Reservations for Murder (10 page)

Emma said, “Alex, Elise called me this
evening and came up with a splendid idea. She suggested I fill in
for her here while she’s gone. I’d be glad to help out until she
gets back.”

“Have you given up finding any more emeralds
on the land?” Alex asked her.

“No,” Emma admitted, “but I could use a
break. The geologicals are giving me fits. Working with you at the
inn sounds like fun.”

Fun? Alex thought of the cleaning, the
laundry, the whims of his guests and the thousand other tasks that
came with running an inn, but he wasn’t about to bring any of them
up. Honestly, Alex could use her help. She’d find out soon enough
what she’d gotten herself into. Then he realized he had to be fair
with her.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.
“It’s a great deal of work.”

“It couldn’t be much worse than taking care
of Mr. Sturbridge, and I did that for more years than I care to
remember.”

Alex offered his hand. “It’s a deal, then.
When do you want to start?”

“I’ll be here first thing in the morning. How
does five a.m. sound?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been up that early
since I was a kid. I usually don’t get started until six-thirty,
Emma.”

“Tell you what, let’s split the difference.
I’ll be here at six, with bells on.” She turned to Mor and said,
“We’d better head back into town. I’ve got a full day ahead of me
tomorrow.”

Mor winked at Alex, then complained loudly,
“I knew I’d end up being the one who suffered from this
arrangement.”

Emma started scolding him. “Mor Pendleton,
you can certainly spare a few hours of my company—”

She caught the smile the two men were
sharing, then turned her back on them both. “Mor, I’ll wait for you
in the car. Alex, I’ll see you in the morning.”

After she was safely ensconced in the car,
Alex said, “You two seem to be getting along well.”

“Yeah, well, Emma kind of grows on you after
a while. She’s really something.”

“Spare me the details. I’m just glad you’re
doing all right.”

Mor punched Alex gently on the shoulder. In a
rare moment of seriousness, he said, “Don’t worry about Elise,
Alex. I know she’s coming back.”

“Yeah, I think so, too,” Alex said. As he
watched Mor drive away, he couldn’t help wondering though. It
sounded like Elise was settling in for a long stay up north.

Alex hoped Elise planned on coming back, but
he had to accept the possibility that she was gone for good. After
all, it appeared that she had already lined up a replacement, just
in case she decided to stay in West Virginia.

The evening was certainly cool enough, so
Alex gladly used it as an excuse to build a fire in the main lobby.
He hadn’t had enough money to restore the fireplaces in all of the
rooms yet, but the massive communal hearth in the lobby had never
failed the Winstons in all the generations they’d owned The
Hatteras West Inn.

As he reviewed his current situation, he
acknowledged that it was a distressing predicament for an innkeeper
to be in. One of his guests had been murdered, and another had
disappeared without warning. To top it off, the rest of the
crafters were leaving tomorrow night after the lighting ceremony,
and Alex would be left with a nearly empty inn again. He knew that
the first Golden Days Fair would also be the last, certainly as far
as Hatteras West was concerned. It was just too much for him, added
to his usual hectic life running the inn. When he lit the beacon
tomorrow night, it would be a welcome end to something that had
started out with so much promise.

As the logs caught fire, Alex decided to use
one of the special pieces of firewood one of his guests brought him
every year she visited the inn. He loved watching the minerals in
the crusted wood ignite in flames of red, gold, green and blue.
Alethia Garson brought a stack of driftwood she collected from her
home in Buxton on the Outer Banks every time she visited Hatteras
West. Alethia was a lighthouse nut; there was no polite way to say
it. She’d proudly showed Alex pictures of her own home, filled with
every imaginable product ever made in the shape of a lighthouse,
from salt and pepper shakers to birdhouses to dinner bells. Without
question, though, her proudest possession was a small-scale version
of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse sitting in her own front yard.

Every time he burned a piece of wood from her
special stack, Alex thought warmly of her and everyone else who had
crossed his threshold to stay at The Hatteras West Inn. Alethia and
other guests like her were the real reason Alex continued with the
inn when all intelligence told him it was a foolhardy proposition.
Not only was Hatteras West the only home he knew, but the people
who came back to stay with him year after year were more of a
family to him than his own brother had ever been.

