Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 02 - Apple Pots and Funeral Plots Read Online Free Page B

stared at her. She rolled her eyes and then smiled at me.
    “I’ll be there in a few minutes and thanks for the lift.”
    “No problem, see you there.”
    Shelby and I walked into the office lobby; again everything looked new and smelled of fresh paint. On the right side of the room was a sitting area with two overstuffed leather chairs and a small mahogany table between them adorned with an exquisite tiffany lamp. The carpet was so new it didn’t have any worn sections where people would have walked through the front door to the check in counter. The counter itself was beautiful, polished brass top and mahogany paneling underneath. There were five-star hotels that didn’t look this good.
    No one stood behind the counter but I could hear the mumbled voices coming from a television. On the desk was a bell, so I rang it a few times. Still no one – so I rang it again.
    An older woman dressed in a flowered cotton shift walked up to the desk. She snatched the bell off the counter, opened a drawer and threw it in. “Do you have a reservation?” she scowled.
    “No,” I said tentatively. What if the inn was full? Maybe this eating festival was a big thing and I wouldn’t be able to get a room in this town. “Do you have any empty rooms?”
    “Of course.” She glanced back toward her TV. Obviously I was keeping her from one of her shows.
    “I’d like a room for myself and my dog.”
    “How many nights?” Her voice was monotone and if she smiled, her face would probably crack.
    “I don’t know.” I wasn’t really sure how long I’d be there or where my investigation would take me. The festival lasted all week. Would I be here that long or longer?
    She grunted, interrupting my thoughts. “Pick a number.”
    “Seven. I think I’ll stay for the festival.”
    “Fine, seven nights.” She handed me a registration card.
    I signed it and passed it back. “Can I have room 213?”
    “Why?”
    “Why not?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t care.”
    I doubted she cared about anything, except maybe her TV programs. She handed me the key, turned around and left the room.
    Room 213 was the last room on the second floor. It was the farthest from the office, but the closest to the town. The room looked recently remodeled like the rest of the inn. There was a king bed in the middle of the room covered with a beautifully quilted turquoise comforter. Next to the window was a small round table with two oak chairs. The room smelled of fresh paint and Pine-Sol. I put Shelby ’s bowls next to the bathroom vanity and filled one with water and the other with food. She went directly to her food and gobbled it down.
    “Hungry, girl?” She barked and went back to eating. “Me, too.”
    As Shelby finished, I put my Diet Coke and Peanut M&M’s into the small refrigerator in the room. There’s nothing better than cold Peanut M&M’s. Then Shelby jumped up on the bed and lay down. “While you take a nap, I’m going for pizza.”
    When I walked to the door, Shelby didn’t even get up. Her breathing was slow and steady and her eyes were shut. A car accident can do that to you. I was tired too, but I needed to eat first. I quietly closed the door and walked the two blocks down Main Street in search of the pizza parlor. Hopefully there’s only one in the town because I’d forgotten to get the name from Bill. It was easy to spot. The large neon sign announced, “Pizza Goo-lore. The home of the gooiest pizza’s in the world!” I hoped the ‘goo’ was about the cheese and not the grease.
    The outside of the business was newly painted red with red and white-checkered curtains on each of the windows. I opened the door and stepped in. It seemed like any other pizza place I’d been to before. Wooden floors, with lots of picnic-style tables, a few booths on the outside walls, a small room off the back where I could hear videogames chiming, and a counter where you ordered your pizza, beer, and soda. The only difference was the huge