Eloise Sherman’s fingers flew over the keyboard as she tried to restore the reservation system at the Cliffside Inn. The constant ding of the bell at the front desk competed with the cheerful holiday music playing softly in the background, creating a cacophony that grated on her nerves. She glanced up from the computer, forcing a smile as yet another guest approached her desk with a question.
“The woman at the front desk said you could help us reset our pool key.” The man there looked hopeful, especially as he already wore his swim trunks and a rashguard. The woman at his side carried two towels, her sunglasses pushed up onto her head.
“Sure.” Eloise’s voice came out calm despite the growing tension in her shoulders. The keying software only worked at this desk, and she’d been waiting for the replacement for the front desk for a week now.
She quickly made the new key for the man and his wife, and as she handed the key back, she said, “Thank you for your patience.”
“Sure,” the man said easily. “This place is really great.”
Pride filled Eloise as she smiled and said, “Thank you. We appreciate that.”
They both smiled their way away from the desk and down the hall that led to the pool at the back of the inn. Eloise had kept it open last winter when she realized there were no other swimming pools available in Five Island Cove during the months of September through April.
Well, there was one at the Cliffside Inn, and her bookings had stayed consistent throughout the winter when they’d dropped in previous years. The pool got used plenty, and Eloise could justify the additional maintenance costs by the number of guests she had staying at the inn during the traditionally slower, non-touristy months.
Once they’d gone, Eloise returned her attention to the computer screen. The software for bookings had completed the update, and she clicked the button to launch it. “Please let this work,” she muttered. If her reservation software didn’t work, guests couldn’t make online bookings, and that was obviously a huge problem.
The site refreshed as it updated, and Eloise quickly navigated to an incognito window to try to make a reservation for her family coming to Five Island Cove in January.
When she made it all the way to the payment screen without an issue, she grinned and leaned back in her chair. Her rest and respite didn’t last long, as she quickly sat up again, clicking away from the problems at the Cliffside Inn and over to the spreadsheet she’d been working on for the personal trip to The Starlight Manor on Rocky Ridge.
Aaron had gotten time off, and around the holidays, that had taken a real miracle. The house could sleep fifty-four, and Eloise had been tasked with making room assignments for the Christmas getaway she and all of her friends and their families were taking this year.
She’d rented The Starlight Manor for twenty-three days, and she had a solid confirmation from everyone that they’d be there this weekend, and then again starting on December twenty-third and running through the twenty-sixth.
Others would be in and out, with a few people, including Eloise, going for all twenty-three days.
Why did I think I could manage this? she wondered as she took in the color-coded boxes with names and dates in them. Who takes a month-long vacation anyway?
But Eloise desperately needed time away from Cliffside. She wasn’t sure she wanted to spend all twenty-three of those days with Kristen, Robin, AJ, and Alice, but she’d told herself time and again that The Starlight Manor provided plenty of space for Eloise to be alone when she needed to be.
Plus, maybe she did need the strong bonds with her friends to feel like herself again.
She sighed, pushing a strand of long, dark hair behind her ear, and clicked over to the tab she kept open with the floor plan of The Starlight Manor.
Her worries eased instantly. One, Eloise loved floor plans, and two, she adored sprawling Victorian mansions. The one on Rocky Ridge had become a rental property about a decade ago, but no one in El’s friend group had ever stayed there.
Even Alice, who’d once owned a home on Rocky Ridge, and Maddy, who lived there now, had never been. The house sat high on the bluff, on eleven acres, without another house in sight. She needed a code to get past the gate, and a quiet excitement burned inside Eloise at the thought of being there tomorrow night.
There, and not here.
She and Kristen had first come up with this idea a few months ago, and Eloise had dedicated time to it every day since. She could just see cozy winter nights by the outdoor fire pit, laughter-filled dinners, and the chance to reconnect with her friends, with Aaron, Billie, and Grace, away from the demands of everyday life.
In the past week, however, Eloise felt like the details would drown her. Just pull her right under and choke the life out of her. From the various arrival times, to where couples would stay, when their children would be arriving and where they’d stay, could overwhelm anyone.
And then, meals had to be considered, as Rocky Ridge didn’t have a grocery store on it. A tiny little food mart was all, and Eloise had called them three times to find out when they stocked their shelves, what kinds of fresh produce and meat they carried, and if they got extra shipments during the holidays.
Barring another tsunami like they had a few years ago, there should be plenty of food for the party at The Starlight Manor and the regular residents of Rocky Ridge.
Eloise still planned to take a load of groceries with her tomorrow, and she’d shipped some muffin, cookie, and bread mixes from the inn here to the manor to arrive two days from now, on Saturday morning.
“El.”
