Room for Murder - Tim Myers [27]
“No. sorry. I haven’t.”
Paul gestured to the flowers. “Okay. I’ll bite. What have you got, a big date?”
Alex nodded. “The biggest.”
Paul shook his head and laid a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Be careful, my friend. That’s all I’m going to say.”
“Thanks for the advice,” Alex said, fighting to hide his smile.
Enough of this waiting around, Alex thought to himself. He knocked on Elise’s door, the flowers nearly strangled in his nervous grip.
Elise had on a sundress, nothing fancy or formal by any stretch of the imagination, but she looked absolutely stunning to him.
He offered her the flowers. “Here. These are for you.”
She didn’t take them at first. “Alex, I didn’t realize this was going to be so formal. Give me a few minutes and I’ll change.”
“You look great just the way you are,” he said as he held the roses out again.
She took the flowers, then said, “Nonsense. I can be ready in ten minutes.”
“Elise, it isn’t necessary. You really do look great.”
She shoved him gently back toward the lobby. “But we don’t match.”
Alex protested, “Then let me change.”
Elise wouldn’t hear of it. “Go on, I won’t be long.”
There was no nonsense in her voice, and Alex knew this was a battle he wasn’t about to win. Should he have told her they were dressing up for dinner? Granted, Mama Ravolini’s wasn’t exactly the Ritz, but it was the best Elkton Falls had to offer for fine dining. He often wondered why no other restaurateur tackled Elkton Falls. Though he loved the owner Irma Bean dearly, a little variety in eating dinner out would have been nice.
Elise was as good as her word, coming out ten minutes later wearing a fancy shimmering blue dress that barely touched her knees. She’d swept back part of her hair, too, adding a formal touch, instead of the casual ponytail she usually wore during working hours.
Alex said, “Wow. You look wonderful.”
“Thanks. And thanks for the flowers. You shouldn’t have.”
“I couldn’t help myself,” Alex admitted as he grinned. “Let’s go.”
He had placed a sign on the front desk that said, out for the evening, and Elise asked, “Are you sure about deserting our guests like this?”
“They’ll be fine without us for one night,” Alex said.
He held her door open as she slid onto the truck seat.
She really was stunning. Alex couldn’t believe they were finally going out on a real date.
Oddly enough, their conversation, normally as free flowing as a river, was dammed into a few uncomfortable remarks on their way into town. A new tension had sprung up between them, and as hard as he tried, Alex just couldn’t seem to break the strain.
“Is everything all right?” he finally asked as they neared the restaurant.
“It’s fine,” Elise said.
Alex said, “You know, my mom used to say everything was fine when what she meant was that it was simply bearable. That’s not the case here, is it?”
Elise said, “Alex, when I say something’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t read anything into it.”
“Sorry, my mistake,” he replied as he slid into a parking spot.
Elise, realizing her words had been too sharp, said, “I guess this is just new to me, being out with you like this.”
“We spend all day together every day,” he said.
“Not like this.”
Alex opened her door. “No, you’re right. This is better.”
Irma made a fuss over them as they walked in the door, leading Alex and Elise to a table with a reserved placard on it. “You two look wonderful. Now enjoy yourselves.”
As the first course arrived, Alex said, “I took the liberty of ordering your favorites ahead of time.”
Elise just nodded.
Alex found himself fiddling with his napkin, searching for something to say that had nothing to do with the Hatteras West Inn or their guests. Surely the two of them had more in common than their work. So why was it suddenly so hard to think of anything?
As a desperate last measure, he said, “You’ll never believe this, but I found a marked-up copy of The Tattle Tale in the newlyweds’ room.”
“No work talk, remember,” Elise said. They had agreed on that beforehand.
“Sorry. So