Where the Boys Are by William J. Mann

Author:William J. Mann
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497667204
Publisher: Open Road Media

Memorial Day Weekend, Nirvana

Lloyd

It’s an awesome start to our first summer season. A beautiful warm day, the sky an unbroken umbrella of blue. In the harbor, dozens of white sailboats dot the turquoise bay, and the street is thronged with tourists. Ty is one of our guests for the weekend, surprising us by filling the house with the most fragrant white lilies I’ve ever smelled. He also left a single red rose on my pillow. If not for all the complications in my life, I might welcome his persistent advances. But as it is, I simply said good night and shook his hand when it was time to go to bed last night.

Now it’s Friday morning, and I’m sitting in our office, behind the front desk, going over the payroll account. We’ve hired three houseboys to help run the place. Believe me, we need them. Poaching eggs, flipping pancakes, washing linens, turning mattresses, changing sheets, and folding towels for four or five visitors each week was one thing. Doing it for ten to fifteen people per day is quite another.

We’re booked to capacity for the whole holiday weekend, and despite our NO VACANCY sign out front, bedraggled tourists still wander in, asking if we’ve had any cancellations.

I hear the bell on the front door tinkle; another forlorn lot of bad planners, I presume. “Just a minute,” I call.

“Take your time,” comes the reply.

I know the voice. I try to place it, then shake my head in disbelief. I walk out front.

“Innkeeping becomes you, Lloyd. You took great.”

Drake.

“Thanks,” I say, a little wary. Two cloth suitcases sit at his feet.

“I was thrilled that you had a room available at the last minute,” he says, leaning in over the counter. “My lucky day.”

“Drake, I’m afraid to say your luck has run out. I don’t have a reservation for you, and we are completely full.”

He smiles. “Not according to your partner, you aren’t.”

I frown. “Eva? When did you talk to her?”

“A couple of days ago. At first, she told me you were booked, but then I reminded her how we’d met at the opening party, and she suddenly said there was a room.” He smiles. “It’s a beautiful day out there, Lloyd. Maybe I can persuade you to take a break and join me on my boat?” His eyes twinkle. “Did I mention I bought a boat?”

“No,” I say. “You didn’t mention that.” I hold up my hand to him. “Wait a second, okay?” I pick up the phone and press Eva’s extension. She answers cheerily. “Eva,” I ask, keeping my voice level, “could you come down to the front desk, please?”

I hang up and look over at Drake. “I’m being up front with you here, Drake. I don’t know why she said we had a room. We just don’t. We’ve been booked solid for months, and there have been no cancellations.”

He shrugs, seeming so fucking cocky in the belief that I’ll be eventually proven wrong. Eva comes down the stairs. When she spots Drake, she beams, rushing over to embrace him tightly.

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.