I wasn’t sure what time it was when I drifted to sleep. Grey climbed into bed, and I felt him lift the book from my chest and turn off the light. His arm wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me against his chest. He smelled like the beach, salty and warm. If he wanted to talk, he would. Instead, we fell asleep matching our breaths.
The next morning, the sunlight smacked me in the face. I rolled to the side, reaching for Grey. Last night was a sleepy blur. The covers next to me were flat. He was already gone.
I padded down the hall to the bathroom. The rest of the house was quiet. He must have left for work early this morning. I hoped he wasn’t trying to track down Mason. An encounter between those two would be ugly.
Our last guests were checking out this morning. We didn’t have any upcoming reservations on the books for two weeks. I dried my hair, dabbed on a bit of makeup, grabbed a cup of coffee, and walked to the Palm office.
My morning ritual always included cranking up the air conditioner in the window. I usually turned it off at night as a way to save a few pennies on the electric bill. I waited for the cool air to blow through the stuffy room. I turned on the lamp and my laptop.
Grey didn’t leave a note or send a text this morning. I was still a novice at this space thing. I pulled out my phone.
“Hey, good morning.” I tried to sound cheery.
“Hey. I’m working on the shingles today and getting ready to climb the roof. What’s going on?”
I stared at the phone. I got that things were tense for him, but he didn’t have to be so snappy.
“I was just calling to say hi. I didn’t get to say goodnight or good morning.”
“Yeah, well I’ll see you later. We do live together.”
Again, with the rude talk. I felt my blood pressure rising the longer I stayed on the phone.
“Sorry I bothered you. Have a good day.” I hung up before I said something I really regretted, like “you’re a moody asshole sometimes.” Although, that would have felt good to get off my chest.
An older couple walked through the door, holding one of the large brass palm tree key tags.
“We’re all packed up.” The white-haired gentleman handed me the key.
“How was your stay at the Palm Palace?” I plastered a smile on my face. They didn’t need to know I was in the midst of a relationship crisis with the motel’s owner.
The woman, who must have dyed her red hair with an over-the-counter bottle, grinned. “It was fine, but you know it would be nice if there were some amenities.”
“Were you missing something in your room?”
The husband rolled his eyes at the wife as if to say I can’t believe you brought this up.
She continued. “Personally, I don’t stay anywhere that doesn’t have wifi. I didn’t read the details about this place very carefully.”
Wifi was one of the things I had talked to Grey about saving up for. It had become a staple of traveling for most guests. “Is there anything else?” I asked.
The woman shrugged. “It’d be nice to have a cup of coffee or something. The rooms don’t even have those one-cup coffee pots.” She sighed. “Our other snowbird friends stayed at the resorts or camped at the other end of the island, but I guess you get what you pay for.” She turned to leave.
“Excuse me, what do you mean by snowbirds?”
She pointed to her husband’s head of white hair. “You know that’s what they call us seniors. We drive down south for the fall and winter trying to escape the snow for a while.”
“You said you have friends here?”
“We do. Some of them go to Florida or Arizona. Depends on what they’re in the mood for each year. We’re looking for some place we can call a second home. We want a regular spot every year when we need to get out of Michigan.”
The wheels started turning in my head. This couple and all their senior friends were looking for a winter hangout at the beach. My marketing plan just shifted gears. I had the wrong approach all along.
“Thank you for staying at the Palm Palace. If I could promise you wifi, coffee, and a free night on your next trip to South Padre would you make another reservation?”
Grey had turned over the business part to me, so I made an executive decision about the free night. I’d have to work on the wifi before they came back.
She smiled at her husband and nodded. “I think we would do that. It does have the prettiest part of the beach, and we love the small pool.” She held up a bag of shells. “I don’t think I’ve ever had this kind of shell luck before.”
I had never thought of myself as a sales person, but it seemed urgent that I get them to pinpoint a date on the calendar. “What dates would work for you? I’ll set you up in the closest oceanfront room, and I’ll mark down the free night right now.” I waited while they talked it over. I flipped to room twenty-three’s page just to make sure the availability was wide open.
The woman shook her head. “We’d like to come back, but we need to check with our daughter first. Our grandchildren have a fall festival and we never miss it. Let me get the dates and I’ll call you.”
I tried to keep the smile on my face, but I knew I had lost their return reservation.