Renee had loved the resort as a child. She would beg her parents to let them stay an extra week each summer and bawl when it was time to go home. She specifically remembered Celia calming her as they loaded up the cars to leave.
“Honey,” she’d say, “you can come back here next summer. You can come back every summer. And you wanna know a secret? Just between you and me?”
Renee would paw the tears from her eyes and look up at her larger-than-life aunt, in awe. “Yes!”
Celia would lean down, wink, and whisper only for Renee’s ears, “I always hate to leave, too.”
Renee knew, deep down, she needed to turn down the job offer. The job wasn’t right for her.
I can’t go back to corporate!
“I can’t go back to corporate!” she said aloud.
***
Before she could second guess herself any longer, she made the call.
“I truly appreciate your offer,” she thanked her would-be manager. “I realize it would be a great opportunity for someone . . . just not for me. My heart wouldn’t be in it.”
After she hung up, Renee bolted to the bathroom, afraid she was going to lose her breakfast. Oh God, what did I do?! She may have just thumbed her nose up at financial stability for her and her kids.
After the initial shock at her own audacity passed, Renee felt a strange sense of peace settle over her.
***
She called her dad.
“Good for you, Renee. That was a gutsy move, but I think it was the right one.” George gave his daughter the reaction she needed to hear.
“I’m glad you agree, Dad. I may regret this someday, but today, it feels like the answer. I need something different . . . and flipping from a corporate job to getting an old, decrepit resort up and running . . . that’s about as drastic of a change as you can get!”
“Our visit out to Whispering Pines has really got me thinking, too,” George confessed. “Haven’t been sleeping much. My mind spins. Weird dreams, too, like you wouldn’t believe. I got lots of ideas, if you want to hear ’em.”
The old place even invaded Dad’s dreams!
“I would love to,” she said. “Can you come up this week? We could brainstorm.”
***
George made the trip to Renee’s on Thursday. He brought their binder of ideas. They spent eight hours discussing options. They came up with a list of questions for the lawyer and made an appointment with him the following week.
This was happening.
Renee wanted to get the cabins back into decent condition so she could rent some of them out this summer. “We don’t have to renovate all of them right away,” she told her dad. “Celia gave me a little cushion with the reserve fund.”
“Have you ever considered living at the resort? At least in the summer?” George asked, closely watching Renee to gauge her response.
She initially snorted at the idea. There is no way in hell the kids would go for that! But was that true? Why couldn’t she at least talk with Robbie and Julie about the possibility?
“I know it sounds crazy,” George acknowledged, seeing it in his daughter’s expression. “You don’t have to decide on that right away. Talk to the kids. But in the meantime, I know I can convince your mother and brother and sisters to help get the resort in . . . at least . . . passable . . . shape. ‘Many hands,’ as the saying goes.”
“Dad, you know I hate asking for help.”
“Honey, this time you don’t have a choice. This is too big to do all on your own.”
Of course he’s right. Renee accepted, begrudging but grateful. This wasn’t something she could pull off alone.
As the sun set, George headed home. Together they agreed to enlist everyone’s help for Mother’s Day weekend. If logistics worked out, Renee had lots to do between now and then. First she had to convince Robbie and Julie this wasn’t a mistake. This would impact them, too, so it was important to her to get their support. Renee was afraid she might lose her nerve if the kids balked at her ideas. She thought through the pros, cons, and implications of what she was about to suggest before broaching the subject with either of them. When she felt as prepared as possible, she called Julie.
“Hi, Mom! Did you take the job?”
“No, hon, I turned it down.”
“Really?” Julie was quiet for a moment as that sank in. “I was sure you would take it. You are full of surprises, Mom.”
“Well, now that you mention it, Julie . . . I did want to talk to you about something else that might come as a surprise. Your grandfather and I have been talking.”
Julie’s voice sounded hesitant. “Yeah . . . ?”
“After my shock over the layoff, I vowed I would never again put our family in the position where our sole source of income was from a job working for someone else. If I accepted MNC’s offer, I would have been right back in that same, scary position. Julie, honey, I am tired of working for a huge company where I’m a tiny fish in a big pond, where I have no control over my income. They would dictate what I earn, when and where I work, if they still need me . . . the list goes on and on.”
“I know, Mom,” Julie said, and she sounded sincere. “I get it.”
Renee soldiered on. “Aunt Celia gave us an amazing opportunity by leaving me Whispering Pines. I want to build the resort back up into a viable business. I know Dad will help me, and so will Ethan. I want you and your brother to help, and I’m sure Mom and your aunts will help too. What do you think? You visited Whispering Pines with me over Easter, and you’re an adult. I respect your opinion. Do you think I’m crazy, or do you think we could make it work?”
“Um, yes and yes.” Julie’s voice came through the phone in emphatic bursts. “Yes, I think you’re crazy! Yes, I think we could make it work, too. Seriously, Mom, I loved the resort. Yeah, it’s pretty shabby right now, but there’s tons of potential. To be honest, I keep thinking about our visit and how fun it could be to be out there on hot summer days. Are you thinking we could actually start renting cabins this summer, like a real resort?”