As Alex watched the flames, he found himself
wondering for the thousandth time who really had murdered Jefferson
Lee. Could it actually have been Bill Yadkin, the most obvious
suspect, despite Alex’s gut feeling? Jalissa Moore, a girl he’d
gone to high school with and who now worked as a reporter for
Elkton Falls’ only newspaper, once told him that one of the first
things she’d been taught in journalism school was that if you hear
hoofbeats, think horses not zebras.

Bill Yadkin was the obvious choice.

But Alex knew that even his good friend
Shantara had reasons of her own to want the blacksmith dead.

Did Marilynn Baxter have something to hide
concerning the murder? Could she have seen something she shouldn’t
have? Had she run, or had she been kidnapped, as her husband
believed? For that matter, did Craig Monroe know more about her
disappearance than he let on?

There was also Jenny to consider. After all,
she’d dated the blacksmith recently, and Alex knew firsthand how
her moods could swing. How about Rachel? The woodworker was
powerful enough, she’d proven it when she’d grabbed his arm, and
she was certainly capable of it if she felt her lover was
threatened. For that matter, all of the women at the fair were
physically strong enough to have done it.

Alex had a thousand questions and not one
solid answer for any of them. He wished yet again that Elise was
there to talk it all over with him. Even if they didn’t come up
with a solution on their own, they’d make a go of it, he was
certain of that. He pulled the bracelet of hers he’d found from his
pocket and toyed with it, wondering what Elise was doing at that
very moment.

Chiding himself for his behavior, Alex got up
and stoked the fire. As the embers danced upward, Alex tried to
clear his mind of murder, kidnapping and Elise.

He didn’t have any luck forgetting any of
them, not even for a moment.

Chapter 12

Alex was just about to douse the fire and
head off to bed when he heard footsteps coming down the staircase.
Who could it be prowling around this late?

Jenny Harris came down the steps dressed in a
lacy white nightgown only partially covered by an open silk robe.
“I thought I heard someone down here.”

Keeping his eyes on the fire, Alex said, “I
was just about to call it a night.”

She asked softly, “Would you mind keeping me
company for a little while?”

Alex didn’t feel all that sociable, and he
certainly didn’t want another discussion with Jenny about their
past. He said, “Sorry, but I’m beat.”

She stared at him a full ten seconds, and for
the life of him, Alex thought she was about to cry.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

“I just can’t believe how you’ve been
treating me lately,” she complained. “Alex, we had something
together once, and now it’s like you can’t even stand being in the
same room with me.”

“Jenny, it’s not that. I like you. I’m just
not interested in pursuing it any further than that.”

“Okay, I believe you, Alex. Does that mean we
can’t at least be friends?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Friendship is fine with me, as long as
that’s where it starts and stops,” he said.

As Alex started to stand, Jenny leaned
forward. “Please, don’t go. Alex, I don’t want to be alone. Could
you stay? Please?”

“Just for a little bit,” he agreed
reluctantly, “but it really has been a long day.”

Staring into the fire, Jenny said, “Alex,
these past few days have been like some kind of nightmare. I can’t
believe Jefferson’s dead, can you?”

“I hate the idea of anybody being murdered,
especially at Hatteras West, but I didn’t know him as well as you
did.”

Jenny started to cry softly, and Alex
couldn’t just sit there and coldly watch her tears. He moved beside
her and put his arm around her shoulders, offering comfort in the
only way he knew how. Jenny instinctively turned to him, burying
her head into his chest. There was nothing false or manipulative or
even sexual about it. The woman genuinely needed a friend.
Ironically, as the sobs finally subsided, Alex was suddenly very
much aware of Jenny’s physical presence.

As he started for the other couch, she said,
“Hold me just a little longer.”

“I can’t.” It was obvious she needed someone
to cling to, but it couldn’t be him. For the first time since she’d
been gone, Alex was just as happy that Elise wasn’t there to see
this.

Suddenly the front door opened. Jenny still
had her

hand on his arm. Alex jumped up and found
Rachel Seabock standing at the door, a surprised look on her
face.

