The Eclipse of Moonbeam Dawson (11 page)

“Just don't do that in public,” he warned, with a slight smile.

“I'm coming out to the lodge next week. I'm getting some samples together to take to Anne Depue at the shop. Harvey's going to take me over.”

“I can show you my apartment.”

“Great. Say, how's the food?”

“It's fabulous.”

“A lot of meat, I suppose.” Abby spread jam on the bread. “Is there anything I can say to convince you not to eat it?”

“No.”

“Nothing, Moonbeam?”

“I've heard your meat speech my whole life.”
And it's Reid now, too.

Abby looked upset as she handed him the sandwich.

“Thanks.” He took a bite of his sandwich.

“Sure.”

“Hey, what's the name of that wolf?”

“What wolf?”

“The wolf from that story you used to tell me. The one about ‘Lois the Rabbit and the Magic Ingredients,' where the rabbit and the wolf ate the leaves with the magic ingredients.”

“Acceptance, courage, and love, and then they were friends and ate veggies.”

“Yeah, that wolf.”

“Clarence.”

“Oh, right. I remember. Lois the Rabbit and Clarence the Wolf.” Reid stuck his knife in the jam and spread some on another piece of bread. “Wolves are supposed to be endangered, too. Are you trying to protect them?”

“Not in an organized way like with the bears.”

“Well, just be careful,” he warned, in his parental voice. “When the logging roads were blockaded in ninety-three, the whole world was watching. But trying to scare off redneck trophy hunters out there alone could be dangerous.”

“We don't go out alone.”

“Listen, Mum,” Reid set his knife down. “Just be careful.”

Chapter Seven

Reid was getting dressed, getting ready to go to the kitchen to set up for breakfast, when he heard a knock on the door.

“Just a second,” he yelled, pulling his T-shirt over his head.

Reid ran to the door. It was Jim Goltz. “I need you to fill in for one of our bellhops. Brad Wellman's out with the flu.”

“So I shouldn't report to the kitchen?”

“Not until tonight. Claude will have you bus tables. At three-thirty we need you down on the dock to meet a float plane. Just greet the guests, take their bags to registration, then show them to their room.”

“That's all?”

“In the room, open the cabinet and show them the TV and VCR and tell them we have complimentary videos at the front desk. There's a small refrigerator that's stocked with drinks and snacks. You'll have the key to it, and you just open it to show them and then give them the key. It's pretty straightforward.”

“Okay. I'll go down at three-thirty.”

“Right.” Jim turned to leave. “Say, how'd it go with your mum? You didn't say much on the way back yesterday. She like Palmer's Land okay?”

“It was fine.” Reid tried to sound casual. “She seems to be all set there.”

Actually, his visit had left him sort of mixed up. It was a relief to see that she was doing fine, that he could just live his life and not have to worry about her so much. But she hadn't asked him to do anything to help her. Not a single thing. That Harvey guy seemed to have just taken over.

*   *   *

Down at the dock Reid heard the engine of the float plane. He looked up and saw the sun gleaming against the wings as it glided toward the marina. The black-and-white Wickaninnish Air logo, an orca whale, shone against the silver fuselage as the big pontoons touched down, sending arcs of salt spray cascading across the water. From the cockpit, Joe Martin waved to Reid as he brought the plane within inches of the dock. A perfect landing.

There were just two passengers. A guy with silver hair who looked like he was in his forties. And right behind him, just about the most beautiful girl Reid had ever seen. She didn't look anything like the girls he and Meadow saw in Port Alberni, or even like Gloria, who was very pretty. This girl was dazzling. Like a movie star or something. He stared at her, holding the door of the plane as she climbed down to the dock. He felt immobilized, completely forgetting for a minute why he'd been sent there in the first place. Joe motioned to their luggage: two medium bags and a fishing rod case. Reid put a bag in each hand, then got the case up under his shoulder, and prompted by Joe, blurted, “Welcome to Stere Island Lodge!”

“Oops!” As he turned away from the plane, pivoting with the luggage, the fishing rod case whacked the silver-haired guy in the back. “Oh, no! Sorry!”

