Page 42 of A Taste of Paradise

It seemed that they had no choice other than to wait for Shay Brady to vacate the room, which wouldn’t be for another week. Until Molly could locate the hiding spot, there was nothing either of them could realistically do other than keep an eye out for anything further untoward.

And for Erin to keep fighting fires at The Palms as they happened.

Upon checking guest registration details of the rooms affected by yesterday’s water leak, she’d discovered that one of the evacuated occupants was none other than the VIP influencer from the UK. A recent note from Grant on the reservation stressed that the bill for this particular guest’s stay should be complimentary, as per standard hotel policy for influencers. Which Erin vehemently disagreed with, but that was another story.

And all well and good except for the fact that there were three other rooms attached to the same reservation. This particular clothes horse, whoever she was, clearly had one helluva entourage …

The manager wasn’t intent on comping them all, surely?

Quickly looking up Naomi Sparks online, Erin saw that ‘SaturdaySparkles’ seemed like a pretty basic mid-range fashion account, with an equally middling following. There was nothing at all travel- or hotel-related in her content that warranted a free stay at The Palms.

Heck, Sparks had already been here almost a week, and hadn’t posted a single picture of the hotel even. Erin was also pretty confident that the woman in these images was indeed the one she’d had to divert from the pool the other day.

Regardless, she made a mental note to explore this so-called ‘standard’ policy with the general manager a little further. If the hotel was automatically giving free stays to every randomer who rocked up with an iPhone, then they’d be out of business in no time anyway.

But then Erin noticed something else in the reservation notes about an upcoming birthday celebration. Which made her recall those elaborate proposal plans she and Lily had talked about before, and which perhaps might better explain Grant’s generosity.

Even so, given the level of fuss, Erin had assumed that the guest involved was a VIP in the truest sense and the upcoming proposal a major affair – a huge viewer uplift that might prove equally so for the hotel’s reputation.

And now, as she stood outside Naomi Sparks’ room with a fruit basket and bottle of champagne by way of apology for yesterday’s inconvenience, if nothing else she was curious to see if her impressions were correct.

‘Guest services, hello?’

The door was opened by a dark-haired woman with a pleasant expression who looked exactly like the one Erin had been researching online.

‘Ms Sparks,’ she began politely, ‘Erin Howard, guest relations manager. I wanted to drop by personally to apologise for yesterday and to offer this small token from us all at The Palms to make up for the inconvenience.’ She went to hand over the basket, but when the woman looked confused, felt she needed to follow up. ‘The water leak? As a rule, we would never request that a guest leave their room except in case of exceptional circumstances and …’ The remainder of her sentence trailed off when all of a sudden a thought struck her, and as her brain raced ahead with the implications, Erin willed herself to refocus on the current task.

‘Oh, of course! I’d forgotten about that actually.’ Naomi Sparks smiled. ‘Truly no apology needed, these things happen, I’m sure. And no harm done. Please, come in,’ she said, ushering Erin inside. ‘Thank you so much for this, you are very kind.’

She took the basket and seemed to be looking for somewhere to set it down. A difficult task given all surfaces in the immediate area were strewn with various papers and folders, almost as bad as the Beaumonts, Erin noted.

What was it with people supposedly on vacation that they couldn’t leave the office behind?

‘Forgive the mess,’ the other woman said as if reading her mind. ‘Greg, my partner – he’s in the shower – had to take a lot of work with him on this stay, sadly. But we’re loving it here so far, and your hotel is truly amazing, thank you again.’

‘I’m really glad to hear that. And anything at all I can do to make it better, please do ask.’

‘Honestly, being here is enough. It’s a joy to be able to travel after the last few years. I’m here with family and it’s so special to be able to spend quality time with them, especially in such glorious surroundings.’ Naomi waved out to the view beyond the patio. ‘Makes you realise how much we take for granted really,’ she added wistfully, then turned back to Erin. ‘I’d imagine you’re all glad to be back to full occupation too? Or maybe you appreciated the break from us marauding tourists,’ she chuckled, and Erin was struck by how warm and self-deprecating she was.

Refreshingly so.

‘It’s wonderful to be fully back to normal yes, and while I’m not new to the hotel business, I am to St Lucia …’

The two chatted easily for a bit, Naomi even offering a coffee from the in-room espresso machine, and Erin felt heartened by how down to earth she was, to the point that now she felt inclined to want to comp this nice lady. This was no foot-stomping freeloading diva trying to capitalise on her online following; she was a genuinely appreciative guest who you could tell truly loved being here. The kind of visitor The Palms needed to nurture.

When Erin heard the shower water go off in the bathroom, she figured it was her cue to leave.

‘I’d better get back to it,’ she said, smiling at Naomi. ‘Apologies again for yesterday and the other day at the pool too,’ she added cringing a little at the memory. ‘I assure you, things are usually like clockwork here, but we’ve had a run of it lately.’ Then she paused and looked back. ‘To make up for it, management is very happy to offer you a complimentary stay. While we’d love to include your travel companions in that, I’m afraid …’

Naomi’s eyes widened, though not in delight but, Erin recognised, sheer embarrassment.

‘Goodness, no, you don’t need to consider doing something like that just for a couple of silly little hiccups. I wouldn’t dream of accepting, in any case.’ She smiled. ‘Honestly no need to apologise, I assure you everything’s perfect.’

‘As long as you’re certain …’ Erin smiled and turned toward the door, again inwardly praising Naomi’s appealing demeanour, when something on one of the loosely strewn documents nearby caught her eye.

A graphic she recognised, having seen it somewhere else recently. A logo of some kind? But she couldn’t immediately place it.

As she and Naomi said their goodbyes and she closed the door behind her, Erin’s mind was already on her next task and the brainwave she’d had on the way in.