What kind of struggle did he find? Was that a phrase from one of his hospitality books?

Chip frowned, but stopped himself from responding brusquely. He was far more familiar with Ken’s type – a snob – than he was with Claire’s. He still didn’t quite know who Claire was.

“I wouldn’t say I have any struggle at all,” Chip said. “I’ve grown into both roles over the last ten years here.”

“Oh, how nice.” Ken smiled briefly, his nose scrunching like a rabbit.

Claire cleared her throat. “Are you free today, Chip? I thought we could all talk through some ideas.”

“I would die for some coffee right now,” Ken said, clapping his hands together. “Join us, Chip.”

He shrugged. “Works for me.”

The restaurant was nearly empty, and they took a table next to one of the largest “souls” in the room. Dan took Claire and Chip’s orders before finding himself under interrogation with Ken.

“What sort of creamer options do you have?”

Dan tapped his pen on his notepad. “Well, we carry half-and-half, whole milk, skim – ”

Ken waved a hand. “I mean what else?”

“We also have almond milk and soy milk.”

“Hm.” Ken drummed his fingers on his chin. “Thank you. Is it organic?”

Dan looked up. “I think so?”

“That’s interesting.” Ken stared at him. “I’ll take my coffee with a dab of skim and a pack of Splenda. Just one Splenda, mind you.”

Dan nodded. “Coming right up.”

Ken waited until Dan left before speaking again. “You know, a lot of the luxury customers are going to expect their favorite creamer option to be readily available. Something to think about.”

“What are we missing?” Chip asked, tilting his head. “Vanilla ice cream?”

“Oh, that’d be so good,” Claire said with a smile.

Ken ignored her. “There are many more options, but that was a suitable list. For now. If we’re going to try to get this hotel up to a four-star level, there is no detail too small.”

Chip leaned forward. “Hang on. What is this about becoming a four-star hotel?”

“It’s one of Ken’s ideas,” Claire said brightly. “He says it’s a way to set us apart from other hotels and resorts on the island.”

“Exactly, Claire.” Ken winked at her. “But it’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication. Not that we’re afraid of that, are we?”

Chip sat back and smiled. “What kind of hard work?”

“Where to start?” Ken let out a sigh. “We need to hire bellhops and offer full-service luggage handling. Then we should have valet parking, twenty-four hour room service, perhaps even a turndown service.”

“Interesting.” Chip crossed his arms. “What definition of four-star are you using? Who’s going to accredit us?”

“Hold on there, partner,” Ken said with a quick laugh. “We need to put all of these changes in place first, and then we can talk about accreditation.”