Page 26 of A Room By the Sea

“All right,” Audrey said, setting down her bowl when she’d finished her ice cream. “Let’s take a look at that checklist, Mom. I’m itching to know how much we have left on our to-do list before we can have our grand opening for The Birchwood House.”

“Oh, good idea,” Elaine said, standing up and going over to her desk, which was an antique bureau resting in a corner of the parlor. She kept their official to-do list there, since she preferred to make lists with paper rather than her smartphone, like Audrey and Michelle. She picked up the list almost lovingly and carried it back over to her seat with a pen. To her, it represented all of the teamwork and fun times that she’d shared with her daughter and granddaughter as they were getting the mansion ready. “All right,” she said, adjusting the way she was holding the list so that she could see it all right without her reading glasses. “First thing on the list, clean out all of the bedrooms.”

“Done!” Audrey and Michelle chorused excitedly and then gave each other a high five.

Elaine laughed. Although they’d finished the majority of the cleaning weeks ago, there were still things here and there that had needed to be done in most of the rooms. Knowing that each of the bedrooms was formally clean enough for guests was a relief indeed.

“Decorate each of the bedrooms,” Elaine said.

“Done!”

“Fill the cupboards and/or shelves in all of the bathrooms with extra towels, toilet paper and back-up soaps.”

“Not done,” Michelle said. “We still need more toilet paper and bars of soap. I’m determined to stick with my scent theme for every room.”

Elaine chuckled. “Sounds good. And that’s an easy fix anyway. Next item is, prepare toiletry welcome baskets for every room.”

“Done,” Audrey said proudly. “I just finished the last one this morning. It’s got a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, hand lotion, a little box of mints, and some other toiletry items people might need.”

“Those baskets are going to be such a nice touch,” Elaine said warmly. “Great idea, Audrey.”

“Thanks.” Audrey grinned. “Nothing worse than showing up to your hotel and realizing you forgot your toothbrush.”

They continued to talk through the list. Most of the items had been completed, although there were a few tasks—some tangible, like buying new doormats for the back door and side entrance, and others that were digital tasks such as updating the Instagram account and running a new marketing ad campaign—that were still in need of completion.

“There,” Elaine said, crossing off the final item on their to-do list and sitting back with a sigh of satisfaction. “We’re very nearly ready for our grand opening. Oh! And I have a surprise for you girls.” She smiled gleefully. “I didn’t put it on the to-do list, because I didn’t want you to be disappointed if it didn’t work out, but I went to Shep’s bakery, and he’s officially agreed to be business partners with us.” She clapped her hands together, feeling triumphant. “The first time he’s going to supply us with pastries will be at the grand opening. He gave me a form to fill out, and I told him I’d bring it home so that the three of us can decide together on what to order for the opening.”

Audrey’s eyebrows were lifted in surprise. “Wow, Mom. Good job—I mean, I know we talked about this, but honestly, I’m floored. Getting Shep to agree to be business partners so quickly must have taken some doing. Shep is quite the curmudgeon.”

Elaine’s eyes glittered. “Well, it did take more than one meeting.”

“I’m surprised he agreed to meet with you at all,” Michelle said, popping the last spoonful of her sundae into her mouth. “He’s basically a hermit, I’d say.”

Elaine shrugged, feeling a little impish. “When you want someone to listen, sometimes you need to march right into their kitchen and tell them what’s what. And that’s exactly what I did.”

Michelle’s jaw dropped and Audrey blinked at her mother in shock.

“You what?”

“Mom, honestly?”

Michelle and Audrey turned to each other and burst into laughter. Elaine laughed along with them, remembering the look on Shep’s face when she’d first stepped into his kitchen.

“He was surprised, that’s for sure.” Elaine ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t think anyone’s ever done anything like that before. It’s not something I would have thought twice about if it wasn’t Shep, but I had a suspicion that he wouldn’t agree to meet with me if I tried to set up a meeting with him. He’s famous for making up excuses to avoid any kind of social interaction. So I figured the best course of action was to just barge in on him and outline what a great deal we’re offering him before he had a chance to say no.”

Audrey shook her head, still laughing. “I never would have had the nerve. Weren’t you worried he was going to get mad and just totally refuse to see you?”

Elaine shook her head. “I know Shep pretty well. Underneath that grumpy bear exterior beats a heart of gold. Besides, I think he’s got a bit of a soft spot for me. I wasn’t worried about him getting upset with me—at least, nothing a little charm wouldn’t cure.”

“Grandma, you are something else,” Michelle said, shaking her head and looking impressed.

“Thank you,” Elaine said, grinning.

“I need to hear all of the details,” Audrey said. “Did you actually just walk right into his kitchen?”

“I did.” Elaine felt amused by the recollection. “I talked with Iris first, and she tried to get me to just talk to her instead. She seemed pretty protective of his solitude, which I thought was sweet.”

“She’s his guard dog,” Michelle said dryly. “A very pretty human guard dog.”