Rest Thy Head (20 page)

Mrs. Haynes’ face turned blood red. “Then I demand that you call the police.”

Peyton grabbed his arm. “Search the room. Anything to shut her up.”

Patrick nodded. “Very well. That’s what we’ll do, and afterwards, Mrs. Haynes, I’ll expect you to apologize to Peyton.”

“We’ll see.”

Grimly, they trudged to the attic. Peyton threw open the door and indicated a small bed set up in the corner of the room. “That’s my bed, and my bag is in the closet.”

Jake shook his head. “I don’t like this. Everyone knows why she went into that room. This is a ridiculous waste of time. It’s insulting as well.”

“Just search,” Peyton interjected. She ran over to the closet and thrust a small bag at Jake. “Here. Take this.”

With a scowl, he unzipped Peyton’s bag and started to rummage around. “There’s nothing inside.”

Mrs. Haynes pointed to a side compartment. “Look in that little side compartment.” Her voice was so shrill it grated on Jake’s ears and made them ring.

He thrust his hand into the side pocket and bumped something smooth and cold. His head spun; he hoped he wasn’t about to pass out.

“You found it, didn’t you? I can tell by the look on your face,” Mrs. Haynes crowed. “I told you so.”

Heart burning, Jake withdrew the missing jewelry.

***

Peyton’s jaw dropped. “What? How did that get there? I didn’t take it!”

Mrs. Haynes snatched her property from Jake. “I won’t call the police since I got my jewelry back, but you’d do well to get rid of this girl. She’s pretty, but she’s a thief.” She stalked out of the room with a triumphant expression.

Peyton’s face felt hot. Even her eyes seemed dry, and she couldn’t think of what to say. Somehow, though, the only thing that mattered was what Jake thought. “Jake, I…I can’t explain how…I…I don’t have any idea how the jewelry got into my bag. You do believe me, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

His quick answer brought tears of relief to Peyton’s eyes.

Patrick cleared his throat to catch her attention. He had a sick expression on his face. “Uh, Peyton, she’ll tell everyone what happened. I’m sorry…”

“No,” Jake interrupted. Peyton had never seen him so angry. His eyes were as cold as winter, and his face was hard and determined. “Forget about it.” He grabbed her arm and pushed her toward the door. “Don’t worry, Peyton. It’ll be okay.” He slammed the door behind her, and Peyton rushed to Ashley’s room, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Everyone who worked at Rest Thy Head would think she had taken that horrible woman’s jewelry. She almost jumped out of her skin when Ashley flung the door open and rushed into the attic.

She hugged Peyton the way Peyton had seen her hug Griffin, as if she’d protect him from anything that might try to hurt him. “Oh, Peyton, please don’t cry. Nobody blames you.”

“Patrick does.” Her lip quivered.

“No, I don’t think so. He’s just…watching out for ...”

“Yeah, right.” Peyton dried her tears with the sleeve of her costume. “I don’t know who took that tacky stuff, but I’ll find out. You can bet the farm on that, and when I do the real thief had better look out.”

***

“Why’d you do it, Jake? You know we have to let her go.”

Jake slammed his hand into the wall so hard it caused Patrick to jump as the sharp sound reverberated around the room. “We will do no such thing. Don’t you know her better than that, Patrick? I saw you kiss her.”

“Kissing has nothing to do with it, and you know it.”

Jake counted to ten before he spoke. “What I meant was that you should know her better. Peyton’s as honest as they come. I think someone wants to get her fired.”

For a brief moment, hope flared in Patrick’s eyes, but it vanished almost as quickly as it had come. “Why would anyone want to get Peyton fired? People like her. You’re grasping at straws. If she was a stranger, would you believe her, or would you evaluate the evidence and decide she’s guilty?”

“I would believe her.”

Patrick scrutinized him for what seemed like the longest time. “No, you wouldn’t. You want her for yourself, don’t you?”

Jake felt hot blood rush to his face. “No, I don’t, but I think she’s an honest person who doesn’t deserve to be shafted this way, that’s all.”

“It doesn’t look like it.”

“I know, but …”

Patrick sighed and ran both hands through his hair. He had turned pale and looked miserable. “Jake, I don’t want to fire her. I like Peyton, but the evidence is too strong to ignore. We have no choice but to let her go. I bet by now Mrs. Haynes has already told everyone in the inn what happened. If we keep Peyton, it’ll hurt our business.”

