That afternoon the guests came again in fairly quick succession. Annerieke knew that two teenage sisters would also be coming. Just to be sure, she had a corner room in mind for them, to which only their parents' room adjoined. If they were a noisy teenage couple, it wouldn't bother the other guests too much in the evening.

Robert and Rachel, with their teenage daughters Tanja and Nancy, were the first to arrive. The girls looked around shyly, but loosened up a bit when Annerieke revealed to them that they would be getting pie every night.

The girls had absolutely not wanted to spend their vacations in a guesthouse, but their father had insisted, because their mother had had a rough time and could use some extra rest. Tanja and Nancy understood that. They did not know exactly what had been going on, but they had regularly found their mother crying in the house. Without asking questions they had comforted her by snuggling up to her, just simply being with her. Their mother had told them later that that had been so enormously comforting for her.

So they understood their father's choice, but for themselves they had decided that a vacation of no less than two full weeks in a guesthouse must be dead boring. But now that it appeared that they would get pie every night, it became a little more attractive.

Annerieke took them upstairs and showed them the bathrooms and then the parents' room. She saw that Tanja and Nancy were already looking at her questioningly. She walked with them to the corner room next door and opened the door for them. She enjoyed the surprised cries of the young ladies, and frankly was completely surprised herself too.

Without saying anything about it, Margreet and Lisa had been to the thrift store, where they had bought cute rugs for both chairs, and two fat stuffed bears that they had placed against the upright pillows, with their paws under the comforter. The girls ran to the cards that lay by the bears and read what Margreet had written on them. Tanja read it aloud:

.

Hello Tanja,

How nice of you to come and stay at our guesthouse!

We hope you like the rug on the chair and the bear.

After your vacation you can take them both home as a souvenir.

We wish you a wonderful vacation!

Greetings from Lisa and Margreet

.

"How nice, how kind! Who are Lisa and Margreet?" asked Tanja.

"Margreet and Lisa make sure the rooms and bathrooms are tidy and the beds are changed. And they help me in the kitchen in the afternoons with dinner. I honestly didn't know about this surprise."

"I think it's really cool! I'm sure it will be a fun vacation after all!" Nancy was shocked by her own words and quickly explained: "We didn't think it would be fun at all to stay in a guesthouse. All adults... but I think it's not going to be so bad." Nancy nodded her head vigorously to reinforce her words.

Robert and Rachel stood in the doorway and looked at their daughters, smiling. Robert briefly explained to Annerieke why they had chosen a guesthouse this year. "So I don't expect us to go on very special trips. That's a pity for the girls, they want to experience something, I understand that too, but there's no other way."

Annerieke nodded understandingly: "I will think about whether there is something for these young ladies to do together. When I know something, I will let you know. Oops, I hear the bell, the next guests! If you have any questions, just look me up. I'll be at the guesthouse the rest of the afternoon, welcoming new guests or in the kitchen preparing dinner."

"What kind of cake are we getting tonight?" asked Tanja curiously.

"Tonight we'll keep it simple for a while on apple pie, because I had to bake a cake for Monday night as well," replied Annerieke as she was already walking downstairs.

"Apple pie, yummy! I wonder what other cakes that lady can bake," Tanja said to Nancy, looking at her dreamily. "Pie every night, just imagine!"

To chapter 214. The other guests arrive

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