Charlie was sure they didn’t need another person with new big ideas. His mother was a one-woman idea generator and all of them cost big bucks.
Everyone swiveled to look at Grace. She licked her lips nervously. “Well, as far as what I think…” She looked like she had no idea what to say. “Can I do it? Definitely. Would I enjoy it? I already have a few ideas. But I guess I should just… warn you. I don’t stick in one place for long, or at least, I haven’t.” She shrugged. “And my plan is to head back to Vegas as soon as I have enough saved up, so I’ll be leaving pretty soon.”
There was silence in the tiny office for a second or two before Willodean, Laura, and Randa started to laugh. Even Tony’s lips were twitching like the amusement was just bubbling up.
Grace glanced at Charlie and when he looked into her eyes, he felt the strange connection again, like out of all the people in the room, she actually understood him. He’d never experienced it before. Under the influence of that rush, he wanted her to say yes, so he dipped his head in a subtle nod. Then he had to ask himself what he was doing. “No” was the right answer. Getting her on a plane back to Vegas immediately was the best solution for Grace and his own plan, obviously. But there was something about her. When she looked at him, he wanted to say yes. He was afraid it didn’t matter what the question was. But since he’d spent his whole life saying yes to his mother even when he should say no, he had to be stronger here.
Willodean patted Grace’s hand. “Hon, if you only knew how many people have come here with no plans to stay. Tony’s been here the longest, but the day we met, he had the look of a man on the verge of falling off the edge of the earth. Now look at him, running the place. Laura came for a temporary job to make ends meet. Her husband-to-be came for a week to shoot a television show. Randa wanted to tear the place down. But once they move in, I can’t get ’em out. There’s something special about my Rock’n’Rolla Hotel. Even if you go, it draws you back. I’m willing to make a considerable bet that you won’t find it easy to leave.”
Willodean shook her finger. “How about this? You give me two weeks’ notice when you’re ready to leave, and we’ll call it even. We’ll work together so I’m ready when you go. There’s plenty to do, and a job like this won’t be too hard for someone to step in if needed. You can start… today, I guess, if you want to.”
Grace frowned like she was hardly convinced but straightened her shoulders like she would try to tackle anything. “All right, Willodean. You won’t be sorry.”
“Oh, honey, I know that. I got the magic touch, just you wait and see.” Everyone in the room laughed, even Charlie, and he was happy to see some of the color return to Grace’s face. Then Willodean slid off the desk, pointed to the computer, and said to Charlie, “I know you’re chomping at the bit. Go on, check your futures or prices or stocks or options or whatever.”
She grabbed Grace’s hand. “Charlie, I’ll expect you for dinner tonight. Seven o’clock. Don’t be late. The rest of you, go… do something fun. Not work. I’m gonna give our newest employee the grand tour.”
He watched his mother tow Grace toward the door, reluctant to let either of them leave. Protecting his mother had been his number one goal for a long time, but she made it hard. And Grace… maybe she wasn’t someone looking to take advantage of his mother, but he thought about following them out, just to keep an eye on things. Then he realized Randa, Laura, and Tony were watching him. So he moved behind his mother’s desk as ordered. Just before he sat, he looked up and Grace paused in the doorway. Her bright smile was accompanied by a wink, and he had to keep from smiling. She’d gotten exactly what she wanted. She’d won this round. And he didn’t even mind for some reason.
Then she was gone and the others were filing out. As he pulled up his e-mail program, he wondered how long he’d be able to resist checking up on the hotel’s newest employee.
GRACE FOLLOWED WILLODEAN and did her best to keep up as they went through all three floors of the hotel, the restaurant, the lobby, the small gym, and new space for the coming gift shop. Every inch of the hotel was dedicated to Elvis. Album artwork lined the hall of the first floor. The second floor was all about Memphis, and the third Hawaii. Gold carpet with black music notes, black-and-white photos, and an Elvis soundtrack spilling out of Viva Las Vegas made it clear the King of Rock and Roll was always number one at the Rock’n’Rolla Hotel.