Jake’s mouth fell open. “Since when do you put profit before the truth? Since when do we let a woman like Libby Haynes dictate how we run Rest Thy Head?”

Patrick gritted his teeth. “I could cheerfully strangle Peyton. Whether you want to admit it or not, you’ve fallen for her, and the last thing you need is another loser like Carolyn.”

Jake didn’t even try to hold his harsh words back. “You’re just worried that if Peyton leaves so will Ashley.”

Patrick looked taken aback, but he ignored the comment about Ashley. “Look, Jake. I don’t think she’s a bad person. She probably needed some money pretty bad and picked a rotten way to get it, but if she’d steal once she’d do it again. I know you like her, but we can’t keep her. Don’t you see that?”

Jake stubbornly shook his head. “No, I don’t …”

“Jake, she has to go.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Before Patrick could argue with him, he spun on his heel and left the study, slamming the door behind him.

Chapter Fourteen

The next morning another unexpected guest arrived at Rest Thy Head. One of the maids had sent Ashley to get a load of towels so Ashley saw her first.

“Mother! What on earth are you doing here?”

“You haven’t seen fit to call me since you left, Ashley. I was worried about you.” Eleanor coolly scrutinized the lobby. “This is a beautiful place. I’m not surprised you’d want to spend the summer here.”

“I’m not just spending the summer here. I’m working.”

“Really?” Eleanor’s eyebrows lifted. “What do you do?”

“I’m a maid.

Eleanor’s lips pursed. “I suppose it beats the car wash, but not by much. Do they pay you a decent wage?”

“Yes, and I have a room for myself and Griffin.”

A look that Ashley couldn’t define flashed across her mother’s face. “Where is Griffin?”

“Peyton’s watching him.”

“What’s her job?”

Ashley sighed. “She used to work in the kitchen, but a lot’s happened since last night. Let me take you to my room, and you can talk to Peyton about it.”

“I was hoping to check in first,” Eleanor protested.

“Mother, I…I don’t think you’ll want to stay here. Talk to Peyton first.”

Ashley saw the determined look her mother always got when she was faced with a problem. “Peyton’s in trouble, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid so.”

Eleanor squared her shoulders. “Take me to your room.”

As luck would have it, Mrs. Haynes came down the stairs at just that moment. She saw Eleanor with Ashley and hurried over to them. “If I were you, ma’am, I wouldn’t stay at this inn, not until they get rid of this girl’s sister.” She indicated the gemstone brooch on her shoulder. “She stole my brooch and a string of pearls, and it was only by chance that I caught her.”

Tall and regal, Eleanor looked stout Mrs. Haynes up and down. “Oh, I doubt she took your brooch.”

“Yes, ma’am, she did! I caught her red-handed!”

“That isn’t true,” Jake said as he came into the lobby from the kitchen and heard Mrs. Haynes spreading her poison.

“Oh, I don’t think it’s true either. My daughter wouldn’t be caught dead with such a vulgar piece of jewelry.”

Mrs. Haynes flushed and turned away. “I wish to check out, young man,” she imperiously called to Jake, who hastened to the registration desk. “You’ve seen the last of me. I’ll never come back here to be insulted and robbed.”

Jake smiled at her. “I’m glad you feel that way because you’ll never be welcome at the inn.”

He called someone to help her with her luggage and muttered, “Good riddance.”

Eleanor heard and offered her hand to Jake. “How do you do? I am Eleanor O’Malley, Peyton and Ashley’s mother.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Jake answered as he took her hand.

Ashley sighed. “I was taking Mother to see Peyton.”

“Well, I won’t keep you.”

“What happened to him?” Eleanor whispered as they went up the stairs.

“Fire fight with insurgents in Afghanistan.”

They reached the attic and went into Ashley’s room where they found Peyton sitting in the floor playing with Griffin. “Mother! What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you and Ashley.”

Peyton jumped up to stand beside her mother. “Why?”

Eleanor looked confused. “Why what?”

“Why did you come here? When I refused to marry Drew you told me not to come home. In light of that, I think it’s a fair question.”

“It’s lucky I am here,” Eleanor answered, dodging the question. Her mother was good at dodging unpleasant things. “I met a very disagreeable woman downstairs who told me she caught you trying to steal a perfectly hideous brooch.”

Peyton bit her lip. “Mrs. Haynes. Surely, you know I’d never do that, Mother.”

