to the exclusion of almost everything else, including traditional educations for their offspring.
What was happening in those young minds when they stayed up all night waiting? Did the children believe wholeheartedly? When they reached their teens, did they rebel and disavow their parents, insisting that nothing was real that couldn’t be proven and tested by science?
His attention was broken not by a word, but by a sensation. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he felt the smallest of shivers. He turned and there was Carrie.
“You’re here,” she said.
A chorus of “Shhhhhs” followed.
“You’re here,” she said again, this time in a whisper. “I was pretty sure you’d be sound asleep by now.”
She was almost swallowed by the comforter and pillows in her arms, which he managed to take after a fumble. And then it was just Carrie in the same green sweater and jeans from earlier this evening, but she looked even better than she had before. “I should be sleeping,” he said, also sotto voce, “but I came down to make sure everything was moving along. Coffee, water, no loud music, that kind of thing.”
She smiled, which caused a different kind of shiver altogether. “As long as there’s no karaoke, I’m good.”
“Oh, there is. In the bar. Every weekend.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
He grinned right back at her, fully aware that he was acting less than the perfect hotelier. “Where do you want these?”
She looked past him, stopping with a nod. “There’s Erin. Follow me.”
He did so, gladly. Stepping around legs and arms and sometimes whole people as they made their way to what looked like a quiet spot on the left side of the room, not too close to the stage. Erin was sitting with three … no, four young men. The only surprise was that it was only four. Just as he’d suspected, the boys were buzzing around her like bees after honey. He doubted even one of them expected to score, but they would all have plenty of fantasy material for the next time they were alone. He remembered exactly what that was like, and it worried him that it was a little too close to what he was feeling about Carrie as he dropped her comforter on the carpet.
“What are you doing here?” Erin said.
“Shhh.” That from about six different people.
Carrie bent to spread her comforter and Sam stepped right in to help. He wasn’t feeling tired any longer, even though he knew he was being a fool.
“I’m here to find ghosts,” Carrie whispered. “What are you doing here? Hi, Elton.”
Sam found Elton via his name tag and his little wave. He was one of the throng surrounding Erin and he fit the bill. Young, thin, ghost T-shirt, long hair. Besotted, but not just with Erin. Sam saw the way Elton looked at Carrie. He stepped in between the two of them, reminding himself that it wouldn’t do to threaten a guest.
The other boys were excited about the new female, and damn, he wished he had his camera. They were like a pack of beta wolves, preening and scuffling, even as they sat on the floor with their power drinks, candy wrappers and electronic devices, which were primed for texting. They were all probably trying to figure out how to announce Carrie’s arrival in one hundred and forty characters or less.
“So, anything happen?” Carrie asked.
“A temperature anomaly, but nothing significant,” Erin said.
It was odd hearing their whispered voices, along with all the other whispers. It made him think of a room full of moths.
“Well, it’s early yet,” Carrie said, then she turned to him. “Are you going to hang out for a while?”
He nodded. “For a while.”
“Great. I’m going to get coffee. I have the feeling it will be necessary.”
“I’ll go with you.”
She led him back across the patchwork quilt of bodies. No one seemed to think it was odd that he was here, and a few even smiled in recognition. Why should they care? Most of them probably thought he was just another guy who worked here. Which was good.
Being with Carrie was better. She poured them each a hot coffee. She put stuff in her cup, then eyed the remaining food.
“Never let this chef go,” she said, her low voice causing her to step close to him. “She’s unbelievable. I’ve eaten so much I should be shot for even thinking about taking more.”
“It’s good to indulge yourself once in a while. You’re on vacation. You’re supposed to be bad.”
The way she looked at him let him know he’d been about as subtle as an eighteen-wheeler. “Even vacations have consequences,” she said. But she chose two pink petits fours, both on one plate. “How bad can these be, right?” she asked. “These little things barely count.”
He grabbed a big old éclair, more to keep himself busy than because he was hungry. “I have no self-control when it comes to Jody’s food. She knows it, too. Once, when she was visiting from Paris, she forced me to eat an entire Bûche de Noël.”
“At gunpoint, I assume?”
“No, dammit. Worse. She left it on the counter.”
Her laugh wasn’t as quiet as it should have been, and she was reprimanded immediately. She glared at the crowd, unsure who’d done the deed. “I mean, come on. If we can’t laugh, what’s the point?”
He almost laughed, too, but he didn’t dare give off even a hint of disrespect.
She handed him a fork and a small napkin. “You say she’s going to be here all week?”
“Jody? Yep. All week.”
“That is just great. Although I’ll pay for it with exercise when I get back home.”
“That’s what hiking’s for. I could show you the prime sights.”
“Wow. If I were a person who hiked, I’d jump all over that offer. But with these hours, I intend to sleep through most of the day. I still have to work, too.” She closed her mouth quickly, pressing her lips together, as if she’d said something she hadn’t meant to.
Of course he wanted to ask her about it, but again, discretion won out. “Then you can take advantage of the sunsets. You can see those from your room. Also, don’t worry about having to get up and eat dinner. We’re serving late for the rest of the conference, from noon to midnight, breakfast until six p.m.”
“Everyone in the hotel is with the con?”
He had just taken a bite of his éclair so he nodded. After he swallowed, he said, “We’ve only got thirty-six rooms.”
“Ah. Lot’s of doubles and triples. Been there, done that.”
“Really?”
“Sure. I went to college
