”
I knew she’d been lonely since she divorced Oliver, but that wasn’t my problem. She was only in her early fifties and knowing my mother, she wouldn’t be single for too much longer. The fact that Oliver was still around grated on her nerves; however, she tolerated his presence and my need to have him in my life. She may not ever marry again…who could blame her? Not me, that’s for certain. But I hoped that someday she’d find someone. Someone who could make her as happy as I thought she might have been with my dad. Oliver was a great man, though, and I’d always love him. To be honest, I secretly wished that they would get back together someday.
I turned away from my mother. I’d been over and over this with her. Ever since I’d spent time in Bora Bora, I’d wanted to live somewhere close to the water. After listening to Leo’s stories from when he was a child, and how wonderful it all sounded, I decided if I had to start over again, I should head to the beach. Leo had sparked a newfound love of the ocean in me that I couldn’t shake. Not that I wanted to go deep-sea diving or anything like that, but just being close enough to hear the roar of the ocean would be plenty for me. And this job I’d applied for—never believing for a second that I would get it, and had almost squealed like a silly teenager into the phone when the owner called me with an offer—was located right on the coast a little way north of San Francisco. Granted, it wouldn’t be as warm as Bora Bora, hell, I’d need to move to the South Pacific for that, but the sound of the ocean would lure me to sleep every night because the job also came with free housing, right there on the property.
“Not for the rest of your life, honey. Just until you get back on your feet. You’ve been through an awful ordeal with Craig. Give yourself time to heal.”
“I did all the healing I needed to do back in Bora Bora. It’s time to grow up and start to live again. I don’t want to stay here, Mother. I need my own space.”
She sniffled into a tissue as Oliver came to my rescue and put his arms around her. “Honey, Grace knows what she needs. Let’s give her some credit.” My mother shoved his arm away from her. She didn’t like that he was here, I got that. But I needed him. I didn’t know what had happened between them, but she didn’t seem to want anything to do with him anymore. “She’s intelligent and has always made smart decisions. As much as we want her here, we can’t keep her. This job she’s taking sounds like a great opportunity. We have to trust our daughter.”
Had I mentioned how much I loved my stepfather? My mother rolled her eyes at Oliver’s daughter reference, and I wanted to stand up for him. He was, in every way except blood, my father, but I didn’t feel like starting that old argument over again.
He left my mother’s side and came to me, embracing me with his love. “Thanks, Oliver,” I whispered into his ear as he gently squeezed me.
I’d been staying with my mom since I returned from Bora Bora. About two weeks ago, I’d applied to an ad I’d found on the internet for a manager’s position at an inn and restaurant on the coast of northern California, about two hours from where we lived. I needed to grow and find some sort of happiness in this messed-up world. I didn’t think staying in this small town close to my mother was the key to my happiness.
Ever since my time in Bora Bora, I’d craved the ocean, the saltiness of the air and the sound of the waves, and now, the prospect of moving to the beach had me excited.
“You be sure to call when you get settled.”
“I will. I promise.” I kissed my mom and Oliver goodbye and got in my car, releasing a heavy sigh as I turned over the ignition. Leo had given me something in Bora Bora. Something that I didn’t know I needed, and I would be eternally grateful for the short friendship we’d shared. He had instilled in me the courage to explore my world and not be afraid of a new adventure. Before I drove off, I picked up my phone and scrolled to the picture of Leo dancing. I’d never forget him. He’d taught me to be adventurous. Well, this was certainly a new endeavor for me, having lived in the same town almost my entire life.
A bit later, I drove through the small town of Anchor Bay, smiling at the quaint, old buildings that graced each side of the crowded, two-lane street. The little beach town boomed with cheerful and eager young women and men carrying surfboards and boogie boards under their arms, many with sun-bleached locks falling over their shoulders in unruly waves. Maybe I’d take up surfing. Leo surfed. I remembered his euphoric facial expressions when he’d told me about his surfing days as a kid. Though, I would need to get over my fear of what lurked beneath the surface first. The few timid snorkeling excursions in Bora Bora were nothing compared to the shores of northern California where sightings of and attacks by great white sharks happened too frequently for my taste. Hell, just one was enough for me to steer clear. I loved dipping my toes in the ocean, but that was as far as I was willing to go. I may or may not still have a slight phobia of the unknown depths, but I was determined to overcome it.
I drove up the long road toward the inn. The large property sat on a hill above the ocean surrounded by trees and was very private. I got out of the car, leaving my suitcase in the trunk. I headed for the double wooden door entrance and noticed a wide lane to my left where a couple had just passed, hand-in-hand. I assumed the pathway led to the beach, and my suppositions were confirmed when I noticed the sign that said BEACH pointing down that path. It all seemed so very tranquil and exactly the kind of place where I knew I could be happy living. The air was much cooler here than in Bora Bora, and the palm trees didn’t grow in clusters but sprang up here and there among giant redwoods.
Aside from the serene feeling this place gave me, the sound of the ocean was just about the only thing similar to the vacation resort in French Polynesia. I was nervous, and as I walked through layers of pine needles littering the walkway leading to the stairs of the building, I swallowed the urge to recite numbers in Italian. This was a new beginning full of excitement, but yes, just a little bit of fear, too.
