you need to adjust to life without Tom, then go for it. I’ll help in any way I can.”
“Good, because I have an idea,” Ruby says.
James
“Hank, I’m home!” I call out as soon as I walk into my house.
“Up here,” comes the quick reply from my plumber.
I run up the stairs to find several workers piled into my bathroom. Hank walks through the crowd like Moses parting the Red Sea and meets me in the hallway. “Are you sure you’ve got the money to go through with this? The insides of your walls are a mess.” He shakes his head to emphasize the horror show that is my home.
“I’ve got it,” I tell him. I deposited a fat check from the Tattler right after Tara’s and my last interview. “I can give you a check before I leave if you want.”
“Oh, I want,” he tells me. Then he asks, “Have you picked out your paint colors, flooring, tile, and fixtures yet?”
I shake my head. “I’ve been a little preoccupied. How soon do you need them?”
“I figure we’ll have the Sheetrock guy here the week after Thanksgiving, so pretty close to then.”
I run my hands through my hair. “Okay. That doesn’t give me much time, but I’ll get right on it.”
“Where’s your pooch?” Hank wants to know.
“She’s spending the day with her grandma.” If the way my mom treats that dog is any indication of how she’s going to be with her grandchildren, those will be some lucky kids.
Before I leave my house, I inventory the rest of the things I want to have done. I call my old high school friend Buckie, who’s a contractor in town, and make an appointment with him for the kitchen. Hank doesn’t do kitchens. He claims nothing good comes from him being in a room where food is prepared. Bathrooms, on the other hand, are productive places for him. I didn’t ask for particulars, because ew.
I’m so preoccupied thinking about Tara on the way back to the lodge that I barely remember driving there. After parking, I walk through the lobby doors and run smack into Syd Byerly.
The guy doesn’t bother with a greeting. He demands, “Did you tell Tara I was looking for her?” His demeanor is as pleasant as a hornet attack.
“I gave her your card. If you haven’t heard from her, it’s probably because she doesn’t want to talk to you,” I tell him while I try to maneuver around him.
“Romaine is checking into the lodge tonight,” he says bluntly.
“Here? At the Willamette Valley Lodge?” To say I’m shocked would be an understatement.
He nods his head. “Yeah, here. It’s why I want to talk to Tara.”
I’m not sure what to do. I feel like I should warn her ahead of time, but I also feel like I should take Syd up to her room and finally bring them face-to-face. “Why is he coming here?”
“He doesn’t know Tara’s here, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Then why is he coming?” I repeat.
He shrugs. “Romaine and I have been on the outs for a couple of months now. I’m still working for him, but ever since he took up with that Cash Cartwright, he’s been a nightmare. We limit our communication to business.”
“Why do you want to warn Tara that Romaine is coming?” I ask.
“Because I’m afraid he’s going to do something stupid and ruin the release of his new album.”
“What do you mean, stupid?” Fear starts to crawl up the base of my neck like a million little pinpricks.
“Buddy, I’m not telling you anything. I want to see Tara.”
I quickly consider my options, before saying, “Follow me. I’m heading up to her room now.”
With Syd at my heels, we make quick work of getting to the elevator. We say nothing as we travel to the third floor. When we arrive at Tara’s room, I insert the keycard and wait for the light to turn green. It stays red.
I move over to my room and try to access her room from the connecting door, but I can’t because the door is locked on her side. What’s going on here?
If Tara hadn’t been distant all morning I wouldn’t be worried. As it is, I start to sweat under the collar. I pick up the landline in my room and call down to the front desk to ask what happened to the occupant of room three twenty-seven. The desk clerk tells me she checked out earlier today.
The plan was for Tara to stay in the hotel until