Page 20 of Merry Mended Hearts

He was already married. Why else had he gone so rigid and acted almost repulsed when I’d told him my name? When he’d found me here?

The sound of bells dusted through the air softly around me like snowfall. It was almost as though someone had run their hands across dangling wind chimes. The musical echo stroked the base of my neck and sent chills down the backs of my arms in a not-entirely-unpleasant way.

I perked up at the sound and glanced around the room.

“What was that?” I asked.

My phone was where I’d placed it on the nightstand. No music played from it.

An old-fashioned alarm clock with a face instead of digital red numbers sat beside the lamp. The dresser across from the bed stared back at me.

It was just my imagination, I tried to tell myself, but those bells sounded too real. Like Scrooge hearing bells before Marley appeared.

I was not about to linger while a ghost from my past zoned in.

Curious and the smallest bit edgy, I inspected the space, peeking below the bed, lifting the covers. I turned to the window and parted the curtains to peer into the darkness outside. The glass wasn’t sealed all that well, based on the amount of cold air seeping through it. No wonder I’d been so cold last night.

I still hadn’t managed to get the chill out of my bones.

I shivered, closing the curtains once more, and reached for some jeans and a sweater out of my suitcase. Once I folded my pajamas and put them away, a knock sounded on the door.

Junie beamed in the threshold. Though her hair frizzed along its part on the top of her head, light dazzled in her eyes. Wearing a bright red sweater covered in sequins, she looked well rested, but regardless, I had the impression that Junie was the kind of person who was happy no matter what.

What exactly were her duties here at the inn? From the sound of things, she wasn’t just the receptionist—shelivedhere. When she’d come in last night, she’d been in her pajamas, too.

“Morning!” Junie said. “I’m sorry to bother you—but you’ll never believe what happened.”

“It’s okay,” I said, waving her off. Because really, she did me a solid by letting me stay here. If it wasn’t for her kindness, I wasn’t sure where I would have gone. “What happened?”

“So…” She popped her lips together. “It’s the craziest thing, but your reservation turned up this morning.”

“You’re kidding.”

She lifted her hand, dangling a key from her pinched fingers. “I’m not. It’s like it got lost in the system somehow and only just rebooted. Want to get your stuff? I’ll show you where it is.”

Suspicion crept in. This didn’t make any sense. How could the reservationnothave been there yesterday and be there now? I thought they were fully booked.

Unless Junie pulled some strings and got me in anyway.

“You didn’t…you’re not…”

She didn’t kick another guest out of his or her room for me, did she? She had sneaked me in here behind Boone’s back last night after all, so I couldn’t help wondering if this was legit.

Pink flushed over her freckles. “Of course not! This is for real. I swear, this is going to sound crazy, but the room is there. I checked, it’s all ready for you, Miss Eastland.”

“Grace,” I said.

“Grace. So, you ready? I can help you carry your things.”

I waited a few more seconds for her to pull out the proverbial rug or pronounce that she was only kidding, and it was time for me to leave Harper’s Inn. She did neither.

“I’ve got it,” I said.

Fortunately, I’d made the bed, but I wondered if there was anything else I needed to tidy up before leaving this space behind. My phone charger and phone were safely tucked in my slumpy bag, and I had my notebook. I think I had everything.

“Great,” Junie said. “This way.”

I clicked up the handle of my suitcase and rolled it behind me as I followed Junie out and closed the door to Boone’s room.

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