Gulf Coast Wedding by Maggie Miller

Chapter Twenty-four

Fresh from helping Mia load all of the Beach Bloom flowers into the back of her car, Georgia headed into the kitchen.

She poured herself another cup of coffee as an odd thought popped into her head. Lavinia. Georgia couldn’t help but wonder how the woman was doing today. How she was coping with the loss of the council seat she’d held for years. If there was anything Lavinia loved, it was power. She’d no longer have her position to hold over people. Georgia couldn’t help but think it had to be a blow.

Or had Lavinia been prepared? It was so hard to guess anything with that woman.

Didn’t stop Georgia from feeling sorry for her. It was impossible not to, even though everything that had happened to Lavinia was the consequences of her own actions.

From her feud with Norma to the loss of her council seat. All of it could have been prevented. Even the situation with Sam and Clayton.

Shaking her head, Georgia took her coffee back to the little office hidden under the stairs. She paused to check on Chloe in her Pack-n-Play, then looked out toward the paddleboard shed, where Griffin was working on organizing everything and figuring out what signage he needed. Beautiful day for working outside, too.

She continued on to the office. It was such a cozy spot, tucked away from everything. She could see why Norma had liked the secret little room so much.

Although calling it a room was being generous. The bedroom closet was bigger.

But there was something deeply fulfilling about using the same office Norma had. Especially to do the same work Norma had done. The work of running the inn.

That just felt right.

Georgia had her laptop set up in there now, and the cordless phone was always with her. Especially since it rang so much these days. Sometimes because people were calling to make reservations, but sometimes it was a supplier calling, or cold call from a business looking to sell her something.

Occasionally, Clyde came in to see how things were going. Mostly he’d wind around her legs, maybe give a little meow. Usually, it was his way of telling her the current food supply was insufficient. Sometimes, he just wanted attention from her if Mia wasn’t around.

At the moment, he was sleeping in a sunbeam in the living room. Bonnie was in with the kittens, as usual.

Georgia sipped her coffee, then put it down on a coaster and went back to her To Do list for the day. At the top of that list was to inventory the linens.

Mia, with Lilly’s support, was pushing for hiring a linen service. She thought it was just going to be overwhelming dealing with sheets and towels and didn’t think they had enough. Georgia wasn’t completely opposed to hiring a service, she knew Norma had used one. But Georgia just wasn’t sure it was something they needed to do immediately. Also, in the beginning months, the weather was going to be too chilly for people to need beach towels, so that would cut down on some of the laundry.

Not to mention, they’d just spent money on new linens.

Despite all that, she could see the usefulness of turning the laundry over to a service. She wasn’t going to make a final decision until she’d talked to Summer about it first.

Since Summer would be their only housekeeper, the bulk of the laundry responsibility would fall on her.

Georgia checked her watch, then had another sip of coffee. Summer should be here any minute.

If Summer didn’t think she could handle the cleaning and the laundry, then they’d have to get a service. Or Georgia could hire a second housekeeper, something she hadn’t planned to do right away. Georgia and Mia could help, obviously, but Georgia also didn’t want to chain them to a task that might make them too busy to take care of their guests properly.

The guests came first.

She glanced at the paperwork Mia had given her with the laundry service information. It was a tough decision to make. One that might have been easier if the bank account was a little more robust, but she’d been paying salaries without any income for a while now. Nothing, not even Aunt Norma’s generous inheritance, could be expected to last forever.

The front door opened, and a voice rang out. “Georgia, it’s Summer. I’m here.”

Georgia picked up her coffee and walked around to the hall that ran from the foyer to the breakfast room. “Hi, Summer. Thanks for coming by.”

“No problem. What can I do for you?”

“First, can I get you some coffee?”

“Nah, I’m more of a tea drinker.”

“Well, we have that too. Come on, let’s get you a cup then we’ll sit and talk.”

Summer looked a little worried all of a sudden. “I’m not being fired, am I?”

Georgia laughed. “I just hired you!”

She shrugged. “I know, but…”

“You’re not being fired. I just want to go over some of your responsibilities and talk to you about what you can handle.”

“Oh. Okay.” With a smile she joined Georgia on the way into the kitchen. “How did the photoshoot go yesterday?”

