Inn Dire Straits

by Dixie Davis

  She shook off that thought and grabbed the knife and cutting board. “Annie, could you slice those? Aim for about a quarter or half inch.”

  Annie nodded, looking away from Serena, and took over the slicing duties. Lori realized she hadn’t even looked at what kind of cheese she’d grabbed. Parmigiano Reggiano and a mild Edam. What would go well with those?

  “Serena, would you go look in the pantry for Asian pears?”

  “I guess.” Serena ducked into the pantry.

  Lori fetched some grapes from the fridge. Doug finally arrived in the kitchen and Lori handed him the grapes to rinse.

  Serena appeared in the pantry door holding a jar of soy sauce. “This?”

  Lori frowned. “Asian pears — they’re like an apple with a pear skin?”

  Serena still looked mystified, so Lori edged around her and went directly to the pears. Doug traded the washed grapes for the firm pears — closer to an apple’s firmness with a heavenly sweet flavor. Lori assigned Serena to pull the grapes from their stems.

  A few slices of pound cake from the fridge completed the sideboard selection, and Lori and her crew carried the snacks out to the sideboard to arrange them.

  That was the real advantage of having hired help. Instead of having to dig up a tray or make two or three trips, they just picked up and moved.

  Once they had the selections laid out, Lori checked the mini fridge under the sideboard. “Doug,” she said, “we’re low on Cokes. Will you go get some from the pantry?”

  “Sure.” Doug went back the way they’d come.

  “Serena, will you take the kitchen trash out?”

  Serena cringed but walked away.

  Lori pretended like the fruit needed even more arranging. “Running into people from high school a lot today, huh?”

  “Apparently this is the biggest event in the county all year,” Annie said. “I have to admit I don’t remember coming when I was growing up.”

  Lori smiled. “That’s okay; this is only my second time around so it’s all still pretty new to me, too. I hear it’s grown a lot in the last five to ten years.”

  Annie matched her smile, but her gaze quickly turned distant.

  “I’m guessing you don’t want to see Brett or Nate?”

  “Or Serena. High school was such a different time, and I . . . don’t even want to think about what I did back then.” She shook her head. “What I put my parents through — it was inexcusable.”

  Lori patted her elbow. “You were a teenager. I’m sure they’ve forgiven you by now. They wouldn’t have followed you out to Florida if they hadn’t.”

  Annie’s return smile was weak, but at least it was there.

  Doug came back bearing a six-pack of Coke which he loaded into the back of the mini fridge at Lori’s instruction.

  “You feed your guests pretty well,” Doug said.

  “This is nothing. Just wait until breakfast.”

  “And first, the festival tonight.” Doug grinned and took Annie’s hand.

  “Tonight,” she murmured. Her gaze strayed. Was she thinking about Nate’s threat?

  Lori knew it wasn’t her business, but she couldn’t help but wonder: what was this past Annie didn’t want to talk about?

  Lori walked with Doug and Annie to the Salty Dog for an early dinner, and Lori’s favorite there, the Brunswick stew with hush puppies. Annie and Doug agreed it was a particularly good Brunswick stew. Lori swore she was going to get the secret ingredient out of the chef one of these days — it definitely tasted like something more than tomatoes, corn, potatoes and chicken went into his version.

  By the time they got out of the Salty Dog, not far from the entrance to the Salt Marsh Boardwalk, the crowds were already beginning to line up, though it was at least an hour before dark.

  While the town put on entertainment and games and special events all week long, this was the part that was completely out of their hands — and yet it was the part that everyone had come for.

  At night throughout June, the marshes lit up with thousands of lightning bugs, like dancing yellow stars. The Night Lights Festival was the best place to see them.

  While Lori had anticipated the show last year, she hadn’t expected the side benefit: the mix of locals and not-so-locals it brought out. One of Lori’s guests had flown out from Wyoming to see the show. Apparently they didn’t have fireflies there. Lori couldn’t imagine a summer’s evening without the gentle yellow-green lights flashing as the twilight faded into dark.

