Caleb wasn’t the only one who’d faced loss back then. Or who faced it now—of both the inn and the woman.
Might as well tell him about their current not-dating status and get it over with.
“Ariel and I had a—disagreement. She moved to the Grand, but I think she would have even if the bugs hadn’t forced her out.”
Granddad dropped his fork into his salad bowl, his eyes wide, sad. “You mean you broke up?”
“You can’t break up if you don’t have a commitment.”
“Why didn’t you ask her to go steady?”
Go steady?He hadn’t heard that phrase for a while. “I haven’t even known her a month.”
He grunted. “I knew your grandmother for a month when I proposed.”
That might not have been the best idea, though, since Grandma turned grouchy right after the wedding, according to Aunt Annabelle. “I’d rather talk about the inn and how we can fix it. Because, truthfully, it’s not doing well.”
“No hotel does in the middle of a bedbug scare. Business always picks up again in a couple of months.”
His grandfather didn’t understand. At all. Caleb scooted his chair closer. “The inn wasn’t doing well even before the bugs. The guests from the Grand got us through a couple of weeks, but we can’t continue this way.”
Granddad put down his fork and held Caleb’s gaze, his hand now a little shaky. “How bad is it?”
Should he tell him? If he did, his grandfather could draw from his lifelong experience and maybe find a solution. If he didn’t, Caleb’s next update might involve telling him they were bankrupt. “Bad enough that I have to invest my own money.”
“How much?”
Saying the large number out loud to his grandfather made the situation seem even worse. Might as well tell him the rest. “I also put my Coronado Island condo on the market.”
“What about the weddings and events we had earlier? They gave us some income.”
“Those helped, but not enough.”
His grandfather’s shoulders stooped.
“I didn’t want to tell you. But it’s not fair to keep it secret.” Caleb covered his eyes, his elbow propped on the table. He’d let his grandfather down again. Spent a lifetime letting him down, it seemed. How foolish to think he could do something right…
“No, this isn’t the end.” Granddad lifted his head. “I’m not ready to give up this hotel. Get my Bible off my nightstand.”
Caleb got up and headed that way, brought back the worn old Bible, and set it in front of Granddad. He opened the book to the middle and flipped through the pages.
“‘I will love thee, OLord, my strength. TheLordis my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon theLord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.’ That means we shouldn’t look anywhere else for our help before we look to Him.”
Look to Him.
Caleb thought of the brick and the guitar pick he’d given to Him.Lord, that’s about all I have to work with here. My money will run out, Ariel will go to Nashville, and I’ll be alone in this shabby hotel without enough guests to keep it going. But I’m choosing to trust You with it all.
Whether it worked out the way he wanted or not.
Chapter Sixteen
For the first time in his life, Caleb wished he didn’t have to attend a rehearsal.
As strained as this one felt in the parlor that evening, he just wanted to shut it down and talk to Ariel alone. Away from the musicians and the music and Ariel’s stress of leading this band.
Away from the awkwardness of singing country love-song duets with the girl who used to be his girl. Or might have been, if things had gone differently.
“I’m not happy with my timing in the second line of the chorus.” She frowned at her lead sheet. “Caleb, would you run through it with me again?”
