Chapter Two
Josh rubbed his temples,wanting nothing more than to take a walk on the beach with his dog, Charlie, or even take Charlie to the dog park not far from the water. But that would have to wait. The inn Josh’s parents owned was slammed for a Thursday, with guests checking in. Normally, he didn’t help out much at the front desk, mainly because he could hardly hear, which was a problem since a conversation between a guest and him was important during the check-in process.
But with one of his employees off for a couple of days, Josh had to help out.
Still, the place was overbooked. August was always a high time for them. People were on vacation, kids were out of school, and Josh’s guess was that families saved their trips until the week or two before school started.
Charlie’s wet nose nudged Josh. He looked down as the dog went over to the door. They had a bell to alert them of incoming guests, and Charlie always pointed out where the noise was coming from.
Drake, one of Josh’s employees and a good friend, was working the desk. He leaned over and spoke into Josh’s right ear, his good ear, although good for Josh meant he could only hear if a person was super close or talked loudly. His other ear hadn’t been so lucky, thanks to a military mission gone wrong.
“Maybe you should head back to your office. I got this.”
Josh chuckled as he scanned the lobby full of guests waiting in line to get their rooms. “I’m good.”
Drake shook his head. “Liza picked the wrong week to go have fun.”
Maybe so. But she wasn’t a full-time employee. She was family, and she liked to help out when she could.
“You mean Elliot chose the wrong time to take a vacation,” Josh fired back. As the manager, Josh had the option of not approving Elliot’s vacation, but Elliot was taking his daughter to college on the other side of the country. Josh couldn’t say no. He believed family always came first.
Drake smoothed a hand over his bald head. “You’re right. But I like Liza working with me.”
Josh cocked an eyebrow, detecting that maybe the recent divorcé was into Liza, which was a surprise to Josh, although he didn’t pay attention to the flirtatious actions of others, much less his cousin, like Drake did.
Charlie returned, escorting a gray-haired woman up to the counter. Or rather, he walked alongside her as though he were protecting her.
Josh circled the front desk to greet the old lady and help her with her luggage. First, he bent down and scratched Charlie’s beard. “Good boy.” Then he rose. “Can I take your luggage while you check in?” If Drake wanted to handle the desk on his own, then Josh could help with luggage.
It was best Josh did anyway since his hearing was crap. The doctors had said hearing aids wouldn’t help him, and he’d been to several specialists since being discharged from the Navy.
She gave him a warm smile, then her lips started moving. Josh was a good lip reader. He’d mainly learned that technique in one of his many missions as a Navy SEAL way before he’d lost his hearing. Sometimes, he thought fate had been preparing him for what was to come.
Josh turned so his right ear was facing his elderly guest. “Can you repeat that?” He leaned in a tad so his good ear was closer to her. If the drone of the other voices around them were quieter or nonexistent, then he would’ve been able to make out what she’d said. “I’m hearing impaired.”
She slapped a hand over her heart before she started signing.
He’d only been home a year from his mission in Afghanistan, and he was slowly getting acclimated to sign language. She signed that she was sorry.
Josh nodded as he made the gesture for thank you. He checked on Drake, who was still busy with a guest. “Can I have your credit card? I’ll get you all set up for your room.”
She made quick work of getting Josh her card, which read Janet Stone.
“Ms. Stone, give me a few minutes, and I’ll have your room key for you. Charlie, stay here.”
Charlie sat at Janet’s feet, and within five minutes, Josh returned to the woman’s side and handed her a room key. Then he held out his arm. “I’ll escort you to the elevator.”
Charlie popped up.
With his free hand, Josh grabbed the handle of Ms. Stone’s roller bag and pulled it as they headed away from the front desk.
“He sure is a pretty golden retriever. My grandson is in need of a service dog, actually a therapy dog. He’s been diagnosed with PTSD from an accident he was in. Where did you get Charlie?”
“A local breeder named Carol Graves. I’ll be sure to give you her contact information.”
“Thank you so much. Maybe I could visit her while I’m here,” she said.
They were just approaching the elevator, when Josh’s dad powered out of the office in his wheelchair. He regarded Janet with a tinge of surprise swimming in his green eyes.
