Grace finished up serving breakfast to Frances and her group and headed into her sitting and office area. She had work to do if she was going to be making any bookings for the week. When she sat down at the computer, instead of logging into the B&B website, she found herself typing in Quinn's name. From the paperwork he filled out for registration she used his last name to search about him. “Quinn Nolan, Dublin”
Grace tried to convince herself several times this was not right, but she continued the search. There were several small articles about a Quinn Nolan from the Dublin Institute of Technology and some awards won for Internet programs and Internet safety. Other than that, things were pretty scarce. She did find a Tommy Nolan, brother of Quinn Nolan who seemed to make the news for his marital problems. Things seem to have stemmed from a brawl in a pub because his wife left him. Other than that, there was nothing on this man. Grace shook her head, what was she doing searching one of her guests? At least there were no indications that Quinn was a womanizer. Why did she even care?
Grace was startled by a voice at the doorway. “Excuse me, Grace,” Frances said quietly. “Do ye mind if we sit out front and warm up some today? It's such a beautiful day out.”
“Frances, that would be fine. I'll open the windows here so you can fill the cottage with your wonderful music again,” this finally brought a smile back to Grace. She could work all day while listening to Frances sing and play.
By the time Frances and her friends had finished their warm up session, Grace had been able to book rooms for all but two days during the week, Monday and Tuesday. Frances getting out the word had filled the cottage up with musicians from Wednesday up to the weekend. Grace was going to be busy and was happy to have Monday and Tuesday off to plan meals and purchase supplies for the remainder of the week.
Peter stopped by to chat with Grace and talk about his engagement to Chloe. He thanked Grace for coming up to the cottage in the first place, since if she had not done that he would never had met the girl of his dreams. Grace was so happy to see Peter come out of his shell. Obviously Chloe had a very good influence on him, and he on her. Peter apologized for leaving Grace without someone to handle the B&B and said he would continue to keep up the grounds and whatever Grace needed. Knowing that he would stay on to help was something Grace appreciated.
Grace said goodbye to Peter after their chat and headed to the kitchen to start prepping for dinner. Once again she'd be making an early dinner for Frances and crew. She expected that Quinn might want something after his ride and made sure there was enough for him also.
Tonight's menu was grilled salmon with a lemon caper sauce, roasted potatoes, and a green salad with some fresh mango vinaigrette topping. The salad was something she adapted from a restaurant she had gone to in Dublin, and finding a mango at Fallon and Byrne before she headed up for the weekend was a real treat. Now she could try one of her own recipes to add to Aine's.
Frances and her crew raved about the dinner and were sad this would be the last night they stayed at the cottage for a while. Tomorrow the weekend would end for them and they would head back home. They did promise to pass on the word about the cottage and would be back themselves the next time they were booked to play at Rafters.
It was getting late, and Grace had already checked in the couple that had arrived for the night. Even though it stayed light until after ten, she was a little concerned that Quinn had not returned. She was not sure why she was worried, as he was a big boy and could take care of himself. She did feel bad about what had happened earlier in the morning and wanted to make it up to him. She had opened the bottle of wine he brought and set out two glasses for a “peace” toast when he arrived back.
By eleven, something was wrong, and Grace could feel it. Just something told her that something had happened to Quinn. Why was she worried? He was no concern of hers.
Then she heard the sound of a vehicle in her drive, but it was not a bike, it was a car....
Sunday, September 11, 2011
All Roads Lead to Swatragh - Chapter 45
Labels:
Bed and Breakfast,
Dublin,
fiction,
Ireland,
Northern Ireland,
Swatragh,
travel
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment