“I don’t know what I was thinking, falling in love with a musician.” Ariel turned her phone around to show Aunt Dahlia the balcony view.
“Love shows up when and how it wants.”
Apparently, her aunt now considered herself a romance expert, having fallen for Mr. Augo, both at first sight and at her first sight of him in forty years. Seemed neither she nor Ariel knew the first thing about matters of the heart.
Aunt Dahlia’s tone had softened since she’d reunited with Mr. Augo. Whether she grew more tender after seeing him againor their reunion simply restored a previous gentleness, Ariel couldn’t tell.
She knew only that her aunt looked and sounded contented, her hair in a cute half-up style this morning and her smile bright as always.
“When Caleb brought me here the day they found the bugs, he hardly said a word the entire drive.”
“Give it time. You broke up only three days ago. You’ll work it out.”
Could she call it a breakup when they’d had only one date?
“Caleb and I are both dealing with social media disasters now. Some of Caleb’s guests posted reviews about the bedbugs, so the other festival bands moved their reservations to the Grand.” Ariel watched a few sailboats drifting by in the warming breeze. “I wish I could just escape.”
Because the fact remained that a disturbing percentage of her fans thought she’d faked the talent the Lord had given her. That hurt the most.
“How do you like the Grand’s renovations?”
Who wouldn’t love the Grand? “It’s beautiful. But I miss the simpler Island House Inn—its warm wooden floors and its parlor and its cozy atmosphere. I hope they got rid of the bugs.”
“Then call or text Caleb right away and see what’s going on bug-wise. Maybe you can rehearse there this afternoon. It’d be better than cramming everybody into that little basement room the Grand gave you. Do it now.”
Of course. After hanging up, she opened her texting app.
Ariel
Bug update?
Caleb
K9 inspector’s still here. One room to go, and she hasn’t alerted.
Ariel
Can a motley crew of musicians invade the parlor for rehearsal tonight?
Caleb
That would make my day. Social media is chewing us up more than the bugs are.
Of course. Caleb was struggling too.
She notified the band and writers, then called Harry and ordered a carriage. Soon she climbed in for the short ride to Island House.
“I’m glad you called.” The boy and his grandfather wore their usual red coats as they drove down Lake Shore Drive. “Those crazy bedbugs are cuttin’ into my business.”
“That’s all over now,” Ariel said. “A K9 inspector said so.”
“What’s that mean?”
“They brought in a trained dog, who gives a signal when she smells a bedbug.”
“I’d like to meet a bug-sniffin’ dog.”
When they paused at the Main Street stop sign, a crowd gathered as it had on their first day. A dark-haired man in his late thirties stepped through to the street, a teen girl following him.
