“Well, we had an old pipe burst, unfortunately. But no worries. We got it all cleaned up and had all the piping replaced.”
“How extensive was the damage?” Mrs. Wellington asked.
“The water covered most of the upstairs, but we cleaned it up quickly, cut away the drywall, sanitized . . . You know the drill.”
The floor squeaked as they moved across the hall to another room. “This is the last vacant room I can show you, but the others are very much like this one. As you can see, each room is equipped with a mini-split to heat and cool the rooms. We like their high efficiency, and the guests enjoy the ability to control the temperature. Each room also comes with a large closet, a top-of-the-line mattress, luxury bedding, a thirty-two-inch flat-screen TV, a Keurig machine, and plush robes.”
Grace finished stowing the cleaning cart and slipped across the hall into her room. She left the door cracked so she could eavesdrop.
“It sounds like you’ve done a lot of work to the place, getting it up to code and all,” the man said. “But the house is quite old. How’s the foundation?”
“We did discover some foundation issues when we renovated, but we had those fixed.”
“What kinds of issues?” he asked.
“Well . . . you’d have to talk to my brother. He’s the one who handled that part of the renovation. He previously worked as a commercial building contractor in Denver, so he’s knowledgeable and very thorough.”
“He decided not to update the plumbing though?” the woman asked.
Grace winced. Why was Molly sharing so much?
“Oh, well, yes, he thought we’d get by with the plumbing for a while. But one of the pipes had enough, I guess.” She gave a nervous chuckle. “It was just one of those things. All new plumbing now though, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
They were making their way down the hall now, Molly mentioning some of the area’s natural attractions.
“I didn’t see any other hotels around town,” the woman said.
“There are a lot of homes for rent around here, but we’re the only inn in Bluebell. So far anyway . . .”
“Are you aware of another one coming?” Mr. Wellington asked.
“Well, no, not really. There are rumors that a chain hotel is interested in a property on the lake, but that probably won’t happen.”
As her voice faded, Grace glared at Molly through the door. She was supposed to be selling the inn’s positive features, not pointing out all the negatives! This wasn’t like her Pollyanna sister at all. There wasn’t a thing wrong with the inn, and business rumors swirled around town all the time. Ninety percent of them never panned out.
Grace could almost see her perfect little house on the edge of town getting snatched up from beneath her. She paced her room, checking out the window as she waited for the couple to leave. Finally, after about fifteen long minutes, the couple got into their car and drove away.
Grace left her room and traipsed down the stairs, hoping to catch Molly before she left. When Grace reached the bottom her sister was talking to Levi in the lobby.
“Yeah, unfortunately, I don’t think they’re all that serious,” Molly said.
“What makes you say that?” Levi asked.
Grace folded her arms over her chest. “Possibly because she was pointing out all the inn’s flaws.”
“I was not!”
Levi looked between them. “What are you talking about?”
“You told them about the flood. You told them we had foundation issues. You told them a chain hotel might be coming to town.”
Levi gave Molly a look. “Seriously?”
“I didn’t say that. Well, okay, I said some of that, but I didn’t— I said we had a flood, but we cleaned it all up. I said we used to have a foundation issue, but we fixed it. I told them there was a rumor about a hotel chain.”
“Well, why bring up any of that?” Grace asked.
“And I said a ton of other things. Positive things. Glowing things! You didn’t hear all that. I told them how busy we are, how satisfied the guests are, how supportive the community is.”
“Still, Molly,” Levi said. “Why mention all those other things? There’s nothing wrong with the inn. Why make them question that?”
Molly’s face gave away every thought. “Okay, fine. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up. I was just trying to be honest.”
“When people hear flood they imagine ongoing mold issues,” Levi said. “Expensive mold issues. They weren’t here to see