With that enthusiastic opening from her daughter, Renee launched into some of her ideas and rough timelines. Julie was excited at the prospect of living at the lake. She was wrapping up her freshman year and looking forward to time with her mother. She even missed her brother. Unlike the summer before, when she spent all her time with friends, she was ready for a change. She didn’t have a summer job yet. The prospect of spending the upcoming summer working at a resort with family held plenty of appeal.
Promising to keep Julie updated on progress, Renee hung up . . . and braced herself for a similar discussion with her son.
Robbie is gonna be a harder sell than Julie. He hasn’t even been out to the resort yet.
***
His initial reaction was shock.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Mom . . . are you nuts? I have my whole summer planned. I’m gonna get a job somewhere, hang with the guys, and sleep.” Robbie was passing right through shock to outrage. And Renee didn’t have the advantage of receiving it on the other end of a phone line, like Julie—she was sitting with Robbie at the dining room table, face to face, and Robbie’s face was slowly turning redder as he let the anger out. “There is no frigging way I’m spending all summer at some resort where I don’t know anybody. No . . . way!”
“Honey, I think the only way we’re going to be able to keep the resort is if we actually live there this summer.”
That was the final straw. Robbie shut down. He refused to talk about it and stormed out of the room. He wouldn’t even look at her once she broke the news.
Well, that went well.
Renee quickly gave up hope they could have a civil conversation. She was more than a little frustrated at the silent treatment Robbie gave her, so she steered clear of him all afternoon. He said little at dinner and didn’t come out of his room all night. His revolt gave Renee a few qualms.
Am I doing the right thing here?
Am I being fair to
the kids?
***
In the morning, Robbie left for school without breakfast, muttering only that he was catching a ride.
Hoping kid number two would come around with time, and refusing to give up at the first bump in her plans, Renee spent her day putting things in motion. She had so much to learn. Initially, she was only concerned about the physical condition of Whispering Pines. She was quickly realizing there was so much more she would need to address beyond broken-down appliances and squirrels living in the lodge.
Plans were set to spend Mother’s Day weekend at the resort with her extended family. Together, they would start the initial clean up and get a better idea as to what needed to be done before they could open for business.
And, surprisingly, Renee found herself . . . excited.
I can’t wait to get back out there!
Chapter 40
Gift of Help
Renee was nervous about the weather forecast for Mother’s Day weekend. Predictions: rain, wind, and cold.
Great.
Julie had finished finals, so Renee drove up to help her move out of her dorm. Friday afternoon, Renee and Julie picked Robbie up from school. He was still mad about the move.
“Hey there, kiddo,” Renee greeted her son as he tossed his backpack in the backseat and plopped down behind Julie.
All she got in reply was a grunt.
Julie turned to partially face her brother. “Why don’t you quit being such a dick?”
Robbie flipped his sister off.
“Julie . . . Robbie . . . knock it off right now.” Renee didn’t want the kids screaming at each other before they even got out of the school parking lot; experience had taught her diversion helped, so she plowed ahead: “We’re going to meet everybody for an early supper. We can’t do much out at the resort tonight. It still gets dark early and the power isn’t on out there yet. We’ll probably just get settled at the hotel after we eat and relax some.”
Julie rolled her eyes at her brother but turned back around and ignored him for the rest of the trip. Renee glanced in the rear-view mirror; Robbie was sitting with a textbook in his lap, staring out at the passing scenery. Still not happy . . . but at least not fighting with his sister.
They were the last to arrive at the restaurant. Adults were at one table, kids at another.
“Hello, honey!” Lavonne rose to hug Renee. “This is going to be so fun.”
“I don’t know about fun, Mom, but I am excited,” Renee said, hugging her mother back. “You haven’t seen the mess out there yet.”
“Nothing this family can’t tackle,” her mother noted reassuringly.
“Hi everybody,” Renee greeted the rest of her family as she sat down next to Jess. Multiple conversations were happening at once.
Renee was just glad to be back in their midst.
***
The cousins got rowdy in the hotel pool, dunking and rough-housing. Likely annoying other guests, too. The adults relaxed in the small whirlpool.
“Here you go, guys.” Val approached carrying two red solo cups. Luke followed close behind her, precariously balancing four more. “Thought we could start the weekend off with a few margaritas.”
“Oh jeez, Val, you brought a friggin’ blender?” Renee said with a laugh, reaching for one of the glasses Luke was juggling before he dumped the whole stack in the hot tub.
“I didn’t think the whole weekend had to be all work and no play!”
“I like the way you think, sis,” Ethan piped in, grimacing a little at his first sip of the tangy cocktail.
Once everyone was sufficiently waterlogged—and alcohol-logged—they headed off to their rooms.
Renee was too excited to sleep.
A low rumble of thunder echoed off in the distance and a steady wind slapped cold rain against their hotel window. The promised weather had arrived.
We are so screwed if this keeps up, Renee thought with a grimace, punching her pillow and trying to relax.
***
Old lawn chairs set out between two massive logs—fashioned into rustic benches decades earlier—provided enough seating around the fire pit for everyone. Kids were relegated to the logs so adults could rest their sore, aching bodies in the chairs. The cool night air had a definite bite.
