Part 1
“Could you two slow down for one minute?”
Mark stopped beside the revolving doors but did not turn around.
Amber did.
“We’re checking in, Eleanor. We’re not running a marathon.”
Eleanor Montgomery tightened her fingers around the handle of her small suitcase.
“I know what we’re doing.”
“Then keep up.”
Amber pushed through the doors first.
Mark held one glass panel long enough for his mother to catch it herself.
“Amber,” he said quietly.
“What?”
Mark glanced at Eleanor.
“Nothing.”
Eleanor stepped into the lobby and released the door behind her.
A bellman approached.
“Good afternoon. May I take your bag, ma’am?”
“I’ve got it, thank you.”
The young man smiled and moved toward another arriving family.
Amber was already scanning the room.
“Mark, look at this place.”
“I told you.”
“No, you undersold it.”
Eleanor followed several steps behind them.
Her eyes moved once toward the chandelier above the central seating area.
She stopped.
Only for a second.
Mark noticed.
“You okay, Mom?”
Eleanor looked away from the lights.
“Fine.”
Amber sighed.
“If she’s tired already, maybe she should rest when we get upstairs.”
“We just arrived,” Eleanor said.
“That’s my point.”
Mark rubbed the back of his neck.
“Can we not start?”
Amber gave him a sharp look.
“I didn’t start anything.”
Eleanor pulled her suitcase closer.
A porter crossed the marble floor carrying luggage.
His shoes clicked against the polished stone.
Eleanor glanced down.
Her expression shifted slightly.
Amber noticed this time.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You keep staring at things.”
“I’m looking around.”
Amber smiled without warmth.
“Yes. That’s usually what tourists do.”
Mark gave a short laugh.
Eleanor looked at him.
His smile disappeared first.
“Come on,” he said. “Front desk’s over there.”
They began walking again.
Amber reached for Mark’s arm.
“After we check in, I want to see the spa.”
“We have time.”
“And the pool deck.”
“Sure.”
“And I want to ask about the private cabanas.”
Eleanor walked beside them now.
“What time is dinner?”
Amber looked at Mark instead of answering.
Mark pretended to check something on his phone.
Eleanor waited.
Neither spoke.
Then Amber pulled Mark closer and continued toward the desk.
Eleanor remained where she was for one extra beat.
“Mark?”
He did not look back.
“You booked the couples massage for tomorrow, right?”
Amber leaned across Mark’s shoulder while he scrolled through his phone.
“Ten thirty.”
“And golf?”
“Tuesday morning.”
“What about the sunset cruise?”
“Wednesday.”
Eleanor sat across from them in the lobby seating area.
Her suitcase rested beside her chair.
“Wednesday evening?”
Mark looked up.
“Yeah.”
“I thought we might have dinner together one night.”
Amber kept scrolling through the resort brochure.
“We will.”
Eleanor waited.
Amber turned a page.
“When?”
Mark shifted in his seat.
“Mom.”
“I’m only asking.”
“We haven’t planned every second.”
Amber smiled.
“We almost have.”
Mark laughed.
Eleanor folded her hands over her purse.
“So which evening is free?”
Amber traced a fingernail across the brochure.
“Thursday we have the seafood place.”
“Friday is the cabana dinner,” Mark added.
“Saturday we leave.”
Eleanor nodded slowly.
“That leaves tonight.”
Amber finally raised her eyes.
“We were thinking of keeping tonight flexible.”
“For what?”
“Whatever we feel like doing.”
Eleanor looked at Mark.
He avoided her.
“We could eat together,” she said.
Mark inhaled through his nose.
“Maybe.”
Amber closed the brochure.
“Mark, we don’t need to decide everything right now.”
“I didn’t say we did.”
“You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
“Trying to make everybody happy.”
Eleanor looked toward the desk.
A woman in a navy jacket had stepped behind the counter.
Her hair was pinned neatly back.
She was speaking to another employee.
Eleanor’s gaze stayed on her a moment too long.
The woman turned.
Their eyes almost met.
Eleanor looked down at her purse.
Amber stood.
“Okay. I’m not spending my first afternoon sitting in a lobby discussing dinner.”
Mark followed her.
“Mom?”
Eleanor remained seated.
“What?”
“We’re going to check in.”
“I heard you.”
Amber lifted one eyebrow.
“Then come on.”
Eleanor rose carefully.
As she reached for her suitcase, Mark took one step toward her.
“I can get that.”
She looked at his hand.