  And now everyone would get to enjoy that. Hopefully.

  Lori, Doug and Annie joined the crowd filing out onto the wooden walkway that formed the boardwalk. Everyone from great-grandparents to tiny babies had turned out to enjoy the show.

  And that meant it was time for Lori’s second favorite part of the festival: sitting around with people, chatting and getting to know one another. She’d met her most interesting people all last year at the festival. She loved the opportunity to talk with different people each night, too.

  They found one of the last spots open on the built-in bench along the side of the boardwalk, right across from where Ray was sitting. Fortunately, both sides gave good views, but this one was slightly better, with more lightning bugs and the dark backdrop of trees to set them off a little better.

  The hour before the sun went down passed quickly, the sunlight fading slowly but the company making the time go by quickly. Lori got to know the people to her left, a family from Arizona who hadn’t seen fireflies either. Lori didn’t bother correcting them, exchanging a knowing look across the boardwalk with Ray. If Westerners wanted to call lightning bugs fireflies, well, bless their hearts.

  Even more so, Lori enjoyed relaxing with Doug and Annie. It had been good to work alongside them, see that Annie was a hard worker, see them relate to one another in that way and actually get along. It boded well for their future relationship if they could work together — and handle housework together.

  But now they were simply enjoying one another’s company, and Lori was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Annie. After the incidents that afternoon, Lori had worried Annie would be cagey or wary, but she talked and laughed as easily as Doug and Lori. She even joined in a few inside jokes — apparently Doug had told her about the Superman costume incident when he was eight.

  The more time she spent with Annie, the more confident Lori was that this marriage was a good idea. She’d worried before, not knowing Annie from Adam — er, not Adam, since that was her younger son — but she and Doug were good together.

  Maybe she’d done all right by Doug and Adam, even if much of their lives had passed without their dad.

  A stab of loneliness hit Lori like she hadn’t felt in years. Glenn had been dead more than a decade and a half — but he would have loved the Night Lights Festival, and the inn, and adult Doug. And Annie.

  He would have fit perfectly here.

  And, if Lori were really honest with herself, so would Mitch.

  Ending things with him had mostly been her call. She’d gone and gotten a makeover, and suddenly Mitch changed. He said he couldn’t settle for sitting around and talking like they had for almost a year — but that he also couldn’t be in a relationship.

  And she wasn’t interested in dating in limbo.

  Lori closed her eyes and took a deep breath, listening to Doug and Annie discuss someone at work who was a perpetual problem for them both. Office politics were so far from Lori’s world now — she couldn’t say she missed them, but it was good to have something outside herself to think about right now, until this tide of sadness passed.

  “Look!” a child exclaimed. “It’s starting!”

  Lori opened her eyes again. In the growing twilight, one or two small, yellowish-green lights blinked, swooping up in a J-shaped pattern. Relief, sweet and cool, filled her lungs and she sighed. The lightning bugs had shown up again this year. The rest of the week was saved.

  As they watched with the hundreds of other spectators, Lo
ri felt her spirits lifting little by little with each climbing flash of light. The biggest week of the tourist season was safe — but more than that, her future was bright. Her oldest had found an accomplished, caring woman, and they were happy together. Her younger son had finally found a job after graduating college, and he was on his way to stability, too. Things were on an upswing, even if her personal life had lost its brightest, most recent hope.

  Another lightning bug, much closer than any of the others, swooped up right in front of Lori, flashing its gentle light as if to say, You’re okay. The future is looking up. You’ll make it.

  The chatter all up and down the Salt Marsh Boardwalk had lowered to a soft hush, punctuated occasionally by a small voice exclaiming, “There!” or “I see another!” Lori had forgotten about the most magical part of the evening: hundreds of people quietly transfixed by the tiny glowing lights all around them. On the other side of the boardwalk, a few fireflies ventured over the open water, reflecting double the light.