I pulled open the heavy door and entered into a very rustic entryway. I didn’t see anyone so I headed in a bit farther. There was a small counter to my right with old-time room keys with numbers etched on them hanging on the wall behind it. My concerns instantly went on high alert. Were these people so far behind the times that they didn’t have a secure way of keeping rooms safe? My God, anyone could walk in and snatch one of those keys right from the wall with no one even noticing.
“Hello, anyone here?” I called out softly. I didn’t want to yell too loudly in case there were some guests milling about. I walked up to the end of the counter and peeked behind it.
“Hello there.” I startled at the deep voice from behind me, clutching my hand to my chest as a small gasp escaped. I turned to see a man. The silver-white hair at his temples gave him a sophisticated appearance, but the casual, light blue golf shirt suggested a friendly, laid-back man who’d just finished a round of bocce ball or maybe a sprint of scrabble with some local competition. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Hi. No. I’m fine. I’m here to see Mr. D’Amoré.”
“That’s me. You must be Grace Davidson.”
“Yes.” I smiled. Glad that he’d remembered my name without having to look at my resume.
“Well, welcome, Grace.” He held out his hand for me to shake, his large hand engulfed my smaller one as we shook. He was attractive in a fatherly way.
“Did you have any trouble finding the place? I know it can be a challenge hiding up here on the hill.”
“No. No trouble at all.”
He laughed. “That was a joke. Since this is the only place up the long drive.”
“Oh. Right.” I chuckled, not wanting to be rude or admit that the joke had escaped
me.
“Not many people get my dry sense of humor. You’ll learn to recognize when I’m serious and when I’m not. I’ll show you where you’ll be staying so you can get settled. We can wait until tomorrow for a tour and then go from there. Though you’re welcome to explore the grounds on your own until then. Dinner starts at five o’clock and goes on until eight. I’ll have a table waiting for you in the dining room when you’re ready to eat. Do you have bags?”
“Yes. In my car.”
“Many?”
“Um…three.”
He strolled over to a small room by the front door and pulled out a luggage cart. “Let’s go get ‘em. This is Wednesday, the slowest day of the week. Most of the staff have off, so I fill in as porter, clerk, and whatever else needs to happen on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.”
“You do it all by yourself?”
“Mostly, But only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tried and failed to talk my son into running this place with me. He does help out most mid-week days when he’s around. He had other plans for his life. I can’t begrudge him, though, he’s doing what he loves, and to me, that’s more important.” I considered what he’d just said and came to the conclusion that he was a really good father. It made me feel good to be working for a man who loved his son and considered his child’s happiness to be more important than inheriting a legacy that he most likely didn’t want. Or maybe he’d still inherit it. It wasn’t really any of my business.
Mr. D’Amoré walked with me to my car, pushing the cart. I opened the trunk and reached in to grab the first one. “Here, let me get that.” He reached inside and grabbed first the large one then stacked the other two on top of it.
“You can come back later and move your car across the way. It’s always a good idea to keep these spaces closer to the main building free for the guests. I’m putting you in The Cove. That’s the name of the cottage. All the cabins and rooms have some sort of beach name. The Cove is one of the four cottages that have small kitchens and separate bedrooms. It’s really more like a small apartment. And it has a king-size bed.” He eyed me up and down. “Not that you’ll take up much room in it.” He chuckled and slipped a magnetic card into a slot above the door handle.
“Do all the rooms have that kind of lock?” I asked.
“Yep. You were worried when you saw all those old-fashioned keys hanging behind the registration desk weren’t you?”
“Maybe just a little.” I smiled and walked through the door he held open for me.
“No need to worry. Those keys were the original room keys way back when. When all the locks were changed in the mid-seventies, my mother decided to add the old keys into the décor. They’ve been hanging there ever since. And then, about twenty years ago, once we entered the computer age, a lot of things around here changed. This hotel has been in my family since eighteen sixty-eight. Built by my great-great-grandfather.”
I looked around the spacious cottage. The living room had a spectacular view of the rocky coastline through arched windows, and the adjacent other wall housed double French doors that led outside to an adorable patio, complete with a round iron table, two chairs, and a chaise. A small but adequate kitchen took up the inside wall closest to the door. The countertop was white tile, and other than a picture of a boat on the wall, there was nothing in the room that would give one the sense of being in or near a cove like the room name suggested.
“You should find most things you need in the kitchen as far as dishes, utensils, pots and pans and condiments for preparing simple meals, but if you want to do any fancy cooking, then I’m afraid you’ll have to get what you need from the store. You’ll have to stock the refrigerator yourself, though the food you eat at the restaurant is complimentary. It’s always good to get the opinions of the employees. It’s sort of like the quality control aspect of the job. As manager, you’ll want to know how the food tastes. The bedroom is right through there.” He set the bags down and pointed through the open door. “I’ll leave these all here and let you get settled.”
“This is wonderful. More than I expected. Thank you.”
