God knew Annie had had enough of things going viral in the spring. “I’ll call him and say ‘I’m sorry, we don’t have a vacancy, but please think of us when you plan your next visit.’ End of story.” She aimed a finger at the call-back button; Francine pushed it away.
“Stop,” she said. “Let’s think about this.” She gnawed on a fingernail. “Bella and I can go to Jonas’s. You can go to Earl and Claire’s. Simon’s assistant—whatever that means—can have my room. And Simon could take your cottage.”
“No!Nobodygets my cottage, Francine. No one.Ever.” The cottage was her home, her quiet escape. Her place to work. Her place to be alone with John without his daughter—or soon, hisdaughters—around. “Besides, both of us can’t leave the Inn with no one to look after it. What if something happens during the night?”
Francine exhaled loudly. “Annie. It’s Simon Anderson.”
“No, Francine. Forget that he’s a celebrity. Think of him as a kid who, if he grew up in Boston, should have known to plan his Vineyard vacation earlier.”
“But he’d give us huge visibility. I bet we could get him to post stuff all over social. And our other guests will run home and tell their friends. We could become the overnight go-to place. Maybe even a household name!” Her cheeks were pink now, too.
Annie sighed. “None of which will help. The bottom line is we’ll still only have three rooms to rent in season. Everything else is for islanders, remember?”
Francine started in on another fingernail. “But it might jump-start Kevin’s idea for special events. Weddings and stuff. Can’t we get him on the phone? And bring Earl over? I think we should decide together. We’re ateam, Annie. I don’t think we should walk away from this . . . this marketing opportunity, for the sake of a little inconvenience on our part.”
Sensing she’d regret it, Annie said, “It’s too early to call Hawaii, but when Earl comes back from the dump, we’ll call Kevin. He should have a say in this, too.”And maybe, she thought,it might help him know how much they needed him there.
“You should call Simon back and say we’re working on a few logistics for him.”
“No,” Annie said. “Not yet.”
“But what if he calls somewhere else while he’s waiting?”
“Then he does. And we’ll be off the hook. He should be no more special to us than the sisters from Indiana.”
Francine pouted. “But he’d be our first real live celebrity.” She cleared her throat. “Not that you aren’t famous, but . . .”
Annie laughed. “But I don’t happen to be in his league. I do know, though, that he’s a person. That’s all. If it’s meant to be, we’ll figure it out.”
Leaving Francine alone with her fantasies, Annie went outside to the patio, gazed across the harbor, and wondered if, as Murphy had warned, she should get busy battening the hatches.
Chapter 4
“It’s easy,” Kevin said over the speakerphone when Annie told him Simon needed two rooms. “Francine can move in with you, or with Claire and Earl. On second thought, she could bunk in with Jonas—you’d like that a whole lot better, wouldn’t you, Francine?”
Francine blushed. Suggesting it to Annie was one thing, but admitting to the men that she and Jonas were in love—if that’s what it was—must have been embarrassing. “I’ll do whatever works for everyone.”
“Good,” Kevin said. “Then you all can put Bella’s mattress back into the twin frame. It’s a nice room. And it’s big. Simon Anderson would be lucky to have it.”
“But we don’t know if sharing a room is an option for him,” Annie said. “He specifically asked for two.” She tried to keep from sounding argumentative. Or from letting Earl or Francine think that she was being cautious with Kevin. “On tenterhooks,” her dad would have called it.
“Give Anderson the choice,” Kevin said. “Let him decide.”
“And if he says no?”
He laughed. “Then give him a tent and charge him half price.” He paused for the briefest second. “In any case, you have my permission to do whatever you think will work. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a surfboard with my name on it awaiting my attention. Aloha to all.” With that, he disconnected.
Kevin had probably been joking about the tent and the surfboard. Earl had laughed; Annie had not. She knew if they were going offer space to a winner of multiple Emmy Awards, it was not a joking matter; it would behoove them to do it right. And though Annie very much wanted to make life easier by calling Simon and conveying her regrets, she also knew that the publicity could potentially do nice things for the Inn. And for Annie’s book sales, which Trish would definitely tell her when she shared the news. Maybe a few strategically placed photos on social media would result in a preorder boost for her upcomingMurder on Exhibit: A Museum Girls Mystery.
“Never miss a chance to touch greatness,” Trish had once told her. “Your readers will feel as if they’ve touched it, too.” Annie thought that referring to Simon as having “greatness” was a stretch, but there was no disputing that he was good at what he did. Or that he had a huge audience.
Calling Kevin, however, had been a mistake: hearing his voice only underscored the fact that he really was detached from them, disinterested in their trivial problems. Perhaps she would have been, too, if she were in Hawaii with someone she cared about.
The only solution was for Annie to take charge. So she told Earl and Francine they would only need to reconfigure the twin bed for aesthetics, that if Francine really didn’t mind going somewhere else, they could put Simon’s assistant in her room. Then she added, “And Simon can have my cottage. It’s the best solution.”
Earl’s eyebrows shot up. “You sure?”
“Not really. I’m concerned that none of us will be on the grounds during the night, but if I can go to your place, I won’t be far. And I’ll post my cell number at the front desk.”