She looked up at the sound of Maggie’s voice. She ran the front desk on weekday mornings, and Eloise had rejoiced the day she’d started, just this last spring. She’d cleaned up their digital filing system, and everyone who came to the inn seemed to like her. Making a good first impression with front desk staff went a long way with guests, and Eloise smiled at her.
“What’s up, Mags?”
“Room four needs extra towels, and housekeeping says they don’t have any.”
Eloise got to her feet. “That can’t be true.” Her laundry room hummed away twenty-four hours a day, it seemed, and a random Thursday morning—even if it was the week after Thanksgiving—wouldn’t exhaust their towel supply. “I’ll go check the laundry room and take them up.”
“I can do it if you get the towels.”
She opened the top drawer of her desk and reached into the back on the right side to get her keys. As she made her way from the front, public-facing part of the inn to the back facilities, she remembered that Goldie had not come in this morning.
“No wonder we don’t have towels.” Eloise groaned as she fitted the key in the lock and pushed her way into the laundry room. The towels collected from the room turnovers that day sat there, but since Goldie hadn’t come in, no one had started them.
Eloise got the job done, and she managed to find three clean towels hiding in a high cupboard next to one of the industrial dryers. She grabbed those, set an alarm on her phone to come back and switch the laundry, and took the towels out to Maggie.
She’d just finished that task when her phone rang. Robin’s name sat there, and Eloise wanted to swipe the call to voicemail. But that would only prompt Robin to try again, so she tapped on the call and lifted it to her ear. “Hey, Robin.”
“Heya, El,” Robin chirped, almost like the bird she was named after. “I wanted to run the meal plan by you for the first week at The Starlight Manor. I’ve got some great ideas, but I need to know about any dietary restrictions. Oh, and are we still planning that big welcome dinner for Saturday night?”
El’s head spun at the speed at which Robin spoke. She should be used to it by now—and she was. So she took a big breath and said, “Yes, to the big welcome dinner on Saturday night. Everyone is confirmed.” She could practically hear Robin’s pen make a scratching noise as she made a check-mark on her clipboard.
She planned weddings for a living, and Eloise could appreciate a woman who could manage so many details and a bridezilla. So the meal planning for the duration of the stay at The Starlight Manor had naturally fallen to Robin.
Kristen had suggested her, actually, and Eloise didn’t care who managed the meals as long as she didn’t have to.
She returned to her desk, where she sat each afternoon to be available for guests as they checked in and prepped for dinner. She worked here from three to five-thirty every afternoon, and most days, Billie and Grace did homework nearby or went to help Shirley in the kitchen.
Today, Aaron had picked up the girls from school and taken them home. They’d all join Eloise at The Starlight Manor tomorrow, and her joy started to rise again.
No one came over with another problem or question, and Eloise pulled out the physical binder she’d be taking home with her tonight. Color-coded tabs separated sections for accommodations, activities, meals, the Christmas gift exchange, and more. She flipped to the page detailing room assignments, one last thing to take care of before everything kicked off tomorrow.
She picked up her phone and dialed Alice, hoping she wasn’t with a client or on a call. Alice worked out of her home as a family rights lawyer, and she’d be spending a lot of the next twenty-three days working from the manor or not at all.
“What’s up, El?” she asked in lieu of hello, and she sounded cheerful enough.
“Hey.” Eloise tried not to sound too apologetic. “I had you and Arthur down for the Orion Suite, but, well, AJ requested a basement or first-floor room, and the only one that’s comparable to what she and Matt have now.”
“Okay,” Alice said slowly.
“They’re in the Andromeda Room,” Eloise said next. “And it’s almost the same exact room, but on the top floor.” She trapped her breath for a moment, and then pushed it all out. “Will that be a problem?” Eloise didn’t want to make Alice and Arthur start their vacation with disappointment.
“Does it have that charming little window seat?” Alice asked.
“Yep,” Eloise said with a grin. “It sure does. And it’s just as lovely, with bigger windows that overlook the ocean.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, El. We can climb the steps.”
“It won’t be as noisy up there, that’s for sure.”
“Then it sounds like I’m winning.” Alice laughed lightly, and Eloise wasn’t sure why she’d been so nervous. “Are you and Aaron and the girls still going tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Eloise said. “You and Arthur are taking the ferry after school tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Alice said. “And I can’t wait. I’ve rescheduled all my clients for next week to the week after, and I just want to walk on the cliffs, and go to the black sand beach, and do all my Christmas shopping online.”
Eloise laughed with her. “This sounds like the dream vacation.”
“Right?”
“See you tomorrow,” El said, and the call ended. She set down her phone, her gaze drifting to the framed photo on her desk. Her and Aaron from last Christmas, flanked by their girls as the four of them sat on a bench and put on ice skates. Everyone smiled—even Billie—cheeks rosy from the cold, eyes bright with laughter. She wanted the same thing this holiday. Not just a vacation that almost felt like a staycation, but a chance to make memories before Billie graduated and left Five Island Cove.
