She winked.
Holly grinned back. Babysitting Mish’s brood was a small price to pay for a successful evening with happy hotel guests.
On a whim, Holly pulled up Rasker Vipp’s contact on her communicator. She entered a message:Never got to thank youfor your help with the muffins. So, thank you. Have any more recipes?She hit send.
A response ticked back moments later:You’re welcome.There was a file attached. She opened it to find a long list of recipes that looked like they came from a number of species’ cuisines. Some of them, she’d never heard of before.
Can I make these with what I have in the lounge kitchen?she asked.
Yes. But I should sample your efforts before you feed them to hotel guests.
She grinned.Are you trying to score a free meal?
Consider it a fair trade.
Deal.
She couldn’t quite wipe the grin from her face as she closed the connection and returned to cleaning. The hours passed pleasantly. The travelers ordered more drinks, paid for each round, and eventually began to yawn and stretch. One by one, they made their way upstairs to their rooms, calling out, “Thank you,” as they went.
When the last of them had gone, Mish emerged from behind the bar and stretched her arms over her head. “That was fun,” she said. “I’d forgotten how much I missed it.”
“You were amazing,” Holly said. “I can’t thank you enough. One day, when your children are older and if we can get this place fixed up as it should be, I’m hoping this place will be filled with customers. You have a job here if you want it.”
“I like the sound of that.” Mish gestured toward the bar. “I hate to say this, but the bar is missing a lot of basic spirits and mixes. I got creative to compensate, but the supplies back there are very low.” She narrowed her eyes at the bare shelves behind the bar. “I remember it being better stocked. Before he went into serious decline, Charles spent time in here. He was fussy about the bar, believe it or not, and ran it pretty well. He kept itwell-stocked and organized. It did not look this empty when he was well. Things started to disappear after Cody took over the kitchen, starting with the most expensive and rare liquors. Now, there’s only the cheapest spirits left, and not much of them, either.”
So, her cousin stole from the bar. Maybe he drank it all. Maybe he sold it all. Holly’s lips compressed. “Another reason I was right to let him go.”
“I have no proof he took anything,” Mish said quickly.
“If you’ve seen bottles disappear, you have proof.” Holly shook her head. “If you make a list of what you need to take the bar up to standard, I’ll put it in for the next supply delivery.” She winced. “Maybe hold off on the top-shelf varieties.”
“I’ll do that.” Mish’s eyes twinkled and she wagged a finger. “Just remember your promise. Babysitting. A few hours. I’m going to hold you to it.”
Holly grimaced inwardly. “I won’t back out. You’resurethey like me?”
Mish laughed and headed for the door. “Goodnight, Holly. This was a good night.”
“It really was.”
After Mish left, Holly closed up the lounge for the night and returned to her unit. She felt accomplished. Proud, even. The first new guests since her arrival, and she had made them feel welcome. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
She pushed open her door and stepped inside. Bean lifted his head from the couch, regarded her with sleepy interest, then hopped down and waddled over to her. He made a big show of stretching, then sniffed her legs, appearing very curious about what she had been up to.
“Hi there,” she murmured, dropping to a crouch to scratch behind his ears. “You’ve never greeted me before. Does this mean you’re starting to like me?”
The little dog looked up at her with big brown eyes and leaned into her touch. Today was definitely a day of accomplishments.
Holly settled onto the sofa and Bean hopped up beside her. She petted the dog and pulled out her d-pad, intending to review the day’s income and update her records. But when the screen flickered to life, a notification was waiting.
A holo-call was waiting to be answered. From Beenan. He had attempted to call her fourteen times, this being the fifteenth. The transmission request blinked there, waiting for her to answer.
Holly stared at the name, her good mood curdling in her stomach. She had not heard from Sol-Arc Industries since she’d left. Had notexpectedto hear from them for months yet. Her three-month reflection period was just over a month old.
She tapped the screen, and Beenan’s miniature, three-dimensional avatar materialized above the screen in rendered pale blue light. He sat at his office desk. His expression was pleasant and professional, but his eyes were cold.
“Hello, Holly. Kind of you to finally answer my call.”
Twenty-One
