There's Always Plan B Read Free Page A

stiffened. “The one with the ghost?”
    Her grandmother drew her eyebrows together. “No, dear. Not by the ghost. What a silly question. Carly, honey, you’re on the third floor in one of the older rooms. You can pick something else if you’d like.”
    â€œI’m sure it will be fine,” Carly said, knowing that “older room” wasn’t a euphemism. No doubt the room her mother had picked for her hadn’t been refurbished in close to a hundred years.
    While the working section of the B and B had twenty-five bedrooms and five suites, the house had closer to forty. Some were too small to be used for guests. Others were in noisy areas, or didn’t get any light. When the house had been converted from a private residence to a B and B in the 1930s, some bedrooms had been held back for family.
    Carly followed her mother to the old-fashioned elevator that took them to the third floor. From there they had to walk to the tower staircase.
    â€œAre you going to be comfortable here on your own?” Carly asked her daughter.
    Tiffany’s response was to roll her eyes and sigh heavily.
    â€œShe’s not a child,” Rhonda said crisply. “She’s an independent young woman who needs her privacy.”
    â€œSee,” Tiffany said as she raised her chin. “Grandma doesn’t think I’m a child.”
    Carly knew there was no point having that conversation. She went up the stairs to the narrow door that led to the tower rooms.
    â€œIsn’t this terrific?” Rhonda asked as she opened the door and stepped inside.
    Originally three rooms had made up the tower. The smallest had been converted into a bathroom. The other two consisted of a small bedroom and a sitting room.
    â€œI brought up a desk so you have a place to study,” Rhonda said. “The bedspread is new and the wallpaper is only a few years old. Of course we can replace it all if you’d like.”
    Tiffany walked through the rooms. “They’re great,” she said, sounding delighted and surprised.
    Carly agreed with both assessments. This tower faced south, so it got a lot of light. There were windows in both rooms, with the one in the sitting area looking out over the ocean.
    The bright floral-print wallpaper provided a cheerful color palate played out in the rooms. The bedspread was lavender, the desk-chair cushion pink and the club chair and ottoman had been done in periwinkle. Thick carpeting covered what had been hardwood floors.
    Instead of a closet, each room had an armoire. The bathroom was tiny but functional. There were bookcases, shelves and what signified true joy in any teenager’s life—a phone.
    â€œI love it!” her daughter said happily as she moved from one room to the other. “I love everything about it.”
    Carly winced. She was happy that Tiffany was pleased, but a little wounded that she couldn’t be the one to provide the joy.
    Rhonda pointed to the phone. “Your own line. I wrote the phone number down somewhere.” She checked the pad on the desk and pointed to the top sheet. “Here it is. I got you a plan that gives you fifty dollars’ worth of long distance a month so you can stay in touch with your old friends.”
    Tiffany’s eyes filled with tears, but for once they were happy ones. “Oh, Grandma, you’re the best.” She hugged Rhonda.
    Carly sighed with relief. She’d been afraid her daughter would hate everything about the house and the move, but finding such great digs at the end of the trip would go a long way to setting things right.
    We may just survive this after all, she thought happily. Wouldn’t that be great?
    â€œWant to see your room?” her mother asked.
    â€œSure.”
    They went back the way they’d come, taking the stairs down a floor. A large set of double doors closed off the guest section of the floor from the private part of the house. Rhonda went