Rest Thy Head (3 page)

Peyton wandered over to the window, but the stained glass prevented her from looking out and made her feel slightly claustrophobic. Drew had spent virtually all of his free time with her the past two weeks. He had brought her flowers, watched chick flicks with her, and reassured her of his undying love. Why, he had even watched country music videos on TV when they babysat Griffin. So why did she feel so empty inside? Hadn’t he atoned for his mistake?

She left the window and rejoined Ashley. “My hands are sweaty. I want to wash them.”

“But Peyton…”

Peyton hurried away, giving thanks for a few seconds of privacy. This was the first moment she’d had alone the entire day. As she rinsed and dried her hands, she heard someone coming into the restroom.

She didn’t want to talk to anyone, so she scurried into the last stall in the bathroom, the handicapped one. It had enough room for her and her dress. When the bathroom door opened, she recognized her future sister-in-law’s voice. Roberta was talking to her cousin, Miranda Willis.

“I still don’t get it,” Miranda complained. “Why do your parents like Peyton so much? Her family is nothing but poor white trash. That sister of hers has a baby but no husband, and her mother is an awful social climber.”

Roberta sighed. “I know, but Mother and Daddy like Peyton because when Drew’s with her he behaves better. He’s always acted buck wild, and the older he gets the worse he is.”

Watching through the crack in the stall, Peyton saw Miranda apply fresh lipstick. “I don’t know that he behaves so much better with Peyton around. What about Megan Thomas?”

“Oh, you should have heard Daddy.” Roberta giggled. “He told Drew if he didn’t make up with Peyton he’d disinherit him.”

“No!”

“Yes. To get Daddy’s money, Drew’s been sucking up to Peyton for weeks now.”

Miranda ran a comb through her fine, blonde hair. “Maybe he really is sorry for what he did.”

“I don’t think so. Before Daddy threatened him, he said Megan was a lot more fun than Peyton, and he was glad he didn’t have to marry her.”

Miranda looked shocked. “I had no idea.”

“We’d better hurry. The ceremony’ll be starting soon. Let me borrow your lipstick.”

Peyton gave them plenty of time to get away before she came out of the stall. So Drew had more fun with Megan, did he?

Adrenaline racing through her veins, she ran back to Ashley who waited in the brides’ room. As she burst into the room, Ashley jumped to her feet, a frightened look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not marrying Drew!” Peyton ripped off her veil and kicked off her expensive designer heels. “Unbutton me. Hurry!”

She felt Ashley’s fingers fumbling at the buttons on the back of the dress. “Rip ‘em off if you have to, Ash.”

“I’ve got the last one.”

Peyton shimmied out of her dress and stomped it for spite, taking satisfaction when a nearby chair pricked the heavy fabric. “I’m getting out of here, but don’t tell anyone.”

She grabbed her dress, veil, and shoes and stuffed them behind a folding screen that stood in the corner. “You tell Mother you went to the bathroom, and when you came back out, I was gone. Wait as long as you can. I want the whole church to know I stood him up.”

“But why? Why now? What happened?”

Peyton jerked her tee shirt over her head which slightly muffled her voice and caused her expensive hair style to tumble around her shoulders. “I’ll explain later. I’m leaving town right now. I’ll call you tonight to tell you where I am.”

Ashley was wringing her hands now. “You can’t…”

Peyton kissed her and Griffin and dashed out the side door as fast as she could to make her getaway. Free at last. Her fist clenched, and her arm shot skyward. “Good riddance, you jerk!” She gunned her motor, and the little car shot away from the curb as if it too savored its newfound freedom.

***

Peyton took the interstate and headed north toward the mountains. As she left the plains behind, the road slowly but steadily rose in front of her. In the distance she saw the Laramie Mountains, which had never beckoned so strongly.

An hour later, a glance at the gas indicator told her it was time to stop for gas. She filled her car and made her way to the small snack bar at the back of the gas station/convenience store. She ordered a cheeseburger, and while she waited for the girl to make it, she browsed through a rack of tourist brochures.

“Cheeseburger’s ready,” the attendant called.

One brochure in particular had caught her eye, so she removed it from the rack to look at while she ate her food.

