Summers at the Saint

Whelan enters Traci’s office to pick her up. She is having difficulty opening a bottle of painkillers for her headache. She admits that it’s been a bad day. As he drives her home, Traci falls asleep, and he can’t wake her. Whelan puts Traci on the couch in his apartment and decides to sleep on the floor.

Livvy is angry that her mother talked to Traci and refuses to quit her job.

Back at the dorm, Livvy tells Felice that Parrish’s fentanyl overdose was clearly murder. Mrs. Eddings is offering a reward for information, so Livvy hopes to find out more. Felice makes noodles while they read through Parrish’s notebook. Livvy confesses that she doesn’t know who her father is; her mother, Shannon, got pregnant the last summer she worked at the Saint, before she was fired after a drowning at the pool. Livvy is starting to find evidence of other thefts at the Saint, like wine labels being switched. She thinks Parrish was murdered because she “figured out there was all kinds of shady stuff going on at the hotel” (244).

Whelan awakens to find Traci eating chips on his couch. She takes him to Kory’s Kitchen for breakfast. Traci asks about Whelan’s life, and he tells her that his parents split up when he was a teenager. When he tells her that his mother remarried Brad and had another baby, Traci realizes that Hudson was Whelan’s half-brother. She admits Hoke didn’t approve of his father shutting down the investigation into Hudson’s death to protect the hotel’s reputation. Whelan gives Traci a ride back to her cottage, and she agrees to help him with his research into what really happened.

Traci takes Lola for a walk and gets caught in the rain. She changes and dresses, wearing a chain with a heart pendant that was an anniversary gift from Hoke. She visits Fred, who is close to death. Ric put the family photographs away, but Traci sets them out again, revisiting photos of Fred and Helen, Ric and Hoke. She plays some soft music and feels pity, if not grief, as Fred takes his last breaths.

Whelan sees Ric beneath an umbrella outside Fred’s cottage and sees the body bag brought out to the ambulance. He calls Mike Sullivan and learns that the red car from that past summer was a Corvette. He reads Hudson’s obituary and notices that he, Whelan, is not named among the survivors. He feels guilty for how he behaved at Hudson’s funeral.

Whelan finds the number for Brad Moorehead, Hudson’s father, and calls him. Brad is now a pastor working with veterans; he became a changed man after Hudson’s death. He paid for his own investigation and learned that Hudson died from anaphylactic shock; he guesses that the boy had an undiagnosed peanut allergy. Brad knew that Hudson and Whelan’s mother, Kasey, was having an affair with a younger man that summer. Whelan guesses that Brad got a large settlement from the Saint after Hudson’s death but never shared it with Kasey.

Whelan talks to one of the girls from that summer, who reveals that Ric drove a red Corvette.

Colonel McBee departs, leaving a very small tip for the staff. His room is a mess, and the air conditioning isn’t working.

Charlie tells Traci that Fred’s passing is the end of an era. He is annoyed because Felice wants to change their seafood vendor. He insists, “The Saint is about tradition. It’s about relationships” (274).

Whelan calls and asks to talk. Traci is hesitant about being seen together because she’s his boss, so she invites him to dinner at her house.

Livvy reads the scathing online review left by Colonel McBee that “the Saint has gone to hell” (277). Charlie blames Livvy. Traci wonders why Charlie is so resistant to things changing. She dresses incognito to watch the staff, first while having lunch at the Verandah and then while sitting in the hotel lobby. She is impressed with how Livvy handles the guests.

Traci admits to Andy, her lawyer, that while she’s not expecting an inheritance from Fred, she’s concerned that Ric will try to take control of the hotel away from her. Andy hints that there may be complications to Ric’s plans, though he can’t say more yet.

Madelyn arrives at the staff dorm to gather Parrish’s things. Livvy is surprised when Madelyn calls Parrish “[their] daughter” and says that she’d always wished Parrish had embraced her as a mother (285). Livvy feels a twinge of guilt for keeping the notebook but says nothing.

Livvy meets Felice to tell her how Madelyn acted. Both Livvy and Felice are in trouble with Charlie; they wonder if he, too, is getting kickbacks from vendors charging high prices for inferior products. Felice, like Livvy, wants to keep her job at the Saint.

Traci agrees to new marketing plans and then orders dinner from the Verandah.

Felice makes Traci a special dinner. Whelan brings her flowers. He notices the family portrait of Fred, Helen, and their sons that Traci still has in her house. She kept it so as not to hurt Helen’s feelings and admits that she hasn’t changed much about the place. After Hoke died, Traci felt like she couldn’t walk away from what had been his passion—the Saint. Whelan, in return, tells her about Brad and the theory that Hudson died from eating peanuts, probably a treat given to him by the person in the car. Whelan thinks it was a bribe to keep Hudson from talking about the affair his mother was having. Traci realizes that Whelan is a decent man.

Whelan tells Traci about his job after the military as a private investigator. He’s since sold the business and retired, but he wants to find out who killed Parrish.

Livvy learns from the housekeeper that none of the hotel beds has a new mattress. When she tries to visit the warehouse, she’s told that she needs permission from Charlie. Livvy wakes Felice to discuss Parrish’s notes in the notebook and guesses that Charlie is skimming from the hotel in all kinds of ways. They wonder if he is manipulating KJ with threats about telling KJ’s family he is gay. They look up Garrett online, find his ex-girlfriend, Chelsea, and arrange to meet her.

Livvy and Felice learn from Chelsea that Garrett has been selling the Saint’s liquor and substituting cheaper brands, in addition to getting friends stays at the hotel. Chelsea confirms that Charlie knows this is going on. Garrett has also been selling items he stole from the pro shop. Chelsea broke up with him because Garrett was cheating with someone signing her texts “M” (315).

Ric calls Traci to tell her that the new terms of Fred’s will include a much higher lease rate for the land on which the hotel sits. Traci realizes that Ric is determined to force her out of the hotel, one way or another. Andy, her lawyer, questions the legality of the changes to the will, as Fred’s ability to consent to them is debatable. Nervous and needing distraction, Traci calls Whelan and invites him on a date to the beach.