Innkeeping with Murder (7 page)

Alex coughed once. “Speaking of money, we’re
near the end of our season here, and things are a little—”

Elise cut him off gently. “Why don’t we give
each other a one-week trial? We’ll see how it goes, and we can talk
about money after that.”

Alex nodded. “I’m willing to handle it that
way if you are.”

Mamma Ravolini’s gravel parking lot was
jammed, but Alex managed to slide the truck into a newly freed
slot.

As they went inside, it took Alex’s eyes a
second to adjust to the dark interior. The only light came from
thick red candles, one per table. The effect always gave Alex the
impression that the dining room was on fire. The walls of the
restaurant were lined with photographs of the near-famous who had
dined at Mamma Ravolini’s, each adorned with a hastily scrawled
signature and good wishes. Alex had studied the pictures one
evening. The most famous face he’d found belonged to a Charlotte
newscaster who had been fired for filing false stories.
Nevertheless, the picture had remained on the wall in its place of
honor.

The aromas of pizza, lasagna and ravioli
filled the air like a humid summer breeze. Alex loved the place,
and Irma Bean’s familiar openness, but he rarely made it into town
during tourist season, and Sandra never wanted to eat at Mamma’s
even if he was free.

There was no one at the front, so Alex
started looking for an empty table when he felt two arms embrace
him. He looked down to see Irma herself giving him the bear hug of
his life. She was a short thin woman who somehow managed to keep
her slight figure around all the heavy sauces and rich desserts the
restaurant served. Though Irma was a tiny woman, she had the
longest reach Alex had ever seen, and the warmest heart, too.

“It’s been too long since I’ve seen you,
Alexander.”

Alex said, “Hi, Irma. I’d like to introduce
you to Elise Danton.”

Irma released her grip on Alex and took
Elise’s hand in hers. “You’re the girl who’s been cooking for the
Dantons? An hour ago they told me your veal picata was better than
mine.”

Elisa offered tentatively, “I’m sure your
picata is marvelous.”

“When it comes to cooking, I’m always willing
to learn. So, are you going to share your secret with me?”

“Well, it’s really all in the—”

Irma held up her hand and shushed Elise. “Not
here,

I don’t want everyone listening in. Let’s go
back to the kitchen, and you can tell me there.”

Elise offered Alex a quick smile. “Excuse us,
will you?” To Irma, she said, “I’m ready if you are. It’s easier to
show than explain, anyway.”

Irma slapped Alex on the back. “I like this
girl. Go find a table and eat some breadsticks. We’ll be with you
in a bit.”

Alex made his way to an open table and
sampled the homemade bread while he waited for Elise to finish up
in the kitchen. He saw a few glances come his way, and he knew that
if Sandra were in town, she would have heard about the dinner
before they were finished with dessert. It was like that, living in
a small town. Alex knew he would have to make a preemptive strike
and tell Sandra about the business dinner first himself. Not that
he had to justify his every action to her.

When Elise came back to the table, she let a
slight grin slip out as Alex jumped up to grab her chair.

As she sat down in the offered seat, Elise
said, “You really are quite the gentleman, aren’t you?”

Alex said, “I’ve been trying to break the
habit, but I’m not having much luck. To be honest with you, I’m
sick of being lectured about what a modern woman will or will not
put up with. I was raised to be polite to ladies and older folks.
My mother wouldn’t have any luck understanding the world
today.”

Elise caught and held his eye, and Alex felt
the intensity of her look. In a serious tone, Elise said, “I think
your manners are refreshing. Don’t try to change them on my
account.”

“Thank God. It’ll be wonderful just being
myself.”

Elise added, “Just don’t treat me any
differently than you did Marisa while we’re at the inn, okay?”

Alex smiled slightly. “I kept a clean
handkerchief available for her crying jags. Do I need to offer the
same service to you?”

“No, but thanks for asking. Marisa is
something else, isn’t she?”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Alex opened
his menu and studied the offerings. When he looked up, he noticed
Elise was looking at him instead of the menu.

Alex said, “What’s the matter, do I have
bread crumbs on my face?”