“Watch it.” The guy put his hand on the case. “Maybe I'd better carry that.”

“No, sir, I'm really sorry. I've got it. Just lost my balance. Sorry, sir. Just follow me, sir.”

Great first impression. Here's this beautiful girl and the first thing I do is ram her old man with his fishing rod.
Reid led the way up the stairs from the dock, convinced they were smirking at him behind his back with every step.

When Reid got to the main entrance he set their luggage down, then opened the door. “The registration desk is to your right.”

“Thanks.” The girl smiled as he held the door. Then she followed her father inside. Her face was only a few feet from his as she passed through the doorway. He felt his cheeks get hot. Her smile was radiant, the kind of smile you'd see in a toothpaste commercial, and she had these incredible eyes, like a cat's. They were light brown or maybe light green with gold flecks sparkling in them and along with her long, thick, honey-blond hair, she looked like she probably really
was
a model.

Reid got their bags and the fishing case and carried them to the registration desk where Jim Goltz was checking them in.

“Reid.” Jim motioned to him. “This is Robert Lamont and his daughter, Michelle. They'll be with us for the week. This is Reid Dawson, he's a bit of a jack-of-all-trades around here.”

“Yes, he welcomed us at the dock.” Mr. Lamont winked at his daughter.

Jim handed their keys to Reid. “Show the Lamonts to Room 426.”

“Just follow me.” Reid tried to sound like he did this every day.

He had a little trouble getting in the elevator with their stuff. They got on first and then he followed. He decided to back in, with two bags under one arm and the fishing case in his other, straight up. When he was halfway in, the door started to close on him. Michelle jumped over and stuck out her hand to stop it.

“Thanks.”
Another great impression. Bellhop gets squished in elevator door.
He put his head back and looked up at the numbers over the door, hoping she'd look up, too, the way people did in elevators, so she wouldn't see him blushing again.

They got off the elevator, and Reid trotted down the hall with the Lamonts' luggage with the Lamonts following behind. At least he knew where their room was, he thought as he opened the door to 426, and then tried to hide his surprise when he saw it. Jim Goltz had showed Reid and Abby one of the rooms when he gave them a tour of the lodge, but it had just been one of the regular rooms. Reid had thought
it
was unreal, but this was not to be believed.

The room looked like a fancy house. It was actually a suite; two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a huge living room and dining area on the top floor of the lodge with a deck overlooking the marina. One of the bathrooms was bigger than Reid's entire studio apartment in the employee building.

“Just call the front desk if you need anything,” Reid mumbled, turning to leave. “Oh, sorry. I almost forgot.”

He went to the cabinet, a beautifully carved yellow cedar armoire, and opened it. “Uh, there's videos for the VCR at the front desk.”

Then he fumbled with the keys Jim had given him and went to the full bar at the end of the living room. “This is the refrigerator.” He opened it, displaying the drinks and fancy nuts and snacks. “I'll leave the key here,” he mumbled again, setting it on the bar as he turned to leave.

“Just a minute, Reid.” Mr. Lamont walked toward him.

Oh, no! What'd I forget?

“Here you go.” Mr. Lamont held out a bill. “Thanks.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you very much, sir.” Reid closed the door behind him and looked at the bill the guy had given him. Five bucks. Wow! Maybe Brad Wellman would have the flu for a long time and he could just do this bellhop job. He liked it much better than working with lettuce.

As he was getting off the elevator, Jim called to him, motioning for him to come over to the desk.
Oh no. They've reported me already. Of course this was too good to be true.

“Did the Lamonts get settled in okay?”

“Seemed to, they didn't ask me for anything.”

“Good.” Jim lowered his voice. “Reid, you may hear some folks talking about Lamont, he's a bit controversial. Robert Lamont is an executive with McMullen Blundeel.”

Reid had never heard the name McMullen Blundeel spoken by his mother or any of her friends without her adding the phrase “those greedy butchers.” It was like one word to her, as if the entire phrase were the actual company name: McMullen Blundeel Those Greedy Butchers. His whole life he'd been raised with the idea that these people were the enemy; but since he had never actually seen a timber company executive, it surprised him that Mr. Lamont looked like just a regular rich guy like you'd see on TV. There were no fangs or horns or anything to show he was one of the evil bad guys.

