Page 28 of Trouble Walked In

“It’s spicy dill with a blend of vegetables, garlic, onion, and a hint of jalapeño.” She wiped the knife she’d been using with a white cloth. “It’s been a big hit here this summer.”

“You should bottle this. It would sell really well.” He hoped she wouldn’t notice that he’d changed the subject.

She eyed him with the suspicion he deserved. “You haven’t answered my question. Are you trying to hide why you’re here?”

He put on a fake smile. He usually had better control of his conversations. “I’m having a business meeting.”

“Uh huh.” She narrowed her eyes. “Why are youreallyhere?”

“I need to talk to Della,” he admitted.

The best way to get information out of someone was to make a trade. A confidence freely given often inspired more of the same in return. He just had to make sure he didn’t give away too much.

Carrie looked at him as if she knew he was holding out on her. “Della’s a popular girl. Jordanna’s been talking to her for days. So has Lizzie. What are you going to say that they haven’t?”

“Fair point.” If he wanted to enlist this woman’s help, now was the perfect opportunity to prime the pump, so to speak. “Jordanna’s been trying to impress Della with what canceling the tour will mean, but I gather Della hasn’t exactly been listening. I’m hoping to attack the problem from another angle.”

“Hmm.” Carrie began to clean up the small mess she’d made getting his snack ready. “And you think you can talk that girl into something she doesn’t want to do?”

He barked a laugh. “Not hardly. I doubt anybody could do that. I hope to show her that shewantsto do it.”

Carrie tilted her head and studied him like he was a particularly fascinating bug. “You believe that?”

“You don’t?”

She paused before answering as if thinking it through. “I think Della has no clue what she wants. That girl isn’t runningtowardanything. She’s running away from something.”

“What’s she running away from?” He leaned forward in anticipation of finally having a clue as to what was going on.

Carrie smiled apologetically. “Now that’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it.”

He tried to hide his disappointment at that non-answer. He felt the future of his business slipping away with every conversation. The two he’d had so far had yielded less than nothing about Della other than she was sad and lonely, which didn’t fit his impression at all.

He was missing something. Question was, how to figure out what it was before it was too late. He only booked five days at the inn, and there was no way Lizzie would extend the reservation.

Carrie leaned on the counter. “Tell me…how’d you like the Rose Room?”

He grimaced. “It needs some work.”

“Well, thanks to you it’ll be fixed up pretty soon.” Carrie grinned. “Don’t worry, the contractor is coming tomorrow to treat the smell.”

“Good to know.” He smiled ruefully. “I was pretty sure Lizzie meant for me to bask in it the entire time I’m here.”

“You must have done something nasty to earn that kind of treatment. Lizzie’s usually the nicest one around here.” Carrie took another bite of dip-covered carrot. “You know, she’s mentioned your name once or twice over the years. She calls you Darth Renic. But she wouldn’t offer up many details.”

Carrie looked at him expectedly.

He debated how much to reveal and finally settled on a fraction of the truth. Truth always worked best, even if it wasn’t the whole story.

“We had a discussion that went south,” he admitted.

“Sounds like a fancy way to say you had a fight.”

“It’s in the past.” He took another cucumber. Carrie wasgetting more information out of him than he was dragging out of her. He was losing his touch.

“Not so past from what I saw earlier. You certainly bring out the color in her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that particular shade of red on her face before, or heard quite so many swear words.”

“Mind giving me a little advice?” Renic asked. He was desperate to steer the conversation away from Lizzie and back to Della.

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