Talk of the Town by Lisa Wingate Page B

mess with Beulah’s stuff.
    The keys rattled in Buddy Ray’s hands as he took the cuffs off that cute little girl, then turned to set Carter loose. Standing there in his exercise shorts, Carter looked like the cover of Yoga With Yahani, only with shorter hair. Anyhow, he cut a fine figure. The girl noticed that, even though she was busy rubbing her wrists and trying to shake the blood back into her hands. She looked away when Carter turned around, so he wouldn’t see her watching. I reckon she forgot for a minute that I was standing behind them both, because when she saw me there, she blushed. I pretended I hadn’t seen her looking at Carter. Her being an engaged girl and all, that would be a little embarrassing.
    Her name came back to me out of the blue. Amanda-Lee, I think she’d said earlier on that day, but it’d been hard to hear with all the racket of the rainstorm.
    Buddy Ray’s radio crackled, and he had to head outside to answer it. Radio reception was never good in the Daily Hotel building.
    I figured now was my chance to rattle off a heartfelt apology to the guests without having to insult Buddy Ray right to his face. I waited while Carter ducked off into his room and then come back out wearing an orange T-shirt that said SPCA on the front. “I’m real sorry for the inconvenience to you folks. I hope y’all don’t take this as a sign of Daily hospitality. Donetta would be mortified, just mortified, I’ll tell you—if she wasn’t at the eBay, that is. She wanted y’all to enjoy your stay at the Daily Hotel.”
    Amanda-Lee crossed her arms over her chest and took a step toward her room, like she was about to grab her stuff and hit the road. If she did that, it’d break Donetta’s heart, so I laid on some more sweet talk. “Having y’all here really did make Donetta’s day—well, her week, month, and year, actually. Her family’s operated this place for generations, and a lot of her childhood memories are tied up with the comings and goings of guests, sometimes even famous ones. Back in the forties, a scene of the movie Bonnie and Clyde was shot right down there in the hotel lobby—of course, that’s the beauty shop and exercise area now. She’s been awful sad about having to close down the hotel these last years.”
    Oh shoot, Imagene, you shouldn’t have told them that. Big mouth . “I mean, not that the hotel’s not open for business now, because it is. Sure enough. You’re both here.” I flashed a big toothy grin, but only Carter smiled back. The girl wasn’t sold. Which was a problem, considering that she was the one renting all the rooms for the weekend. “By the way, Amanda-Lee—I hope I said that right—this is Carter, and Carter, this is Amanda-Lee.” Couldn’t hurt to perform introductions. If I was a young lady and someone introduced me to a fella that looked like Carter, I’d stay. “You two are the very first guests in the newly reopened Daily Hotel. Except for the ghost, that is.” Shoot, Imagene. Blabbermouth. You’re gonna talk the guests right out the door . “But he don’t need a room, since he don’t really exist.” I flashed another big smile.
    Carter smiled back, then turned to Amanda-Lee. “Nice to meet you . . .” He paused on the name but extended a hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name. I guess we’re neighbors.”
    She didn’t look one bit thrilled about the idea. She stuck out one hand halfheartedly, keeping the other crossed over her stomach. Her feet were still pointed toward the door, ready to turn tail. “Mandalay Florentino.”
    She had the strangest way of saying Amanda-Lee, and that last name was a mouthful.
    “Carter Woods.” Carter glanced down at his SPCA shirt. “Sorry about the clothes. I was just on my way down to exercise.”
    Amanda-Lee didn’t answer, so I piped in, “ Yoga With Yahani is still in the VCR down there. If you want, I can show you how to turn it on.”
    Carter grinned kind of sheepish-like.