Bailey reluctantly pushed herself up onto her elbow, smiled. As soon as she did, all her synapses started firing, and she realized there was far more sunlight filtering in than should be if it were six o’clock.
“Oh, shit!” She launched herself out of bed. “What time is it? I need to start breakfast. Shit, shit, shit.”
She raced to the living room to find her phone. She needed to check to see if there had been any text alerts. They had a houseful of guests, plus one set leaving and another arriving, though she couldn’t remember when. Regardless, it wouldn’t look well if everyone arrived for breakfast only to find there wasn’t anything to eat. Not a great precedent to set for a bed andbreakfast.
She found her phone on the kitchen counter next to the plates of food that they hadn’t finished last night.
“Oh, thank God,” she mumbled when she saw no alerts and no text messages from Rex.
The sound of footsteps sounded behind her, then disappeared at the same time the bathroom door closed.
It was seven forty-five—nearly two hours after her normal start time—which meant there could very well be an angry mob downstairs waiting to be fed. And if Rex was here…
Deciding she should be the one to apologize before Rex had a chance to question her, she pulled up his contact information and sent him a quick text. Simple, to the point.
I overslept. I’m so sorry. I’ll be down to start breakfast in a few minutes.
His reply was almost immediate.
Hmm. That’s strange. There were bagels, muffins, and scones when I came by earlier. You didn’t make those?
She was about to respond that she hadn’t but figured it might be better to know who had beforehand. And since she could only think of one person who could pull off a spread like that so early in the morning, Bailey called her mother.
“Did you bring muffins this mornin’?”
“Good morning to you, too, honey.”
“Sorry, Mom. I overslept. I’m a little grouchy.”
Ramona chuckled. “Yes. Holt called me a few hours ago. He said you had a long night and asked me to help out.”
Wow. Just … wow.
“He’s a good man, Bailey.”
Good wasn’t the word for what Holt was, but she didn’t want to get all gushy with her mom on the phone.
“He is,” she agreed. “Well, I need to head down and check on the guests. Thanks for doin’ that, by the way. You’re the greatest Mom in the whole wide world.”
Ramona laughed again. “And don’t you forget it.”
After disconnecting the call, Bailey took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and decided a shower was in order. She was already late, which meant she would have to make up for the time, but she wanted to be clean before she got messy again.
Holt was coming from the hallway when she turned to go down it.
“Oh. Shit,” she squealed. How she’d forgotten he was there, she had no idea.
“Everything all right?” He peered down at her, his palm rasping his scruffy jaw.
“Yeah. You called my mom this mornin’.”
“I did.”
“You saved me from gettin’ fired.”
He smiled. “I doubt Rex would fire you for being late one time.”
“You’re probably right. But that doesn’t mean I can be complacent. They pay me to take care of things, and makin’ breakfast is still something on my task list.”
