Murder Checks Inn - Tim Myers [18]
Mor rocked back as he said, “This is the first time he’s ever been serious enough to offer to sell his share of the business to me. Seems he’s found a new girlfriend, and he’s thinking about leaving Elkton Falls with her and seeing the world.”
That was news to Alex. Normally, in a place as small as Elkton Falls, it was as tough keeping a secret as it was to repeal the law of gravity. The kudzu vine was faster than any regular grapevine known to man.
“So who is this mystery woman?” Alex asked.
“I have no idea,” Mor admitted, “but I think she lives in Saint Dunbar.” Saint Dunbar was a town twenty miles away, closer to the mountains than Elkton Falls. It was in such an odd place geographically that it could be raining in Elkton Falls and snowing up a storm in Saint Dunbar. That could explain the mystery. Saint Dunbar was far enough away to be out of the reach of Elkton Falls radar. The kudzu vine only traveled so far when it came to gossip.
“So, what are you going to do?”
Mor scratched his chin. “I can come up with most of the money, but Les would have to take a note for the rest. Not that he’d mind, but I hate carrying paper like that. But that’s not the real problem, Alex. To be honest with you, the whole thing is just too permanent for my taste.”
“What’s Emma think about all of this?” Since Mor and Emma had started dating, she’d become a very real part of the handyman’s life, Alex knew.
“She doesn’t know about it, and I’m not sure I want to tell her. Not just yet, anyway.” Mor stared at his hands a moment, then said, “She’s already been badgering me about my lack of commitment to anything, and now this comes up.”
Alex patted Mor’s shoulder. “So where does that leave you?”
“Alex, I swear I don’t know. When I lost that scholarship and came back home, I kind of fell into working with Les by accident more than design. Even though he made me partner a few years later, I still felt like I could pick up any time I wanted to and leave, do you know what I mean? Is Elkton Falls all I’m ever going to know? There’s a whole world out there, my friend, and I’m afraid I’m missing it, staying in one place my whole life. What would you do if you were in my shoes?”
Alex shook his head. “That’s the whole point, isn’t it? Mor, I’ve seen some of the world, and for me, it just isn’t the same as home. Tony still thinks I’m a fool for taking Hatteras West instead of the money when our folks died, but for me it was the only decision I could make. That lighthouse is a part of me. I could never leave it.”
Mor nodded. The usual jocular tone of their talks was gone completely, replaced by a heaviness that hung in the air between them. “Don’t get me wrong, Alex, you know I love Elkton Falls. But what I’m worried about is, will it be enough?”
“I wish I could answer that for you, Mor, I honestly do. I can tell you this. When I’m faced with a tough decision, I draw a line down the center of a sheet of paper, with pluses on one side and minuses on the other, just like Ben Franklin used to do. Sometimes I know the answer before I even finish my list. You might want to give it a try. It’s worth a shot, anyway.”
“I guess so.” Mor looked back inside the small cottage. “Jase was just renting the place, wasn’t he?”
“That’s right. In fact, I have to move all his stuff out to Hatteras West in five days. Somebody’s buying the cottage.”
“You need a hand? With both our trucks, we should be able to make it in one trip.”
Alex nodded. “That would be great.” He paused a few seconds, then added seriously, “Mor, you need to do what’s best for you, but if you decide to leave Elkton Falls, the place just won’t be the same without you. I don’t know what I’d do around here if you were gone.”
Mor was about to answer when Sandra pulled up front in her BMW, parking behind Mor’s truck.
“You two both look like you just lost your best friends in the world.” She glanced at Alex a second, then said, “Sorry, that wasn