Page 4 of Wish I Might
Gwen wrinkled her nose.“Ugh.”
Well accustomed to Gwen’s opinion on her favorite indulgent treat, Bailey just smiled.“Get an extra side of fries, too.”
“Cake, champagne, club sandwich, oysters, and two orders of fries,” Gwen recited and headed out of the room.
“Don’t forget the hot sauce!”Bailey called after her, then looked at Chloe.“She knows there’s a phone in here, right?”
Chloe rolled her shoulders in a shrug.“She’s in a mood.Let her have a minute to herself.”
Bailey frowned.“Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know.If there is, she’s not saying.It’s not work,” Chloe went on, crossing her feet at the ankles.“I’d know if anything was off there.”
That was probably true.While they didn’t technically work together, Chloe was the sometimes bartender at the pub and restaurant where Gwen was the head server and de facto assistant manager.Owned by Chloe’s Aunt Mo and her wife Carrie, The Wild Clover had expanded six months ago to include a restaurant, and they’d wooed Gwen away from her waitress job at Braxton, Ohio’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, to run it.If something was wrong at work, Mo and Carrie would know.And if Mo and Carrie knew, so would Chloe.
“Is she seeing anyone?”
“Don’t think so.”Chloe’s eyes met Bailey’s, concern in their summer-blue depths.“She did mention her mom wants to come for a visit.”
Bailey winced.Gwen’s mother lived in Florida, which was healthier for everyone involved, and rarely made the trip north.But when she did… “That would do it.When?”
“Sometime this summer.She didn’t say exactly.”
“Well, when Bonnie gets here, we’ll run interference.In fact…”
“What?”Chloe prompted.
“What if we got her a room here?”Bailey asked.
“Here, at The Mark?”
“Half the reason these visits are so tense is because Bonnie insists on staying with Gwen, and then they’re practically on top of each other.If we put her up in the hotel, at least Gwen would have some breathing room.”
“It’s not a bad idea, but she’ll be in town for a week, maybe more.The cost of that, even if we split it…” Chloe trailed off, then shook her head.“I don’t think I could swing it.”
“Yeah.”It would be a stretch for her, too, Bailey realized.“I can ask Jenna.”
Chloe looked blank, then Bailey saw the name land.“Jenna, your ex-client?The one who gets us this suite?”
“It’s worth an ask, right?”
Chloe looked uncomfortable.“Maybe.I know she’s grateful to you, but she’s already giving us a lot.”
Bailey couldn’t disagree.The suite they currently occupied was the best the hotel had to offer, a gesture of appreciation for the help Bailey had provided when Jenna was trying to escape an abusive marriage.The husband had ended up in prison, Jenna had ended up with most of his assets—including part ownership of The Mark—and Bailey, Chloe and Gwen had ended up with a high-end hotel suite for their traditional birthday-eve sleepovers.
“We’ll figure something out,” Chloe said, pulling Bailey out of her thoughts, then Gwen walked into the room.
“All right, food is on the way, and I pulled the champagne out of the mini bar.”Gwen flopped across the foot of the bed.“What are we talking about?”
Bailey lied without hesitation.“Marissa hitting on me.”
“Who’s Marissa?”Gwen asked.
“The masseuse,” Chloe reminded her.
“She hit on you?”Curled on her side to face them, her head propped on her hand, Gwen frowned.“That’s wildly inappropriate.”
“It would be,” Bailey allowed.“And she didn’t really hit on me, not obviously.Let’s just say there was subtext.”
