Читать книгу A Place Called Paradise - Honey Perkel - Страница 14

Early the next morning, a man walked into the lobby of The Gull Cottage Motel. He was middle-aged and nicely dressed. He gave Molly a nervous smile as he approached the desk.

Molly smiled back. “May I help you?”

“I just arrived in town. I need a room for a few nights,” he said, his eyes searching Molly’s face.

“I’m sorry. We don’t have any vacancies.”

He looked disappointed. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“I could come back later and check.”

“Well, actually, the motel will be full for some time.” Molly told him.

The man stood and stared at her. An anxious look crossed his face.

“What am I going to do?” he muttered, touching his head with a quivering hand. “What am I going to do?”

“I’m sorry,” Molly said to him. “I’d be happy to call another motel for you.”

“No. No. That won’t do. I really want to stay here.”

“Maybe the City Center or the Ocean Front might have a room.”

Perspiration now dotted his brow. The man took a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his face.

“Are you all right, sir?”

“Could you check your books once more? Are you sure you don’t have a vacancy?”

Molly stared at him. Why was he so persistent? Why was it so urgent that he stay here?

In the back room, Hope Amelia woke up from her afternoon nap and began to cry.

Immediately changing focus, the man’s attention turned towards the sound.

“You have a child.”

Molly’s heart started to pound. She became frightened as she remembered another incident months before ... when Leno Stevens had stalked her. The threatening phone calls in the night. His face peering in through her windows. Who was this man and what did he want?

Molly waited. She continued to let Hope Amelia cry. She wasn’t going to bring her into the lobby while this man was standing here!

The stranger pulled a business card from his pocket and scribbled some numbers on it.

“Please,” he begged again. “call me if you get a vacancy.” He gave her one last look before leaving the office.

Molly eyed the man’s card. “Christopher Albright” and a phone number. Shrugging, she dropped it into a drawer.