What a day, Renee reflected, scanning the tired faces ringing the pit.
Luke worked to get the fire started to chase away the chill. “Nathan, want to help me pull some of this crap off the burn pile and keep this blaze going?” he asked of his older nephew, relatively confident the teenager wouldn’t burn himself in the process.
“Lauren, your idea to stockpile all the musty old linens out here by the pit was genius,” Jess complimented her daughter. “It would’ve been awful to lug all this crap to the dump.”
“I know, right?” Lauren replied, happy to have contributed to the night’s festivities. “Tonight we can have a ceremonial ‘out with the old, in with the new’ party!”
“Hopefully I managed to save what might still be salvageable,” Lavonne added, grimacing at the massive pile. “I tucked a few old quilts and all the kitchen curtains in our trunk. Might be able to clean those up with a long, hot wash cycle and a thorough ironing. I hated to toss the drapes . . . those were so expensive back in the day. But the moths got to ’em first.”
“Hey, can we have some s’mores?” one of the kids hollered.
The other cousins quickly chimed in on the request.
“You guys devoured six whole pizzas half an hour ago! How can you be hungry?” George asked, incredulous.
But the kids wouldn’t be swayed. Val rummaged around in the picnic basket at her feet, found the marshmallows, and tossed two bags to Dave and Robbie to pass around.
“Come on, Gramps, you know it doesn’t matter if they’re full,” Val reminded her father with a laugh. “It wouldn’t be a proper campfire without s’mores.” She balanced graham-cracker sections and chocolate bars on her lap, waiting for the kids to toast the marshmallows. More than a few of the marshmallows fell off their sticks into the flames; the make-shift skewers sagged a bit.
“Mom, tell Noah to stop touching my stick! He made my mellow fall off!” Jake yelled, trying to shove his brother away and stumbling when Noah didn’t budge.
“Jesus, Jake, be careful!” Luke yelled, grabbing hold of his son’s jacket to yank him back away from the fire.
“All right, everybody, let’s settle down.” Lavonne eyed the group, paying special attention to Jake and Noah. “We made it this far without anyone getting hurt.”
“Speak for yourself, Mom.” Ethan winced in his chair as he tried to stretch out the kink that settled into his lower back anytime he had to maneuver himself into tight spaces. “Didn’t think we were ever gonna get that damn pump going. I think I tweaked my back trying to get it primed.”
Luke and Ethan had battled the water pump earlier in the day; after much debate, banging on pipes, and swearing, they were eventually rewarded with belches of air, followed by a slow, rusty stream of well water trickling from the faucet in the lodge kitchen.
Renee leaned over to clap Ethan on the shoulder. “But I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear that thing start to gurgle.”
“Between getting the water running and the electricity working through most of the resort, I would say those were probably our biggest wins today,” George pointed out. “Except for that blasted little cabin on the edge of the woods. I remember Celia used to have trouble with that cabin, too. Appliances always breaking down, roof leaking, and now we can’t get the power to work back there. Renee, you’re gonna have to get an electrician out here to look at it.”
“Tell me about it,” Robbie chimed in, rubbing his lower leg. “I smacked my shin wandering through that dark cabin, trying to find a light that’d work.”
Flames licked high into the sky and sparks showered down. Since everything was still wet from the spring thaw and last night’s rain, the sparks caused little concern. Nathan cont
inued to feed the flames from the burn pile.
The weather had turned out to be perfect for an early spring day. The rain pushed through sometime during the night, leaving messy puddles but clear skies. With help from the kids, they had cut away most of the dead vegetation in the flowerbeds and picked up the trash that had been strewn around. Jess taught them to be careful of the young green shoots popping up in places. The hardy little perennials promised a decent start for the beds surrounding the lodge and cabins.
During a pause in the conversation, Renee heard George chuckle.
“What’s so funny, Dad?” Renee asked.
“I was just remembering Jess’s scream when she discovered that little family of squirrels in the lodge, back during our first visit out here,” he replied, continuing to softly laugh at the memory.
“OK,” Jess replied, defending herself, “you have to admit that was freaky.”
“What squirrels, Grandpa?” Jake quickly inquired. “I didn’t see any squirrels. I like squirrels.”
“No, you didn’t see any squirrels, little buddy,” Ethan said. “They’d left by the time we got back this morning.” He’d peeked into the corner bathroom first thing, to check on their little band of critters. Relieved to see the squirrels had moved on, he’d quickly nailed a piece of plywood over the small broken window, high in the corner, and shut the door tightly. There was a mess in the sink and on the floor—he didn’t want any of the kids snooping around in there before it could be cleaned up. Given Jake’s interest, he’d been right to keep his nephew away.
Jake’s shoulders slumped upon learning he wasn’t going to get to see any squirrels up close.
Renee cleared her throat to catch everyone’s attention. “I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for your help today. We accomplished more than I could have hoped. I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay you.”
“Free lodging for a week or two . . . every summer . . . for life?” Val joked.
“You got it, sister!”
I wish I could help them, like they’re helping me, Renee thought, looking from Ethan, to Jess, to Val.
Whispering Pines (Celia's Gifts Book 1) Page 21