Page 10 of Tormented Bastard
Blocked
Eden
“But I just need a room for one night.” I hoped my voice didn’t come out as whiny as it sounded in my head.
The gray-haired woman smiled sympathetically but shook her head. “I’m sorry, miss. We’re not taking any guests due to the storm.”
I looked around at the activity around the small inn. “Who are all these people?”
“They’re workers, dear. They’re getting the place ready for the storm.” She laid liver-spotted hands on top of the waist-high front desk. “I’m so sorry I can’t help you. But it’s our policy to evacuate any guests ahead of the storm. The last of them left earlier this morning.”
I wanted to lay my head on the desk and cry. I’d been up since four a.m. and I’d barely slept at all the night before. I was running on fumes, and my internal bitch-o-meter was ticking up as I stood here. “Okay, well, is there another place here in town?”
“They’re closed too.” She leaned forward as though she were imparting a secret. “You know, dear. I don’t know what you’re in town for, but you seem like a smart girl, being from New York City and all. You should get back over that bridge before they close it. The winds are picking up, and if they get too high, they’ll close it off to everyone but emergency traffic.”
“Hold on. How did you know I was from New York?”
She lifted a shoulder and busied herself with straightening pens in the pen holder. “Small towns have big ears, sweetheart. I’m sure whatever business you have with Mr. Hanover can wait for the storm to pass.”
Great, just great. I was the talk of the town already? A storm was closing in and the town had nothing better to talk about than the desperate woman from New York?
I glanced down at her name tag. Odette…hmmm. The woman from the coffee shop. I pasted my best smile on my lips. “Ms. Odette. You’ve got a new grandbaby, don’t you?”
Her faded blue eyes lit up. “Why, yes I do. Would you like to see some pictures?” Before I could answer, she pulled out her phone and scrolled to her photo gallery with the adeptness of a fourteen-year-old. “Her name’s Maddie.”
I smiled a little bigger even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. “She’s a beautiful baby.”
Odette proceeded to show me a couple of pictures of her Maddie and I made the appropriate noises. When there was a small hole in the conversation, I pushed right through it. “She’s lovely. Now I have a question for you. If, let’s say, Maddie were stuck on an island with no place to stay, you’d want someone to help her out, right? Give her shelter?”
Her eyes widened. “Well, yes, of course.”
I raised my brows and kept my smile firmly in place. “So, can you help a girl out?”
She smiled again. “I’m sorry, no.”
I dropped my smile. “I’ll pay you a thousand dollars.”
The sweet grandma smile disappeared. “Nope.”
I resisted the urge to stomp my foot. With a sigh, I slid my purse off the desk. “Fine. Thanks, Odette.” My tone told her I was anything but thankful.
“Safe travels, dear.” Her tone was overly cheery. The woman had the innocent-looking grandma thing down pat. But that little glint in her eye told me she enjoyed screwing with me.
I rolled my eyes and walked out of the inn, pulling the door closed behind me a little harder than necessary. Standing on the front porch, I looked around the busy little town, the sea breeze blowing strands of hair across my face. What the hell was I going to do now? I walked down the couple of steps to the sidewalk and headed to my rental. I slid in and started it, blasting the A/C to keep my blouse from sticking to me and the sweat from rolling down my ass crack.
Clicking on my email, I found the list of hotel information Katie had sent me for Tallahassee and Apalachicola just in case I needed it. I grimaced, wanting to kick my own sweaty ass for being overly confident that a) Chase would say yes when I asked and b) the local inns would be happy to take me in. I mean, what happened to small-town hospitality?
I blew out a breath and leaned back in the seat. If Odette was to be believed, I needed to get back over the bridge sooner than later. I peered out the large windshield to assess the sky. Clouds were beginning to gather, and fear skittered down my spine as I realized that I truly was running out of time.
After looking over a couple of the hotels on the list, I called and secured a room at the Hotel Duval, a boutique hotel near the capitol in Tallahassee. My room would be ready by four, and I said a prayer to Mother Nature to ask if she could hold off her fury for another couple of hours. A couple of days would be better, but since I was begging, I couldn’t be choosy.
It was two o’clock, and I still had no idea where the hell Chase lived. Not that the island was all that big, but what was I supposed to do? Knock on every door in town? My fingers itched to call Katie to use her sources and find an address for me. But the gauntlet had been thrown, and I wasn’t about to back down from a challenge. I could do this.
But first I was going to have to change into some clothes that didn’t make me look like city girl lost. I frowned and looked in my rearview mirror. Odette stood on the front porch taking down the hanging plants that were blowing around in the increasing wind.
She might have refused to give me a room, but she was going to help me out somehow. Squaring my shoulders, I got back out of the vehicle, retrieved my carry-on bag, and headed toward the elderly woman.
I plastered on my best smile again as I approached. “Hey, there. It’s me again. Smart city girl.”
