Until Autumn Falls by Elana Johnson

Author:Elana Johnson [Johnson, Elana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cleis Press
Published: 2018-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Tripp didn’t know what to do about the chain hotel. He did know how to order sandwiches and potato chips and soda, so he did that. He and Hilary took their food to Polly’s table, and he ate his sandwich in minutes flat. Hilary did too, alerting Tripp that something wasn’t quite right. He tried to catch her eye, but she wouldn’t look at him.

He wasn’t sure what these people expected to hear from him. He had no idea what to do about a chain hotel. It sounded like the land had already been bought. The deal already done. And honestly, he didn’t think having more opportunities to house more tourists in town was necessarily bad.

But he didn’t own the bed and breakfast the way Steffanie Peterson did. Her father had owned it before her, and her grandmother before that. A big, new, hundred-room hotel would definitely take some business from her.

Redwood Bay also housed two other hotels, both locally owned under a franchise name. A larger, nicer, more name-brand hotel would make them suffer too. His mind spun during his five-minute dinner—the opposite of what he’d been hoping for tonight—and he came up with no solutions.

Still, precisely at five-thirty, he rose and made his way back to the head of the crowd. Lucy joined him, and Jared leaned against the wall to Tripp’s right. “Thanks for keeping us informed, Jewel.” He nodded to the woman. “I don’t have any answers right now. We don’t even know what kind of hotel it will be. Let’s hear your concerns. Hil, will you take notes?”

She leapt from the table and collected a notebook and a pen from Diana. “Ready,” she said.

“All right,” Tripp said. “Let’s hear the concerns.”

An hour later, Tripp regretted his decision to take notes on the concerns about a new hotel. Everyone had something to say. The restaurant owners worried that an on-site restaurant would diminish their business, especially if the hotel offered free breakfast as part of their amenities.

The bed and breakfast and other hotel owners voiced many worries, most of which Tripp had already thought of.

Others, like Mike Hays, argued that a bigger hotel would have a concierge that would make recommendations as to activities to do in and around Redwood Bay. He liked that, because it meant another advertising avenue.

Tripp saw his point. A brochure about his deep sea fishing expeditions could sit right on the front desk counter….

Polly said a bigger hotel would invite more weddings to the area, which would benefit her, and Millie, and everyone who sold food.

There were valid points on all sides, and Tripp left with his brain bursting with information. As he drove Hilary home, he said, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it anyway.”

“Maybe they just needed a sounding board.”

“People like to worry about what they can’t control.” He exhaled and pulled into her driveway. He got out and let her slide to the ground behind him. Distracted, he almost missed kissing her good night.

“You’re not going to sleep tonight, are you?” she asked.

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.