The Archer House (The Archer Inn Book 1)

by Kimberly Thomas

  It wasn't until she went back to the house and to her mother's bedroom that she found Nelly still in bed. Holly looked at her still sleeping mother and chewed on her bottom lip. She couldn't remember her mother ever sleeping this late, even when she was sick. Part of her wanted to let her mother sleep. If she was still in bed at this time of day, she obviously needed it, right?

  But, at the same time, the inn was falling apart all around them. If they didn't do something, it was going to be too late to salvage it. In the end, her fear of losing the inn won out, and she woke her mother.

  Nelly blinked a few times and then rubbed at her eyes. "Holly?" she asked groggily. "What are you doing here? What time is it?"

  "It's after eleven," Holly said, fighting to keep her voice even and contained. She didn't want to take out her annoyance on her mother, didn't want to place all the blame on her for the condition of the inn. Playing the blame game wasn't going to change the past. It was better to move on and work toward the future. "I've started making a list of all the problems around the inn. Let's go into town on a supply run, and I'll give you an update."

  Nelly frowned. For a moment, it looked like she might refuse. But in the end, she nodded and began the slow process of sliding out of bed.

  Any progress was good news, right? It was better than nothing, at least.

  Chapter Nine

  Armed with a list of food, cleaning supplies, and items to start basic repairs, Holly and Nelly piled into Nelly's little Honda. It wasn't the most spacious of vehicles, but it had more room than Holly's Jag did. Plus, Holly hadn't had a chance to make it over to the shop and get the new tire put on yet.

  As Holly explained the various things she wanted to tackle first to get the inn back up to snuff, she noticed Nelly perking up a bit more. It was almost like her mother was starting to find her purpose in life again. And in a way, maybe they both were. On the way to the store, Nelly confirmed Holly's suspicion— she somehow hadn't hired the necessary staff for the restaurant for this summer due to not having enough funds. She did get Nelly to call Chef Stevens and apologize and promise to get him at least one additional staff right away even if Holly had to fork out the funds until things were figured out.

  It was a little late to be hiring on, but there had to be people out there still looking for work. Or people looking to swap to a different place. That was one thing the island was almost never short on— people wanting to make a bit of extra cash. The biggest question was how much extra cash did the inn have on hand? If the appearance of the place was anything to go by, the business probably hadn't been booming.

  She made a mental note to sit down with Uncle Roger and go over the finances, so she could get a clearer picture of the situation.

  Hours went by, but the two of them managed to get everything on Holly's list. It wasn't everything they would need, but it was the most important things. No matter how badly Holly wished she could fix everything all at once, she had to prioritize if she wanted to make any progress at all.

  "Let's get lunch before we go back," Nelly suggested as they pulled out of the grocery store parking lot.

  Holly shrugged and then nodded. She hadn't gotten to eat very much of her breakfast before she'd had to take over the kitchen, so some lunch was definitely due. They decided on this little cabana-like restaurant not too far away from where they were.

  The place was busy since it was right in the middle of the lunch rush. But even with that, they didn't have to wait very long to get a table. Nor did they wait long for a young waitress to come over and take their order. Holly watched the woman carefully, something nipping in the back of her mind. It was like she knew the girl somehow, but considering the girl couldn't have been much older than twenty-two or twenty-three, there was almost no way for Holly to have known her.

  At least, not until a few minutes later when the door leading into the kitchen opened and another woman walked out. At that moment, time ground to a sudden halt. Melissa. Now it was abundantly clear why the young woman looked so familiar. She was the spitting image of her mother, Holly's childhood best friend.

  Melissa made a beeline toward their table; a broad grin etched across her face. "Holly Archer!" the woman squealed, and Holly barely had time to stand before she was enveloped in a bear hug that threatened to break her ribs.

  Holly hugged her right back. She was grinning now, too, her heart beating rapidly. Just like everyone else she had known in the Keys, she hadn't seen Melissa in years. But God, it felt so good to be with her again, to see the shimmering excitement in her eyes.

  "God, Melissa!" Holly gushed, trying to contain her own excitement. She felt a bit like the girl from the front desk right then. "How have you been? What are you doing here?"

  Melissa took a step back and laughed. Still grinning, she waved an arm around, gesturing toward the restaurant. "I own the place! Well, alongside my husband. But yeah, we bought it a couple of years ago, fixed it up, and now we've got a booming little restaurant on our hands!"

  "Well, good for you! The place looks amazing. And that was your daughter waiting on us, wasn't it?" It didn't seem right, Melissa having a grown adult daughter. But then, Holly had two adult kids of her own. God, where had the time gone?

  Melissa nodded eagerly. Holly didn't have to prompt her before she grabbed a chair and dragged it over to their table. "It is. She's really grown up, hasn't she? And you should see Todd! He's over six feet now. It makes me feel tiny when I stand next to him."

  Somehow, Holly had forgotten Melissa had a girl and boy like she did. Maybe there was some truth to what Will had said the day before she had left. She really had neglected the people in her life for the sake of her career. It may have been too late to change the past, but dang it, she could still change the future, right?

