Chapter 3
Chapter Three
H unter’s mistrust of Julie was nothing compared to the old woman’s mistrust of him, as Cathy learned first thing the next morning when she was pulled aside roughly by Julie’s firm grip on her way to get a cup of coffee.
“Ow, hey!”
Julie dragged her over near the front desk and looked over her shoulder three different times to make sure they weren’t followed before she started speaking. “Is that guy really your husband?”
“What?” Cathy frowned. “Who?”
“That man I was just talking to in line to get some coffee!” she hissed. “I assumed he was a guest here, and since you have been telling me I needed to be more polite to the guests, I asked where he was from. When he mentioned Buffalo, I said that you were from there too, and that’s when he informed me that he was your husband!”
“ Ex -husband,” Cathy clarified. “He’s my ex-husband.”
“Well, he didn’t say ex.”
“Maybe you just didn’t hear him.”
Julie pulled back, affronted. “First of all, I am offended by the suggestion that my hearing is so bad. And second of all, it doesn’t even matter what he said, it was how he said it.”
“ How did he say it?”
“He had this air of superiority like he owns the place! Which, if he was your husband, then maybe he would have part ownership. If that’s the case, I would’ve appreciated a warning!”
“Julie, calm down,” Cathy whispered. “He’s not my husband, he doesn’t have any ownership over the inn, he’s just—he’s in a mood, okay? I feel like that’s something you of all people could relate to.”
Julie’s face soured. “I beg your pardon?”
“Oh, c’mon now. Don’t look at me like that. I’m sorry if Hunter said or did something that bothered you, but I’m asking you to give him a little grace. He’s going through a lot right now, and so you’re not exactly meeting him under the best circumstances. But I promise, he’s a good guy.”
“A good guy who asks a lady he’s just met a bunch of personal questions?” She huffed. “I find that hard to believe.”
Wow, Hunter wasted no time in starting his investigation. Maybe I shouldn’t have given him free rein to go digging.
“I’ll talk to him,” Cathy said. “But for now, if you can’t find a way to be nice, then just avoid him. I’ve got too much work to do. I can’t be worried about making sure you two aren’t fighting in front of the other guests.”
Julie groaned. “Whatever. I was already planning on ignoring him. I just thought you would find it interesting that some man is going around telling people he’s your husband and then asking them their age, date of birth, and social security number! And you think I’m the one who’s going to scare off the guests.”
Cathy made a face. “Did he really ask for your social security number?”
“Maybe not, but he would’ve if I stood around talking to him for much longer!” She wagged a warning finger in Cathy’s face. “I’m telling you, he’s got something up his sleeve. You better keep an eye out.”
“Will do. Thanks for the heads up. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get myself some coffee before this big wave of people checking outcomes through the lobby.” Julie let her pass without a fight, and Cathy made a B-line for the kitchen. Hunter had already gotten his refill of coffee and was now sitting at the kitchen table with an older gentleman, talking about the weather. He waved when he saw her, and she smiled back at him. She knew Julie was a naturally suspicious person, but she wouldn’t have pulled that entire story out of thin air. If Hunter had really asked her a bunch of probing questions right out of the gate, then Cathy would have to have another chat with him. She wanted him distracted but didn’t like the idea of having a Nancy Drew wannabe skulking around the inn for the next few days.
Cathy caught nothing more than a glimpse of Thomas on his way out of the lobby later that morning. She was helping a couple of guests check out, and he had darted across the room so quickly, she hadn’t even registered it was him before it was too late. He rushed out the door without even glancing in her direction, and Anne was upstairs overturning rooms, so she couldn’t take over at the desk. Cathy just had to stand there and watch him leave, feeling her stomach twist up in regret.
“Ehem.” The man standing in front of her cleared his throat and then tapped his fingers against the credit card, which he’d placed on the counter between them.
“Oh, sorry!” Cathy took the card and ran it through the machine. “I hope you had a wonderful stay.”
“It was lovely,” his wife said, patting the man’s arm placatingly. “He’s just one of those people who likes to get to the airport three hours early, that’s why he’s being impatient. If he wasn’t such a stickler, I would’ve stayed another hour or two in that gorgeous little room.”
Cathy smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. If you have time to leave us a review, maybe while you’re sitting at your gate, we would really appreciate it.” She gave him back the card. “And we hope you stay here again soon. Safe travels.”
The couple picked up their things and left. There was no one else in line behind them, so Cathy took a seat on the stool and sighed with the weight of the world. Less than twenty-four hours ago, things were looking so bright. Julie and her were on solid ground, she was excited for her date with Thomas, and Hunter wasn’t even on her mind. Now—everything had been flipped upside down, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and ignore the world for a while.
Her only saving grace was the fact that things were going fairly smoothly with the bed and breakfast. Knock on wood.