  “I can’t believe we never came here,” Annie breathed. “This has got to be the most amazing thing in Brunswick County.”

  Lori nodded even before Annie added, “Not that there’s much competition.”

  Now that one, Lori wasn’t so sure about. But she wasn’t about to break the lightning bugs’ spell by arguing.

  But then Annie broke the spell by pulling out her phone, the screen glowing bright in the dark. She tapped away at the screen, missing the show.

  The darkness grew deeper, the light fading pink and orange from the sky. For a while, the lightning bugs were the brightest things in sight. Finally, Annie put away her phone and joined in the hush.

  Until Doug broke the spell. “I forgot something,” he whispered. “I’ll be right back.” He edged his way through the crowd on the boardwalk. Lori hoped he could make it back through.

  She lost track of time before he came back, alternating between watching the show and trying not to watch Annie texting again. Doug politely nudged a couple people aside and returned to his spot between Lori and Annie.

  “Hey, babe,” Annie whispered as if she’d just realized something, “I need the keys really quick.”

  “Oh.” The word carried more than a note of disappointment. “Can you find your way back okay?”

  “Probably better than you can,” she teased. Doug handed over the keys to their rental car. He and Lori waved goodbye before she followed the same path Doug had just taken.

  As sorry as she was to see Annie miss part of this, part of Lori was glad to share it with only her son.

  Slowly, fewer and fewer lightning bugs lit up above the marsh. People began filtering out of the boardwalk, but Lori and Doug kept their seats until almost everyone — lightning bugs and people — had gone.

  “Doug,” Lori sighed. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I missed you, too, Mom.” He helped her to her feet and they finally filed off the boardwalk after everyone else, quiet until they were strolling along the sandy shoulder of the street back to the inn. “You’re not seeing anyone anymore, are you?”

  Lori shook her head.

  “I’m sorry things didn’t work out.”

  She offered half a smile. “Me too. But it looks like things are working out for you two.”

  “What do you think of her?”

  “Annie’s wonderful.”

  Doug didn’t say anything for a moment, and it was too dark for Lori to see his expression. “I want to marry her.”

  Lori couldn’t help a grin. “Have you talked about it with her?”

  “Yeah. I ran back to get the ring, but then she had to go.” Doug pulled out a ring box. “You made the fireflies sound pretty magical in your emails.”

  Lori grinned, even though Doug wouldn’t be able to tell in the dark. “I tried. Did it measure up?”

  “Definitely.”

  “I think it would be a wonderful place to propose. Maybe tomorrow night?”

  “Yeah — but don’t tell Annie. I want this to be a surprise.”

  Lori patted his shoulder and stood. “We should get in before it gets too chilly.”

  “It’s June in North Carolina at the beach. How chilly is it going to get?”

  Lori poked his arm. “It’s night over the water. Do you want to wait to find out?”

  Doug sighed, but she was pretty sure he was only pretending to be frustrated with her — especially once he laughed. Lori joined in and they started off the boardwalk.

  “Have you talked about kids?” Lori asked.

  “Geez, Mom, I haven’t even proposed and you’re already demanding grandkids? I see how it is.”

  Lori rolled her eyes and nudged him with an elbow. “You know I only had you two so I could have grandkids, right? I’ve been waiting for this your whole life!”

  Doug laughed.

  “Have you met Annie’s parents?”

  “Of course — they just live across town from us. We have dinner with them almost every week.”

  Lori tried not to let jealousy whisper in her ear right then, but she couldn’t help it. Doug and Annie could live here, too, be that close and convenient to her. Instead, they were nine hours away, and another mother and father were getting to enjoy time with her son every week.

  But, then, did he need her close by when he had them?

  “What is it, Mom?” Doug asked, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

  “I just miss you is all,” Lori said. Emotion caught in her voice.

  Where was this coming from? Of course she loved her son and wanted to see him more often, but it wasn’t as though she spent hours each day just staring out the window, waiting for him to come home to a place he’d hardly visited before.

