said, and meant it. She had no idea yet, what the dynamic would be between her and Arlen, or even with her mother, much less with the two of them together as a couple, but that wasn’t Melissa’s problem. “I appreciate it, and appreciate you taking time from your schedule to deliver it personally.”
“No problem. It got me out of listening to the mayor’s luncheon speech.” She leaned a little closer and in a more conspiratorial but still cheerful tone, added, “Which, frankly, doesn’t change much, event to event. Neither does the food.”
“I guess Chamber of Commerce luncheons are the same across the country,” Lauren said. “More than once I swore that if I never saw another over-seasoned chicken breast and limp piece of broccoli, I’d die a happy woman.”
Melissa laughed. “Exactly! And I only have to do them a few times a year. You must do them weekly, working for the senator.”
Lauren’s smile tightened slightly. “One of the perks of the job.”
“Well, we’re all happy you’re in town.”
“All?”
“Oh, don’t look alarmed or anything. Cedar Springs is small, so we’re tight knit. It was pretty big news when the mayor came back from the national mayor’s conference in Florida with a new wife! I mean, you can imagine, right? So we were happy to hear you were finally coming to pay us a visit.”
“So…the whole town knows I’m here?”
“Well…yes,” Melissa said, but again, with such cheerful goodwill, as if it were impossible for her to comprehend why that could possibly be a bad thing, or even a disconcerting thing, it was hard to hold it against her. “But, don’t worry, we may be like one big family, but we’re an easy family to get to know, and we always welcome new members with open arms.”
Lauren was beginning to miss D.C., where no one spoke to anyone they didn’t have reason to, and were generally so distracted by whatever they were doing that they paid no attention to anyone else unless it involved cutting them off on the beltway. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
“So, will dinner work? I’m sorry, it’s been great getting the chance to meet you, but I need to get back. If you’d rather just call—but they won’t be out of there for at least another hour or so. There were several speeches, with a question-and-answer session that ran really long, then the local schoolchildren were putting on some kind of little production, then the auction, so it’s just a never-ending thing, it seems.”
“Dinner is fine.”
She beamed. “Great. Seven at Ragland’s. Enjoy your afternoon!”
Melissa waved and was gone, her long strides carrying her quickly across the parking lot before Lauren thought to ask what the dress code was for the steakhouse. She supposed she could just call the desk and ask. One bonus to being in a small town, everyone would probably know all the local establishments.
She closed the door and leaned against it. Still, it was more than just a little disconcerting, realizing that the whole town knew she was here. And she had a feeling that wasn’t an exaggeration. The woman who’d checked her in had commented on it, as well. But Lauren had just assumed she’d made the connection from getting Lauren’s information while taking the reservation.
Lauren set the basket on the small dresser, then sank down on the edge of the bed. So. She no longer had to make the call. That, at least, was a relief. But now she had a few hours to kill. She thought about wandering around the town a little, getting to see it through her own eyes first, but now there was this feeling that everyone would be watching her, talking. About what, she didn’t know, but still.
Between reconciling things with her mom, and reconciling herself with her unplanned future, she had enough to deal with without wondering what every person who said hello to her might be thinking. She had no idea what the townspeople knew or didn’t know, and was having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that anyone other than her mother and herself might care.
She knew what it was like to live under a microscope, at least in political circles, due to her job. But even then, she was an adjunct to that life. The senator was the one being personally examined. She was just the person in charge of mitigating the effects of it as much as possible.
Restless and unable to think clearly, she got up and rummaged through the basket, finally settling on a little pouch of organic, locally made granola. Crunching on fruits and nuts didn’t help much with the thinking process, but it did give her the impetus to get the heck out of her room. She should go rent a car. That was something to do. She wasn’t sure how long she was going to stay, but even a day or two required transportation. And she wanted to make sure she had that taken care of before meeting up with her mother and Arlen. She didn’t want to run any risk of being dependent on them to get wherever she might want to go.
She started to get the Yellow Pages out again, but decided what she really needed was to get out of the room. Fresh air, even of the thin variety, would be very welcome. Taking the bag of granola and her purse, she left her room and stopped by the front office to ask where she could rent a car. The rain had stopped and the storm clouds had fully moved out of the area. The sky was a deep blue streaked with the palest streams of gold and pink as the sun began its slow, late-summer descent. She loved this time of day. When she’d had time to notice it, anyway. The difference was, out here, the sky seemed endless, and the only thing obstructing her view from seeing forever were the jagged mountain peaks that surrounded her no matter what direction she looked.
Jake was right, they truly were magnificent. And to think, she was already at eight thousand plus feet, and they still soared so much higher. She was thinking about what he said, about being both humbled and inspired by them, and could see where he was coming from. She pushed open the door to the registration desk area and found herself wondering where his flight school was. Right at that moment, he was pretty much the only thing that felt grounded, which…how ironic was that?
The desk registrar’s name was Debbie, according to her nametag, and was the same person who had checked her in. She was older than Lauren by a decade. Or two. Hard to tell with the Olympian genes these people all seemed to have. Her hair was cropped short, streaked with blond highlights that Lauren was pretty sure she hadn’t had to pay for. In her deep blue polo shirt and khaki pants motel uniform, she looked more like a golf pro than a motel manager. She was average height, which meant she still had a handful of inches over Lauren, and greeted her with a sunny, toothy smile. “Good afternoon, Miss Matthews. Settling in okay? What can I do for you?”
What were these people on? And where could she get some?
Lauren wondered if Debbie was the owner’s daughter or sister. And if the other two were as naturally caffeinated as Debbie, here. Even with her growing dissatisfaction with her career choice, Lauren had prided herself on maintaining an upbeat, optimistic attitude despite living in a town, and working in a field, that prided itself on grinding the optimism out of a person as early in as possible. But out here, she felt downright crotchety and grinch-like. Apparently she’d been assimilated into her old life more deeply than even she’d realized.
“I was thinking about renting a car.”
“Oh, you don’t really need one if you’re planning to stay in town. We have a free bus system that runs here and out to the resort village. You might enjoy renting a bike, though. That’s how most folks get around.” She smiled. “Until the snow starts falling, anyway, but that’s a few months off yet. Between the bike and the bus, you’d be all set. There’s a rack on the front of every bus to put
