The Roche Hotel: Season One by Mysti Parker

Author:Mysti Parker
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: comedy romance, clean contemporary romance, hotel life, hotel ghost, comedy about relationships, clean comedy, romance comedy series, hotel love, clean and sweet romance, the roche hotel 1

Episode #7: McMuffins and Scooter Wrangling

At my fifteenth yawn after clocking out, I decide I’m too old for double shifts. I pull into Shady Serenity at 7:15AM, take a gulp of cheap gas station coffee, and burn my tongue. I’m fanning it with my hand, as if that’ll do any good, when my cell phone screen lights up. It says Henry in the caller ID.

Good morning, the blue bubble says. I had a great time last night. Let’s do it again soon—maybe with a movie on the side?

After I dished out all the dirty details—well, maybe not all of them—about me and Nick over our egg rolls last night, I’m surprised Henry’s not “lost” my phone number. Should I take that as a good sign? My tongue’s throbbing, and I stick it out while I text Henry back:

Sure. Whe-

I backspace and leave it at Sure. Anything beyond that might make me look too eager, and I’m anything but eager. I like Henry. He’s pleasant company. I certainly don’t dread seeing him, but it’s different than with Nick. I’m not skipping-through-a-field-of-wildflowers excited to see Henry. It’s more like being on the first ascent of a roller coaster. I think it might be a thrill ride once we breach the top, but then again the whole thing might derail into one catastrophic disaster.

As I step into the retirement home, Sandy’s laughing behind the reception desk. A man stands there with his back to me, laughing with her, but I know that messy bedhead.

“Hi, Jane!” Sandy calls out.

Henry turns around, still chuckling, and his eyes grow wide. “Wow, didn’t expect to see you here. Couldn’t wait, huh?”

My first instinct is to worry that he’s stalking me, followed closely by the thought that he’s flirting with Sandy. The only non-paranoid thing I can blurt out is: “My mom…breakfast.”

He holds up a McDonald’s bag. “Same here, except it’s my grandpa. He likes McMuffins.”

“Has he been here long?”

“About a month. I’m a terrible grandson,” he says with a shameful smile.

“No, you’re not. You brought him a McMuffin. I just eat the cafeteria food with Mom. What’s on the menu today, Sandy?”

“Oatmeal.” She leans close and whispers, “It’s more like spackling, but it’s not too bad with enough milk and butter.”

I laugh and look at Henry. “See? Now who’s bad?”

“I guess we’re even,” he says.

We walk down the East hall together.

“What’s wrong with your grandfather?” I ask.

“He had a stroke, but he’s getting better. The doc thinks he’ll be ready for assisted living soon.”

“Oh.”

“What about your mom?”

“Early onset dementia.” My voice cracks, knowing that she’ll never be able to live on her own, or even with me, again.

“That’s too bad.” He places a gentle hand on my back. “Would you two want to join Grandpa and me?”

“Sure, if Mom’s feeling OK.”

“Great. See ya soon.” He continues down the hall.

Luckily, Mom is in great spirits when I enter her room. Her hair is curled, and she’s even wearing a little makeup. She looks up from her word puzzle book and smiles.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.