Part 7 (1/2)
”Keep me posted,” Alex said to dead air.
The conversation with Elise had done nothing to ease his mind. It seemed like she'd barely thought of him since she'd left. That male voice in the background had to be her fiance, Peter Asheford.
Alex knew he had to stop feeling sorry for himself as he hung up the phone. Her father was going into major surgery. Of course she needed to be there with him. As for Peter Asheford, he had every right to be there as well. No matter how much he wished otherwise, Elise was engaged to another man. But he knew in his heart that she was coming back; Hatteras West had a hold on her.
What Alex had to do was to stop listening to all the tongue wagging in Elkton Falls and get on with his life.
After a sandwich and a gla.s.s of ice-cold milk, Alex decided to walk the grounds to see how badly they'd been trampled by all of the visitors to the fair. The heavy turnout was a real boon for Shantara, but it had been nothing short of a nightmare for him. Alex was beginning to envy Lucius Crane's wisdom in refusing to hold the fair on his farm.
The first thing that struck Alex as he walked the grounds was the unbelievable amount of litter. His once-pristine land was covered with the debris from the day: discarded wrappers, packages, soda cans, and the other flotsam and jetsam from the wave of people who had pa.s.sed through.
As he started to pick up the first piece of trash, he heard a car horn behind him. Shantara was leading a cavalcade of the worst collection of cars, trucks and vans he'd ever seen in his life.
As she popped out of her station wagon, Shantara said, ”Alex, that's not your job. I've got my crew here. Sorry we're late.”
”I just couldn't stand seeing my land like this.”
As the young people filed out of their vehicles, Shantara said, ”Don't worry, Alex, we'll have this mess cleaned up in no time. You're in for a treat. These kids are good.” She turned to the gathered young men and women. ”Okay, let's jump on this. Get your trash bags from Emily, and drop them off at Byron's truck when they're full.” As the crew started toward the mess buzzing and laughing, Shantara called out to them, ”Remember, recycle everything you can.”
They fell on the fairground in a cras.h.i.+ng wave, laughing and working as they moved through the gra.s.s like a horde of human vacuum cleaners.
”What are you paying your crew?” he asked.
”Minimum wage and pizza at Mama Ravolini's as a bonus. They were happy to get the work.”
Alex said, ”From the look of this crowd, I'd say they're going to break you with the pizza offer.”
Shantara smiled. ”Irma Bean's giving me the pizzas at cost, and the kids only get the bonus if they work both days. I'll do all right.” It was amazing how quickly the teens cleaned up after the fairgoers, though the trampled gra.s.s wouldn't be as easy to restore.
”Alex, don't worry about the gra.s.s. I've got enough left in the budget to reseed this area,” Shantara said, reading his mind.
”I've got it covered. I'd been planning to do it myself anyway. So, are you happy with the results of all your hard work?”
”I guess so. Alex, one of the best reasons I came up with this idea was to expose people to the old ways of doing things. It wasn't just a way to make money. There are skills that are being lost every day, and we're not doing nearly enough to preserve them.”
Alex said, ”Easy, girl, it was just a question. You don't have to convert me.”
Shantara frowned. ”It's just so frustrating. I imagined people coming out here to see the demonstrations, to even try their hands at a few of the crafts themselves, and instead they've flocked here to see the murder scene! You want to hear something ghoulish? Jefferson Lee's stuff sold like crazy as soon as everyone found out about the murder. He had a college girl working his booth, and she kept right on selling everything, even after he was dead!”
”Did Jefferson have any family left? I didn't know him all that well.”
”There's a sister in Hickory; she'll be coming tomorrow. Callie told me she wasn't all that surprised when she found out her brother had been killed.”
Alex said, ”From what I've been hearing lately, I can't say I'm all that surprised, either.” Alex shook himself. ”Don't mind me, I'm out of sorts tonight for some reason.”
”It's got to be hard on you, with Elise gone.”
Alex exploded. ”Why does everyone think she's gone for good? She's visiting her parents on a medical emergency! Shantara, I swear to you, she's coming back to Hatteras West!”
She looked startled by his outburst. ”Easy, Alex, I just meant it had to be tough on you running the inn by yourself until she gets back.”
He laughed softly. ”Sorry, it's just that everyone I've talked to today has made it sound like she's gone forever. You wouldn't believe Jenny Harris. She wants us to start dating again.”
Shantara said disdainfully, ”It doesn't surprise me in the least. I know you two used to go out, Alex, but you're better off without her.”
”It sounds like you're a little jealous yourself,” he said, smiling.
She laughed just a little too loud and too long for Alex's ego to take.
He said gruffly, ”Okay, you made your point.”
”Nothing personal, Alex, but you're not my type.”
”And just what is your type?”
She pretended to think about it a minute, then said, ”Let's see, he's got to be strong, handsome, rich, don't forget a good sense of humor-”
Alex cut her off. ”You're not asking for much, are you? And you think you're going to meet this Prince Charming in Elkton Falls?”
”Where there's breath, there's hope,” Shantara said with a twinkle in her eye.
A young girl with a long ponytail poking out the back of her baseball cap said, ”We're done here, Shantara. The gang wanted me to ask you if there was any chance we could get an early start on that pizza party.”
”Sorry, Emily, you know the deal; no pizza until the end of the fair, and that's not until tomorrow night.”
Emily winked at her and whispered, ”I told them that's what you'd say, but the boys insisted I ask anyway.”
”I understand completely.”
After the kids poured back into their cars, Alex had to admit the place did look a thousand percent better than it had before they'd arrived.
He only wished the fair was over now, instead of having to go through it all again tomorrow.
Alex patted Shantara's shoulder gently and asked, ”Would you like to come in? I've got a bottle of wine and two comfortable chairs just calling our names.”
”Don't tempt me. If I did that, I'd never make it home.”
”We had a cancellation, so I've got a spare room, if you're interested. You're welcome to stay at the inn tonight.”
”No offense, Alex, but I need to get away from Hatteras West for a little while.”
”Not a problem,” he said.
Alex was walking Shantara to her car when there was a frantic wail from the front porch as the door slammed.
”My wife is gone! Somebody's kidnapped her!” Craig Monroe stood there, outlined in the moonlight, a look of complete and utter despair on his face.