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“Okay, then,” I said as I headed to my own office with the beginnings of a grudging respect for Sherri. I never would have thought she had it in her. She might even be able to keep Dean in line in the future.
Owen called me about an hour after I got to the store. “I didn’t mean to sleep so late,” he said with an audible yawn.
“You needed it. How are you feeling now?”
“Almost back to normal.”
“I should be able to get away from here in a couple of hours, so you take it easy until then. I hope Mom’s not fussing over you too much.”
“She is, but I don’t mind. She made an incredible breakfast. She said I looked like I could use a good meal. I guess she forgot all those huge meals she’s made in the past few days.”
“She definitely shows her love by feeding people, so get used to being stuffed while you’re around here. I’ll see you soon.”
About an hour after I talked to him, Nita called. “You are not going to believe the morning I’ve had,”
she said. Given her fondness for drama, it was entirely possible that she meant the phone had rung once, so I avoided jumping to conclusions, no matter how worried I was about what one of her guests might do.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’ve been busy. Three people have checked in so far this morning, and I’ve made a couple more reservations. If this pace continues the rest of the day, I may have to see if the ‘no vacancy’ sign still works. We haven’t had this many people check in on the same day since that big family reunion a couple of years ago.”
“I wonder what’s going on,” I said, instantly even more suspicious.
“I think it may be the rest of the band! And maybe some fans. They all look kind of like the same types. It’s a sort of emo group, right?”
I wasn’t sure I even knew what “emo” was. “They’re hard to classify,” I hedged. “Keep me posted, here or at the house. I’m curious. Are any of the guys cute?”
She snorted with laughter. “Not even! I wouldn’t go this low, even as desperate as I am, and even if they are in a band. Of course, none of them are Indian. Maybe they’re here to work on an album in the peace and quiet. That’ll really make the motel famous if the album is big. Oh wait, would you believe, here comes another one. Gotta go. I think I should get a bonus.”
I was sure there were dozens of highly rational reasons why unattractive young men would suddenly flock to this town, but with Phelan Idris, patron saint of unattractive social outcasts, in residence, I was inclined to think there was something going on.
“I’m leaving for the day,” I announced to Sherri as I grabbed my purse and headed out of the office.
“I’ve got all the orders and invoices taken care of. Call me at the house if you need anything.”
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
I was so surprised that she’d picked up on a subtle social clue from someone she wasn’t flirting with that it took me a few seconds to come up with an answer. “Owen wasn’t feeling well last night, so I don’t want to leave him alone with Mom too long.”
“Oh, yes, you should definitely go home, then.” She sounded really and truly sympathetic, which a few days ago I would have considered nothing short of a miracle.
Owen was sitting on the front porch swing, two dogs at his feet, when I got home. “You look a lot better,” I told him as I joined him on the swing.
“I’m feeling better. What are you doing home so early? If you keep this up, they may realize they can function without you.”
“I’m trying to wean them off me so it won’t be too hard to get away again.” I waited for him to say something about me going back to New York with him when this was over, but he didn’t, so I got to the reason I’d come home so quickly. “I don’t know for sure if this is relevant, but Nita said several people have checked in at the motel already this morning and she has a few more reservations.
They’re all young men, and she wasn’t impressed by the ones she’s seen so far.”
“I take it this is unusual?”
“She usually checks in maybe a dozen people a week, at the most. I thought it was kind of suspicious that we’re hit with a relative onslaught of the kind of people who are usually drawn to Idris the day after he gets here.”
“You’re right. There probably is something going on.” He took the cell phone from his pocket and made a call. “Sam? Anything to report from last night?” He listened to the response and said, “Can you get back over to the motel and keep an eye on it? We’ve got a few new guests we aren’t sure of.
Thanks.”
He closed the phone and returned it to his pocket, then said, “The police investigated pretty thoroughly last night, but they didn’t seem to know what to do about a set of mysterious break-ins in which the stolen goods were returned. They were baffled, but they didn’t have any suspects in mind.”
