by Philip Johnson
Chapter One
It wasn't totally unexpected and yet, Lee still couldn't believe it. His sweet aunt had died. Aunt Amalie Hansen was born in Norway and came to the U.S. as a child, and she was a long legged beautiful blonde her whole life. Even as her health left her, he couldn't help but admire her regal fair skinned beauty. He was the only nephew, but she did have a niece, Anna Grierson. Aunt Amalie had a claim to fame of sorts. Many years ago she and Uncle Mathias had bought a very large and stately home just north of Davis, North Carolina on North Harbor Road. They were within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean, and could easily see the Cape Lookout National Seashore. It was nearly ideal for them. Uncle Mathias had been a very successful businessman, so when he died unexpectedly Aunt Amalie turned the huge home into a bed and breakfast that she named the Sand Castle. She was successful almost from the beginning, adding two more bedrooms and bathrooms along the way. She now had six bedrooms to rent, all with their own bathrooms, a real rarity in those days. Word spread and she would occasionally get very well known people staying there, and people wanting to hide from prying eyes, or just savoring the sweet quiet and home like atmosphere that she was noted for.
Four of the six bedrooms faced the ocean and there was a long second floor porch that ran the length of the house. People staying in any of those four bedrooms had ocean views and could walk out onto the porch, and if it wasn't too hot, bask in the North Carolina sunshine and feel the ocean breezes. Aunt Amalie's bedroom was on the ground floor, not far from the main kitchen and there was a smaller servant's bedroom down the hall from hers, but that was seldom occupied.
Grace was her maid, friend, and helper and she came to her when she was still in her teens, staying in the bedroom for a time until she got married and moved into a house about three miles inland. Aunt Amalie paid her better than any maid in the
area and Grace was devoted to her. Of course, there was always the off season, but even then, there was rarely a time that more than four of the six bedrooms were empty. In season, if you didn't have reservations well in advance, you were out of luck. Aunt Amalie ran the B&B as much for fun as anything else, but it was truly profitable because she could charge outlandish rates and still keep the rooms full.
It was a combination of her social skills, Grace's wonderful breakfasts, and all that the Hansen estate had to offer. Not long before he died, Uncle Mathias had added a small swimming pool and a double tennis court. Curt Jenkins was the groundskeeper and had been with Aunt Amalie for some ten years.
It was all of those details that filtered through Lee's mind as he walked the grounds the day he moved into Aunt Amalie's bedroom to take over the bed and breakfast. It was in the will. It was his to run as he saw fit for ten years. After that it would be his free and clear the same year he turned forty eight. She had endowed him with fifty thousand dollars as a reserve fund as well, but beyond that it was up to Lee to succeed or fail. She knew her nephew. He was the only one in the family that had the drive and the steady, happy, and outgoing personality, which would be required to succeed.
The main floor of the home was a typical large show home for its day, with tall ceilings, and a number of modest sized rooms. Off of the south end, Uncle Mathias had built a solarium that soon became a combination solarium and sitting room, where people loved to gather, sip a brandy, or whatever, and talk or read. Against the wall between the solarium and the house, was a bar of about twelve feet long and guests were welcome to bring a bottle of their favorite libation or a six pack of beer. Lee even took to keeping a case of Michelob in the cooler. There was also a computer at the end of the bar for the guests to use. The front driveway curved up to the front door and then on around to connect to the drive to the parking area in front of the carriage house. Now the carriage house was another matter. It had been made into a very plush three bedroom home complete with stocked bar that would rent for two thousand a night in season.
At least sixty percent of Lee's guests were regulars that he could count on to return again and again. Maybe not every year, but rarely did two years pass without him seeing each and every one of them. It took him a long time and a good computer to learn and memorize the names of his regulars, but he managed. For Aunt Amalie, it had been natural, but Lee had to work at it. He learned that if he had guests that were too demanding, he would be sure to be slow about seeing to their needs and they just wouldn't come back again. Regulars that stayed at the Sand Castle knew that it was somewhat isolated, and very slow paced and their only bet for lunch or an evening meal was one of three restaurants within ten miles of there. Of course, they were welcome to buy things and put them in the refrigerator and even use the kitchen as long as they cleaned up after themselves. The butler's kitchen and pantry were off limits to the guests however.
