“Why would I do that? Marriage will scare them pretty damn quick. No need for me to speed up the process.”
“I’ll bet you don’t get a lot of repeat business here at Sunrise Lodge, do you?”
He spread his hands. “What did I say?”
“It wasn’t what you said, it was how you said it. You talked to that poor young man as though he was a raw recruit in boot camp. He’s on his honeymoon, for heaven’s sake, and judging by the fact that he and his wife booked a room here, I expect they’re on an extremely limited budget.”
“Give me a break. All I did was check them into a cabin.”
“The honeymoon suite, hmm? I wasn’t aware that this lodge had one.”
“Management takes the view that if you spend your honeymoon in one of our cabins, said cabin is, by definition, the honeymoon suite.”
“I see. Logical.”
“Certainly struck me that way” Luke said.
“Nevertheless, you could have been a little more gentle with Mr. and Mrs. Addison.”
“All I did was ask them to fill out the damned forms.”
“Luke, you made them very nervous.”
He went around the end of the counter to pour himself another cup of coffee. “You know, I’m startin o think that’s the biggest problem with the innkeeping business.”
“What?”
“The clientele. They’re undisciplined, untrained and unpredictable.” He watched the Addisons climb into an aging Ford 1 pickup and drive off toward Cabin Number Ten. “Yeah, gotta say, if it weren’t for the paying guests, this wouldn’t be a bad line of work.”
She shook her head. “Where’s Jason?”
“He left right after breakfast. Something about a meeting with a supplier later this morning. What ar ou up to today?”
“I called an old acquaintance here in town, Sandra Pace, and asked her if she knew who has been taking care of the Webb house. Turns out it’s Connie Watson, the same woman who cleaned for Pamela an er father all those years ago when I lived here.”
“You’re going to talk to Watson?”
“Yes.” Irene glanced at her watch. “Thought I’d drive out to her place now. I’m hoping to catch her before she leaves for the day.”
He exhaled slowly. “Meaning she doesn’t know you’re coming?”
“I was afraid that if I called her and tried to make an appointment, she might refuse to talk to me. Lik lot of other people in town, Connie has reasons to be loyal to the Webbs.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“That’s not necessary Luke.”
“I said I’ll go with you.”
She looked troubled. “It’s probably best if you don’t get any more involved in this thing.”
“Jason said something along those lines, too.”
Shadows deepened in her eyes. “He did? Well, he’s right. You live in this town, after all. You’ve got a business here, although, given the way you’re running it, I’m not sure how you’re going to make enough to pay the taxes. But that’s another issue. The point is, you should try to stay out of this mess. Anything that involves the Webbs is more than a bit dicey here in Dunsley.”
“Dicey in Dunsley.” He smiled a little. “Got a ring to it.”
“I mean it,” she said tensely. “I really think you should stay clear of this situation.
Obviously your brother feels the same way.”
“What you and Jason don’t seem to grasp is that it’s way too late for all the good advice. I’m already u o my, uh—” He broke off, clearing his throat. “My neck in this thing.”
“It’s not too late.” She set the mug down so hard on the table that tea splashed onto the scarred wooden surface. She grabbed a napkin and hastily blotted up the drops.
“You’re just being stubborn.”
To Luke’s relief, the door opened, interrupting Irene in mid-tirade. Maxine breezed into the room.
“Hi, everyone.” She peeled off her coat. “I saw a truck in front of Cabin Number Ten. New guests?”
“Pair of honeymooners all the way from Kirbyville,” Luke said.
“Really?” Maxine looked thrilled. “We haven’t had any newlyweds here in the whole time I’ve worke t the lodge. You know, this could be a market niche that we’ve been overlooking.”
“Luke gave them the honeymoon suite,” Irene said.
Maxine frowned. “We haven’t got one.”
“We do now,” Luke said. “Cabin Number Ten.”
Maxine glowed with enthusiasm. “I know what I’ll do, I’ll make up a little basket of amenities for them.”
“I’d skip the doughnuts if I were you,” Luke said.
Eighteen
Connie Watson glared through the screen door. She was a large, big-boned woman with suspicious eyes. She gripped a dish towel in one work-roughened hand.
Everything about her from her expression to her body language suggested that she had long ago given up expecting anything good out of life.
“I remember you, Irene,” she said. She flicked a quick, uneasy glance at Luke. “And I know who yo re, Mr. Danner. What do you two want?”
This wasn’t going to be easy, Irene thought. Her hunch this morning had been right.
If she had called ahead, Connie would have found an excuse not to be home.
“I want to ask you a few questions about Pamela,” she said, keeping her voice as calm and soothing as possible. “I was her friend at one time, remember?”
“Course I remember.” Connie wiped her hands on the dish towel. She made no move to open the screen door. “I heard you two found Pamela the other night.
Heard you burned down the Webb house, too.”
“Someone else set fire to the house,” Luke said. “We just happened to be in the neighborhood at the time.”
“That’s not what folks are saying,” Connie muttered.
“It’s the truth,” Irene said. “For heaven’s sake, Connie, do you really think I’d burn down a house?”
“Heard you’ve been acting a little strange about Pamela’s death. Someone told me you’ve got what they call an unhealthy fixation about it, or something like that.”
Luke looked at her through the screen. “Who told you that?”
Connie jerked and took a small step back. Then she reached out and hastily locked the screen door. “Doesn’t matter. Word’s going around town, that’s all.”