“We're in the service industry, and the lodge exists to provide service to the guests whether we approve of their line of work or their politics or anything else. I just wanted to make that clear.”

“Okay, I won't poison them, ha-ha!” Reid laughed.

“No jokes, son.”

“Sorry.”

“That's okay. But since you're new, I wanted to remind you of our mission here.”

On his way back to his apartment, Reid ran into Gloria. She was carrying a clothes basket, heading toward the employee laundry room.

“Want a hand with that?”

“It's not heavy.”

“I need the practice,” he put his hands on the basket. “I wasn't so great first time out as a bellhop.”

“Okay, but I don't tip.” She handed him the basket.

In the laundry room, Reid sat on one of the tables while Gloria put her clothes in the washing machine.

“How'd it go with your mum this morning?”

“She lives in a nice place. She was all settled and everything.”

“You didn't have to unload all her stuff like you thought you would?” Gloria poured soap into the machine and closed the lid.

“She and that guy Harvey had it all done.”

“You don't like him?”

“I didn't say that.” Reid picked up her empty basket.

“Yeah, but your tone did and you scrunched up your mouth when you said his name.”

“I did?” Reid felt his mouth with his hand. “I didn't know I did that.”

“Yeah, when you don't like something, your mouth scrunches up at the corners. I've noticed this.”

“Well, I'm not saying I don't like him, it's just that I was surprised. That's all. She's all set there, her place looks like she's been there forever, and she's joined some group called Bear Alert.”

“Cool. My brother John's in that.” Gloria walked over to the Coke machine next to the dryers, put in a loony, the one dollar coin, and took out a diet Coke. “He and this Chinese Canadian guy, Jeffrey Eng, do the educational stuff in the Asian communities.”

“I just don't know if she understands what she's getting into, trying to stop poachers and trophy hunters. I mean, my mother sometimes just jumps into stuff.”

“Look, it's true, the poachers are real scum. They're usually involved in drugs and weapons trafficking, too. But I've been to a couple of meetings with John and they're careful. People in Bear Alert wouldn't go out alone to intercept these guys.” Gloria looked up at the clock on the wall over the dryers. “I better get over to the kitchen. I'll put my stuff in the dryer when I get my first break.”

“Are you prepping again tonight?”

“It's me and the potatoes. And you?”

“Bussing tables.”

“Good luck,” she grinned.

“Is it hard?”

“No. As long as you don't listen to what the guests are saying and just try and focus on your job, it's okay.”

*   *   *

When they got to the kitchen, Claude gave Reid a quick briefing on bussing the tables. “The server will offer them drinks, then you go to the table to fill the water glasses. Always lift the water glass away from the table to fill it. Fill it whenever it gets less than half-full. Serve from the left, take away from the right. Clear the plates as soon as the plate is empty and the guest has put the fork down. If the plate has food on it, but the fork has been put down, be sure and ask if you may clear the plate before you take it away. Bring the bread and olive oil as soon as the guests have placed their order with their server, and if the wine glasses need refilling, be sure and find their server to take care of it.”

“Got it.” Reid nodded and left for the dining room. This should be pretty easy, he thought. A lot better than having to cut up all those vegetables and jump in and out of the walk-in fridge to get stuff that he wasn't even sure what it was. Just fill the water, give 'em the bread, and take their plates when they're done. A piece of cake. Nothing to it.

In the dining room he stood next to the long sideboard, surveying the room. Pale yellow flowers in small crystal vases, gleaming silverware, and flickering candles were on every table. The room had a gentle radiance that contrasted sharply with the world just outside its wide expanse of glass; the sea, the storm-tossed driftwood, and the deep green of the enormous, ancient trees.

While he waited for guests to arrive, Reid thought about the beautiful girl in Room 426. He was sure that she and her father would have room service; they'd undoubtedly eat in their suite's private dining area, not here with the regular guests.