She didn’t know much about Elvis, except that Tommy Joe could recite the names of all thirty-one of his movies and the concert specials in both alphabetical and year-of-release orders. But there was something about this hotel that felt like it was stuck in a time warp of the good old days but also that it was timeless, eternal.
Added on top of the hotel’s normal bright, fun décor was Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. Every corner had a Christmas tree and an animatronic Santa spent his days riding the elevator. Even the mess of renovation taking place to convert a meeting room into the new gift shop had a touch of holiday spirit. The display window was outlined in blinking multicolored lights, and the Coming Soon sign featured a red-nosed reindeer.
As Willodean bumped open the glass door to the pool area with one hip, Grace noticed a sprig of mistletoe above. Willodean was clearly excited by the idea of her own gift shop as she said, “Gonna have the finest Elvis memorabilia you can find anywhere as well as your standard refrigerator magnets and key chains in the new shop once it’s ready. Everybody tells me the end of February, but I got my heart set on the middle of January, so I guess we’ll have to see who’s right.” She winked at Grace. “I’ve been having the best time shopping for those, but I’m afraid once Charlie sees the bill for all my inventory, he’ll cut up my credit cards and close my checking account. Soul of an accountant, that boy, not an entrepreneur. And from such good genes, I just can’t understand it.”
A million questions popped up, but Grace wasn’t quite sure how to ask “Who is he?” without coming right out and saying it and that seemed rude. The very last thing she wanted to do was to offend the woman who’d given her a place to stay and a job, so Grace trailed Willodean around the pool and waited for her to unlock the door to the new building. “Apartment okay?”
When Grace nodded, Willodean did too. “Expect the neighbors with all their cooing might grate on your nerves.”
Grace smiled. “I’ve had much bigger worries. Plus, it’s nice to see them together.”
Willodean shook her head. “Just wait until KT gets here. Then it’s like Noah’s ark around here, and those of us who ain’t paired up gotta stick together so they don’t shove us out of the boat.” Willodean paused to think. “’Course, that makes me Noah, and I’m the one driving the boat. That ain’t too bad, I guess.” She wrinkled her nose. “Still might rather be paired off, though, don’t you know?”
Before this whole “settling down” plan, Grace hadn’t really thought much about it. She’d been happy on her own more often than she’d been happy in a relationship. But now, after the planning and the thinking and maybe even after her weird, instant connection to Charlie, she thought she knew what Willodean meant. Watching Randa and Tony had made her both uncomfortable and little envious.
Willodean flipped on lights as they entered the large open lobby. “Wedding chapel this way, but I expect you know that.” She pointed across the lobby to large glass doors. “New spa’s going there. ‘Taking Care of Business’ . . . it’s a good name, right?” Willodean looked over her shoulder, so Grace nodded dutifully but her reaction must have been disappointing. Then Willodean placed her hands on both hips. “I can’t believe it. TCB? Taking care of business? It was kinda Elvis’s motto.” She waited for a reaction, her eyebrows raised in question, so Grace shrugged.
Willodean threw her hands up. “Somehow I’ve picked up another person to feed who doesn’t know a thing about Elvis.”
Grace shifted one loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I know ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and a little of Viva Las Vegas . . .”
<
br /> Willodean huffed in disgust. “You’ll have to do better than that. It’s like I need to start a remedial Elvis course, make it part of the employee training.” She jabbed the elevator button and then stepped on. “You got some making up to do, but I bet you’ll get it done. If you need some movies, Laura’s daughter, Holly, has ’em all. I’ll introduce you. You have one of those iPod things, right? Download some music. It’ll help with planning Elvis events, and I’ve got a long list of entertainers who can help with big parties.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Grace followed her off the elevator and stepped out into a business-class version of the hotel. As they walked through six smaller meeting rooms, Grace read plaques that accompanied beautiful black-and-white prints of Tupelo, Sun Studio, Las Vegas, and Hawaii. The larger, multipurpose space that could seat 150 or be broken down into two rooms was done in tasteful grays with lots of photos of Elvis and Memphis landmarks. It was perfect for business meetings or receptions.
