“C’mon.” She dragged her daughter toward the abandoned registration desk. “Miss Gina?” she called.
Silence.
Thud!
Melanie shrugged at her daughter and peered at the ceiling. “Miss Gina?” she called toward the stairs.
A larger thud and a distinctive crash had the two of them running.
They made it halfway up before Melanie heard the smoky voice of Miss Gina. “Son of a bitch!”
Before Melanie made it into one of the guest bathrooms, water sprayed toward the door, a puddle pooled at Miss Gina’s feet.
She held a broken pipe with both hands, unsuccessfully attempting to hold the water in. “Towel,” she yelled the second Melanie ducked her head into the room.
She grabbed one from the far rack and handed it over.
As Miss Gina scrambled to keep the spray from removing the wallpaper, Melanie dropped to her knees to find the shutoff valve for the vintage Elizabethan toilet.
“It’s at the top.” Miss Gina pointed with her chin.
Melanie switched direction, climbed on the commode, and found the crank.
By the time the water stopped trickling, Miss Gina dripped like a leaky faucet, Melanie felt as if she’d had a second shower for the day, and Hope stood in the doorway with wide eyes.
“Are the extra towels still in the hall closet?” Melanie asked.
“Damn pipe . . . I just knew this was going to happen.”
“Miss Gina, the floor? We gotta get this up or your reception area is going to need a new plaster job.”
Miss Gina was a tiny woman who smoked more than she ate, laughed often, and cussed like a sinner on Saturday.
“Yeah, yeah . . . hall closet.”
Depleted from the mess, Miss Gina slumped against the vintage tub while Melanie hustled from the room. She piled towels in Hope’s arms and filled her own.
Hope mimicked her to help mop up the mess.
On all fours, Melanie sloshed up one puddle before tossing the soaked towel into the tub.
Hope handed her towels as if she were the towel girl at the spa.
“This is awful,” Miss Gina started. “I finally have a fully booked week and now this.”
“I’m sure you can get someone out here to fix it.”
For the first time since Melanie walked into the fray, Miss Gina looked her in the eye.
With a pause and a cock of her head, she wiggled a finger in the air. “Melanie Bartlett? Is that you?”
Melanie paused in her effort to clean the floor and smiled. “Hi, Miss Gina.”
Miss Gina jumped from the edge of the tub and threw her tiny arms around Melanie’s shoulders. “Oh, little girl . . . look at you.” She backed away and held her face. “You look tired.”
Melanie felt a laugh deep in her stomach. Leave it to Miss Gina to point out the obvious.
“Mommy’s always tired,” Hope said.
Miss Gina took in Hope with narrow eyes. “My Lord, she looks just like you did at her age. How old are you, doll?”
“Seven.”
Melanie held out her hand for another dry towel and Hope delivered it without taking her eyes from Miss Gina.
“I’m going to be eight at the end of summer.”
“Oh, don’t rush aging, little girl. It happens without your encouragement.”
Hope simply stared in bewilderment.
Melanie sat back on her heels once the majority of the water was off the floor. “I think the lobby is safe now.”
Miss Gina blew out a breath. “Yeah, but now I’m down one room.”
“It’s only one bathroom.”
“People don’t want to share bathrooms in a B and B.”
Melanie sucked in her bottom lip. “True.” She took another look around the familiar space. The wallpaper had changed from a floral print to one with muted stripes, but the art still held the flower motif she remembered. “How about offering it at half price?”
“I don’t know if that will work. Probably have to cut that down more. Besides, that would mean sharing my bathroom until I could get this one fixed.”
Looked like Miss Gina’s bad plumbing was Melanie’s good fortune. “We’ll take it.”
“Oh, no, no, no.” Miss Gina stood and wiped her hands on her shirt as she walked out of the room. “I can’t give an old friend castoffs. That wouldn’t be right.”
Melanie scrambled in front of her. “Really. We don’t mind. I was actually hoping Hope and I could stay in town longer than just the class reunion weekend. I can’t afford a full price room for that many days.”
“I couldn’t charge the person in this room. I’ll have plumbers coming and going. It’s too much to ask of you.” Miss Gina attempted to move around her, and Melanie planted her feet in the doorway.
“I don’t mind. Really. You’d be doing me a favor charging half.”
Hope pulled on Miss Gina’s skirt. “Mommy’s car broke.”
“It did?”
“Ah-huh.”
“You don’t have a car?”
“I’m using Jo’s until I figure out what to do with mine.”
“Can you believe our Jo is the town sheriff? I still pinch myself when I see her all geared up and wearing a gun.”
“Everything changes,” Melanie said with a glance at her daughter. “I’ll take the room, Miss Gina. I could use the extra time in town.”
Miss Gina glanced at Hope and back. “Fine . . . fine . . . but I’m not charging you for a crappy room. You can lend me a hand around here like the old days.”
“Oh, I can’t—”