For You, Forever

Emily smiled and stroked a finger along his firm jaw line. She murmured, “Hey.”

Just then, Amy coughed. Emily tore her gaze from Daniel and looked over her shoulder.

“Hi, Ames,” she added to her friend, rolling her eyes jovially.

It still felt unusual for Emily to have Amy so readily accessible. Her temporary move to Sunset Harbor had been wonderful for them both, bringing back the easy friendship they’d shared before Emily disappeared from New York City without telling her. And Amy’s organizational skills were certainly useful when it came to planning the logistics of Charlotte’s birth.

“I didn’t know you were coming over today,” Emily said to her friend.

“I just came to speak to Dan about the checklist,” Amy replied.

Emily took a seat opposite her, frowning with curiosity. “What checklist?”

“Of baby things,” Amy said in a tone that suggested it should have been obvious. “You need your night bag ready for the hospital, a plan for how to get there, where to park, who to call. We’ve written a communication hierarchy, where Dan calls me and I’m responsible for passing it on to Harry, Jayne, your mom, and Lois. Harry does the announcements for Sunset Harbor folk, Lois tells the rest of the staff at the inn, et cetera. Honestly, Emily, I’m shocked you haven’t gotten this stuff down yet.”

Emily laughed. “In my defense, I’m not due for three months!”

“You have to be prepared,” Amy said, knowingly. “If Charlotte felt like coming tomorrow, that’s a very real possibility.”

Chantelle’s eyes widened. “She could come tomorrow?” she asked, looking thrilled at the prospect. “I could have a sister tomorrow?”

Emily touched her stomach protectively, a nagging worry growing in the back of her mind. “I hope not.”

Daniel came and sat next to them. “Don’t give Emily nightmare scenarios to worry about,” he said to Amy. “And don’t get Chantelle’s hopes up, either. She’s desperate to meet her little sister.” He turned to Chantelle. “Charlotte will stay in Mom’s tummy until December. There’s only a very, very small chance she’ll come sooner than that.”

“So you mean she could come on my birthday?” Chantelle asked, grinning from ear to ear at the prospect.

Daniel laughed and shook his head. “Halloween and two birthdays?” he joked. “I don’t think so!”

“It would make it easy to remember,” Amy said with a chuckle.

Just then the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Emily said, wanting a distraction from the thought of Baby Charlotte being born prematurely.

Out in the foyer, the inn was a flurry of activity. The busy summer period was over but there was always plenty to organize, especially now that the dining room served three meals a day and the speakeasy was open every night. Once the restaurant and spa opened they would never get a moment’s peace, Emily thought.

She hurried past Lois and Marnie, who were busy at the reception desk, then opened the door. A smartly dressed gentleman stood there. He looked to be around fifty years of age, with salt and pepper hair and a smattering of laugh lines around his eyes.

“Paul Knowlson,” he said confidently, holding his hand out for Emily to shake like their meeting was some kind of business transaction.

She took it and shook. “I’m sorry, Paul, I don’t think I know you,” she said.

“I’ve booked an apartment,” he said, pulling a slip of paper from his inner suit jacket pocket. “In Trevor’s House,” he said, reading off it.

“Oh!” Emily exclaimed. He was their first guest in the new apartments! “That’s in the house across the lawn,” she said. “Here, I’ll lead the way.”

“Fantastic,” Paul replied.

Emily led him along the pathway. She felt a thrill of excitement knowing this would be the first time of many she’d be doing this. It was wonderful to see all their hard work on Trevor’s House come to fruition, and to know the gift he’d left them was being utilized rather than left to languish.

“Now, I think I heard a hint of a New York City accent,” Paul said as they walked. “Is that where you’re from?”

“You’re right,” Emily replied, smiling. “Born and bred. Do you know it well?”

Paul nodded. “Yes, I grew up there. But I’m based in Florida now.”

“And you’re in business?” she added.

Paul laughed, gesturing to his expensive-looking suit. “What gave it away?”

They reached Trevor’s House and Emily led him inside. The main area downstairs was now completely open plan, with just a hip-high glass partition between the brand new, sparkling restaurant and the route to the staircase that led up to the apartments. The restaurant hadn’t yet opened its doors but it wouldn’t be long now until that happened, Emily thought with excitement.

“You’re in apartment four,” Emily said, gesturing toward the stairs. “It’s got a lovely balcony looking over the ocean.”

“Sounds perfect,” Paul replied.

Emily led him up the stairs to the mezzanine floor, then gestured to a Parisian-style wrought iron gate with a sign in gold reading Guests Only. She showed him the large key that opened the gate, and then they headed along the corridor and stopped outside apartment four.

Emily remembered the excitement she’d felt the first time she’d looked around the new apartments. They’d been masterfully designed by the Erik & Sons triplets. She hoped that Paul would be as impressed on first sight of the apartment as she had been.

She unlocked the door and pushed it open, then gestured for Paul to enter.

“This is fantastic,” Paul said with a nod.

He seemed like a nice man, but Emily could get the sense of a business-savvy sharpness about him. It was the same quality that Amy had, an almost hawk-like ability to sniff out money and quality, to assess one’s surroundings and make an instantaneous judgment. It was a huge compliment that someone like that would want to even book into her humble inn!

Emily handed him the key. “Meals are served in the main house at the moment,” she explained. “So please join us whenever you wish. The restaurant downstairs isn’t open yet so everything will be very quiet.”

They said goodbye and Emily headed back out toward the main house. She caught up with Lois in the foyer.

“I forgot we had a guest in Trevor’s,” she said. “Is everything arranged for him? Clean bedding, bath robe, coffee pods for the machine?”

Lois nodded seriously. “Yes,” she said, sounding a touch insulted by the insinuation she might have forgotten something.

Emily blushed. “Sorry, of course you’re on it.”

It wasn’t always easy for Emily to remember that Lois wasn’t the flustered, over-emotional scatterbrain she’d once been. She’d really flourished recently, probably due in part to her promotion and pay raise, and Emily knew she could trust her to run the inn perfectly. She’d even taken well to dealing with the suppliers and putting in grocery and goods orders. In fact, Emily realized, she could probably leave the country for a month and entrust the inn to Lois’s capable hands; something she’d once have never thought possible!

Emily went back into the kitchen. Daniel, Amy, and Chantelle were still sitting around the kitchen table, chatting animatedly. No doubt Amy was using her business brain to force Daniel into planning every last detail of Charlotte’s birth down to a tee, employing the sort of organized precision that babies paid little heed to.

“There she is.” Daniel beamed when he saw her enter. “I’ve got some news.”

“You do?” Emily said, taking a seat. “But I was only gone a minute.”

“Jack called,” Daniel said, referring to his boss at the carpentry workshop where he’d been working for the last year.

“Oh? And what did he say?” Emily asked, curiously.