Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

“Hello the hotel!” Mama Lizzy yelled as she came through the lobby and into the kitchen on Friday morning. “I expected to see a parking lot full of vehicles out front!”

“Not yet.” Clara met her in the middle of the room and hugged her. “We missed you so much.”

Sophia dried her hands and then made it a three-way hug. “No one has arrived, but we’re expecting a few to be here by suppertime. Luther will be here any minute and then we’ll be run out of his kitchen.”

“I’m surprised he’s let us in here while he’s been out on vacation this last week,” Lizzy said.

Clara led her grandmother to the table. “Come sit down and have a snack with us. We’ve got doughnuts from that shop you like and coffee is made. How was your trip?”

Lizzy sat down and picked up a glazed doughnut from the box. “The trip was so good that I’m not sticking around until the end of summer. Marlene is looking into an Alaskan cruise for the two of us in June.”

Sophia set a tray with three mugs and the full pot of coffee on the table and then took a seat across from Clara. She wasn’t sure if she should make the announcement right then about the three of them making the decision to run the hotel or if she should wait for Hunter.

“Trevor and I had a big argument,” Clara blurted out.

That’s not the way I expected to start this conversation, Sophia thought.

“I helped her through it,” Sophia said. “I found her hanging from a dogwood tree, trying to get up to the balcony. The front doors were locked because she was supposed to be at the ranch. I don’t know why she thought she could get through the balcony doors any better.”

“I thought they were unlocked.” Clara shot a dirty look her way.

“Did you break any limbs off the trees?” Lizzy asked and then giggled.

“No, she didn’t,” Sophia replied, “but I do wish I’d taken a picture for you.”

“Me too,” Lizzy said and then turned to face Clara. “Start at the beginning and tell me what’s happened since I’ve been gone. I know about Sophia and Hunter losing their jobs, but I need to hear from you, Clara.”

“They fought because he was being a pompous pig from hell,” Sophia said.

Clara cut her eyes around at her sister. “But he apologized and changed his pig attitude into a sweet one, so he’s got a chance of getting into heaven.”

“What did you fight about?” Lizzy asked. “I thought you two were the perfect couple who would be able to say that they’d never had an argument on their fiftieth anniversary.”

“Guess we’ll have to give that trophy back,” Clara said. “Maybe Sophia and Hunter will get it.”

Sophia picked up a doughnut with chocolate icing. “That ship has already sailed.”

“Do you have a trophy for no arguments, Mama Lizzy?” Clara asked.

“Lord, no!” Lizzy gasped. “Your grandfather and I had a doozy of a blowup the day before our wedding. I was ready to call the whole thing off. He thought that I should sell the hotel and be one of those little wives who stays home and raises babies.”

“History really does repeat itself,” Clara said with half a giggle, and then went on to tell the whole story from start to finish. “I guess men are the same today as they were back then.”

Lizzy reached over and laid a hand on her granddaughter’s arm. “Honey, human nature hasn’t changed since the days of Adam and Eve. But women have fought for the right to make their own decisions since the beginning of time, and I’m proud of you for doing so. Does this mean y’all are going to take over the hotel, then?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sophia and Clara chorused together.

To Sophia, who admittedly liked fanfare, the answer seemed a lot less dramatic than she expected. “Because Hunter and I won’t have a honeymoon, we’ll be ready to learn the ropes starting on Monday. I noticed that the rooms are full that night.”

Lizzy beamed and tears dammed up behind her eyelids. “You don’t know how happy you’ve made me. The family legacy moves on to the next generation. Your ancestors would be so proud.”

“We’ll do our best to keep the place vintage,” Sophia promised.

“Don’t cry, Mama Lizzy,” Clara begged. “We won’t even change out those old landline phones.”

Lizzy wiped her eyes with a paper napkin. “The wedding will be your celebration, but it will also be mine. Can I announce the news when I give the toast?”

“Of course you can,” Sophia told her.

“I don’t have time to arrange a honeymoon for either of you now, but next year I will come back and run the place for you for one week so you can have one for your first anniversary. Maybe you’ll even choose to go on a cruise.”

Sophia raised both her dark brows. “Separately?”

“Not on your life,” Lizzy declared. “One week, and you have to compromise about where you’ll go and go together. I’ll pay for everything as your anniversary gift, but I’m only going to be tied down to the hotel for one week total.”

“Well,” Sophia said with a long sigh. “We’ve got a year to argue about it.”

Clara reached across the table and laid a hand on her sister’s. “Just think what fun we’ll have fighting about it for a whole year. I hear folks coming in the front doors. Are we ready to check them in on our first day on the job?”

Lizzy took her last sip of coffee and pushed back her chair. “Oh, no! Today and tomorrow, this place still belongs to me, but y’all can come on out and introduce me to your new families and friends. On Monday you can take over operations.”

Sophia led the way out of the kitchen. “That’s April Fools’ Day.”

“That, darlin’ sister, will be our lucky day from now on,” Clara said.