“Hi there,” the innkeeper said to him.
“Hello,” he said, looking down. There was no way he was going to try to talk to Neil now. All he wanted to do was escape.
“Nice night, isn’t it?” she asked.
Barney nodded.
“Are you joining in the snowball fight?” she asked.
“They’re just talking. And I’m just smoking my pipe. I’m about to go to bed.”
“Have a good night, Barney,” she said as she and Neil made their way to the garage.
“You too,” he said. If that innkeeper thought it was strange that he’d come all this way to talk to Neil and now was pretending not to know him, she didn’t show it. He watched as the garage door opened and she and Neil drove away in her truck.
When Barney glanced over at Dave and everyone else, they were now picking teams for their snowball fight. He watched for a while and then turned and went back inside the inn. It was too late to call Jean, he decided. Too late to do anything to fix this. If he’d had his phone, he could have texted Dave and canceled the appointment, but without it, he didn’t even know his number.
What would Jean do? he asked himself, as he sat in front of the fire blazing in the fireplace of the empty parlor of the inn, warming his hands and trying to think.
She’d tell him to do whatever it took to shut up Dave.
He nodded. He knew her well, and this would be her advice. Good thing he’d eaten a big, hearty dinner. He always thought more clearly when he had a full stomach.
He reached in the back of his pants to feel for his gun, but it wasn’t there.
Uh oh.
He went into the dining room. The four carolers and another guy were still seated in there at the table by the fire.
“Did you leave something in here?” asked the woman who was working there, putting fresh tablecloths on all the tables.
“I don’t know... Did I?”
“Not that I saw? What are you missing?”
“Nothing,” he said. Then he went off looking for his room, but he couldn’t find it. A couple of minutes later, he ran into the woman again.
“Are you looking for your room?” she asked him.
“I think so,” he said. He was so tired he could hardly think.
“Klarinda’s got you in her old apartment, down here on this floor. You get to it back here, in this hallway by the restrooms.” She led the way to it and then waited at the door.
He tried to open it, but it was locked. “I lost the key, I guess,” he admitted.
“Stay there,” she said. She looked worried. “I’ll get the spare. Just wait there. I’ll be right back.”
This is getting really out of control, Barney thought to himself. It was making him so frustrated and angry that he felt like punching a hole in a wall. Or, better yet, drifting off into a deep, long sleep.
The woman was back. She opened the door to his room and said, “Here you go. Are you okay?”
“I’m good,” he said. He closed the door and locked it after him, and fell asleep just as the grandfather clock in the hall outside his room chimed twelve times.
Chapter 32
“The Lonely Hearts Club,” Neil said, reading the sign hanging in front of the tall brick building at the intersection of First and Main. He put his hand on the old-fashioned rim latch of the door. He tried to open it, but it was locked.
“I think that was our last option,” Klarinda said. “I guess it’s time to ransack the Mistletoe Manor kitchen.”
“That works for me,” he said. Honestly, he didn’t care what they did or where they went, as long as they were together. He didn’t even care if he ate anything for dinner. His only interest was spending time with her.
They started walking back down Main Street when he saw a narrow set of stone steps ascending up the hill in the space between two old buildings. At the top of the hill was a tiny chapel, each window of it glowing with a single flickering candle.
“I saw that from the inn. Magical,” he said.
“Do you want to go up there and have a look?” asked Klarinda.
“Sure. I’m guessing the view of Mistletoe Manor is really something from up there. I’d love to get a look at the place I’ve called home for the past couple nights.”
They began up the steep steps, holding the old metal handrail. When they’d just about reached the top, Klarinda turned to catch her breath and take a look at the view. She was used to seeing Windy Pines from her inn, or from other high spots on the outer edges of town, but this was a new view for her. “It’s so beautiful,” she said.
Neil caught up with her and steadied himself, taking in the view as well. “Nice little place you’ve got here, Klarinda Snow.”
“You’re helping me appreciate it. Would you believe, this is the first time I’ve ever come up here to this chapel?”
“I hope it won’t be your last,” he said. “You ought to come up here all the time.”
“Maybe now I will,” she said, smiling at him, fighting the urge to reach out and wrap her arms around him. She had to keep reminding herself that he was leaving tomorrow. Why did it feel like he belonged here? She kept forgetting that he didn’t live in Windy Pines.
“You don’t think there’s any chance it’s open, do you?” he asked, as he took the remaining couple of steps up to the tiny chapel and tried to open the door. To both their amazement, it swung open. They stepped inside.
“It’s gorgeous in here,” Klarinda exclaimed. They saw now that the candles weren’t actually real, but little flickering lights. The altar was aglow with more of the small faux candles.
“Stunning,” Neil said.
The two of them stood silent and still in the small chapel, each lost in their own private thoughts, yet undeniably connected. And then, without saying a word, Neil reached out for Klarinda. He pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her, and buried his face in her hair. He felt her arms wrap around his waist. The two of them stayed like that for a stretch of time, holding each other in the cold, dimly flickering chapel, lost in the quiet moment. And though he was far from the world he’d always known, and she was still unsure whether Windy Pines, Idaho was truly the place for her, both Neil and Klarinda were home at last.