Peyton paid for her meal and sat down at a small bistro table to look at the brochure. The cover showed a large white farmhouse framed by big trees that blazed with colorful autumn leaves. A small sign in the front yard identified the place as an inn called Rest Thy Head. It looked beautiful, like something out of a movie or a wonderful dream. Ashley had yearned to own such an inn.

Peyton finished her cheeseburger and approached the attendant behind the counter. She showed the girl the brochure. “Do you know anything about this place?”

The girl’s head bobbed up and down. “Oh, I sure do. It’s only about fifty miles from here, right at the foot of the mountains, and it’s absolutely wonderful! My husband and I stayed there on our wedding night. The rooms are fabulous! They’re filled with antiques, and every one of them has a fireplace. The food’s good too. For breakfast they even served us homemade biscuits. I’ll never forget how good they were.”

“Is it hard to get a room there? I’m tired, and I need to find a place to stay.”

“Why don’t you call them and find out? I don’t think you’d be disappointed in the accommodations.”

“Thanks, I believe I will.”

Peyton found her cell phone at the bottom of her purse and fumbled around until she could free it. Then she called the number in the brochure. A man’s deep voice answered, “Rest Thy Head. How may I help you?”

“Hi, my name is Peyton O’Malley. I know it’s late, but I was calling to see if you have anything vacant for tonight.”

“As it happens we do. I had a cancellation less than an hour ago. Do you want me to hold it for you?”

“Yes, please.”

Their arrangements made, Peyton hung up and called to the girl behind the counter, “I had good luck. They had a room.”

“Great. You’re going to love it. Come in again.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

An hour later Peyton exited the main highway and tried to find Rest Thy Head. The map in the brochure didn’t look too complicated, but the darkness made it hard to find the right road. She took a wrong turn and had to backtrack once, but on the second try she found the correct turnoff. Maybe she should invest in a GPS.

Rest Thy Head lay at the end of a long driveway bordered by a white fence. As she rounded a curve in the drive, her car lights swept across several horses making their way toward a big white barn.

She rounded one more curve and saw Rest Thy Head for the first time. Oh my! This place absolutely took her breath away. Even in the dark she could see the picture in the brochure hadn’t done it justice. Rest Thy Head looked like a calendar picture come to life. A small, discreet sign directed her to the parking area.

After finding a place to park, she wrestled her new bag out of the trunk. What was that delicious smell in the air? Honeysuckle. The fragrance drifted from a fence behind her, reminding Peyton of her mother’s small home. When Eleanor bought the house, honeysuckle had covered the fence which divided their property from the neighbor’s.

She sighed. Her mother hadn’t liked the honeysuckle even if it did perfume the air. “It’s a wild vine,” she had opined, relentlessly destroying the honeysuckle and replacing it with clematis which of course looked beautiful. The honeysuckle still smelled better.

Peyton followed a path to the front of the inn, which blazed with light. She stepped onto a wide front porch that ran the entire length of the building, noting with approval the white wicker furniture and hanging baskets filled with ferns. A tall, slender man with red hair and twinkling hazel eyes opened the door for her before she could knock. “Hi, I’m Patrick Douglas. You must be Peyton.”

Peyton offered her hand to him. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Here, let me take your bag for you.”

He opened the door into a large hallway. A substantial, mahogany registration desk occupied the left corner of the hall. Across from the registration desk, she saw a living room whose walls had been painted a beautiful coral color. All the furniture was done in white on white. Colorful pillows in shades of turquoise and coral decorated the chairs and sofas. A big, bay window overlooked the pasture and nicely balanced an enormous fireplace on the opposite wall.

A set of stairs with elaborately formed spindles lay beyond the registration desk.

“This looks so nice,” Peyton exclaimed as she twisted this way and that, trying to take it all in.

Patrick beamed at her. “I like it too, but I can’t take much credit for it. My brother Jake is responsible for the decorations.”

“My compliments to your brother.”

Patrick registered her and carried her bag up the steps for her. He opened the first door on the right with a flourish. “Here you are. This is one of the nicest rooms in the house.”

Peyton turned on the lights and just melted. “It has a canopy bed and a fireplace!”

