But Paula had to admit that Andrea’s aggressive qualities had helped her be mostly effective as general manager. Paula kept her distance, aside from their weekly leadership meetings where she distributed the financials to Andrea, Nick and her cousin Hallie who led the sales department. Her grandfather presided over those meetings and Paula usually just kept quiet and listened as Nick reported on the restaurant side of the business, Hallie reported on new meetings and events that were booked, and Andrea gave an overview on the front desk and general operations.

Paula enjoyed the meetings as it was interesting to listen to everyone’s perspectives. Her own report generally consisted of a handout with the financials that no one except her grandfather and Hallie did more than glance at. Numbers were of no interest to Nick. Hallie liked seeing how sales impacted the bottom line and Andrea generally had little interest in the meticulous spreadsheets, graphs and detailed financial summaries that Paula prepared. Like Nick, she seemed bored by data.

But she liked to talk and to tell them all about her various successes no matter how small. Paula listened but often found herself drifting off as Andrea rambled on and on. Her grandfather often had to interject to keep things moving along. Now that she thought of it, Paula hadn’t actually seen Andrea since yesterday morning, before her grandfather left for his overnight trip to his New York office. Maybe she had the day off? Though the timing seemed odd, with one of their biggest events happening. One that Andrea normally would never miss.

“Did you save me a coconut shrimp?” The familiar, teasing voice surprised Paula. Her grandfather had snuck up on her while she was sipping wine and staring out at the ocean, lost in her thoughts.

“You made it!” She pulled him in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Do you want something to drink? I was just about to get another glass of wine.”

He made a face. “You know I hate that stuff.” Her grandfather rarely drank and never wine. But once in a while he indulged. “Although, I think I will have a Kahlua Sombrero as we have something to celebrate. When you come back, let’s find somewhere to sit and chat.”

He looked excited and Paula wondered what he was up to. His trips to the New York office were usually pretty uneventful. Paula went to the service bar that was set up on the lawn, specifically for this event, and ordered their drinks. When she returned, she found her grandfather seated at a small cocktail table, away from the crowd, happily eating a stuffed mushroom with several coconut shrimp waiting for him.

“Have a seat. Have another shrimp. I got extra. I know they’re your favorite.”