Innkeeping with Murder by Tim Myers Page A

from his chair. “I think I’d better
change, too. I’ll be ready to go in a minute.”
    Elise said, “Nonsense. You look fine.”
    “Okay.” They walked out to Alex’s battered
gray
    Ford pickup after Alex posted a “Back After
Supper” sign at the front desk. He winced slightly, wondering what
Elise would think of his transportation. Gamely, he opened the
passenger door and held it for her. Too late, Alex remembered that
many modern woman considered gallant behavior offensive. But Elise
smiled at the courtesy, and Alex had to hide his own grin in
return. If his truck put her off, she didn’t show it. She slid onto
the vinyl seat as if she’d grown up riding around in a long-bed
pickup.
    As he drove down Point Road toward town, Alex
asked, “What kind of background do you have that makes you such a
fine cook? I can’t imagine Mrs. Danton turning her kitchen over to
just anyone.”
    “Don’t kid yourself. She thought it was
wonderful having someone else feed her clan. I didn’t really mind,
though. Cooking has always been a hobby of mine. I got my degree in
hotel/motel management from West Virginia University, and I picked
up some tips from a Marriott chef I worked with in Greensboro.”
    Alex looked over at his passenger. In the
fading light of the day, he studied her face for a moment to see if
she was pulling his leg. But she returned his glance with a steady
look that told him she was telling the truth.
    Alex laughed deeply. “I’ve hired someone to
be my maid who has better qualifications to run my inn than I do!
You must think I’m an idiot.”
    Elise said, “I think nothing of the sort. You
didn’t have time to ask, and it didn’t seem important to tell you.
I would have done just about anything to get out of that house
anyway.”
    Alex heard Elise sigh heavily beside him.
They drove in silence for a few moments. She finally broke the
quiet. “I grew up in a little hotel in the West Virginia mountains.
We had nine rooms and a restaurant. It wasn’t much, but my folks
and I were happy. I decided that someday I was going to run one of
the big chains single-handedly, so I got my degree from WVU and
headed out into the cold cruel world two years ago. I landed a job
at Marriott and discovered that corporate life wasn’t for me. There
were too many forms, too much paper work, and not enough
interaction with people. I was getting to the point where I wasn’t
even seeing the guests anymore, so I quit.”
    “And you ended up as a house guest of the
Dantons? That’s a pretty far fall.”
    Elise said softly, “I wouldn’t say I was a
guest; I was more like a cook and a maid. It didn’t matter, though;
I just needed some time away from everything. Now I’m so grateful
to get out of that house I should be paying you for this job.”
    Alex coughed once. “Speaking of money, we’re
near the end of our season here, and things are a little—”
    Elise cut him off gently. “Why don’t we give
each other a one-week trial? We’ll see how it goes, and we can talk
about money after that.”
    Alex nodded. “I’m willing to handle it that
way if you are.”
    Mamma Ravolini’s gravel parking lot was
jammed, but Alex managed to slide the truck into a newly freed
slot.
    As they went inside, it took Alex’s eyes a
second to adjust to the dark interior. The only light came from
thick red candles, one per table. The effect always gave Alex the
impression that the dining room was on fire. The walls of the
restaurant were lined with photographs of the near-famous who had
dined at Mamma Ravolini’s, each adorned with a hastily scrawled
signature and good wishes. Alex had studied the pictures one
evening. The most famous face he’d found belonged to a Charlotte
newscaster who had been fired for filing false stories.
Nevertheless, the picture had remained on the wall in its place of
honor.
    The aromas of pizza, lasagna and ravioli
filled the air like a humid summer breeze. Alex loved the place,
and Irma