Touching Stars by Emilie Richards Page A

often lived with them, did an equal share. Helping had never been optional, but Gayle had been careful not to expect so much that the boys resented the inn or her.
    “Hey there,” she said, closing the door quietly behind her. “Happy graduation day! I’m sorry I overslept. I don’t know what got into me.”
    He flipped a few slices, then a few more. “I was up early anyway. I figured you could use the help.”
    “What’s going on the griddle?”
    “Florida cakes.”
    “Yum.” Florida cakes were Jared’s specialty. He used a standard pancake recipe, but he replaced the milk with orange juice, added diced bananas and pecans, and sometimes, if shredded coconut was handy, sprinkled a dollop on the pancakes before he turned them. Florida cakes were a favorite with his brothers, particularly Dillon. Guests always enjoyed them, too.
    “I checked on Dad,” Jared said. “I didn’t hear any noise from his room.”
    “If we don’t hear him by the time everything’s ready, let’s take him a tray. He doesn’t need to skip a meal.”
    “How bad off is he?” Jared removed half the bacon with a practiced hand. The cast-iron griddle spanned two burners of the six-burner commercial stove and got a daily workout.
    Gayle thought about last night’s dinner. After sleeping most of the afternoon, Eric had insisted on coming to the table, but it had been clear that hunger and exhaustion were at war. Much to Dillon’s disappointment, he had eaten, then gone straight back to his room for the evening.
    “I talked to him after we ate,” Gayle said. “He assured me the doctors expect him to recover quickly. Remember, he was in Germany for more than a week, and they did every conceivable test. Then they repeated some in Washington, just to be sure. It’s mostly as simple as rest and food and, once he’s up to it, getting back into his daily routine a little at a time.”
    “It’s hard to see him like this.”
    Gayle was surprised Jared was so forthcoming, but she wasn’t surprised at the sentiment. It was hard to see Eric, always bursting with high spirits and in the peak of health, so thin, tired and pale. She suspected he was depressed, as well, although that wasn’t something she wanted to share with her son.
    “We’re going to have company this morning,” she warned. “So he’ll probably want to stay in his room.”
    Jared took a handful of pecans from a plastic bin and tossed them to the cutting board beside the stove. “Who?”
    “The quilters are going to set up their frame.”
    “Oh, yeah. Some guy from church came by earlier and dropped it off. I forgot to tell you. I helped him get it into the morning room.”
    “Thanks. I’ve also got a couple of deliveries for the party. And early in the afternoon I’ve got an interview.”
    “How are the interviews going?”
    Gayle had decided to replace her live-in couple with a gardener, two part-time innkeepers and a cleaning team of three, a decision she hadn’t made lightly. But by her calculations, the renovated Star Garden suite would bring in more income than its relative value as housing for another live-in couple.
    She was wary about the change, but hopeful it would work if she could find the right employees. Finding a cleaning team had been easy, and they were ready to start work next week, when guests began arriving again. Unfortunately the part-timers, who would be asked to do a little of everything, were proving harder. She just hadn’t found the right combination of skills and warmth, and she desperately needed help.
    “I whittled the applications down to four. Nobody really jumped out at me, though. I’m still advertising.”
    The door opened, and Noah wandered in. “I’m going to take Dillon down the road to practice swimming after breakfast, so don’t tell me I need a shower.”
    “Under those circumstances, I can put up with the grime.”
    “Funny.” He made a face. “I wouldn’t do it if you weren’t desperate. He doesn’t listen