“What do you think?” Willodean looked anxious for her opinion. “I didn’t do this one myself. Hired a decorator instead, and Mike likes all this sophisticated stuff.” She held up her hands and made air quotes as she said, “‘Southern traditional’ he calls it. Thought it worked for conference rooms.”
Graced nodded. “I can see how this would work for all kinds of functions. Business meetings, family reunions, wedding receptions. With the right decorations, you can go serious or fun. I like it.”
Willodean motioned for her to follow. “Well, now, I’m glad you brought that up.” She shoved open another door at the end of the long hall, and a cavernous room with haphazard stacks of chairs and tables and very little else was lit by harsh overhead lights. “This ain’t much to work with, so we’re going to have to do some buying. We’ll need some standard decorations to help jazz up the place for our run-of-the-mill events and then you’ll work up budgets for the special, high-dollar events. You can do that, right?”
Grace had to be honest, even if the idea of shopping for parties filled her with the urge to laugh and clap her hands in excitement. “You know I’m not a decorator, right, Willodean? I’ve never done something like that, although I’ve lived on a budget for a long time. That part’s no problem.”
Willodean winked. “Well, now, the decorating ain’t too hard either. I’ve done that hotel more times’n I can count on one hand, and I haven’t read one decorating book in my life. It’s all Elvis. You remember that. I think it’s like working with neutrals. You just buy Elvis and it all goes together.”
Grace considered her philosophy as they walked back through the building. She thought she might even be able to work with it. And she couldn’t help it. She started to laugh.
Willodean’s eyebrows shot up, and she stopped next to a door nestled to the side of the elevator. “Too much stress?”
Grace threw her arms around Willodean’s neck and squeezed her tight. When Willodean returned the hug, Grace had to sniff back tears. “This is so much better than waiting tables or making beds. And I don’t mean to sound ungrateful because I appreciate a good job, no matter what kind, but I can’t even begin to say how happy this chance makes me. I’ve never done anything like this and I’m looking forward to learning something new.” She squeezed Willodean again and then stepped back to rub at her nose.
Willodean shook her head sadly. “Already you’re a goner, and I haven’t gotten you paired up. You’re the easiest one yet, Grace.”
Grace’s laugh was a little gurgly, and she waved her hands. “The job’s enough. I don’t need a spot on the ark.”
Willodean opened the door and said, “I had intended this to be an office someday. It’s all wired up and everything, got a computer and phone. It’s small, but I don’t expect you’ll spend a lot of time behind a desk.”
Grace sat in the cushy desk chair and gave it a whirl. “Me. With a desk, a phone, and a laptop. And all of them in Tennessee. My mother’s going to think it’s the apocalypse.”
Willodean crossed her arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “Been telling you for years to settle down and get a real job?”
Grace pulled open an empty drawer to avoid meeting Willodean’s gaze. “More like come home and then they’d find me a real job. I could pick. Secretary, clerk, bookkeeper, customer service… anything with a regular paycheck that would afford a mortgage in a nice-enough neighborhood.”
Willodean sighed. “I’ve known you less than two days, and I can see all over you that that won’t work.”
Grace managed to meet her stare that time. “Sure, but that might be because you want to.” She shrugged a shoulder. “They love me but… they don’t see me, you know?” She rolled her eyes. “How silly. I was the youngest of seven. I felt like they had a hard time remembering my name most days. Leave home, work twice as hard for half as much, just because you don’t fit in quite as well as you should. College and kids and bills and Christmas at home. I could have had that.”
Willodean pursed her lips. “Sure, sure. Lots of people do. And it makes them happy. Maybe that doesn’t make you happy, Grace, and honestly there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Grace nodded.
“What would you have given up? What’s the best story you can tell at dinner parties?”
