Where Cedars Sing

Again referring to her notes, she was sure she had gotten copies of everything she needed. Most of them were written in legalese so she chose to deposit them in the briefcase until Franklin and Kendra were there to explain them to her. She wasn’t even sure why they were so important, but she had enough confidence in her friends to do as they asked.

Next, she drove to the little motel she had seen as she came in. When they had passed it on Wednesday, Adele had told her that it was a clean, quiet family business that had been passed down from father to son. She hoped Adele was right since it was the only lodging place within an hour’s drive of Leesboro in any direction.

It was a neat little place called The Cozy Corner. A young, pregnant, black woman greeted her with an outstretched hand. She did have one king room she said, down at the end of the row.

“We don’t have but seven rooms and oddly enough we only have two empty right now; that king one and one with two doubles. It’s unusual for us to fill up at this time of year. There’s a nice group of business folk from Atlanta that are going to be here for several days, and they have taken several of the other rooms. Nice enough folk I guess, but I’ve hardly seen them since they checked in three days ago.”

Business folk from Atlanta! Edie had been right! Elizabeth was visibly shaken. The young woman asked if she was okay. Embarrassed, she gave the explanation that her blood sugar had probably bottomed out. She’d go get some orange juice or something and she would be fine.

“I’ll get you some. Here, sit down, and I’ll be right back.”

She went quickly through the door behind the counter and returned with a tall, chilled glass of juice. Elizabeth sipped it slowly and brought her emotions under control. Smiling weakly she told the young woman she would like to take a look at the room.

“Sure, I’ll walk down there with you.” She pulled a key from under the counter and held the door open for Elizabeth.

“Please excuse me for my ill manners. My name is Janice. My husband, Hildred and I are the owners, operators, maids, maintenance people, and office managers of The Cozy Corner.” She laughed; holding her protruding tummy as she slowly waddled down the narrow walk. “So if you have anything to report…good or bad…we are that department, too.”

She unlocked the door and flipped on the light. Elizabeth followed her into the charming, tidy room. It was more spacious than she expected and very tastefully decorated; not at all an ordinary motel room.

“This is lovely, Janice. Did you do the decorating yourself?”

“Thank you, ma’am, and yes, I did. I do not mind telling you I would love to have been a fancy interior decorator like my friend, Mary Lynn. But, Hilly’s parents needed us to take over this little place, and we’re perfectly happy here. I can still do my thing with paint and fabric and help my Hilly take care of his parents as well. I know it doesn’t sound very glamorous, but we love it. We meet the nicest people and we are together. His parents are still able to relieve us on occasion so we’re not totally tied down.” She patted her tummy and smiled. “And just think how blessed our little one will be to be surrounded every day by all those who love him. I don’t think anything is as important as that.”

They chatted as if they were old friends as they walked back to the office. Elizabeth secured the room and told Janice she would bring the Laythons by as soon as they arrived tomorrow. Thanking her again, Elizabeth started back to her car. Parked next to her was a big, black Cadillac Escalade. That hadn’t been there earlier; as a matter of fact, neither had that little sports car. Intuitively, she stepped back to view the license plates. They were both from Georgia. Just those business folk that Janice had mentioned, she thought.

As she was about to back out, another care drove up. Hadn’t she seen that very car somewhere before? And the pretty girl getting out…she knew her from somewhere, too. But where? The girl looked around suspiciously before donning a large, floppy hat and dark glasses, then hurried toward one of the rooms. She tapped lightly on the door two times, hesitated before knocking again. It opened just enough to allow her to slip inside. How strange. What would be going on in this quiet little town that would require such melodramatic cloak and dagger secrecy? Feeling very uncomfortable, Elizabeth left the motel without looking back. I don’t usually let my imagination get the better of me, but this day is getting curiouser and curiouser!

Driving back into town, Elizabeth kept trying to place the girl and her car. She finally dismissed it as her mind playing tricks on her. What business was it of hers if a dozen pretty girls were entering motel rooms? She had probably over dramatized the entire incident. Just someone going into a room, that’s all it had been.