New chapters in life often started with a crash. Claire knew that. She was trying to avoid any crashes, collapses, or otherwise destructive starts this time, however. She hoped that her new beginning on Orcas Island would go smoothly. Quietly. That she’d be in control.

As much as that was possible. She rolled over to check the time on her phone, but despite pushing its buttons and giving it a shake, it refused to wake up. She squinted in the darkness and saw that the phone charger was hanging loosely from the outlet.

Ah. Loose outlets weren’t uncommon in old buildings like this. It was just another improvement they needed to make. She marked it down in her notebook.

The list was growing quite long, as she’d expected. It’d been nearly a week since she’d closed on the sale of The Grand Madrona Hotel, and she’d spent each night in a different room, taking notes, admiring the views, and finding out that many of the hotel’s critical reviews held nuggets of truth.

Her neck and shoulders were stiff from an anxious night, and she stretched before hopping out of bed and scooting across the creaking hardwood floor. She liked the sound; there was a charm to the hotel, something that she didn’t want to lose. The 1920’s style sang through the little details: the eloquent tile patterns, the gold-trimmed banisters. It just needed a bit of polish to really shine.

She pulled the curtains open with a dramatic swoop and the sunlight peeked in. This was the best room in the hotel – the Sunset Suite. The placid ocean waters filled her view and, in the distance, tiny green trees rose to the sky, a thousand perfect brushstrokes on the mountainside.

With some effort, Claire managed to open the old window and take a breath of the crisp island air. The sunlight quieted the jittery thoughts in her head, and she felt the fear of the morning fizzling away.

Claire smiled to herself. So what if she didn’t know anything about running a hotel? These views sold themselves! How hard could it be?

Not that hard – at least not yet, though she was open to suggestions. Claire had hired a hospitality consultant who told her to spend at least one night in every room of the hotel. He argued that she needed a true idea of what the experience was like for guests, and since there were only thirty-two rooms, it didn’t seem too cumbersome.

This was her sixth night, and she was glad she’d saved the suite until now. The room was more spacious than the others, and the furnishings were more grand. Best of all was the gentle sound of the water lapping at the shore – she’d never grow sick of it.