“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she
said as she started past them.

“You didn’t,” Alex said a little too loudly.
“We were just enjoying the fire. Why don’t you join us?”

Averting her eyes, Rachel said, “Thanks, but
I’m going straight to bed. I’ve been looking all over Elkton Falls
for Bill, but I couldn’t find him anywhere.”

“There’s a lot of that going around,” Alex
said.

“Is Elise missing, too?” Rachel asked.

Obviously she was the only person left in all
of Elkton Falls who didn’t know Elise had gone to West Virginia.
“No,” Alex said, “she was called away for a family emergency.”

Rachel’s eyebrows rose as she asked, “So who
else is missing?”

“That’s right, you haven’t been around. Craig
Monroe is under the impression that his wife was kidnapped this
evening. The sheriff thinks she’s shacking up with her mystery
lover. I think they both have overactive imaginations.”

Rachel shook her head. “What’s happening
around here, Alex?”

“It’s not Hatteras West’s fault,” Alex
said.

“I’m not blaming you, but this Golden Days
Fair has turned out to be a real nightmare.” She stared at the fire
a second, then said, “I’m going to bed.”

“Me, too,” Alex said before Rachel could
leave. As he moved to kill the fire, Jenny said, “I think I’ll stay
up a little longer, if you don’t mind.”

“Good night, then,” Alex said while he still
had a chaperone. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust himself to be alone
with Jenny; it was just that the woman seemed to know the right
strings to pull to get to him. At least this would be her last
night at Hatteras West, since the fair was shutting down
tomorrow.

Alex dead-bolted his door after he closed it
behind him. He suffered through a miserable night of sleep, missing
Elise but remembering the smell of Jenny’s hair.

Alex woke up grumpy the next morning, having
tossed and turned all night, fighting off nightmare steel lances
rushing toward him in his sleep. Alex knew he was a real bear
without the proper amount of rest, and he always tried to get at
least eight hours every night, but as an innkeeper that wasn’t
always possible, not by a long shot. He wasn’t normally a coffee
drinker, but this morning he made an exception and brewed up a pot.
Elise had been after him to start offering at least bagels, fruit
and some juice to their guests each morning, and Alex realized he’d
been wrong to stubbornly fight her on it. Starting tomorrow, he’d
implement her suggestion. He just hoped she came back to see
it.

Alex was just finishing his second cup of
coffee when there was a hearty knock on his door.

Emma Sturbridge, dressed in neatly pressed
but well-worn jeans and a faded flannel shirt, was ready to start
work.

“Morning, Alex. Point me to today’s to-do
list, and I’ll get started.”

“Would you like a cup of coffee first?” Alex
asked.

“No time for that,” Emma said stoutly.
“There’s work to be done.”

Alex laughed and felt his earlier bad mood
lifting. Emma was a dose of energy, and that was exactly what he
needed at the moment. “We can’t get started on the rooms yet, no
one’s up, but we’ve got more laundry from yesterday I didn’t get
around to and all of the floors in the common rooms need
sweeping.”

“I’m on it,” Emma said, bustling off toward
the small laundry room in back.

Alex said, “Let me grab a quick bite, then
I’ll join you.”

Emma waved her hand in the air. “Take your
time, Alex, I’ve got the situation well in hand.”

There was a crackling competency about Emma
Sturbridge, and Alex was suddenly glad Elise had made arrangements
for Emma to help out. Certainly he’d rather have Elise working with
him, but Emma was the next best thing.

Alex had a quick bowl of cereal and was
heading to the laundry room to help Emma, when Jenny came down the
stairs dressed in another brightly woven dress she’d made herself.
She looked carefully at him as she said, “Alex, I want to thank you
for last night. Your company meant the world to me.”

“You’re welcome, Jenny. I’m always here for
my friends.”

She took his hand and squeezed it. “We are
friends, aren’t we, Alex? Despite everything that’s happened
between us in the past and my behavior these last few days.”

“Absolutely,” Alex said. “Now, if you’ll
excuse me, I’ve got a basket full of sheets to fold.”