Coquina Hotel - 11. Chapter 11

It seemed like everything had settled down, and now I would have to wait until Jon returned. It didn’t happen, Mr. Burkett fell into the pool late at night, and by the time they got to him, he was beyond any help. I felt some responsibility for his death. When we built the pool, there was to be a fence around the pool, not high, but enough of a fence so that no one could wander into the pool at night when the lights were turned off. There was a problem getting the fence. The supplier had a backorder and said it would be four weeks before he could ship the fence. Ironic, the fence came the day after Mr. Burkett fell into the pool.

That brought up a serious problem with the Hotel and Motel. We had no medical staff. There was a clinic in town, but that took time to get there. I needed to have trained emergency people on staff.

Sitting in my usual place, watching the activity on the beach, I noticed we had no lifeguards for the pool area. I wondered if we hired lifeguards, could we also train them for emergencies.

The following day I drove to town. I wanted to speak with the staff at the clinic. I met with Doctor Ahrend about training lifeguards for emergency assistance if anyone needed help. We spent a good two hours reviewing my needs and possible types of injury. He gave me a list of equipment and agreed to train my people.

Returning to the Hotel, I had a meeting with my staff. I explained what I had in mind for emergencies at the beach and minor medical problems within the Hotel and Motel. I asked for questions and suggestions. I was surprised, George, from the ground crew, was in the armed service as a medic. I wonder if anyone else was trained in first aid. One of the kitchen crew said they had a first aid course in school. I had my medical crew, and now I needed to talk to each employee and find out what they knew about first aid. I couldn’t afford to have a doctor full time as there was not enough of a need for that. But someone who is trained to step-in in an emergency would go a long way.

By the end of the week, I had six of my staff who had some first aid training. I made arrangements with the clinic to have someone come out to the Hotel and complete the training of those who had some first aid training. I asked George to manage that program. Thinking about staff training, I decided that it would be a good idea for me to learn first aid as well.

After the first week of lessons, I went to see Dr. Ahrend. He showed me a first aid kit that I could attach to a wall for emergency use. I thought that was a good idea, and now I needed to determine how many I would need. With George’s help, I ordered eight first aid kits, two medical resuscitation kits, and a small EMT response kit for George.

With George being responsible for the hotel and motel first aid program, I told him to pick one of the boys to be his assistant if he was called for an emergency. When Jon come home, I had a job for him, select personnel from his beach crew and get them certified as lifeguards. I did one other thing. I ordered a vehicle that I could equip as an ambulance.

With all of the activity, I lost track of time. I have a habit of sitting behind the hotel on the stone wall overlooking the sea. It’s a time for me to clear my thoughts of the business issues and think how lucky I am in finding Jon. This was the first place I saw him, and maybe that is why I keep coming here in the evening. As I thought of Jon and wished he was here with me, I heard a weird horn noise on the sea. Looking where the noise was coming from, I saw the weirdest boat I have ever seen. There were two men on the deck, waving their arms. One looked like Jon, and the other looked like Jon, only a little shorter. The boat, I had never seen before, either In real life or in magazines. It had a single sail and a very prominent bow with what looked like a dragon head on top. For a while, I thought it was a hallucination. But as the boat came closer to the beach, It was a dragon head, and there was Jon and this other guy who was blowing the horn. Jon waved, and I waved back.

As he approached the dock, I headed down to the beach to meet him. There I was joined by all of the boys who were crabbing, Jerry and his crew, and the people from the cabanas and pool. My hotel guests were watching from the cliff. I watched as Jon moored the boat. The other man jumped off and tied the boat to the pier. Then they both went and brought forward a woman from the back of the ship. I watched as they helped her off the boat onto the pier.

“Roge, this is my mother Freyja and my brother, Sven.”

Smiled as I acknowledged his mother and shook hands with Sven. “Where did you acquire this boat?”

“This isn’t my boat. It belongs to Sven. “

Looking at Sven, “This is your boat? Are you going to sail home?”

“Roge, I was hoping they could move here. We have those bedrooms in the house, and I offered them to stay there.”

Looking at Jon, there was no way I could say no. I wasn’t sure if they could stay in this country. That would be Jon’s problem to sort out.

“Jon, take their luggage to the house. We’ll go to the hotel dining room for something to eat. They must be hungry.”

“Sven, (translated) You and mom go with Roger. I’ll take care of the luggage and crates. I’ll meet you at the Hotel.”

Sven looked at me and smiled, and I indicated for them to follow me as I headed to the cave and steps to the Hotel. Looking back, I saw Jon talking to Jerry.