Chapter 33
Barney woke up at four in the morning, confused about his whereabouts. Why wasn’t there light coming in from the window at the foot of the bed? He fumbled to turn on the lamp beside the bed, but the table was higher than normal and the lamp wasn’t on it.
“Jeannie,” he whispered.
It was so silent. Why wasn’t she snoring?
He reached over and patted the mattress next to him, but it was empty.
Then he began to remember. He was at an inn. This was about that lobster trapping plan. He was here to meet… Oh, no. Now it was really coming back to him. Dave Sommerset and the conversation he’d overheard outside.
Barney got out of bed and stumbled around until he found a wall. He felt his way down it until he came to a light switch. He flicked it on. Success!
“Oh, that’s right,” he said. He was in an apartment. It was a nice place. He’d like to stay here.
Was that a television? How had he missed it? He’d like to watch some TV.
“Focus,” he whispered to himself, tearing his eyes off the beckoning black screen that wanted him to help it come alive.
“You’ve got work to do!” he said aloud, letting his eyes fall, instead, on the barrel of the gun peeking out from beneath his overnight bag on the countertop.
He was wearing only his underwear, despite that he couldn’t remember getting undressed. He began putting his clothes back on. Time to get outside and get in on that snowball fight. And then what? What was he going to do about Dave Sommerset? He’d figure it out.
First things first. He went over to the sink, stuck his head beneath the faucet and took a big gulp of water. He washed his hands and splashed some water on his face.
Realizing he’d washed off any o
f the helpful messages he liked to see written on his hands, he found a pen, took a look around the small apartment, and saw an envelope that said, on the back of it, in Jean’s nearly illegible handwriting, Neil Prescott. He printed that name on his hand. It would probably help him out at some point down the line.
Now what? Oh, right. Get dressed and bring the gun.
Five minutes later, he was bundled up in all the clothes he’d worn for his drive to Windy Pines along with two scarves, a hat, and gloves he’d found piled on the radiator by the front desk. He opened the front door of the inn and stepped outside.
Chapter 34
Josephine came up the stairs from the basement, carrying an overflowing basket of towels and blankets. She knew before she’d even reached the top of the stairs that the front door of the inn was open.
Even though the old door sometimes didn’t stick into place, it was quite creepy to see it blown wide open at four in the morning when the inn was silent and all the guests had been asleep for hours.
She set down the laundry basket, stepped out onto the front porch, and took a good look around. It appeared to be deserted and completely still outside. She looked for fresh tracks in the snow, but there had been so many people coming and going throughout the past day that she couldn’t tell if any of the tracks were fresh.
She was only wearing leggings and a cardigan sweater over a long-sleeved t-shirt, but she stepped out a little farther into the night and called, “Hello? Is anyone out there?”
Down on the road leading into town, a tow truck slowly approached the Mistletoe Manor driveway and then turned in. She recognized the lime green truck that Derb Dunlavy drove. He was hauling a fancy-looking white SUV behind him. She pulled her sweater a little tighter around her, shivering.
Derb pulled up as close to the front door of the inn as the full parking lot would allow, and got out of his truck.
“You waiting up for me?” he joked.
“Not exactly,” she laughed. “What are you doing working at four in the morning?”
“We got a new puppy, so I was up at one fifteen taking him out. From then on, I was wide awake. I figured I might as well get some work done. Could you pass this key and bill on to your guest Neil Prescott?” he said, passing an envelope to Josephine.
“Sure thing,” she said.
“Thanks. Get back inside before you freeze to death!”
“Will do. Have a good night,” she said, heading back inside the inn and making sure the door latched firmly in place behind her. Then she headed down the stairs to the basement to keep going on the seemingly endless piles of laundry that the guests of Mistletoe Manor produced.
Chapter 35
Barney had fallen asleep on top of a pile of snow-covered rocks behind the inn, near a patch of pine trees. One minute he’d been sitting up there, holding his gun in his lap, catching his breath and blowing his nose, and the next he’d been asleep. It must not have been for very long, because when he awakened, he was still toasty warm, but confused and afraid.
When he’d opened his eyes, and realized he didn’t know where he was, he’d yelled for someone to help him. But as soon as he heard his own voice, he’d changed his mind. Getting someone else involved would be a mistake. This, he realized, was another one of his embarrassing disasters. He needed to get himself out of it.
He didn’t recognize the buildings near him. Was he at a farm? There was a town down below him. He was fairly certain he was still at that inn. Oh, right. The lobster troubles. He was still trapped in the night that was never going to end.
He shoved himself off from the snowy rock pile and began walking back the way he’d come. He followed his tracks. This is smart, he decided. Good thinking, Barney. Following your tracks. Get back there and go to bed, he told himself.
“Are you okay?” he heard a man’s voice calling.
He looked around but it was too dark to see who was talking to him.
“Hey, are you okay?” the voice said again.
“Who’s out there?” Barney asked. He was holding his gun. He waved it in front of him and then in the air. “I’ve got a gun,” he said, freezing in his tracks and trying to listen for the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow.