  As it turned out, Melissa only had a few minutes to sit and talk with them. It was a shame, really, since Holly hadn't seen her in so long. She desperately wanted to reconnect with her former best friend and see if maybe she could rekindle the relationship the two of them had had all those years ago.

  "Hey, we're having a bit of a party tomorrow night," Melissa said as she stood up. She slid her pilfered chair back in front of the table it belonged to and then turned to face them again. "It's going to be here at the Cabana, but it's locals-only, you know? You should come hang out. I'm sure everyone would be excited to see you again. You know how much we all miss having you around the island."

  Holly blinked at her in surprise. How excited would anybody, other than Melissa, of course, be about her returning to the Keys? While she didn't think there was much animosity around town, other than between her and her family, she didn't think anyone else would really be all that overjoyed to have her back.

  But with Melissa standing right there, she couldn't very well just tell her no, could she? Besides, what else did she have to do? It wasn't like she could spend every waking moment working on the inn. Not unless she wanted to become as rundown as her mother had become.

  "Sure, I'll be there," Holly said, forcing a smile. Just because she was apprehensive about the party didn't mean she had to let Melissa know that. Besides, if no one else cared about her being back in town, at least she would get to spend some more time with Melissa, right? That alone would be worth the effort.

  Once Melissa left, though, Holly turned an accusatory glare toward her mother. She had sat there quietly, smiling through the entire encounter, not letting out so much as a peep. That was all Holly needed to know this had been a set-up. "You knew Melissa and her husband ran this place, didn't you?"

  Nelly tried to hide her smile and shrugged. "It must've slipped my mind," she insisted.

  Holly wanted to stay mad at her mother. She didn't like being set up. But it was hard to stay angry. Seeing Melissa again, getting to talk to her for a few minutes... It was like she had gone back in time for those brief moments. She had been transported back to before her life had gone to crap.

  Sure, back then, she had thought her life was ho
rrible and miserable, but boy, had she been wrong. And now, she would have given anything to go back there, to fix things before they could collapse under her.

  Before she could say anything else, Melissa's daughter returned, carrying plates of food for the two of them. She left them on the table with a wink and then slipped off to wait on other tables. Holly may not have recognized her right away, but apparently, the young woman had known Holly.

  That had to be a good sign, right?

  At least, that's what Holly wanted to believe. She needed some hope right about then.

  Chapter Ten

  Holly stood in her bedroom, frowning at her open suitcase of clothes. Why had she agreed to go to Melissa's little party? She barely knew any of the people who would be there. Sure, she would remember a lot of them from high school or her childhood, but she hadn't kept up with them.

  Every few moments, her hand twitched, itching to pull her phone from her pocket and text Melissa to tell her she wasn't coming. Every time she reached for it, she somehow managed to stop herself. That little bit of self-control didn't help her figure out what in the world she was going to wear.

  "Need some help?" Nelly asked, appearing in the doorway and nearly giving Holly a heart attack. When Holly gave her a reproachful look, Nelly smirked until Holly relented and nodded.

  "I'm not sure I should be going to this thing tonight."

  Nelly waved off her daughter's comments with the flick of her wrist. "Nonsense. You dropped everything back home to come out here and help me. And you've been busting your butt since you arrived. You deserve a night to yourself. Go, have fun. I'm sure Melissa is looking forward to catching up with you."

  Holly let out a sigh and closed her eyes. Her mother was right, of course. She had been working almost nonstop since she had arrived in the Keys. A night away from everything just might be what she needed to keep from burning out too quickly. And she was looking forward to seeing Melissa again, too.

  Finally, Holly took a deep breath and nodded. She couldn't hide from the world forever. She had to get back out there and interact with people. And what better way to do that than to dive headfirst into a party? At least there, if it got to be too overwhelming, she could come up with some excuse to leave.

  Nelly came and helped her pick out a simple sundress to wear. It wasn't going to be a formal party or anything like that, and it was much too hot in the Keys during the summer months to wear anything else. When Holly looked at herself in the mirror, she had to admit she still looked pretty good for forty-six.

  The moment Holly stepped out of her car in the parking lot, she could hear the music drifting up from the beach. There were already a good number of people milling around in the sand. The cabana was lit up, illuminating the entire area even as the sunset on the horizon.

  For a long while, Holly stood there and stared. Laughter could be heard between lulls in the music. Her heart caught in her throat as another wave of panic washed over her. She was tempted to get right back in the car and head home but somehow managed to stay firmly rooted to the ground.

  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, holding it in for as long as she could. When she finally let the air out, she stood with her back straight and shoulders level. She could do this, she told herself. It was just a party with old childhood friends. There was nothing down on that beach she couldn't handle.

  At that silent declaration, her body moved on its own, propelling her toward the party. Immediately she started recognizing people, people she hadn't seen or thought of in decades. She hadn't ever come back for any of her high school reunions, and seeing everyone now was like stepping right back in time.

  Sure, everyone had aged, but as she surveyed the crowd of people, it felt just like the parties she had gone to all those years ago.

