Page 23 of Mr. February

After they wound their way through the parking lot, he and Jenny unloaded their luggage and made their way to the concierge desk where they got in line. As they waited for an available staff member, Wade pointed out a sign directing conference attendees to visit the conference services desk after hotel check-in.

“Do you want to drop everything off in our rooms and meet back here after we’ve settled in? We can check-in to the conference together.” he asked.

Jenny gave him a relieved smile. “Yes, that’d be great.”

Before Wade could assure her that they had plenty of time to relax in their rooms after the long drive, it was his turn.

He gave the attendant his name and the company credit card.

“Thank you, Mr. Edison,” the hotel clerk said. “Is your other party checking in now, or should I reserve the other key card for later?”

“You can process both of our rooms at once?” Wade asked.

The attendant furrowed her brow in confusion. “You have a two-room suite.”

Wade’s eyes widened.

“Uh, what?”

The staff member glanced at her computer screen. “There’s a note here that you were originally scheduled for two guests in a single room with two queen beds. Last week, the reservation was updated. Since we’re hosting several conferences this week, we didn’t have any single rooms available, so you were upgraded to a suite. Is there a problem?”

“I’m not sure. Give me a minute to confer with my colleague.”

Wade turned around and gestured for Jenny’s attention. She pulled her luggage up to the desk and smiled at him. Wade hoped she would hold on to her smile.

“Everything good?” she asked.

“It turns out we have a shared suite. When Robert changed the reservation, they didn’t have any single rooms left. Obviously, you and I can’t share a room the way Kyle and I planned, but I had no idea we’d be sharing the same suite.”

Jenny’s face went slack, and Wade floundered. He was quick on his feet, but he didn’t know how to fix this. The hotel employee stepped into the breach.

“Each bedroom is separate with its own en-suite bathroom with garden tubs. Both bedrooms and bathrooms have locking knobs. The bedrooms are on either side of a large communal space with a seating area and a dining area.” The staffer looked between them. “It’s quite spacious at 1000 square feet.”

“And there are no other rooms?” Wade confirmed.

“We are fully booked, sir.”

Jenny forced a tremulous smile. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

“I had no idea, or I’d have tried to find an alternative,” he assured her.

“It sounds like this is our best option. Like I said, I’m sure it will be fine. At least we’re not sharing a room like you and Kyle were supposed to.” She laughed, but it sounded forced rather than its usual melody.

Wade agonized at the waver in her voice. He would do everything in his power to ensure she felt safe in their suite. Why didn’t Robert warn them about this?

“Are we checking in, then?” the hotel staff member asked.

Jenny and Wade looked at each other again and nodded.

“Yes,” Wade said once he found his voice. “We’re checking in. To our suite.”

Jenny handed over her ID, and the employee processed their check-in.

To his surprise, Jenny leaned over and spoke quietly. “The good news is that I’ll be able to protect you from Suzanne a little more easily if we’re sharing a suite.”

Wade barked out a surprised laugh. “That’s true. I hadn’t even thought of that.”

How he wished they were here under different circumstances. The hotel clerk got his attention again and handed back their IDs. She provided a practiced litany of information about the hotel as she made their key cards.

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