“Good morning!” The all too cheery voice pulled Cathy away from the computer screen, on which she’d been going through the most recent reviews on the inn’s website. Hunter was meandering up to the desk with a satisfied look on his face, and she wished she had remembered to refill her coffee cup so she’d have something to sip on while he spoke.
“Is it?” she asked. “Because I heard you already managed to get off on the wrong foot with Julie.”
“Did she say that?” He shook his head.
“Among other things.”
“I don’t think that’s completely accurate. I was just asking her some basic questions. The kind of thing you would ask anyone while you were in line for coffee.”
“Ha! Yeah right. She said you asked how old she was!”
“Is that really so out of the ordinary?”
“It goes against some of the most basic rules of common courtesy,” she said. “And you know that. Don’t play dumb. Asking any woman, but especially an older woman, her age is very rude, and you knew it would put her off, so why did you do it?”
“I just wanted to make sure she would answer honestly.”
“What? How would you even know if she was answering honestly or not?”
He leaned his elbows on the desk. “I looked her up last night, and was able to find her birthday, so I thought I would start by asking her a couple of simple questions just to see if she would tell the truth.”
“And what would you have learned if she didn’t tell you her exact age? People lie about their age all the time.”
“But not their birthdays,” he argued. “Not unless they don’t want you to know who they really are!”
Cathy sighed. “This is a reach, Hunter.”
“Maybe, maybe not. We won’t know until I get answers. Obviously, I didn’t go about my first interrogation very delicately, so she didn’t end up answering at all, but?—”
“But what? Now she’s going to be even less inclined to talk to you, so you’ve ruined any chance at finding out anything about her!”
“Not necessarily,” he said with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
“Okay, I really don’t like the sound of that,” she said. “Don’t tell me what you’re up to, I don’t even want to know.”
“Fine by me.”
“And I also don’t want you talking to her anymore. Don’t talk to anyone.”
“What?” He laughed. “I can’t talk to anyone , why?”
“Because you’re being irresponsible! This isn’t even just about Julie. What if someone else heard you talking to her like that? I don’t want to get any complaints from other guests saying that some weird guy is harassing old ladies during the free breakfast!”
“Harass is a strong word.”
“I mean it, Hunter. You need to back off. Do research online, I don’t care about that, but leave Julie alone.”
He put his hands up. “Fine, fine. I’ll leave her alone. I don’t think she’s going to talk to me anymore anyway. But while I have you, it would be helpful if you’d write down everything she’s told you about her life, that way I can corroborate it throughout my research.”
Cathy laughed. “You can’t be serious.”
“Dead serious! If this woman is up to something, I’m going to figure it out. But I need your help to do so.”
She shrugged. “Well, then you’re going to be disappointed, because not only do I not have time to help you, but I also don’t have any information to give you. I know she’s an old friend of my grandmother’s, that she’s traveled all over the world, and that she came back to live here around the same time my grandmother got sick. That’s all I’ve got.”
His eyebrows arched high on his forehead. “She traveled the world?”
“Yeah… why?”
“It’s just interesting. Where did she get the money to be a world traveler? And is it possible she was spending all that time outside of the United States because she was running from something?”
“You’re really going over the edge with this one,” she said. “And while my initial instinct is to pull you back before you fall off the cliff, I’m not going to do that this time. If you’re dead set on digging around in this woman’s private life, then so be it, but don’t rope me in. I want no part of it, okay? In fact, from now on, I don’t want you coming to talk to me about Julie.”
“But—”
“No buts,” she insisted. “If you want me to help you patch things up with the boys, then you will leave me out of all this Julie stuff.”
“What if I find something really damning?”
She pursed her lips. “You’re not going to.”
“But if I do?”
“Fine,” she conceded. “If you find a real skeleton in this woman’s closet, then you can talk to me about it, but other than that, I don’t want you to hear you even say her name. Got it?”
He nodded. “Yup. You have my word.”
“Thank you.” Over Hunter’s shoulder, she saw a couple more guests making their way down the staircase with their suitcases in hand. “Now, leave me alone. I have to get back to work.”
He saluted her. “Aye, Aye captain. I will see you later.”
“Not if I’m working,” she said with a bit of a glare. “I mean it, Hunter. You have to let me do my job.”
“I will, I will, I promise! I’m not going to bother you while you’re working.” He flashed her a smile before walking away from the desk. “I’m really proud of everything you’ve done here, actually, and I would not want to impede in any way.”
This made her expression soften and she offered him a parting wave but left it at that. The guests approached the desk, and she widened her smile for them.
“Hi there,” she said in her best happy hostess voice. “How was your stay here at the Edgartown Bed and Breakfast? Everything you wanted and more, I hope!”