Grace or her sister Eunice were there every morning by six thirty to prepare breakfast, and then stayed until three making beds and cleaning rooms as needed. It things got too busy, they could call on Irene to help out as well. It went to Lee to work the desk, visit with the guests, and do general light maintenance. It was a good, but somewhat lonely life for Lee. He had people around him, but it was unusual to have guests his age, and he was usually too busy to stray too far from home. Morehead City was about twenty two miles northeast of the Sand Castle, and that was the closest true town for him. If he wanted a large city, Wilmington was a one hundred and sixteen mile drive.
Lee had his favorite guests. There was Max and Wanda, for example. He was a little stuffy and full of himself, and he had to be certain that his cell phone would work at the Sand Castle before he would agree to stay. He also had to have access to high speed Internet which Lee provided via satellite. But Wanda was as sweet as they came and easy to look at even though, she was a good ten years older than Lee. Wanda spent a lot of time at or in the pool or sunning in her bikini as she read, and Max pretended to be busy. Then there was Grant and Edna. They were in their fifties, but both of them acted like they were still in their thirties and kept Lee laughing. Grant and Edna always requested the south bedroom, and often as not, she would slip out and sun on the deck topless. That was one thing that would get Max off of his ass and out onto the deck.
Each person came with their own set of needs and hopes, but if they had been there more than once, they knew that when they left, they would feel rested and glad they had come. Don Blake came with his son and they would spend days in the Croatan National Forest or out at the National Seashore exploring. Every year without fail, a group of six younger couples would take over the place and it was bedlam, and Lee loved every minute of it. The six couples were still older than he was, but not by a lot, and after five years of having them around, he almost felt like one of the group. Most of them would end up just shy of drunk, some of them would end up in the pool with their clothes, on and on several occasions, the women ended up in the pool with nothing on. It was almost expected that there would be a lot of skin showing with that whole group. Watching the women play tennis topless would keep Lee from getting anything done for hours and the women loved knowing they were teasing him. With the six couples holding the keys to all the bedrooms, they didn't have to worry about offending other guests and they sure didn't offend Lee. Even mild mannered Grace got used to them and enjoyed having them come.
There were a lot of couples that Lee considered among his favorites, but his one very favorite couple was Gil and Kala Armstrong. They were his age and were an effervescent couple. It always seemed incongruous that such an outgoing and cosmopolitan couple would find it enjoyable to do very little beyond loafing, reading and visiting with the other guests. Gil was a successful business man as was Kala, but they made it a point to spend at least a week or ten days a year at the Sand Castle. Gil was prone to spending time on the computer as he continued to conduct business, but Kala said if she was on vacation, she wasn't going near a computer. Gil was also prone to leaving in the morning and be gone all day, not to be seen until late in the evening, and he'd do that two or three times during their stay. When that happened, Lee broke the rules and invited Kala to have lunch and dinner with him so she wouldn't have to go to town and eat alone. She was a good looking woman, very conversant on a number of topics, and she seemed to enjoy his company. Times like that were about the closest thing he had to a social life.
When Lee went into the front room where the receiving desk was, he looked at the reservation book and noticed that both Max and Wanda and Grant and Edna were arriving Saturday afternoon. This would be the first time that the four of them had been at the Sand Castle at the same time. There was no real significance to that other than Lee was sure the four of them would enjoy each other's company, plus Lee knew that it was going to be a good week for him. Lee wandered into the dining room and made the rounds of the four couples having breakfast before they
checked out. "Good morning Lou, Martha, how's breakfast this morning?"
"Wonderful as always, Lee."
"And how was your stay with us this time?"
"No complaints at all, but I have a suggestion", Lou added."
"I'm all ears."
"How about having a shuttle to the ocean? You know, maybe one of those electric six seaters. Take us down to the ocean and pick us up say four hours later."
"That has potential Lou, let me think about it." Lee patted him on the back and moved on to talk to the other guests before going to the kitchen for coffee. "Morning, Grace."
"Morning, Lee."
"Grace, could you stay a couple of hours extra tomorrow. We have four of our best guests arriving and I'd like to give them that extra touch."
"Of course," he told her who was coming and she smiled.
"Yes I'd be glad to; they all leave very good tips."
"And you deserve them."
Chapter Two
As Lee waited for the arrival of his guests Saturday afternoon he took a call. "Sand Castle, this is Lee."
"Hi Lee, this is Kala Adler."
