Page 8 of Silver Linings

He nodded, then said, “I saw online that you have an outdoor shop here in Silver Hollow. Would I be able to buy whatever I need there so I can do some exploring in the woods?”

Maybe one of Mabel’s eyebrows lifted a fraction of an inch. “I would expect so,” she replied. “Did you suddenly decide to go hiking?”

And her gaze moved to the lace-ups he wore with his jeans and blazer, as though she couldn’t understand why someone would come to a place like Silver Hollow, which was noted for its wilderness trails, without adequately preparing first.

Well, he had gone off sort of half-cocked, and he supposed it couldn’t hurt to give her a carefully edited version of his story.

“I hadn’t planned to come here at all,” he said. “I was attending a conference in San Francisco, and I met someone there who told me about Silver Hollow. Since I was already halfway here — I’m from Southern California — I figured I’d just extend my trip and visit a part of the world I’d never seen before. So here I am.”

If Mabel thought any of this sounded suspicious, she didn’t give much sign of it. No, she only nodded before replying, “I suppose I can understand that. In that case, I’m sure our store will be able to supply you with hiking boots and anything else you might need.”

For just a moment, her gaze slipped toward his shoes again, which he’d polished just before he left for San Francisco.

They definitely weren’t the sort of thing that would get very far on a trail, even an easy one.

“That’s great,” he said. “Then I suppose I’ll get settled in.”

“Of course. Your room is on the second floor — do you need me to show you the way?”

Ben assured her that he could find it on his own, and he shouldered his weekender bag and made his way up the magnificent mahogany staircase. Although his field of study had centered on ancient indigenous American ruins and not old houses, he still loved it when he came across an original structure like this one. So much of the state’s heritage had been knocked down to make way for shopping centers and tract homes, and the ones that had survived, like this beautiful Victorian, needed to be treated with the proper respect.

Everything he saw around him seemed to show that Mabel — or whoever had been responsible for the bed-and-breakfast’s appearance — had tastefully updated the place while still making sure to keep its period feel intact. Maybe back in the day, wallpaper had predominated rather than the warm colors now displayed on its walls, but no one had come along and painted the rich woodwork white, or indulged in the shades of gray that seemed to have dominated interior design for the past decade.

His room wasn’t large, but he was glad to see that it had been remodeled to include an en suite bathroom. Secretly, he’d been a little worried that he’d have to go down the hall to use the bath and share it with the other residents on this floor.

That wasn’t the case, though, and he felt almost lighthearted as he hung up his clothes in the oversized wardrobe on one side of the room and put his bag of toiletries on the vanity in the bathroom. It looked as if someone had repurposed an old dresser to accommodate the sink, and it went well with the rest of the room.

He wasn’t here to study interior design, though.

No, he was here to do his best to discover whether anything a little more interesting than deer and foxes and rabbits populated the woods outside town.

His flight had left SFO at a quarter after ten, and he’d gotten to Silver Hollow just a bit before one. Now it was almost one-thirty, but he thought the hour was still early enough that he shouldn’t have a problem getting a bite to eat in town.

After all, Mabel had told him he was on his own for lunch and dinner.

A quick check to make sure his hair was lying mostly where it was supposed to be, and then he locked the room and headed downstairs. The B&B’s proprietor was nowhere to be seen, which he found almost reassuring. He’d been a little worried that she might be the type to hover and ask awkward questions, but it seemed that now she’d given him the lay of the land, so to speak, she was content to let him do as he wished.

The MG was still there when Ben climbed into his rented vehicle, although he hadn’t seen any sign of his fellow traveler while he was inside the inn. Maybe he’d gone hiking; it looked as if the path that led away from the parking area and bordered the bed-and-breakfast’s grounds met up with a different trail about fifty yards or so past the property line, so it would probably be easy enough to get out there and get moving without having to drive to an actual trailhead.

That detail might have been noted on the inn’s website, but he’d been in a hurry when he’d looked it over and hadn’t gone into a lot of the details. No, he was just glad he’d been able to find a place to stay at all.

As he drove into Silver Hollow’s tiny downtown, he realized he probably could have walked, since the distance wasn’t much more than a quarter-mile. But he was here now, and he figured he’d tuck that snippet of information away and put it to use the next time he ventured out.

He’d spied a place called Eliza’s as he came into town, and since the sign said “Breakfast and Lunch” right below what he assumed was the owner’s name, he thought he might as well eat there, since it apparently wouldn’t be open for dinner. Because it was getting to be a little late for the midday meal, he didn’t have any trouble finding a parking place right out in front.

After he made sure the CR-V was locked…not that he thought crime was much of a problem in this quaint, out-of-the-way spot…he went inside the restaurant. The interior was full-on farmhouse, with painted wood floors and wooden tables and various cooking utensils used as sort of 3D art hanging on the walls.

A tall, slim woman with short-cropped blonde hair approached him. One very quick assessment as she seemed to take in his obviously citified attire, and then she said, “Late lunch?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Just got into town, as a matter of fact.”

Her mouth pursed, and he could practically hear her thinking that he hadn’t needed to provide that particular fact, not when everything about him screamed that he wasn’t from around here. However, she sounded cheerful as she said, “Well, then, welcome to Silver Hollow. I’ve got a nice table up near the front so you can sit there and watch the world go by.”

Ben kind of doubted that much of the world made it to the tiny town, but he understood what she meant as she led him over to the table in question. Sitting there, he’d be able to spy everyone coming and going along the sidewalk, which would give him an even better feel for who lived there and what they might be up to on a given day.

“Thank you,” he said as she handed him a menu.

“Anything to drink?”

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