“Why don’t you tell me about it?” Eleanor sat down in the rocker beside Ashley’s bed and held out her arms to Griffin. “Can Grandmother get a kiss?”

Griffin stared at her, but he did give her that kiss. The loving expression on Eleanor’s face stunned Peyton. She exchanged a look with Ashley who shrugged. Their mother had never behaved like a grandma before, much less looked as if she had missed her grandson!

Ashley seemed to remember the towels in her arms. “I have to go back to work.”

Eleanor nodded. “Go. We’ll keep Griffin.”

After Ashley left, Peyton told her mother about Mrs. Haynes’s accusations. As usual Eleanor got right to the heart of the matter. “Did the woman press charges against you? Are the police involved?”

“No, but Patrick thinks I did it, and I bet everybody else does too.”

Eleanor shook her head. “I met someone called Jake who assured me of your innocence right before he told that detestable woman she would never be welcome here again.”

“Jake.” A ghost of a smile chased across Peyton’s lips. “Yeah, Jake believed me.”

“Do you think they’ll ask you to leave?”

Peyton pushed her hair back and nodded. Tears filled her eyes. “I could see that Patrick didn’t believe me. I’m sure he’s just waiting for the best time to talk to me.”

“What will you do if he does?”

Peyton blinked. “Why, I’ll have to leave of course, and I hate it because Ashley likes it here. This beats the car wash and her cheap apartment, and besides that I think she likes Patrick. She hasn’t said so, but she looks at him as if he’s special to her. I’m afraid if I leave she will too.”

Eleanor looked around the pleasant, attic room. “Yes, this is better than her apartment, but if you two leave here I want you both to move in with me.”

Peyton stared at her. “What’s gotten into you?”

Eleanor had the grace to blush. “I got lonely without you all. Both of you disappointed me, but after you left I finally understood I’d made a mistake. I wanted the best for both of you, but I had forgotten the best didn’t necessarily include rich, cheating husbands. I had also forgotten you can love a child even if his father is a rotten bum.”

She buried her face in Griffin’s hair for a moment. “I’m still ambitious for my girls, but I finally realize I raised a couple of wonderful people. I don’t care if you live in a big house and have a well-known name or not. There are more important things in life than that.”

Peyton started to cry. “I love you, Mother.”

“And I love you, darling. You’re free to come home anytime you please.”

With a strangled cry, Peyton threw her arms around her mother. In her wildest dreams she wouldn’t have expected this day to come. It just went to show that sometimes people could change.

***

Ashley finished her shift right before lunch and came upstairs to get her mother and Peyton so they could eat together. Peyton shot her an incredulous look. “I’m not going.” Her voice shook. “Everybody’ll stare at me and think I took that awful jewelry.”

“Yes, you are going.” Eleanor’s cool voice gave no indication that she had asked Peyton to run a gauntlet. “You did nothing wrong, so we are going downstairs to have a nice lunch together.”

Peyton shook her head. “I didn’t even go to work this morning. I can’t stand all of them staring at me.”

Eleanor gave her a bracing, cold look which brought Peyton to her feet. “Oh, all right, I’ll go, but if people shun us don’t blame me.”

As they descended the stairs, Peyton wished with all of her heart she had defied her mother. Nobody wanted her here. Even Jake, who had seemed to believe her last night, hadn’t rushed upstairs to demand she come to work this morning. She had no doubt he’d fire her as soon as he saw her, and that hurt. She had no idea why it mattered so much that Jake believe her, but it did.

She entered the dining room with her head held high anyway. Several of the guests did whisper as they found a table, but nobody said anything. Megan, the waitress, shot them several uneasy looks before she finally came to take their order. She nodded stiffly to Ashley and Peyton. “What’ll it be?”

They told her what they wanted, and as she hurried toward the kitchen she almost ran into Patrick who had just entered the dining room. He skillfully dodged to the side to avoid a collision. When he looked around and saw them sitting there, an unhappy look spread across his face.

“I think this is it,” Peyton muttered as Patrick approached their table.

Ashley spoke first, her voice subdued and small. “Hi, Patrick.”

The miserable look on his face told Peyton she was right. “Hey, Ashley. Peyton, I’d like to see you in my office please.”

Eleanor set her coffee cup down and skewered Patrick with a steely glare. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. If you want to speak with my daughter, you’ll have to wait until she can have an attorney present.”