“No, it’s just that I took the liberty of
ordering for us. Irma wanted to see how I prepared my picata, so I
made three.”

Alex smiled. “She’s a hard woman to resist,
isn’t she? I’ve never been able to say no to her myself.”

“I think she’s delightful.”

As if on cue, Irma came to their table
carrying two steaming plates filled with all of his favorites. Irma
knew what Alex liked, since he always ordered the same thing every
time he came to the restaurant He noticed that there was also a
small portion of veal picata on his plate, along with the spaghetti
and the ravioli combination platter he normally requested.

Irma surveyed the table. “What, no wine? You
can’t eat my food without a touch of the grape. I won’t allow it.”
She called over her shoulder to their waiter, “Marty, bring a nice
bottle of Chianti, on the house.”

Elise took her plate from Irma. “So what do
you think of my recipe?”

Irma gave out a hearty laugh. “It was
delicious. I ate my own in the kitchen, and then helped myself to
half

of Alex’s. You can come back anytime, Elise,
with or without this fellow here.”

Elise offered her thanks as Irma moved to
another table across the room. Alex hadn’t realized how hungry the
day’s activities had made him. He ate with hearty gusto and was
surprised to look up from his empty plate to see Elise smiling at
him.

She grinned and said, “So, how did you like
the picata, or did you have a chance to taste it?”

“I missed lunch, and everything was so good.”
He kissed his fingertips in the air. “The picata was
excellent.”

Elise’s dimples appeared. “It’s nice to see
someone enjoy a meal so much. The Dantons were much more critical
eaters, even though they always managed to clean their plates.”

Elise abruptly changed the subject. “I’ve
been dying to ask you about this, but I really don’t know how to go
about it.”

“Tonight, all answers are half-price, and the
first one’s free. Ask away.”

“How on earth did your lighthouse get to be
built in the mountains? And how did you end up owning it?”

“That’s two questions, but I can satisfy your
curiosity with one long, drawn-out story that will probably bore
you to tears. It’s all ancient family history.”

Elise shifted her chair a little closer to
Alex as she took another sip of wine. “I’d really love to hear
about it.”

Alex said, “It all started back in 1883. My
great-grandfather Adlai Winston had a farm about forty miles from
here in Alexander County. A fellow named J. O. Lackey found a vein
of mica on the property next to Adlai’s. Lackey knew about precious
stones and such, so he was bright enough to keep looking, since
mica’s one of the indicators that there’s a chance of gemstones
nearby. Turns out he found thirty-six small emeralds. Well, that
got Adlai awfully curious, so he started scouting around on his own
property. It soon became apparent he was sitting on a war chest
full of emeralds and other precious stones. The biggest one he
pulled out weighed in at just under thirteen carats.”

Elisa interrupted. “Mercy. That must have
been worth a fortune.”

Alex smiled softly. “Yes, and that’s what
Adlai got for the stone. This was all before the federal income
tax, too, so the money was all his to keep. After a while, the
stones became more and more scarce. Adlai found a mining company
headquartered out West interested in his property, so he sold out.
It made him a wealthy man.

“Three months later, the mining company found
the Panther Star.”

Elise sat up in her chair. “That was found
around here?”

Alex shook his head sadly. “On my family’s
land, only it didn’t belong to them anymore. One thousand one
hundred seventeen carats. It broke Adlai’s heart when they found
that stone. He couldn’t bear to hear the jibes of his old neighbors
and friends anymore, always laughing at him behind his back,
calling him an old fool for selling out. So Adlai started looking
for a change of scenery. Travel was difficult back then, but
somehow he managed to end up at the Outer Banks on the North
Carolina coast. That’s when he fell in love with the lighthouse at
Cape Hatteras.”

Alex glanced at his watch and said, “We could
continue this another time. It’s getting late, and tomorrow is
going to come awfully early.”

Elise pleaded heartily. “You can’t leave me
hanging without the full story. I still don’t know why the
lighthouse was built here.”

“Okay, you win.” Alex asked, “Now where was
I?”

Elise eagerly supplied the start-up point.
“Adlai had just made it to the Hatteras Lighthouse.”

