Chapter 16

Another two months later.

Today was the day, the last inspection to say whether or not all our hard work had paid off. Macey, Zoe, and I watched as Valarie talked to the health and safety inspector from the balcony. He had walked around the entire building with his measuring tape and torch, his clipboard tucked

under his arm and pen behind his ear as he went over every nook and cranny in this place.

We secretly called him the birdman. His nose looked more like a beak, his beady little eyes too far apart. Macey snorts when a gust of wind has him clutching his toupee. It was chocolate brown and not even close to the greying on the sides of his head. Valarie watched over his shoulder as he wrote on his clipboard on the front lawn, giving the place one last scrutinizing look before shaking his head in disbelief.

He tears off the piece of paper and hands it to Valarie, who stares at it. He walks over to his red sedan and climbs in while Valarie stares at the form.

“Come on, we should go see what birdman says needs doing this time,” says Macey. Zoe and I went to retrieve our kids from our room, who played happily in their playpen with their blocks. Scooping up Valerian, I set his feet on the ground, and we carefully walked down the steps to the ground floor. He started walking earlier than expected. Last month he just stood up and took his first steps. He was pretty smart for his age. Valarie is still standing in the yard, staring up at the Hotel. As we approached her, a look, I couldn’t decipher painted her face.

“He said four rogue women would never accomplish anything on our own without help, ladies, “Valarie says, and I sigh, wondering what he has told her needs fixing.