Annie leaned forward to see Olivia better. “Lucas arrested her date.”
Olivia pursed her lips and considered this. “I think we could waste a few minutes on that topic.”
So Riley had to tell her what happened.
Olivia made the appropriate number of exclamations during the story, assured Riley that she wouldn’t end up living with a dozen cats, and said, “Don’t worry about finding a date to the wedding. Carson has lots of single friends coming. I’ll tell them they all have to ask you for a dance.”
“Tell them to ask me too,” Annie put in. “I’m also dateless and on the crazy cat lady watch list.”
“As far as Lucas goes,” Olivia said, ignoring Annie’s point, “you should talk to him. Have a normal conversation. Once you do that, all the awkwardness will be gone between you, and you can both move on.”
“Or,” Riley said, “I can ignore him at your wedding, keep obsessively obeying all the traffic laws, and thus avoid him for the rest of my life. That seems like the easier option.”
Olivia shook her head and sighed. “Riley…”
“No, it’s fine,” Riley said. “Constantly obeying the speed limit has given me time to slow down and appreciate the scenery. It’s a good thing. Usually, the other drivers don’t flip me off for delaying traffic.”
“Talk to him,” Olivia said.
Riley had absolutely no intention of doing so.
Especially after tonight.
CHAPTER 7
The next day, Riley dragged herself into work for the early shift. The Riverside Inn was a beautiful, historic building with eighteen rooms, along with the manager’s apartment on the fourth floor where Mr. Ross lived. People came for the charm and the scenic area. She liked to think they came back in part due to the friendly staff.
Nine of the rooms were occupied right now by tourists, but that number would dwindle once the fall leaves disappeared. A few people came during the winter for snowmobiling and to see Yellowstone in the off-season, but the inn was too far away from the ski resorts to get much other cold-weather business. January and February were always dead, with March and April being only a little better.
This was always a problem because every winter Mr. Ross had to let employees go or change them to part-time. The housekeeping staff was easy enough to replace. Most were college students, home for the summer, but the chefs were a different matter. Besides breakfast service, the inn’s dining room was open for dinner on the weekends. If the inn couldn’t pay both chefs to stay through the season, they’d have to layoff one, and Riley would be stuck scrambling eggs and making pancakes two days a week.
Riley had tried to garner interest for winter retreats, but everyone told her they needed more rooms than the building had. Eventually, after she bought the place, she wanted to add another wing, but she wouldn’t be able to pay for that for a while.
The first thing she would do once she became the owner was get rid of all the furniture and décor that Mr. Ross had insisted on keeping—a style that could only be called a tribute to the 90s—and look for antiques and reproduction pieces to enhance The Riverside’s historic feel. Even though the inn was built in the 30s, it had always embraced the Victorian era.
Once she’d redecorated it, making it a beautiful place that was a destination in and of itself, she’d be able to raise the prices. That, in turn, would help pay for future rooms.
In the meantime, she’d need to convince Mr. Ross to let her do more advertising to build their clientele.
He’d been absolutely impossible lately, always putting her off when she wanted to discuss it. She would make sure he committed to some marketing today. After all, she knew where he lived.
She was finishing up graphics for social media ads when Lucas strolled into the inn. He wore jeans and a regular coat, which meant he wasn’t here on official business. He glanced around the front room that doubled for a lobby, and his eyes trained on her.
Great. Was it possible he came to talk about something normal or was she in for another lecture about last night?
He saw her, and his shoulders stiffened in determination.
Yeah, that was the look of a lecture.
As he strode up to the desk, she forced a smile and braced herself. “Have you come to make sure I’m not enjoying myself too much? Rest assured, Officer Clark, nothing illegal or evenfun is happening here today.” She nodded appreciatively. “Your job is done.”
He peered around the room. “Actually, I came to see Mr. Ross.”
Curious. “Why do you want to see him?”
He didn’t answer. His gaze was still sweeping the room. In fact, he didn’t seem to be able to meet her eyes.
Had Snakehead guy pressed charges and Lucas was about to drag her off for questioning? Was that why he needed to talk to her boss? “I didn’t do anything illegal last night,” she protested. “I was an innocent bystander in all the threats of homicide.”