“Put that down,” said the voice. And then Barney could make out the shape of a man.
“Stay put,” he warned him.
“Why are you waving that gun around? I just came out here to see if you were okay. I heard you yelling for help a few minutes ago.”
“I wasn’t yelling for help,” Barney insisted. The man was right in front of him now.
“I heard you yelling,” said the man. “How else would I have known you were over here?”
“Is it you?” Barney asked, remembering that Dave Sommerset was the reason he’d come out here in the first place. His early-onset cataracts made it nearly impossible to see in the dark.
“What do you mean by that?” asked the man. He smelled like cherries, Barney noted. “Do you think you know me?” asked the man.
Barney closed his eyes. If only Jean was here. This was too much for him. He opened his eyes again and began crunching through the snow, back toward the row of snowmen.
“Back off,” Barney warned him. “Back off or I’ll shoot you.” At that, he reached for his gun, but the man was faster. He tore it from the old man’s hands and smacked him across the face with it. Then he threw it on the ground beside him, yelling something as he walked away.
The old man tried to sit up. Blood was pouring from his lip. He sank back down in the snow, too exhausted to do anything else.
Chapter 36
Klarinda had barely slept. After the most magical night of her life—after she and Neil had visited the chapel, he’d come back to her apartment where they’d shared some pasta and talked and kissed for hours—she’d only had time to squeeze in about ninety minutes of sleep before it was time to return to Mistletoe Manor for her 6:30 shift.
Josephine was sitting at the front desk, working on a crossword puzzle when she came in.
“What a night,” she told Klarinda, yawning and rubbing her eyes. “Everyone was out there having a snowball fight until after two. Then, around four, the weirdest thing happened. I came up from doing laundry and the door was wide open. About two minutes later, Derb Dunlavy showed up with that one guest’s car. Then I spent the next hour or two doing laundry. You can really tell the difference between a couple of rooms being booked and all of them. I’ve never seen so many dirty towels in my life.” She yawned again and threw on her coat. “Anyway, I’m beat. I’m heading out now. Have a good day. At least Myrtle’s working again today.”
That’s what I’m counting on, thought Klarinda. As soon as Myrtle showed up at 8:00, she was planning on going back to her apartment and taking a nap.
Josephine left and Klarinda began making the early morning rounds. Step one was to catch up on some bills she had to pay. Normally this put her in a bad mood, but today they didn’t even get her down. She wrote out the checks to the electric company, the gas company, the cable company, the telephone company, and the bakery that supplied the restaurant with bread, rolls, and desserts. On each check, she signed her name with flourish. Then she stepped outside and tucked them all in the mailbox.
The next step was to get some fires going in the fireplaces. With this many guests, it was a must. If she didn’t do it, they’d start complaining. Since she was out there anyway, she began piling firewood in her arms.
The sun was just coming up, just beginning to illuminate the crisp, cold morning. Another inch or two of snow had fallen in the past couple of hours. The world looked clean and bright again. Klarinda took a step out to the side of the inn that overlooked Windy Pines, never tiring of the view of the lovely little town down below.
And then, something caught her eye.
At first, she thought she was seeing a toppled-over snowman. She set down the armload of firewood she’d been collecting to have a closer look.
“Who would
have done that?” she asked herself as she crunched across the snow-covered lawn. She saw blood splattered in the snow and a feeling of dread came over her. This was when she realized it was not a snowman, but one of the Mistletoe Manor guests. His bright hat and a corner of his sleeve were still exposed. It was that old man. Barney. The man Neil had gone out of his way to avoid.
“No! Please tell me this hasn’t happened again!” Klarinda cried. She rushed to him and crouched at his side, trying to turn him over, but he wouldn’t budge. He was frozen to the ground. He must have been there for at least a couple of hours.
There was only one person staying at the inn who didn’t like this man, as far as she knew: Neil. And there was only one man who’d been out alone in the middle of the night. Neil.
She let out a long wail of despair and then sprang back to her feet and ran to the inn.
How could this be happening? Another murder at Mistletoe Manor. And this time, it didn’t involve a stranger. It involved the man she was falling in love with.
Chapter 37
“So, we meet again,” Deputy Franklin said to Klarinda.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked him and Sheriff Carter, determined to get off on the right foot. She set the tray down on the coffee table in the parlor. Neither made an effort to take a cup.
She sat down on the sofa beside Josephine, just as Myrtle walked in the front door of the inn for her shift.
“Hellllooooo? Why are there two police cars out in the…” Klarinda heard her ask, just as she stepped into the doorway of the parlor and her voice trailed off. “What’s going on?” she said.
“Where’s Officer Wells?” Deputy Franklin asked the sheriff. “Isn’t he supposed to be keeping this scene secure?” He stood up, walked over to one of the windows in the parlor that faced the side yard where the body was still lying, and took a look. Even from where she was seated, Klarinda could see the young officer standing near the body, arms out in both directions and his palms up, as if he was trying to stop traffic.
In the Heart of Windy Pines Page 11
