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Note to Readers
THERE WERE MORNINGS when a girl just didn’t want to get out of bed, but she had to because a) she had to pee and b) she had to go to work because no one else was going to pay the bills.
Tori closed her eyes, gathered her get-up-and-go and threw off the covers. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her job; she loved it. The Sandpiper Resort was her life. She’d started there doing housekeeping as a teenager and had worked her way up to assistant general manager, overseeing many of the day-to-day operations. Stepping inside the doors each morning felt as much like being at home as entering her own small house, bought just last year.
So even though she was bone tired, despite having slept all night, she flipped on the light switch and turned on the shower. At least the morning sickness had been fleeting, lasting only a few weeks and consisting mostly of inconvenient nausea. Now in her second trimester, she simply got tired more easily. And was in the process of overhauling her wardrobe. Things didn’t fit anymore now that her baby bump had made an appearance.
Thirty minutes later, hair blow-dried and makeup on, she left the house with her decaf coffee in a travel mug and made the five-minute drive to work. It had been mild for November, and she didn’t have to scrape the frost off her windshield this morning, which was a plus. On arriving at the hotel, she stepped inside, inhaling the fresh scent of evergreens. Once Remembrance Day had passed, the Christmas decorations had come out, turning the resort into a fairyland of white twinkle lights and pungent pine and spruce boughs punctuated with gorgeous red and gold bows. She greeted the staff at the front desk with a smile, then stopped at the kitchen to ask for a toasted bagel and some fruit—her usual breakfast fare.
“You need some eggs for the little one, there?” Neil asked, his chef’s hat bobbing. “Mamas need protein.”
She grinned. “When are you gonna stop pampering me?” she asked, taking a sip of her coffee. For a few weeks, she’d been turned off the smell of the brew. Now she inhaled the richness of it and sighed.
“Never,” he replied, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Neil had been working in this kitchen since before she’d started cleaning rooms. Pretty soon his granddaughter would be looking for a summer job.
Eggs did sound good this morning, so she smiled. “You know how I like them,” she acquiesced. “Thanks, Neil. You’re a gem.”
“You betcha.”
Ten minutes later one of the waitstaff brought her breakfast, as well as a glass of milk. “Neil says you need your calcium,” Ellen said, and even though she was younger than Tori, her voice came across as motherly.
“Neil is being overprotective and I love it,” she remarked, smiling up at the waitress who’d joined their team last May. “Thanks.” She unrolled her cutlery from the napkin. “Everything going okay in the dining room?”
Ellen nodded. “Slower now that the leaves are gone and no one really comes for the beach.”
“I know. I’m sorry about the cut hours.”
“It’s okay. It’s a seasonal thing. We all get it.”
“We’ve got some holiday events planned, so if you’re up for working those, I’ll make sure you’re on the list for scheduling.” The ticketed events always meant decent tips, and Ellen’s eyes lit up.
“I’d appreciate that. Thanks, Tori.”
“No problem. It helps a bit when regular hours are short and Christmas is coming.” Besides, Ellen had proved herself to be competent and reliable. Throwing a few extra hours her way was small reward.
Once Ellen was gone, Tori dug into her breakfast. Neil had added cheese to her eggs, and a little parsley…delicious. There were two slices of honeydew and a little dish of fresh strawberries, plus a whole-grain bagel with her favorite topping—plain cream cheese sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.
They really were a family around here, taking care of each other. Which was good for Tori, because it was only her and her mom now. Her mom, Shelley, was a nurse and had taken a job at the hospital in Lunenburg. It wasn’t far away, but after Tori’s father had died of cancer, Shelley had moved into an apartment right in the town for convenience. It put her about fifty kilometers away—close enough for weekly visits.
Tori