For a second, neither moved.
Then Amber called his name.
“Mark.”
His hand dropped.
Eleanor picked up the suitcase herself.
“Go ahead,” she said.
He hesitated.
Amber was already walking away.
Mark followed her.
Eleanor watched him go.
Then she quietly said, “Of course.”
“Excuse me, is that fountain supposed to sound like that?”
Amber had stopped beside the center fountain.
Mark glanced toward the water.
“Sounds normal to me.”
“It’s clicking.”
“It’s water.”
“It’s definitely clicking.”
Eleanor stood beside them.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
She listened.
Three seconds.
Then she looked toward the west wall.
Mark noticed.
“What?”
“The pump.”
Amber turned.
“What about it?”
Eleanor pressed her lips together.
“Nothing.”
“You know about fountain pumps now?”
“I know what a tired motor sounds like.”
Amber laughed.
“Of course you do.”
Mark smiled faintly.
Eleanor looked at him.
Again, the smile vanished.
A maintenance employee emerged from a service corridor.
He walked toward the fountain with a small radio clipped to his belt.
Eleanor watched him kneel beside the lower access panel.
He opened it.
The clicking stopped.
Amber blinked.
“Huh.”
Eleanor moved on.
Mark caught up.
“How did you know that?”
“I’ve heard enough broken machinery.”
“When?”
Eleanor looked ahead.
“A long time ago.”
“That answer means nothing.”
“It wasn’t meant to.”
Amber appeared on Mark’s other side.
“Can we please stop interrogating your mother about plumbing?”
Eleanor’s jaw tightened.
Mark shoved his phone into his pocket.
“We’re making conversation.”
“No, you’re delaying check-in.”
Amber pointed toward the reception area.
“Look. There’s nobody in line now.”
They crossed the marble floor.
Eleanor slowed near a framed photograph on the wall.
The picture showed Serenity Shores before its renovation.
Older balconies.
Faded stucco.
A damaged fountain.
She stared at it.
Mark followed her gaze.
“Wow.”
Amber stepped closer.
“That place looked terrible.”
“It did,” Eleanor said.
Her voice came out softer.
Mark looked at her.
“You say that like you saw it.”
Eleanor turned away.
“I’ve seen places like it.”
Amber shrugged.
“Well, whoever fixed it knew what they were doing.”
Eleanor touched the edge of her purse.
Only once.
Then she started toward the front desk.
“Somebody had to.”
Mark watched her walk away.
For the first time since they arrived, he did not immediately follow.
“We should ask for the penthouse.”
Amber said it before they reached the desk.
Mark frowned.
“We didn’t book the penthouse.”
“So?”
“So, we booked an oceanfront suite.”
Amber lowered her voice.
“And you said this trip was supposed to be special.”
“It is.”
“Then ask.”
Eleanor stopped behind them.
“You already have an oceanfront suite?”
Amber glanced over her shoulder.
“Yes.”
“That sounds comfortable.”
Amber faced forward again.
“I didn’t ask.”
Mark rubbed his jaw.
“Amber.”
“What?”
Eleanor stepped beside them.
“There’s nothing wrong with the room you reserved.”
Amber turned fully this time.
“You haven’t even seen it.”
“No.”
“Then how would you know?”
Eleanor held her gaze.
“I said there’s nothing wrong with an oceanfront suite.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Mark stepped between their lines of sight.
“Okay. Enough.”
Amber looked at him.
“I’m talking to your mother.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you interrupting?”
Mark opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Behind the desk, the woman in the navy jacket lifted her head.
Her eyes landed on Eleanor.
Everything in her face changed.
Her professional smile disappeared.
She straightened instantly.
“Mrs.—”
Eleanor met her eyes.
A tiny movement followed.
Barely there.
One slow shake of her head.
The woman stopped.
Amber was digging through her handbag and saw nothing.
Mark was still looking at the reservation on his phone.
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Good afternoon.”
The woman swallowed.
“Good afternoon, ma’am.”
Amber placed both hands on the counter.
“We have a reservation under Mark Montgomery.”
The woman typed.
“Yes. I see it.”
Amber smiled.
“And before you finish, we’d like to upgrade.”
Mark looked toward Eleanor.
She was watching the woman behind the desk.
The woman’s fingers had gone still above the keyboard.
Amber leaned closer.
“We want the penthouse.”
The manager looked once at Eleanor.
Then back at Amber.
“I’m afraid that may be a problem.”
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