“I think it went great. Lilly thinks so too. Your sculptures were in a lot of the pictures. Of course, we have no way of knowing what shots will actually be used until the magazine comes out, but it seems pretty likely to me that at least one will have your art in it.”

Summer let out a little squeal. “That is so exciting! I can’t thank you enough for giving me that opportunity. And for letting me showcase some pieces here at the inn.”

Georgia got the tea caddy down. “You’re welcome. I’m really happy to do it. I love the idea of having local art in this space. And having it for sale helps us both. Not to mention, it’s a great way for guests to bring home a meaningful souvenir. I’d actually love to find a few more local artists to do the same thing with.”

“Yeah?” Summer’s eyes lit up as she selected a bag of orange tea. “I have a couple of friends I could talk to. One paints and one’s a potter. Both are really good. Like, better than me good.”

Georgia laughed. “I don’t know, Summer. You’re pretty talented.”

She shrugged as she stuck a cup of water in the microwave to heat it up. “Sergio’s watercolors are pretty amazing. He tries to capture a lot of the sunsets, but he does all kinds of stuff. Seabirds. Shells. Even some of the beach wildflowers. And Reggie’s pottery is like next level. She makes these mermaid bowls that are just crazy cool. And a lot of stuff with shells. She’s got a whole sea life thing she does.”

“They both sound really good. Can you have them call me? Or email me some pictures of their art?”

The microwave dinged. Summer got her cup out and dunked the tea bag in. She added a heaping spoonful of sugar next and gave it a stir. “Totally. I’ll do it today.”

“Perfect.” Georgia topped off her coffee. “How about we go out to the breakfast room?”

“Sure.”

Georgia went out and took a seat at one of the tables. Summer settled in across from her. The tea smelled really good, and made Georgia think of Coffee’s orange cinnamon rolls.

Summer gave the tea another stir. “So what’s on your mind?”

“Laundry.” Georgia laughed softly. “Namely whether or not to hire a linen service right away. A lot of that depends on what you think you can handle in terms of the extra work.”

Summer took a breath before answering. “Are we talking a full inn? With people who expect clean sheets and fresh towels every day? Because that definitely seems like more than a one-person job. Six beds? Six bathrooms? Plus you’d still need to do your personal stuff. Not sure I can swing that. Oh, plus beach towels, right?”

“Right.” Georgia sighed. “It’s a lot, isn’t it? Although part of the new policies that Mia’s been working on is sheets are only changed every other day unless a guest requests otherwise. Still, I’m not sure that’s much of a help.”

“What if you hired someone just to do laundry? I mean, I can still handle the coverlets. Those only get washed between guests so that’s not as big of a job.”

Georgia glanced toward the gulf and the calming blue water. “Maybe I should just get the service. Then we’d have fresh linens delivered every day and the old stuff picked up. It’s probably the easiest.”

“But it costs more, doesn’t it?”

“It’s not free, that’s for sure. But they do have very nice linens, according to Mia. And making sure we have good quality sheets and towels is important.”

Summer nodded before sipping her tea. “Nothing worse than staying at a nice place only to find out the linens are thin and scratchy.”

“Absolutely.” Georgia smiled. “Thank you for talking this out with me. I guess I needed to hear what a big job it was. I kept telling myself it was doable, and while that might still be true, I think you’re right that I’d have to hire someone to just do laundry. At that point, I’m not sure the linen service is really such an expense.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t have better answers for you.”

“Don’t be,” Georgia said. “I appreciate your honesty. And I always will.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s always something, though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Nothing for you to be sorry about. I just feel like I wasted money buying all those new sheets and towels.”

Summer shrugged. “Won’t you be renting out the cottage soon? After Lilly moves into her new place?”

If Griffin had also found a place, yes. “Sometime in the near future, yes.”

“Then save the new stuff for the cottage. By then you’ll probably have a second housekeeper anyway and between the two of us, we’ll be able to handle that bit of laundry.”

“That’s a great idea. Thank you.” Georgia picked up her coffee. “And thanks for coming by. Don’t forget to send me your artist friends’ information.”

Summer took another big sip of her tea, then got up. “I will as soon as I get home. They’ll be thrilled.”

Coffee in hand, Georgia watched Summer head out, then went back to the little office under the stairs to call the linen company and set up the new service. Once again, Mia had been right.

Georgia was glad she had such a smart daughter.

She just wished she had a bigger bank account.