Page 34 of Hoodoo House
“Pardon?” Charlie said.
“I saw it happen. It took the cow a good two minutes from start of run to the ultimate collision. I yelled at him and waved my arms but old Mr Carlyle was short-sighted and deaf as a post and paid no attention to me. He turned around just before Concetta hit him. That heifer threw him a good ten feet. It was truly tragic.”
“It certainly sounds like it was,” Declan said, trying to maintain his composure.
“Now how can I help you?” William asked.
“Well, for starters,” Declan said, “our car’s broken down just south of town on the highway. Is there a mechanic in the area?”
“That was Mr Carlyle,” William said sadly.
Declan paused. “Is there anyone else in town?”
“Oh sure,” William replied. “His son has the business now. I could give him a call to see if he could fix it, but I don’t think he’ll be able to look at the car until tomorrow.”
“Why’s that?” Charlie asked.
William lowered his voice to a whisper. “Well, his mother out front told me he went into Calgary. He’s got a date, and I don’t think he’s gonna get back until the morning. But if you like, you could wait around in case the date goes badly. In the meantime, we have a fine restaurant if you’re interested in dinner. And if he doesn’t make it back, we also offer accommodation.”
Declan shrugged. “What do you say, Charlie? Why don’t we live large and spend the night?”
“Sure, why not?” Charlie replied.
William looked down at the register. “You’re in luck. We have one room left. It’s the Honeymoon Suite with a king-sized bed and a pullout couch in the living room…in case somebody snores.”
“We’ll take it,” Declan replied.
William looked at them, tilting his head slightly to one side. “You two wouldn’t happen to be on your honeymoon, would you?”
“No!” Charlie and Declan said together.
“Because if you were,” William said carefully, “the hotel would provide you with a complimentary bottle of champagne at dinner in our county-famous dining room.”
He looked at them, hopefully.
Declan glanced at Charlie then grinned. “Well, babe, what do you say?”
Charlie glowered at him.
Declan turned back to William and said, “We would be honoured to take you up on your offer.”
William smiled. “Great. Oh, and just a heads-up. It’s not real champagne, it’s a sparkling wine…from the Okanagan Valley.”
Charlie and Declan took the keys from William and walked up the stairs to their room. It was the lone room in the attic of the house. Declan unlocked the door and announced that he would take the bed and Charlie could have the pullout. Declan looked around the room. It really was quite pretty with a nice view over the farm fields, including a pasture with a single cow.
I wonder if that’s Concetta?
“Shall we go down for dinner?” he asked.
Charlie nodded. “Sure.”
“We’ll put it on Sinclair’s tab,” Declan said as he headed towards the door.
Charlie paused. “Just gimme a sec. I’m going to text Carrie and let her know I won’t be coming home tonight. I don’t want her to worry.”
He quickly tapped a message into his phone, then they made their way down to the dining room, just off of the lobby. It was small with six tables, five for two people, and a corner table for four. Sitting at the table nearest the fireplace was Mrs Carlyle. She was propped up on what appeared to be two phone books and a floral cushion. Frisky the Pekingese occupied the opposite chair.
As they tried to decide whether they should take a table or wait to be seated, Mrs Carlyle said, “Just grab any seat. Fergus will be in soon to take your order. I always have the steak tartare. That way if I can’t eat it all, Mr Frisky will take care of it.”