“Well, it was love at first sight. Adlai saw
that bright diagonal white stripe going up the black tower, and he
became bewitched. They say he could be charming when it suited his
purpose, and he must have laid it on thick with the lighthouse
keeper. Adlai lived with the man and his family as an honored guest
in the main keeper’s quarters, regaling them with stories of
distant mountains the keeper’s family had never seen. In return,
Adlai got free run of the lighthouse and the grounds. To have heard
the way my grandfather told it, Adlai dearly loved the brick and
stone of the lighthouse.

“Then he fell in love again, this time with a
young woman. The principal keeper’s daughter was just around
marrying age, and the two of them started spending more and more
time together. The keeper’s concerns turned to delight when Adlai
proposed marriage to his daughter Hannah, then his joy turned to
sadness when the two announced that immediately after the wedding,
they would be heading back here to the foothills.”

Elise said, “That must have killed her,
leaving her family, everything she knew and loved.”

Alex smiled. “They were in love, and that was
the way things were back then. Adlai missed his home, and Hannah
was eager to explore the world. After the ceremony, Adlai brought
his new bride back to the mountains he loved. Initially, he bought
some property near the old farmstead, but he soon grew tired of his
old neighbors and friends and decided he and Hannah should have a
fresh start together. He looked around, and with Hannah’s approval,
they brought the land the inn is sitting on now.”

Elisa leaned forward. “Tell me about the
lighthouse.”

Alex continued as if she hadn’t spoken.
“After four years of wedded bliss and three babies, Hannah nearly
died delivering the last child. That was my grandfather Adam.”

“Hey, do all the Winston boys have names that
start with ‘A’?”

“It’s a tradition the family has kept for as
long as anyone can remember. Anyway, Hannah loved Adlai, but she
never got over losing the lighthouse, the ocean, and her family.
Adlai understood how she felt. He was willing to take her back home
for an extended visit to show her parents their new grandchildren
as soon as the child she was carrying was born and old enough to
travel. But it was no easy birth like the others had been. Hannah
nearly died during the delivery, and the strain of the birthing
left her too weak to travel, since the trip to the coast was an
arduous journey back then. Hannah never got over her homesickness,
and her health continued to fail. That’s when Adlai got his idea.
He’d build his wife a lighthouse of her very own. It wasn’t the
same as seeing her family and hearing the roaring crash of the
waves again, but it was the best her husband could do with what he
had.

“They say she thought he was crazy, but
secretly delighted with the prospect of the construction. The
original Hatteras lighthouse had been dedicated on her fourth
birthday, December 16th, 1870. Adlai decided that Hannah’s
lighthouse would be finished by her twenty-fourth birthday. The
original tower took eighteen months to build, but Hannah’s took
only fifteen months, once he managed to assemble a lot of the
original construction crew.”

Elise said, “How romantic of Adlai. Did
Hannah love the lighthouse? I know, I bet it cured her, and she
lived to enjoy being a grandmother herself I can close my eyes and
see her up on the observation deck now.”

Alex shook his head sadly. “She died nine
days before the tower was finished. It broke Adlai’s heart to lose
his wife. He shipped his children off to his sister for her to
raise. They say that even the sight of those shining little faces
that looked so much like their mother broke his heart all over
again. For the rest of his life, the light was only lit one day in
December every year, the anniversary of Hannah’s birthday.”

Alex glanced over to see Elise’s eyes tear
up. He nodded softly before continuing. “After Adlai died, my
grandfather inherited the property. The family fortune was still
viable then, but mismanagement of the trust Adlai had set up wiped
out everything but the ownership of the lighthouse and the
forty-odd acres I have now. By the time Dad took over, he was
afraid he’d lose the lighthouse itself. That’s when he decided to
turn the place into an inn.”

Elise dried her tears, then said, “If I’m
going to work I a full day tomorrow, we’d better get back to the
inn. Alex, I had a lovely evening.”

Alex stood up too. “I hope I didn’t bore you
with my family history.”

Elise said softly, “Don’t be silly. Thank you
for sharing it with me. It makes Hatteras West feel like home to
me.