Reservations for Murder - Tim Myers [1]
And Alex was determined to return the place to all its former glory.
“Alex,” Elise said, “you know you can do those later. I’ve already taken care of the urgent ones. We’ve got an inn full of people, and the fair starts in two hours.” She frowned slightly. “That’s what I need to talk to you about.”
Alex said firmly, “Elise, I know you’re not happy, but I’m not going back on my word. I made a promise to Shantara Robinson that she could tie her Golden Days Fair in with the Lighthouse Lighting, and I won’t disappoint her. I’m sorry.” The Lighthouse Lighting was the annual county-approved testing of the tower’s beacon. People gathered from seven counties to see it, and it had always been one of the high points of Alex’s tenure as the innkeeper at The Hatteras West Inn.
“Alex, we agreed that in order to stay in business, we need to start attracting a wealthier clientele. The fair defeats that entirely.”
“But Shantara was desperate when Lucius Crane reneged on his offer to use his farm for the fair. There was no place else she could hold it on such short notice.”
Elise paced around the room. “I know how much friendship means to you, Alex, but you’ve got to think of your inn first. I shouldn’t have to remind you how close you came to losing Hatteras West before.”
Alex shook his head. “Believe me, I know that better than anyone. Don’t worry. The fair will tie in perfectly with our lighting ceremony. I wouldn’t be surprised if we attract more guests because of it.” He added softly, “Elise, everything’s going to be fine.”
At that moment, there was a scream just outside Alex’s office.
Alex and Elise bolted out the front door together to find Marilynn Baxter, one of the exhibiting potters, pale and quivering on the front porch.
“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, searching for some reason, any reason for the woman to have screamed so fiercely.
“I saw a snake,” she said shakily, her finger pointing to the small copse of trees that stood between the inn and Bear Rocks, a granite formation close to the inn that sported the oddest shapes and forms in twelve counties.
“It’s all right now,” Elise said, scanning the ground near them. “Whatever it was is long gone.”
Craig Monroe, the other half of the husband-and- wife pottery team participating in the fair, came rushing up to them. “What happened, Marilynn? I heard you scream! Are you all right?”
Suddenly conscious of all of the attention, Marilynn said curtly, “I saw a snake, Craig, a big one.”
“It was probably just a garter snake,” Alex said, trying to ease some of the tension.
“It doesn’t matter what kind it was,” Marilynn snapped. “I hate all snakes! They are absolutely vile creatures!”
Craig put an arm around his wife. “You’re okay now. Let’s go finish setting up, Marilynn. There aren’t any snakes around our exhibit.”
“There’d better not be,” Marilynn hissed as her husband led her back to the temporary fairground. Craig Monroe offered a silent shrug of apology to Alex as they walked away.
As Alex and Elise started back inside, she paused and said good-naturedly, “If I can’t get you to change your mind about this fair, we should at least see what we’ve let ourselves in for. Are you interested in walking around the displays before Shantara opens the gates? Things were so crazy last night, I didn’t even have a chance to see them setting up their booths.”
Though Alex knew Elise wasn’t thrilled about having the Golden Days Fair at Hatteras West, he realized that she would never let anyone else know how she truly felt. The offer of a tour was her concession to making the best of what she considered a bad situation.
“Sounds good to me,” Alex agreed as they reversed directions.
The two of them gave the pottery area a wide berth as they started their tour.