We slowly walked up the stairs. I think they were surprised when we ended in the basement. I showed them the stairs to the Hotel. Entering the hotel, I led them to the dining room. Jon’s mother had a smile on her face when she realized they were in a dining room. I imagine she was hungry. We sat at a table; I gave them a menu then realized they might not understand it. I told Dion to bring us coffee, hoping Jon would be back soon.

Dion sat a pot of coffee and a plate of cookies on the table. I poured the coffee, and as I finished pouring my cup, Jon and Jerry showed up, for which I was grateful. I waved Dion over and let Jon take over.

I sat there drinking my coffee as Jon spoke to his family. He was telling them what was on the menu. When he had finished, he told Dion what to bring, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

They chatted while I listened. I waited to hear a word I would understand as they spoke in their native language. It didn't happen.

Dion brought them their food and another cup of coffee for me. They spoke as they ate. Smiles all around, the biggest smile was on Jon. I thought he must have missed his family. I know I would miss my family if they were still alive.

“Roge, Mom and Sven want to thank you for the food. I’m going to show them their rooms, and then I’ll come back.”

I went out to the back of the hotel. I wanted to see if there was any activity on the beach. What I saw I couldn’t believe. The road leading to the beach was full of cars. Someone must have told the people in town about the strange boat. I hoped they don’t do any damage. I looked for Jerry, and when I saw him, he was standing on the boat, blocking the gangway.

I watched for several minutes, then went to look for Jon. I met him coming up from the basement. “Jon, you need to go and check your brother’s boat. Jerry is trying to control the crowds.”

I watched from my advantage spot behind the Hotel as Jon went to the beach. He talked to Jerry, and he and Jerry attached the Drake to his brother’s boat to toe it offshore. They took it a few feet from the dock, and If you wanted to board the boat, you would need to swim there. Jerry brought Jon back to the pier, then went back to the boat with two additional boys. I watched as the three of them began to fish.

I saw Jon head to the cave, and I went to meet him. He was laughing, “They wanted to know why I didn’t start the motor.”

“There is no motor? How did you get it here?”

“We sailed it here. Before motors, all boats used sails to move on the water. Boats like that sailed the globe. These people sailed west and found Ireland, Iceland, and even North America. They traded with India and other countries in the East. They were world travelers, all by sail.”

I knew that the Vikings sailed the oceans. I also had read that they had developed a compass that allowed them to sail at night. “Come on, my Viking, I’m ready for bed.”

In the morning, I went to the kitchen for my cup of coffee before heading over to the hotel. Walking into the kitchen, Jon’s mom and brother were sitting at the table eating breakfast. As soon as they saw me, they got up. Just then, Jon entered. He was laughing. “Sit down, Roge,”

I sat down, and soon a cup of coffee and a plate of food were set before me. I looked at Jon’s mother; she smiled and said something in a language I heard when Jon talked to her last night. I assumed she said eat, but I wasn’t sure. I knew then if they stayed, and I think Jon wants that, then I’ll have to learn their language. That is going to be a problem as I was not good at learning languages in school. I had to take a language requirement for my high school diploma, and I barely passed.

I’m not sure what I ate, but it was delicious. As I was eating, I glanced over at Jon, and he was watching me and smiling. “What?”

“It’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s good.”

“You can have that every morning.”

“You know how to cook this.”

“No, but my mom does. Roge, would it be possible for Mom and Sven to live here with us? Mom could take care of the house, and Sven could help out with the boats and odd jobs around the house. They have no one back home.”

Looking into Jon’s eyes, I couldn’t say no. There was no reason to say no. Jon was part of my family, albeit there was only me, so it would be easy to be part of his family. “Yes, Jon, they can stay here.”

Jon jumped up, grabbed me, and if the kiss I got was any promise of what was to come, I would grant him anything and everything.

When he told his mom, she grabbed me and hugged me. Now I knew what it felt like to be smothered between the breasts of a woman. She was a head taller than me.

Later that evening, after I was paid for my agreement, “Roge, I need to make another trip home to bring everything they want to keep and place the home on the market. “

“How long will you be gone?”

“No more than a week.”

“Are you going alone?”

“No, Sven will come with me and maybe Jerry. We’ll take the Drake

I wouldn’t say I liked for Jon to leave, but I understood that if his family was going to live here, there were household items and keepsakes they would want to have.

The following day, Jon and Sven made a list of what they would take with them. Jon’s mother gave them a list as well. Jon and Sven provisioned the Drake for the trip, and I watched as they put a net on the wench of the Drake. The following morning they left. I watched from my spot as they left and headed north.

The days seemed to drag. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was missing Jon or business was slow. I stopped at the front desk, checked the reservations, and it appeared that we were booked solid for the next seven weeks. I guess I was missing Jon. I hoped that this would be his last trip away for so long.