“Only the best for the manager.” He winked and handed me the key card. “Make yourself at home, and feel free to explore. There’s a wide pathway that will take you down to the beach. You still have a few hours before the restaurant opens for dinner.” He walked out of the cottage and shut the door.
I strolled into the bedroom. A beautiful, antique, five-piece bedroom set gave the room a very intimate and romantic ambiance. I fell in love with it instantly.
I wanted to squeal with glee at my luck in landing this job. I twirled around and sank back on the bed with my arms stretched out on each side of me. Even the bed was perfectly comfortable. And the duvet cover on the thick, feathery comforter was cheery and bright with yellows, greens, and a sprinkle of pale orange. All so natural and soft. After reveling in the softness of the bed, I got up to check out the bathroom. It wasn’t anything spectacular. Just ordinary, but it had a tub and shower, and the sink had plenty of drawers to store my hairdryer and curling iron as well as makeup and other essentials. I ventured back out into the living room and headed to the French doors leading outside and stepped out onto the small, quaint patio. This was just too much, and I couldn’t contain the grin. I had my own patio, with a view of the ocean. A small pathway leading down toward the water begged me to explore it. I glanced back at the doors hanging wide open, so I went to them and tugged them closed. I wasn’t sure if it was safe to leave them unlocked but decided to take a chance and just pulled them closed. I’d only be gone for a few minutes. I headed down the trail, taking in the fresh scent of the ocean. The wonderful smell evoked thoughts of Leo, and I wondered where he was. I knew he’d grown up somewhere on the west coast and it would probably be safe to assume that he still lived there. But I had no idea where since the coastline spanned three states and covered over two thousand miles. I sighed as I began the hike down to the beach that turned out to be shorter than I’d thought. It was mid-August, and the sun was still high and kissed my cheeks with its warm rays. I pulled my long, dark hair up and twirled it around, tucking the end inside and securing it with a hair tie I had in my pocket. The salty ocean breeze tickled my neck, and a soft sigh of tranquility escaped me. This had to be the best decision of my entire life, next to going to Bora Bora. I walked along the water’s edge, giving my legs some much-needed exercise. I’d spent a good portion of the day in the seat of a car, and I had a fleeting thought that I should go back up the trail to my cottage and grab some running shoes, but instead, I just kicked off my flip-flops and jogged until I couldn’t go any farther without going into the water and swim around the rocks that jutted out to sea. I turned around and ran back. It felt amazing to run along the edge as the waves broke, and foamy water flowed up the sand and sometimes over my feet. It was a bit brisk but tolerable. I decided right then to make jogging along the water my daily exercise routine.
After my short but exhilarating run, I hiked back up the hill and back to my cottage. I went to the kitchen, pleased to see it was fully stocked with dishes and utensils just as Mr. D’Amoré had said. I was thirsty from my jog, and I opened the fridge for a drink, but it was empty. Then I remembered him saying that I would need to stock that myself. That made sense, though. I didn’t expect them to provide food and drinks for me. I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with tap water. It wasn’t the best tasting water, but it was cold and quenched my thirst.
Note to self: go to the grocery store tomorrow. I jotted down some items I thought I might need and then spent the next hour unpacking and organizing my stuff in the bathroom.
After having driven most of the day, all I really wanted to do was go to bed and read a little before falling asleep. I had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be a busy day. But I needed to get some food in me because I’d never be able to sleep on an empty stomach. Plus, it would give me a good idea of just how the food was. No better time to jump into the role of manager than
the present. I took a quick shower and then shrugged into a pair of loose, white-and-grey-striped palazzo pants and a black, crisscrossed-back tank top with a built-in bra. Normally, I would have put on a strapless bra, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do that, feeling as tired as I was. My breasts weren’t huge, and the built-in pads in the tank top would work just fine.
I grabbed a lightweight, black sweater from the closet and shrugged into to it then headed down to the restaurant. The establishment that I would be managing. A frisson of nervous anxiety shot down my spine.
Chapter Nine
I was hungry, but nervous about walking into the restaurant. Had Mr. D’Amoré briefed the employees on my position as the new manager? Would they welcome me, or hate me because I would be their new boss? No one knew me yet, and I secretly hoped that maybe I could just sneak in and not be noticed. Just pretend that I was a regular, normal customer with no interest other than eating. Truly, that was really all I wanted at that moment. But then I remembered that Mr. D’Amoré had said he reserved a table for me.
The restaurant was quiet with not many patrons. A reservation wouldn’t have been necessary. I frowned and looked at the time on my phone. It was six thirty. I would have thought that more people would be dining. I only saw two other couples. Though it was Wednesday, the middle of the week. I hoped that things would be busier come Friday and Saturday. If I were going to manage the place, I wanted it to do well. As the small amount of anxiety rolled off my shoulders, it was immediately replaced by a feeling of confidence in my skill and a desire to succeed.
The décor in the restaurant was pleasant, though it could certainly use some sprucing up. The tables were square, and the wood was stained a dark mahogany brown. The gold, fabric-covered chairs at each table looked comfortable with high backs and dark red trim running down the edges of the back and along the seat.
Broken Wide Open: A Stand-Alone Romance Page 7