I turned and saw a nice-looking man standing in the foyer behind me with two suitcases and a briefcase. With a bright smile, I stood and stepped out of the way. “Of course. You can do that right here.”
Jane stood up, wearing a look of concern. “I’m Jane Hennessey, but I’m afraid we’re booked solid for the next four days. I’ll be happy to recommend—”
“But I have a reservation,” he said.
“Are you sure?” She sat back down at her computer. “Under what name?”
“Andrew Braxton. I reserved a room for the week.”
She looked up at him. “Oh dear. I was so sorry to hear about your accident, Mr. Braxton, but I understood that you were canceling your entire trip.”
“What accident?”
Jane was perplexed and uneasy. “I—I got a telephone message Saturday afternoon saying that you’d been in a bad car accident and that you wouldn’t be able to make your trip. I’m sorry. There’s clearly been a misunderstanding.”
“Clearly.” He gave her a thin-lipped smile, which was no smile at all. “Because as you can see, I’m here now and I’m perfectly fine. If you’ll show me to my room, there won’t be any problem, right?”
“But . . . we understood that you wouldn’t be coming. Your room has been taken.” Jane stood again. Her eyes were wide with distress as she bit her bottom lip. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
His mouth opened and closed in shocked anger. “But . . . but this is unacceptable. It’s outrageous. I’ve paid for the entire week in advance.”
“Yes, I know,” Jane said calmly. “But when I got the news about your accident, I refunded your credit card. You probably haven’t seen the statement yet.”
He shook his head, unable to speak.
“I appreciate that you’re upset,” Jane said. I really admired how she handled herself so professionally. Still, I ached for her. This was a bad mix-up. “I would never have given away your room if I hadn’t received the message from your doctor saying you weren’t coming at all.”
“But that’s the problem. There was no accident. No doctor of mine ever sent that message.”
Jane’s gaze met mine. What in the world had happened? Sandra had taken the message and she wouldn’t lie about it, would she?
“I can only apologize profusely for all the confusion,” Jane said, “and I’ll be happy to pay for your room at a comparable hotel in town. The Inn on Main Street has several rooms available and it’s a lovely hotel, closer to the beach, with its own highly rated restaurant in-house.”
“But I wanted to stay here,” he said, and his tone was almost whining. I couldn’t fault him, though. “I’ve heard so much about it.”
I almost said something like Why don’t you kick Stephen out of his room? But that probably wouldn’t have been the most professional decision for Jane to make in this situation.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let me see what I can do.” She sat and began to click the computer keys rapidly. I could tell she was upset, for good reason. Something weird had happened and she was the one who would take the blame, whether it was her fault or not.
“Here’s what I can do,” Jane said finally, looking up from her computer screen. “As I said, I’ll be happy to comp you a room at the Inn on Main Street for the next four nights. On Friday, I can have your things brought back here and move you into the Rosalind Suite for the rest of your stay . . . also comped.”
I could tell that Andrew Braxton was taken aback. Jane was amazing. She was obviously rattled by the situation but was willing to make things right for Mr. Braxton.
“I . . . I guess that’s as good a deal as I can ask for. I appreciate your willingness to accommodate me.”
“There’s been an unfortunate mix-up and I will certainly find out what happened. But you shouldn’t have to pay the price for someone else’s error. I’ll have my assistant manager walk with you to the Inn on Main Street and make sure that everything is to your liking. And then on Friday, we’ll be happy to move you out, pack your clothing if you want us to, and bring you back here for the rest of your stay.”
“Well, thank you,” he said, and shook Jane’s hand. “I appreciate it.” He held on to her hand and smiled. “Maybe I can buy you a drink some night and we can laugh about it.”
Jane smiled at that. So now he was flirting? Maybe the guy wasn’t such a stuffed shirt after all. But his emotions sure ran the gamut. I wasn’t certain Jane should be flirting with this guy, but that was none of my business.
Once he had left with Sandra, Jane looked at me. “What just happened here?”
“That was quite a mix-up. You should ask Sandra about it as soon as she gets back.”
“I will. Maybe she can shed some light.”
“I hope so.” I remembered hearing Sandra say that she’d follow up on the accident. Had she talked to someone about it?
Jane twisted her lips in puzzlement as she stared at her computer. “Maybe I’m hallucinating.”