Her sister-in-law pushed the door open further, stepped back, and nodded. “Sure is.”
Sylvie took a deep breath. She and Fiona had agreed to try harder to be civil around Lilly, not wanting the teenager to internalize their constant bickering. That had gone fairly well, but as Lilly had pointed out, they had barely seen each other since the meeting with the lawyers.
“So…” Fiona said. “How are you feeling?”
Eyeing her sister-in-law, Sylvie poured herself some coffee and shrugged. “Fine, I guess. I’m not exactly looking forward to seeing all these people again so soon after the funeral. What about you?”
“I’m fine.” Her sister-in-law shifted her weight from foot to foot, and Sylvie knew she wasn’t being entirely honest.
“I mean, with the whole caretaker thing,” she added, biting the bullet.
Fiona’s gaze snapped up and met hers, and Sylvie momentarily regretted bringing it up. “It is what it is,” she replied with a shrug.
“I get that this puts you in a really hard position,” Sylvie said gently. “It’s not like you don’t have a life back home that will be affected by leaving it for an entire year.”
“Don’t I know it,” Fiona replied. “But it’s for Lilly, and that’s what matters. I’ve always done whatever it takes to act in her best interest. Why would this be any different?”
Sylvie let out a sigh and pressed on. “It’s not necessarily different. But I get the feeling it’s not exactly your first choice. I mean, you hardly visited, and when you did, you never seemed that excited about it. Plus, in the meeting—what did you call it? ‘Hotter than the devil’s hot tub’ or something?”
She couldn’t quite bring herself to mention the memories of Brett that Fiona had brought up, even though that was whatshe really wanted to discuss. Still, she was happy to see Fiona try to hide a smile before giving in and laughing.
“Yes, well, his sauna aside, once I knew it was what Lilly wanted, it was fine. I’m discussing remote work, but we may have to boost the Wi-Fi if I plan to host sprints.”
Host sprints?What did that mean? Sylvie thought. Still, there was no way she would poke the dragon when it wasn’t breathing fire.
“Sure. We’ll figure it out,” she said, glancing at her watch. “We’d better go in.”
*
What felt like several hours later—despite only being forty-five minutes—they emerged from the back sitting room and began bidding guests farewell. For all its complexity regarding the inn, her mom’s will was otherwise very simple. A few small donations to local causes, three or four sentimental items to old friends, and the rest of her personal belongings to Sylvie. Any monetary assets were to be split between Sylvie, Fiona, and Lilly, with Sylvie receiving half, and the others a quarter each. Even Fiona couldn’t complain about that.
They had started tidying up plates and cups the moment everyone left and were working in peaceful silence when the doorbell rang, causing Sylvie to jump.
“What’s wrong, Aunt Sylvie?” Lilly asked.
“Nothing, I’m just not used to hearing the bell. The front door usually has a ‘Come In’ sign so guests can just walk in.” She tried to sound casual despite her embarrassment. “But since we’re technically closed, I’ve been keeping it shut to avoid walk-ins. Anyway, I’ll get it.”
She felt oddly observed as she turned to answer the door.
“Gina!” she exclaimed. “Fancy seeing you here. What can I do for you?”
Her old school friend smiled like the cat who got the cream. “You are going to love me.”
Gesturing for Gina to come inside, Sylvie stepped back and laughed. “Oh? Before or after coffee?”
“During!” Gina announced, heading straight for the kitchen.
Lilly and Fiona followed as Sylvie and Gina crossed the lobby. Sylvie wanted to ask why, but she didn’t want to disturb the fragile peace they’d managed to create.
Gina sat on one of the breakfast barstools and grinned. “I think I may have just won Travel Agent of the Year. Inyourbook, at least.”
“Oh?” Sylvie replied nervously.
“Yes. So, I did a little research, got a bit lucky, and was really good at that connection-tugging I told you about,” Gina said, winking. “Your film,Femme de Force, was shot almost entirely in a small seaside town about twenty minutes from the capital, and in one hotel for most of it.”
“The hotel is still running?” Sylvie asked, surprised. “Wow. I mean, the film’s not exactly young.”
“Indeed. I found a package, heavily discounted because it’s last-minute, but I was able to substitute your accommodation so that you can stay in theactualHotel de France. From the movie!”
