Chapter Seven
Kit left the camp later than she’d intended and found herself hanging over the steering wheel, literally on the edge of her seat.
She’d driven dark roads before, but none so black as the road that led from the camp to the main road.
This was a darkness so complete she’d had to slam on the brakes when a white-tailed deer followed by her three fawns appeared in the headlights a mere six feet from the front bumper.
“Ahhh!” Kit had cried. Heart pounding, she’d sat for a long moment to catch her breath. “Liam wasn’t kidding.”
“Not doing that again,” she muttered as she got out of the car and pulled her carry-on from the trunk. She slammed the lid and turned to look at her lodgings for the night—and probably for several others. She wouldn’t be sleeping in the farmhouse anytime soon.
The inn was three stories tall with a mansard roof and a wide front porch that looked to have been added later, judging from its gingerbread trim.
An odd and small narrow structure resembling a gazebo sat in the middle of the roof and looked like an afterthought.
It reminded her of a widow’s walk, but they were so far inland, there’d be no ships to watch for.
The bright-red front door, which had been left ajar, was lit by a spotlight that illuminated the front of the house and its weathered brown cedar shingles.
The landscaping was as bleak as that of the farmhouse at the camp, but Kit suspected that in another month or so, things would be showing green here in town.
She climbed the steps and pushed open the door.
As soon as the bell on the front door announced Kit’s presence, the young innkeeper appeared.
“Hi,” Kit said as she entered the warm foyer. “I’m Kit—”
“Kit Porterfield, yes, I know. Banks called earlier to check to make sure that Caroline had called to make sure we had a room for you. Not that Banks has control issues.” The young woman grinned and rolled her eyes as she extended a hand in greeting. “I’m Elly Crosby. Welcome to the Tolerance Inn.”
“Good to meet you. I hope it wasn’t a problem for me to get a room on such short notice.”
“We have a lot of vacancies right now, so you pretty much have your pick of the rooms.” Elly handed Kit a pen, then opened the large ledger on the center of the desk and turned it around.
“Anything with a comfortable bed and its own bath.” Kit put her suitcase down next to the desk.
“All our beds are comfy,” Elly told her. “And they all have their own baths.”
“Oh, good. Then you can put me anywhere.” Kit signed her name and the date. “So odd to find an inn that still uses a sign-in book. Most places are online.”
“Oh, our records are all online. The computer’s in the office.
My aunt—she’s the owner—still thinks that people who choose to stay at a country inn instead of a motel expect things done the old-fashioned way.
” Elly opened a drawer in the desk and took out a key.
“I put you in the Meadows Room. I thought that was appropriate, but of course you can look around and see if another suits you better.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Kit assured her.
“It’s just up one flight.” Elly stepped out from behind the desk.
“The sign out front says the inn was built in 1862.” Kit followed Elly up the stairs that ran along the right side of the room. The treads were well worn, a testament to their use over the past one hundred and sixty–plus years.
“And continuously occupied,” Elly said.
“Has your family owned it all that time?” An occasional stair creaked beneath Kit’s feet.
“My aunt’s husband’s family bought it from the original owners.” Elly paused at the top of the steps and waited for Kit to catch up before heading down the hallway. “I don’t know exactly how long ago. I know they’ve owned it for a long time, though.”
“Has it always been an inn?” Kit stopped as Elly did in front of a blue door.
“It was built as a family home but was turned into an inn right around the time the camp was built.” Elly pushed open the door and turned on the light. “To catch the overflow.”
“The overflow?”
“People who wanted to stay at the camp but couldn’t because it was full. Sort of the first day-trippers.”
“Seriously?” Kit dropped her bag near the foot of the bed. “That many people wanted to stay at the camp?”
“Oh yeah. This area was hot for a while. Just as the camp had return customers from one year to the next, the inn did as well.” Elly pulled the open floor-length drapes closed.
“The bathroom is right through there”—she pointed to a closed door—“and there are extra blankets in the chest at the foot of the bed. It’s supposed to cool down tonight, so you might want to pull one out before you get into bed. ”
“Thanks.”
“Let me know if you need anything.” Elly walked toward the door. “I’ll be downstairs.”
Kit followed Elly to the door and closed it once the younger woman left, then took in her surroundings.
The room was spacious and warmly decorated, with landscape paintings on the light-blue walls and a small settee covered in dark blue on white toile.
