Paula reached for a shrimp and they chatted for about ten minutes as her grandfather brought her up to speed on his trip. There was nothing unusual about it. When he finished his summary, he waved a server over who had a platter of pate on baguette slices and took one for each of them. He took a bite and then shocked her with his news.

“I let Andrea go yesterday, before I left for New York. That’s why I wanted you to be here.”

“What happened?” The news was so unexpected. Andrea had been in the role for nine years. Paula and just about everyone, especially Andrea, assumed she’d be there forever.

“Lots of little things that added up to a problem that can’t be fixed. It’s who she is.” He told Paula about the complaints from employees that had come in over the years. How he’d given her so many chances to change, and to do better.

“She’s only gotten worse. And it’s impacting the business in a negative way. Cassie came in yesterday morning and resigned and that was it, the last straw.”

“Cassie quit?” Cassie had worked for The Whitley for close to twenty years. Everyone loved her. She had started as a server, then grew to service manager of the restaurant, and to director of catering. She oversaw all meetings and events.

“She tried to quit. I finally got her to admit that the reason was Andrea. She took a job in Boston, because of course there’s no other comparative job here on Nantucket. But she was miserable about leaving. She said it was the hardest decision she’d over made, but she felt like she had no choice.”

“Because of Andrea. How awful,” Paula said.

“Unacceptable is what it is.” Her grandfather looked stern and disappointed at the same time. “I asked her to please reconsider and I promised that she wouldn’t have to worry about Andrea anymore. She was hesitant, but once I assured her that she would have no interaction with Andrea at all, she agreed to stay.”

“She loves Nantucket. I can’t see her being happy in Boston,” Paula said.

“And she does a fabulous job here. I didn’t want to lose her.”

“How did Andrea take it?”

“Not well. She doesn’t see it. And you have no idea how many chances I’ve given her. It’s a shame. But it’s done now. I did offer her something else of course. She can be charming, when she wants to be, and she loves Nantucket. I offered her the position of head of concierge services. If she decides to take it, it will work out perfectly as Harry put his notice in last week. He’s moving home to Wellesley as his mother needs some help and his wife has never loved Nantucket. She’s wanted to move for years.”