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She nodded. “Better now that I’m out of the truck. We’re going to have to find a hotel or something. I don’t think I can ride any farther today.” She played along with my little ruse very well.
“Do you know of any good places to stay in the area?” I asked.
“We have a room that we lease out,” Jackson said.
“The room actually belongs to my brother, but I’m sure he’s up for renting it out.”
“What are you volunteering me for now, Jack?”
“This is my brother, Brodie,” Jackson said then turned his attention to his brother. “Just the cottage. No one is staying in it right now, right?”
“Nope, it’s vacant.”
“This is Ash and Melody,” Jackson said.
“Nice to meet you. That gorgeous brunette over there playing with the microphone stand is my wife, Gabrielle. You looking for a room?” Brodie glanced at me.
“Yeah. For a couple of nights.”
One of the women who had been singing with the band walked over and plopped down on the stool next to Mel. “Derrick, I’m dying, water, pleeeease.”
“Coming right up, darlin’.”
This is my wife, Lena. Lena, meet Melody and Ash,” Jackson said.
“Hi.” She raised her hand in a quick wave.
“They’re looking for a hotel for a couple of nights.”
She laughed. “Hmmm…if there’s one thing this town needs, it’s a few hotels.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Brodie agreed. “The room we have is small, but we renovated it with new furniture and new kitchen appliances. We just installed a queen-size Murphy wall bed, too. No one’s even tried it yet.”
I looked at Mel. “We’re uh…not…we should probably have se—”
“That sounds great,” Mel said, interrupting me and giving me a don’t-argue-with-me look.
“Great. The cottage sits above the garage. It hasn’t had anyone in it for a long time.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “You people don’t even know us and you’re willing to rent out your room to strangers? Is there something wrong with it or something? Haunted?”
Brodie laughed. “No, man. There aren’t a lot of places in this town to stay, and it’s just that my brother mentioned the room. We’ve learned over the years that there’s really no arguing with him when it comes to helping people in need. That’s just the way he is. You look like a nice guy. I’m a pretty good judge of character. So, if you want to rent the room, it’s yours. A day, a week, a month. However long you need it. Besides, the only hotel in this town is the historical Turtle Lake Hotel, and I think that onemightactually be haunted.” He grinned.
He was okay, I decided. “How much is it?”
Brodie rubbed his thumb and forefinger against his chin. “$20 for the night. $100 for the week. Any longer than that, we’ll tack on an additional discount for you.”
That was pretty cheap. I looked at Mel and she smiled, nodding her head.
“Okay. You got a deal,” I said.
“You got it.”
Just then, the other woman walked up and put her arm around Brodie’s waist. “This is Gabrielle, my wife. This is Ash and Melody…I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your last names.”
“Melody Silvers. And…” Mel quickly glanced around the room. “…Asher Pilsner.”
Gabrielle smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