  Doug slid his arm around his mom’s shoulders and she sighed. It was so good to be with him again, even if it was bittersweet knowing that he’d just be leaving again soon.

  “I miss you too. But what’s the matter?” Doug asked.

  Part of her screamed Don’t get too close, don’t get too attached, he’s just leaving again and he won’t have a place for you in his life. The rest of her accepted that she would always be too close and too attached to her own son, no matter how far away he went, or how close he lived to his in-laws.

  Lori searched for something else to add to their conversation, something to convey how she felt, but words seemed inadequate. If and when Doug and Annie had children, they might be able to understand what she was feeling now.

  And then Lori was saved from explaining anything. Ahead of them, at the spot where the road turned ninety degrees and changed into Front Street, blue and red lights flashed.

  “Oh no.” She hadn’t heard sirens. Was this a guest? A friend?

  Lori told herself to calm down — it was probably just a car accident with how many cars had filled the road as people left the light show.

  But something inside her tugged at her gut, and she knew. She just knew.

  This was bad.

  “Come on,” Lori said, taking Doug’s arm and practically dragging him closer to the lights.

  “What are we doing? Shouldn’t we leave them alone to do their job?”

  “We only have nine police officers in Dusky Cove. They need all the help they can get.” Not to mention that she’d had to solve three murders for them last year after they’d tried to “do their job.” But mostly the police were less stupid and more stubborn.

  “Please tell me we’re not going to get involved,” Doug murmured.

  “Sh.” Lori led him up to the gold sedan at the edge of the crime scene. She spotted Chief Branson’s large figure ten feet away. “Chief!” she called. “Do you have a minute?”

  “Nope,” he called back. He hadn’t even bothered to look at her.

  “See?” Doug said. “Let’s just go.”

  “Sh,” Lori said again. She skirted around the edge of the crime scene, one eye on Chief Branson until he retreated farther away to talk to his team.

  A body lay beside t
he road, covered in a sheet, illuminated by standing lights.

  Doug sucked in a breath, and so did Lori. It couldn’t be — could it?

  “I’m sure she’s all right,” Lori said quickly. Doug didn’t respond, just pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen before holding it to his ear.

  Lori looked around for the closest officer. She spotted Eddie at one of the police cars and shouted for him, soundly ignoring Doug’s gestures of protest.

  Eddie looked up when she called his name, glancing back at Chief Branson to make sure he was distracted — or at least, that was Lori’s best guess. She couldn’t see the chief anymore, so she couldn’t be sure.

  Finally, Eddie jogged over to her, settling into an uneasy stance. “What is it, Mrs. Keyes?”

  Lori nodded in the victim’s direction. “I just need to know who the victim is.”

  “Why?” Eddie asked, defenses already high in his voice.

  She had to acknowledge that she didn’t have any real standing in this situation. She lowered her voice and moved a step closer. “I need to know it’s not my son’s girlfriend.”

  “Oh.” Eddie glanced over his shoulder. “Pretty sure he isn’t.”

  “Whew.” Lori checked with Doug, whose shoulders dropped with relief.

  “Anybody we know?”

  Beside her, Doug grunted. He wasn’t on the phone anymore, but Lori wasn’t sure whether he was acknowledging that yes, she might have a good reason to wonder about that, or he was trying to tell her to mind her own business still. Either way, she ignored him.

  Eddie shook his head. “A guy from over in Hinckley. Uh, but I really am busy.”

  Lori glanced at Doug, and she saw the misgiving on his face, too. Surely there were plenty of people from Hinckley in town for the festival tonight, not just the man who’d bothered Annie.

  Curiosity got the better of Doug first. “Is his name Nate?”

  Eddie startled a little and looked back at where the victim lay. “Sorry,” he told Doug, “but I can’t confirm that until we speak with his family.”

  Doug looked at Lori again, his eyes wide. Though Eddie hadn’t told them anything, he’d said more than enough. It had to be Nate over there under that sheet.