She still had a couple of years of high school left, but Eloise knew how fast time could pass, how much the things Billie owned would not matter. But memories lasted. Experiences mattered.
The phone on her desk rang, and that meant only one thing: someone from the kitchen needed her. Anyone else would simply come talk to her, and her friends and family would use her personal cell.
You chose this life, she told herself as she reached for the receiver. “This is Eloise,” she said in a crisp, professional voice.
“El, I’m so sorry,” Shirley said in a rush of words. Something beeped on her end of the line, like an oven timer going off that she couldn’t quite get to. Eloise shot a look toward the doorway halfway down the hall as she stood, but she couldn’t go help while holding the phone.
“But Alex called in sick, and I need some help in the kitchen.”
“Of course,” Eloise said smoothly. “I’m on my way.” She hung up and promptly strode over to the check-in desk. “Maggie, I have to go help in the kitchen, okay? If you need me, come get me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Maggie chirped, her fingers moving back to the keyboard, where she was setting up the auto-reminders for next weekend’s reservations.
Then, she turned to face the emergency in the kitchen, her heart beating like hummingbird wings in her throat. Of course. Because managing a fully-booked inn and planning a month-long vacation wasn’t enough, now she had to figure out how to cover an important staff absence.
She then allowed herself just one moment of frustration. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then slowly released it, imagining her stress flowing out with the exhale.
You’ve got this, Eloise.
She heard it in Aaron’s voice, as he’d ever been her champion since she’d returned to the cove and they’d reconnected. And when she went home tonight, she wouldn’t be back here at the inn for a while.
With renewed determination, Eloise opened her eyes, smoothed down her skirt, and ran a hand through her hair. She tucked The Starlight Manor binder into her take-home bag, promising herself she’d leaf through it leisurely tonight. Right now, her inn needed her full attention.
In the kitchen, Eloise donned an apron and moved to Shirley’s side. “Tell me what to do.” The beeping had been silenced, praise the heavens, and Eloise took in the myriad of prep bowls on the stainless steel counter. Her culinary skills were rusty, but she could take trays out of the oven, set timers, and follow directions.
Shirley placed a recipe in front of her. “Everything for this salad is prepped. I just need it put together and put in the fridge.” She indicated the enormous bowl down on the end of the counter. It sat empty, waiting for all the ingredients of the red pepper pasta salad, and Eloise nodded resolutely.
“Got it.” She read through the recipe quickly, then stepped down the counter to get the bowl. She added everything line by line, checking and double-checking before she emptied the three bottles of Italian dressing over the vegetables and pasta.
That done, she covered it with plastic wrap and opened the industrial-sized fridge to set it to chill. “Okay,” she said. “What next?” She turned and met Shirley’s eyes.
Shirley nodded to the door Eloise had come through, and she turned that way. “Aaron.” Relief and happiness filled her as quick as water rushing over steep cliffs, and Eloise moved straight into his arms. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Behind him, Billie and Grace bickered as they tried to enter the kitchen too. “Dad, you’re in the way,” Billie griped. She managed to squeeze past him, and she and Grace went to help Shirley.
Eloise stepped back and gazed at her husband. “I never texted you back,” she said, realizing it as the words came out.
“Thus, why we’re here.” Aaron grinned at her and held up a brown paper bag that could be holding anything. But somehow, Eloise knew he’d brought her favorite treat. “Do you have ten minutes to sneak away and take a break?”
She turned back to Shirley, who’d already set both Billie and Grace to work. Their eyes met, and Shirley nodded, clearly back in control now that she’d had some help with a salad and a couple of pairs of hands to keep assisting.
So she took the bag and said, “This better be that white chocolate raspberry cake,” before she led Aaron out of the kitchen and away from the front of the inn. She had a private office in the back for when she didn’t want to share her cake—or her husband.
“How are things here?” Aaron asked.
“Hectic.”
“So we’re ready for The Starlight Manor.”
Eloise pushed into her office and rounded the desk to take her seat. She sank into it with a sigh and smiled up at her husband as he followed her, crowding right into her space. He leaned down and took her face in his hands, a fascinating look of adoration on his face. “Yes,” she whispered. “We’re so ready for a vacation.”
Aaron’s mouth slipped into a slow, sexy smile. “And we have the Cassiopeia Suite, correct?”
“Correct, Officer.” Eloise grinned at her husband.
He touched his smile to hers, and Eloise simply loved kissing Aaron. He slowed the world to exactly the speed she needed it to be moving, and her love for him soared as he pulled back and said, “All right, then. Eat your cake, and let’s get back to the kitchen before someone burns it down.”
