The call came while Helen and I were drinking tea.
A woman named Beatrice Cole introduced herself as the new manager of the Harbor House.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” she said.
“Not at all.”
“I found your name in the old company records.”
“That usually means someone has discovered a problem with a contract.”
Beatrice laughed.
“This time it’s a photograph.”
She had found a box while preparing to renovate the hotel’s ground floor.
Inside were pictures from the opening day, staff notes, and a drawing Thomas had made of the lobby.
“We’d like to put some of it on display,” she said.
“Would you come and see what we’re planning?”
I looked at Helen.
She was pretending not to listen.
“I’d like that,” I told Beatrice.
After I hung up, Helen set down her cup.
“You’re going back to the hotel?”
“Yes.”
“Will you take Daniel?”
“I haven’t decided.”
“You may want time there on your own first.”
I considered it.
Thomas and I had walked through the unfinished lobby together, arguing about where the flowers should go.
Daniel remembered the luggage cart and the paper name badge.
The staff who worked there now had their own memories.
“I’ll ask Margaret to come with me,” I said.
Helen nodded.
“Then you can take the rest of us another day.”
