“I have lost my light, my joy, and my happiness, but no, not a pet.”
“Cool. Um, if you see Jack, like on the roof of the porch, would you mind sending him my way? I have a maintenance question for him. Just a routine bed-and-breakfast thing. Absolutely nothing to worry about.” She tried not to wince at how very suspicious that sounded. She was a terrible liar.
“Of course. I would be delighted to assist in any way I can.”
She watched him retreat down the hall before she reopened the door and looked down at the unexpected addition to her chosen chore, which hadn’t budged from where it’d plopped. “You shouldn’t be here.”
The lizard shifted its weight to face the bathtub. It looked as if it were contemplating a nice soak, preferably with bubbles.
She could pick it up with a towel and transport it to…where? If it was the pet of one of the guests, it should be returned, but she didn’t want to knock on each door and ask if they owned a stray lizard she’d found in the bathroom. She imagined the kind of reviews guests would leave after an episode likethat.
Calisa heard someone jogging up the stairs, then down the hall, and she peeked out. Jack! She felt relief flood through her veins. He’d know what to do without alerting Auntie Zee. He must have encountered this kind of situation before.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “Mulligan said there was an emergency.”
“I didn’t sayemergency—”
“He said you required assistance and waxed on about one’s duty to those in distress.”
She wasnota damsel in distress, though she conceded there could be a lizard in distress. “I just have a question,” Calisa said.So many questions.
He reached her, and she widened the bathroom door so he could peer inside at the lizard, which still hadn’t moved from where it had plopped on the tile floor.
Jack’s eyes were nearly as wide as the lizard’s. “Um, that’s…not supposed to be here.”
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t an expert in all aspects of innkeeping. “Does it belong to anyone? If it’s a pet, I’ll return it to its owner. If not…” She wasn’t sure what to do if not. Call animal control? That seemed extreme. It hadn’t done anything alarming. It was just sitting there.
“As far as I know, it’s no one’s pet,” Jack said, still staring atit as if he wished he were anywhere but here. “It must have gotten in from the garden.”
“And let itself inside the closet?” Calisa asked.
“Guess so?” He was backing away, looking as if he wanted to bolt. His eyes darted right and left, as if he was deciding the fastest exit.
“What are we supposed to do about it?”
If there were a window nearby, Jack would have climbed out of it.He’s not good in a crisis,she thought.Or maybe just not good with wild animals?
He swallowed hard and said, “We should, um, probably remove it?”
“Fine, but you really think it’s from the garden?” Calisa asked. “What if it’s an invasive species? We can’t just release it into the wild if it’s not supposed to be there.”
“It’s not supposed to behere.” He had retreated a quarter of the way down the hallway, which would have been funny except she still had the problem of the unwelcome lizard and no clue how to handle it. “Sorry,” he said. “Just not a fan of lizards. Or snakes. Or turtles.”
“What’s wrong with turtles?”
“I don’t know. They’re just…squishy inside their shells.”
“People are squishy inside too.”
“I didn’t say it was rational,” Jack said. “Just that I don’t like to be near them. Tortoises are fine, maybe because they’re drier? Turtles seem moist.”
The lizard wasn’t moist. Its skin looked rough and dry, even flaky. She didn’t think pointing that out was likely to make Jack feel better.
He offered, “I can ask Auntie Zee…”
“Or we can find a solution on our own.” Calisa didn’t want Auntie Zee thinking she was helpless or useless. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at the reptile. “All right. This isn’t a disaster. It’s just a little hiccup.”
“What do you think we should do?”
