Too many feelings.
Maybe this was what it was like for everybody who had only ever had sex in the context of a relationship before.
She felt like a high schooler.
What was he thinking about, was he thinking about her, did he want her again?
She hadn’t missed these kinds of insecure, swirling worries. About a man.
Turned out, though, she should’ve had them about her husband. And she hadn’t.
She rested her elbows on the front desk and pressed her face into her hands, and let out a short scream. When she looked up, Laney was standing there.
Laney was an extremely cool woman in a sort of effortless way that Marlowe didn’t think she herself could ever manage.Marlowe didn’t come by anything effortlessly. Maybe Laney didn’t either, but it seemed like she did. She had long blonde hair and an arm full of floral tattoos. She had made a splash with food trucks in the Bay Area, and then managed a couple of pop-ups, but never something on this scale.
She was calm, extremely self-assured, and the kind of person that Marlowe wanted to be when she grew up.
“You good?” Laney asked.
“I’m great,” Marlowe said. “Just absolutely great. Really. I have interviews today.”
“I hate those,” Laney sighed. “Mainly because if I have to tell one more fifteen-year-old that I’m not going to hire them, I might scream. They keep putting fake birthdates down like I’m not going to find out.”
“It’s a small town. I have a feeling jobs that pay this well are hard to get.”
“I’m sure, but I need people with experience.”
“Me too,” Marlowe said. “But it’s tricky because there isn’t another resort like this in the area.”
“I don’t have a problem training people, but the Painted Ridge Dining Room is premium pricing, so it has to be premium service. It’s a lot different than a pop-up.” For the first time, Marlowe got a tiny peek at Laney’s humanness.
When Marlowe’s interviewee arrived at the hotel, she realized that he was familiar.
It was the young man who had waited her table the night that she had gotten drunk and called Aiden.
Chris.
“Oh,” he said, “it’s you.”
“And it’s you,” she said, trying to figure out if this was a good thing or an embarrassing thing. A good thing. He’d been a great waiter, and she had a feeling he’d be good here too.
He was too adorable, and she hired him for the front desk on the spot. He had more experience waiting tables, but hewas looking for something different, and it was an added bonus that if he wanted to pick up more hours, it would be easy for him to step in and fill spots at the restaurant if they came up.
She’d done it. Made her first hire.
And after that, she made another, and another. Laney hired a host and a head waiter from a ski resort a couple of hours away, and then was able to take on more inexperienced servers for training with experts on hand to help out.
The hotel started to feel a little bit like a family. They were all there all the time. Familiarizing themselves with the rhythm of the place as it stood, empty and waiting for guests, so that they might all be ready to handle the crush of people when they arrived.
Nolan came by with the most beautiful wooden figures. Bears for the back, and a gorgeous mustang that was placed right in the center of a landscaped area near the door. It was rearing up on its hindlegs, hair looking like it was actually moving in the breeze, even though it was only polished wood. Nolan’s skill was incredible.
The most fun for Marlowe was working with her newly hired concierge team to figure out what sorts of delightful details they could offer guests to elevate their stay. Different recommendations for activities on the ranch, for anniversary and birthday extras, dining recommendations in town. They were working with a small spa in town to make reservations for massages and facials.
The front desk would handle rentals. Kayaks, bikes, golf carts.
As part of the reservation system, the guests input interests, and Marlowe and her team made custom recommendations along with a welcome wine or sparkling cider, and a box of local chocolates for the room.
Laney was refining her spring menu, constantly bringingfood out for Marlowe to taste, and at the same time, Cara was doing the same in the bakery. Every day at the hotel, they were getting baskets of baked goods.
