“If I’m going in, here.” She held the umbrella out to him. “Take this.”
“I’m already wet. I don’t need it.”
He turned to hustle back down the steps, pausing when she latched onto his sleeve. She struggled to keep her smile in place.
“Please. Don’t fight with me over something so stupid, Jack. Okay?”
A strange expression flashed across his handsome face, part leery and part confused. His sharp jaw tightened into a razor-fine edge. Tess was expecting another argument and then he surprised her.
“Yeah. Thanks, babe.” His fingers folded around the handle. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
She made sure he lifted the umbrella over his head before she entered the inn.
As grand and intimidating as the estate was, the front room was exactly what she expected to find in the lobby of a hotel. The floor was covered in industrial carpet, patterned with cream-colored diamonds on a smokey grey spread; a matching set of overstuffed armchairs corned the lobby. A potted plant stood on each of the opposing sides. To her right, a flat countertop ran the length of the room. There was a computer perched on the closer end.
It took her a second to notice that there was someone behind the counter. She was probably a good couple of years older than them, though Tessa put her closer to thirty than forty. Her hair was pulled neatly back in a bun at the nape of her neck. While she had on a crisp white shirt, buttoned all the way up to her chin, she kept her plain face free of any make-up which only made her look younger to Tess.
The woman held a worn paperback with one hand. She had a small squint as she read, as if she normally wore glasses but forgot to put them on. From the bob of her head, Tess could tell when the woman got to the end of the page. She turned to the next one, then stuck her finger to keep her place.
That’s when she finally acknowledged Tess.
“Evening, ma’am. Can I help you?”
Tess shook her head. Because her husband had left her in the car when he first approached the clerk, she had no clue what he told her. Still feeling a little bitter at the way he handled her outside, she decided to just let him finish registering when he was done with the car.
He wanted to handle everything? Fine. She didn’t want to fight him anymore.
While Tess hovered near the threshold, the woman at the desk went back to reading her book. Every time she turned a page, she checked to see if Tess was still there, as if she expected her to vanish. Tess met her peeks with a small tight-lipped smile.
What was taking Jack so long?
Just when she couldn’t take the awkwardness any longer, a tinkling bell rang and both women?
?s heads turned to watch Jack hurry into the front room, a pair of stuffed duffel bags strapped across his body. In his right hand, he held her purse. He must have stopped to fold the umbrella on the porch because he had the handle tucked under his other arm.
Or, she decided with a small frown when she noticed the rain dripping from his sopping wet hair, he never bothered to use it all.
Eyeing him closely, she watched as Jack nodded his thanks at the clerk. He headed toward an intricate stand hidden behind one of the potted plants. After sticking the umbrella inside, he joined Tess and together they approached the counter.
“You’re wet,” she murmured under her breath.
He kept his voice just as low. “It’s still pouring, Tessie.”
“Mmm.”
The clerk set her book aside as they approached. Her eyebrows rose when she recognized Jack, her initial curiosity shoved aside by years of working behind the front desk. Her surprise made Tess wonder if this was really an inn at all. The clerk hadn't seemed to think that Jack was coming back.
“Are you ready to register for the night now, sir?” she asked. “I can sign you in.”
She changed from one second to the next, going from surprised to effusively helpful in a heartbeat. It was fascinating to watch the clerk slip right into her work personality, right down to the way her voice changed. A customer service voice, Tess thought. It sounded higher now.
She had one of those, too. The way she spoke, the smiles she offered, even the manner in which she held herself was different when she was standing in front of a class of her precious five-year-olds than when she had to deal with the parents and the administrative staff at her old school.
Of course, those days were gone. She gave up teaching when she married Jack. It didn’t matter that she loved her work. He always dreamed of having a stay-at-home wife. It wasn’t too long after the wedding when she realized that, in most things, what he wanted always came first.
Trying not to be too bitter, she clasped her hand in his, twining their fingers together as he walked with her to the counter. He glanced down in surprise at Tess, though he didn’t say anything, then squeezed her fingers sweetly with his damp hand. And she wondered if maybe she wasn’t the only one resenting the gap that existed between them.
Jack placed Tess’s purse on the counter. Then, with his free hand, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open to show the woman his license in case that made registering any easier. “Yes, thank you. Hi. I’m ready now.”