Grace didn’t even have to think. “I once served drinks at this big shot agent’s holiday party and dumped a tray of shrimp cocktail on Mariah Carey.”
Willodean snorted. “Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, am I right?”
“I’m lucky they didn’t call the cops. But every now and then, I think about that, and no matter how things are going, I’m happy because I know if I ever run into Mariah again, she’ll remember me.”
She and Willodean looked at each other and then the guffaws started.
When they laughed themselves quiet again, Grace ran her hand over the desk. “This is going to be great, Willodean. I can do this. You won’t regret giving me the chance.”
Then Grace shook her head. “Why? Why are you giving me this chance? Waiting tables is one thing. This is a shot at something big. You don’t know much about me except that I’ve managed to leave or get fired from a really impressive list of places.” Grace told herself to shut up. Telling the boss to reconsider her employment was a terrible idea. But the honest, hard-working Andersen part of her couldn’t let it go. “On paper, Charlie was right to warn you away from me.”
Willodean studied her face and Grace fought the urge to squirm. “Well, now. Two things. I need help. I want this expansion to be a success, partly to prove Charlie wrong. If you can help there, you’re worth your weight in gold to me.” Her lips twitched. “But as far as choosing you goes, I have a lot of experience winning gambles on good people. I believe you’ll do the best you can, and honestly that’s all I can ask. You go when you’re ready. Otherwise, you do the best you can here.” She shrugged. “Simple as that. And if my Rock’n’Rolla Hotel gets a hold of you the way it has so many others, you’ll stay, have a career of your own. And either way, I’m right so I can’t hardly lose, can I?”
Grace had never felt this way before. Always, when she was presented with a new opportunity or a once-in-a-life chance to try something or even having to make the best choice between two bad options, she’d done it fearlessly because she knew it was only temporary. She could move right along if it didn’t work out, and if she let anybody down, they wouldn’t suffer long. Willodean seemed so certain that now that she was here, she’d never leave. But sometimes Grace felt like staying in one place for too long meant the end of something. She wasn’t sure what.
Even scary as it was to make a change like this, to decide to accept what might be a permanent place with responsibility, she needed a job. And she couldn’t deny the thrill of anticipation she felt, so she was just going to do the best she could while she was here. Just like Willodean said. Grace nodded. “I can do this.”
“Of course you can.” Willodean flipped off the light, and they stepped back outs
ide to ride the elevator down. Willodean shivered as she locked the door. “Might be the weatherman got it right this time. Think the temperature’s dropping. We may get snow before Christmas.” She wrapped an arm around Grace’s shoulder. “Hope you brought a coat.”
As they walked back into the hotel, Grace said, “Guess I’ll need to catch a ride somewhere so I can get one. My coat’s with all my other stuff, boxed up in Las Vegas, ready to be shipped to Atlanta. I didn’t come prepared to stay.”
“You just take my car over to the Wal-Mart. Get what you need today, then tomorrow you can start with an inventory.” Willodean paused. “Grace, I’m about to get in your business so bad that even I can’t believe I’m going to ask. You just tell me to shove off if you don’t want to answer.”
Grace took a deep breath. That wasn’t a setup she heard every day.
“Your groom… you don’t seem too brokenhearted. How long am I going to have to wait for you to be ready for my matches?”
Grace’s eyebrows rose. “Your matches? Like, dates?”
Willodean shrugged. “I got two hobbies. This hotel and matchmaking.” She patted Grace on the shoulder. “I think you’re my next project.”
Grace opened her mouth and closed it again, uncertain of what she’d meant to say or how in the world she might answer this. Finally, she said, “Well, I’m not brokenhearted. It was a match made out of practicality, I guess. He was rich. I wanted to be, and in exchange I was ready to work hard at being the wife he wanted. But I’m not great at picking the right man. Obviously.” She didn’t really care for the excited gleam in Willodean’s eyes. “Don’t you think that makes me a horrible person that I was ready to marry a man for his money?”
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