AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She blew out a sigh, took a long shower, and dressed in her favorite worn jeans. The sun slanted through the windows as she tugged on a sweatshirt with her father’s law firm logo, checked the hidden cameras one last time, and set off on a slow walk to the lodge for breakfast. It was all very forest-y here. Pine needles littering the ground, the scent of…well…pine in the air. Little woodland creatures skittered around the trees, making noise as they rustled the leaves. Squirrels maybe? Perhaps chipmunks? Who really knew?
Her plan for the day was to eat, give the staff plenty of time to steal something, and spend the rest of the day getting raw footage of the lodge for William’s story. Absolutely no thinking about the night before.
She arrived at the sleepy lodge and made a beeline for the restaurant.
A party of one at a table for two, she ordered eggs and toast with a full pot of coffee.
She flipped through a magazine and sipped from her mug as the waitress set her breakfast down in a flutter to get to the other tables.
Lucy barely finished buttering her toast— “I’m Sarah.”
Lucy glanced up, mid-bite. The honeymooner who got the suite stood at the edge of the table. She wore a button-down pastel-blue blouse, slacks, and entirely too sensible sneakers. She also appeared exceptionally well rested. Not a dark circle to be found under her eyes. Not really unexpected, given the quality of the sheets she got to sleep on. Lucy wasn’t jealous since she got to sleep on Will?—
“I wanted to thank you for moving out of the honeymoon suite for us.” Sarah fidgeted with her purse.
“Lucy.” She spoke through a mouth full of food. “My name, I mean. I’m Lucy.”
“Everything worked out okay for you?” Sarah asked, concern written across her face.
“Yep. Everything’s great. They found us a cabin. How’s the, uh, suite?” Lucy asked, knowing damn well the suite was ah-mazing.
Sarah’s face lit up. “Great. They sent me spa coupons since they screwed up our reservation. What a mess. It felt so weird when the front desk lady asked Max for incentive to move us in there.”
Wait. What? Lucy’s reporter radar perked to attention. She set her coffee aside.
“I’m sorry. She asked for incentive?”
“Not directly, no. But you know how these things work.”
Sarah waved her hand as though Lucy should know.
Lucy didn’t know, but she was getting the idea. “What exactly did she say?”
“She told Max that they’d made a mistake and since you were already in the room, there wasn’t much she could do. She emphasized the word, much. It just felt funny to us. But your husband talked to her manager, and they’d already arranged for you to move. So it didn’t matter anyway.”
Except it mattered a lot.
“What do you think much meant?” Lucy pressed.
“I think it was pretty clear, if we wanted the room, we needed to grease the way a little with an extra tip.” Sarah’s expression was of total distaste. “The whole thing was odd.”
“You want to sit down?” Lucy’s desire to dig deeper won out over any latent annoyance with Sarah for sleeping on thousand-thread-count sheets.
“That’d be great.” Sarah slumped in the chair across from her. “I came down for breakfast. Max isn’t an early riser, and he can be amazingly grouchy in the morning.” She laughed. “I figured I’d slip out. I’m so glad I did because I love making new friends.”
Apparently, Lucy had received a promotion from William’s “honeymoon prop” to Sarah’s “new friend.” That probably meant her day was looking up.
Lucy really wanted some time alone to process last night’s confessions and the two a.m. cuddle, but this was more important. The woman seemed desperate to talk to someone, and really, Lucy was happy to be that someone.
Lucy took a stab at small talk. “How long have you been married?”
“Eight months. We finally had a chance to get away. Max is a doctor, so his schedule is crazy. What does your husband do?” Sarah asked.
“He’s a landscaper.” Liar.
“Max is a doctor.”
Yeah, she had mentioned that. “A doctor in the family must come in handy.”