  It wasn't hard to spot Melissa. Holly had expected her to be running around taking care of everything, but she had the restaurant's staff doing all of that. Instead, she was standing on the beach, drink in hand, talking to another woman. A woman Holly recognized instantly as her other childhood best friend, Chantal.

  The tanned skinned woman looked like she hadn't aged a single day in the last thirty-some years. Holly knew she had a daughter, but you'd have never known it by looking at her. Holly spun briefly with jealousy.

  The two women spotted Holly only moments after Holly spotted them. They both grinned and made their way through the crowd before the three of them embraced in squealing laughter.

  "Oh, my God!" Chantal cried, squeezing Holly as though she was trying to break her. "When Mel told me you were back in town, I didn't believe her. But here you are, looking like the prodigal daughter returned home."

  Holly let out a snort of laughter and shook her head. Chan always had such a way with words. "Nothing quite as dramatic as that," Holly assured her. "Just back for a little while to help Mom get the inn spruced up a bit. I had no idea she'd had such a difficult time with it after Dad passed away."

  "So, you decided to take a break from your big grand life up in Miami to come back and help out, huh?" Chan teased.

  Holly laughed again. Her heart ached as she nodded her head and plastered a smile across her face. She wanted to tell Chan and Mel the truth, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not right then in the middle of a party, especially. This was supposed to be her night to let loose and relax. She didn't want to bring down the mood.

  So instead, she brushed off the comment as best she could with a non-committal "something like that" before shifting the subject to Chan and her life.

  As it turned out, Chantal had gotten divorced too. Briefly, Holly wondered if there was something in the water around here that cursed everyone's marriages. But Melissa and her husband were still going strong. Her mom and dad had been happily married right up until the end, too.

  So maybe it was just bad luck.

  Conversation flowed easily between the three of them as they wandered around the beach. Holly snagged a beer of her own to sip on, hoping it might help mellow out her nerves a little while. After the first sip, though, she nearly spit it out and remembered why she never drank the stuff. Even after all these years, she had never quite acquired a liking to it. At this point, she doubted she ever would.

  But the beer served its purpose. Some tension and apprehension she had felt all day faded to the background. It helped that Mel and Chan kept up an almost constant stream of chatter, not giving Holly a moment to get lost in her own thoughts. It was almost like they knew something was going on and were doing their best to distract her.

  "God, I forgot how beautiful it is here," Holly said as the three of them stood at the edge of the water. It was fully dark now, the only lights were coming from the cabana, the moon and stars high above them. Staring out into the ocean, it was like you could see forever.

  "No place like it," Mel said with a smirk and a wink. And honestly, that was the truth.

  Holly could barely remember why she had been so eager to leave the place all those years ago. Now that she was back, though, her big "rock star" life in Miami having gone up in flames, she wished she'd stayed here like everyone else. She could only imagine what her life would've been like if she hadn't left.

  Before she could truly contemplate that thought, strong arms wrapped around her middle and lifted her up into the air. Holly squealed and squirmed, trying to escape her captor's grasp. But no matter how hard she fought, she couldn't get their arms to budge an inch.

  It wasn't until they'd set her back down and Holly whirled around that she realized who had grabbed her. Jason Archer stood there, grinning at her like he'd just won the lottery. He was her eldest cousin, though he was still a few years younger than her. Standing next to him was his brother Paul who grinned just as broadly.

  "Well, well, well," Jason said, that smirk seeming to be permanently etched across his face. "Look what the cat finally dragged back home."

  "Jason Archer. Didn't your momma ever teach you not to sneak up on a lady like that? You're lucky
I didn't kick you where the sun doesn't shine!" Holly tried her best to sound chastising, but it was nearly impossible to be mad at him. She was still reeling from being face to face with him again for the first time since her father's funeral.

  "Eh, it ain't like he uses them any," Paul chimed in. He winked at Holly and then nudged his older brother. "His wife would probably thank you. Then he wouldn't be chasing her around like a rowdy teen all the time!"

  Everyone laughed, even Jason, though he did punch his brother in the shoulder. He may have been able to take a joke, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to remind Paul who the older brother was. Finally, each of them gave Holly a bear hug and told her how good it was to see her back in the Keys.

  By that point, Holly was on her third beer, and she was feeling pretty loose and relaxed. Even talking with her cousins didn't spark up her anxiety again, though they also didn't ask too much about her life in Miami. They did fill her in on their lives and the things she had missed over the years, though.

  Jason was still happily married to his wife, but Paul and his wife had divorced about a year ago, splitting custody of their two girls. Jason's son, a teenager now, had apparently taken up baseball, and Holly was invited to come to watch him in his next game. Holly accepted, of course, mostly because she was a bit tipsy and it would've been rude to decline.

  They were in the middle of talking about his stats for the season when Holly caught sight of a cop heading their way. She froze, her mouth having gone dry. It had only been a couple of days since she had left Miami, but Holly couldn't help think he was coming after her in relation to Will's godforsaken schemes.

  But when Jason and Paul caught where her gaze was turned, they grinned and greeted the man with enthusiasm. "Was startin' to wonder if you'd make it out here!" Jason called.