Kit went to the window and pushed aside the drape that Elly had previously closed.
The room overlooked a garden, but in the dark, no features other than an arbor were visible.
She could see the outlines of trees along one side—lots of trees—but nothing else.
She let the drape fall back into place, took her phone from her purse, then sat on the chair next to the window.
Russ picked up on the second ring.
“Hey. Abby and I were just talking about you. How’s it going up there in the wilds of the Maine woods?”
“So far, it’s okay, I guess. I met with Banks, the lawyer—everyone calls him by his last name, even his daughter—and I did make it out to the camp.”
“Wait a sec, Kit. Abby wants me to put this on speaker so she can jump in.”
“Hi, Mom!” Abby called. “Benny, say hi to Nana.”
“Nana!”
“Hi, guys.” Kit moved to the bed, propped up the bed pillows behind her, and leaned back. “I just got checked into a sweet little inn for the night. I’ll probably be staying here for most of the time I’m in Maine.”
“Have you been to the camp yet, Mom?”
“I drove over there just for a bit this afternoon, but I didn’t really have enough time to do anything except find my way out and back and look around the first floor of the house.”
“What’s it like?” Russ asked.
Kit described the house and the lake, then added, “It’s off a main road, and once you get back there, it’s really remote. But the setting is beautiful, with the lake and trees all around. I want to check out the cabins soon. I didn’t have time today.”
“Mom, have you learned anything interesting yet?”
“I learned that there are a lot of maple trees here and that someone was collecting the sap and making maple syrup.”
Abby laughed. “No, really, Mom. What have you found?”
“Besides the fact that our sap has been poached? Just a big old house with a lot of furniture that’s all covered up.”
“Oh, I was hoping you’d find some fun stuff. Hidden jewels and caches of cash. Treasure maps!” Abby laughed. “Something intriguing and fun.”
Kit smiled. She could almost see Abby’s expression. Even in light of her most recent troubles, Abby was still a dreamer.
“I doubt there’s any hidden treasure, but I really haven’t had time to look. I’ll be happy with some family photos and a few family heirlooms. That’s all the treasure I want.”
“Make sure you check the artwork for famous signatures. We don’t want all those Homers and Wyeths sent to a thrift shop,” Russ teased.
“I will be diligent,” she promised.
“Call us tomorrow and let us know. I can’t wait to hear what you find. And take pictures on your phone and send them to us.” Abby’s voice grew faint as she apparently backed away from the phone. “No, no, Benny, don’t . . .”
Crash.
“I think you’d better hang up and go see what our grandson has gotten into,” Kit told Russ.
In the background, Abby yelled, “Dad!”
“Ah, yeah. Call the police if there’s any sign of someone hanging around the camp who shouldn’t be there. Sap poaching or otherwise.”
Kit opened her mouth to reply, but Russ had already hung up.
She kicked off her shoes and pulled a pillow free from the quilt that covered it and tucked it under her head, then stretched out across the bed. Bone-tired after traveling, she closed her eyes, and out she went.
When she awoke, disoriented and a little dazed, she searched for her phone to check the time. Surprised to find she’d slept for almost two hours, she sat up, her stomach whining to remind her she hadn’t eaten since lunch.
She slipped into her shoes and hopped off the bed. She went into the hall and found it and the stairwell still lit. Maybe Elly was still around, and maybe she could direct her to someplace where she could get dinner.
Kit found Elly in the office just off the stairs. She knocked lightly on the open door.
“Is everything okay? Do you need something?” Elly looked up from the laptop’s screen.
“Sorry to bother you, but do you know if the restaurant down the street is still open?”
“If you mean Ruthie’s, she closes at seven. We’re still on winter hours in these parts.” Elly looked at the screen, hit a key, then looked up. “But it’s a good time for me to take a break, and I’ll be having dinner in the kitchen if you’d like to join me. Not sure what’s on the menu yet, though.”
“That’s very nice of you, but are you sure?”
“Of course. Any niece of Maxine’s is a friend of, well, pretty much everyone in Tolerance.” Elly pushed away from the desk, stood, and stretched. “Let’s go see what we have to choose from.”
Her choices apparently limited to dinner here at the inn, Kit followed Elly down the hallway to the back of the inn. “I appreciate the offer.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I have no idea what we’re going to find.”
“Is there such a thing as pizza here?”