Patrick laughed and made Peyton laugh too. Something about his laugh and his twinkling green eyes made the ice in her heart melt a little. He was such a nice, nice man. What a relief to have an uncomplicated conversation after dealing with Drew these past few weeks.

“We’d never rent a room without a canopy bed and a fireplace,” he teased. He pointed toward the corner of the room. “There’s a TV in the armoire.”

The walls had been painted red above a chair rail and white below. The canopy on the bed was made of cobwebby white lace; decorative pillows were scattered across the bed. A braided rug done in red and blue covered dark-stained hardwood floors. “I love it,” Peyton declared. “Did your brother decorate this room too?”

“Yes, ma’am, he sure did.”

“Where’s the bathroom?”

Patrick crossed the room and opened what Peyton had assumed was a closet. “Here you are. All of the rooms on the second floor have private baths, but the ones on the third floor have to share. Can I do anything more for you?”

“I don’t think so.”

Patrick made his way toward the door. “Traditional breakfast is from seven thirty to nine o’clock in the dining room on the first floor. Just follow your nose. If you don’t want to get up that early, we provide a continental breakfast which you’ll find on the buffet in the dining room until eleven.”

“Thanks a lot. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Patrick left her alone, and before Peyton did anything else she sat down on the bed to dial Ashley’s number. Ashley answered on the first ring. “This better be good. I’ve been worried to death about you!”

Peyton kicked off her shoes and lay back on the bed. “I’m sorry to run out like I did. Did Mother pitch a fit?”

“Is the pope Catholic? Of course she did.” Peyton could almost see Ashley roll her eyes.

“What about Drew?”

Ashley snickered. “Oh, he carried on something awful. He called you a bad name and threw your wedding ring across the sanctuary. It hit Mr. Mulligan in the eye.”

Peyton laughed loudly and hugged herself. “I’d love to have seen that.”

“Look, get a grip. What happened? I’ve begged you for weeks to break your engagement, and you wouldn’t do it, so why’d you leave him at the altar?”

Peyton’s laughter vanished. “Let me tell you what I heard when I went to the bathroom.”

Peyton told her everything and made Ashley sigh. “I told you he was a jerk. I don’t blame you for leaving him. He deserved it.”

“Yeah, well, I doubt Mother feels that way.”

Ashley’s silence told Peyton her mother was anything but happy at this turn of events. “Where are you, Peyton?”

“I got a room in a gorgeous inn about an hour from Casper. The inn is called Rest Thy Head, and it’s located near a little town called Waterbury. It’s a pretty rural area.”

“How long do you intend to stay there? When are you coming back home?”

In the background Peyton heard Ashley’s microwave ding and smiled. Ashley always had a cup of hot chocolate before she went to bed. “I can have the room for a week if I want it. After that I don’t know.”

For a moment Ashley didn’t say a word. “I…I…ah…hate to tell you this, but Mother told me that if you called I should tell you that you aren’t welcome in her house anymore.”

Peyton shrugged even though Ashley couldn’t see her. “That hurts, but it’s kinda what I expected.”

“You can move in with me and Griffin. We’d love to have you.”

“Thanks, hon. I may take you up on that until I can find a job.”

Peyton heard Griffin calling for his mother.

“Give me a number where I can reach you, Peyton. Besides your cell phone, I mean.”

Peyton looked at the brochure on the nightstand and gave the inn’s number to Ashley. “I’d better go. I’m exhausted. I’ll call you again tomorrow.”

“Do. I’ll worry if I don’t hear from you.”

“I promise. See you later.”

Peyton considered taking a shower, but she really was exhausted. The stress of the last few days had drained her. So had having her mother throw her out of the house. Maybe she’d just brush her teeth and wash her face tonight. She could have a shower tomorrow morning when she felt better.

She rummaged around in her bag to find her pajamas, put them on, and turned back the covers. After she washed her face, she jumped into her beautiful canopy bed and marveled at the soft, smooth sheets. She’d had better days, but at least the inn was a feast to her senses.

She expected to fall asleep the minute her head hit the pillow, but to her surprise her eyes wouldn’t close.
Today should have been my wedding day
.
Drew and I should be on a plane flying to Paris.
Instead, I’m here alone, my mother doesn’t want me to come home, and I’ve ruined my sister’s chances for an education.