Page 44 of Get A Fix

“If there’s no one else, without question.”

“You’d turn me down for a boyfriend?”

“I’m built loyal, right?” I said, then whispered in his ear, “That’s why you get the small room if I find you in bed with anyone else.”

“Our bed,” he repeated as I put space between us.

“Now stand here while I go find out what is going on with this line.”

There was a chorus of agreement from the people around us.

FIVE

The hostess told me that originally, the plan had been to feed people in two shifts, but then they decided to open the haunted side so they could accommodate everyone.

“Is it really haunted?”

She leaned close. “We’re supposed to say that, but no. I wish it were true. That would be so much better. The truth is, it’s just an old building that looks like a giant ski lodge that’s been here since the American Revolution. We don’t normally use the side that faces the water—it’s not well insulated, and it gets crazy cold until the fires get going because sadly, there’s no central heat in there.”

“Which doesn’t normally matter.”

“Yeah. You get it. People come in the summer and sit out on the patio⁠—”

“—which is huge.”

“Which is huge. Yeah.”

“We’re here in the off-season.”

“You’re here in the off-off-season,” she assured me.

“This is the strangest wedding venue I’ve ever been at.”

She scoffed. “I’ll bet you money the bride and groom came here either in the summer, when it’s gorgeous, or in the winter, when it’s like a Hallmark movie.”

“But the rooms would be freezing in the winter.”

“Absolutely not. The fireplaces blaze twenty-four seven. We have guys we bring in just to take care of that. Hearth workers.”

I chuckled. “That’s hysterical.”

“It’s awesome here in the winter because seriously, it looks like a postcard.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “But this transition time between winter and spring, not so great, am I right?”

“All you have to do is look outside and see that it’s like a bad horror movie out there. It’s foggy and wet, we’re under construction from the winter storms that hit us harder than usual, and all the outdoor activities have been canceled. I feel really bad for the kids.”

I nodded.

“And worse for their parents.”

“Yeah.”

“But at least the bars are open in town, so you all can get your drink on, the ghost tours are running, the historical ones as well, and there are supercute shops and restaurants all up and down Central Avenue.”

“Thank you for telling me,” I said, smiling at her. “So do you have an ETA on us all sitting in the meat locker?”

“Five minutes?”