for you to come back a little later? A couple of hours or so should do the trick.”
Charlotte’s gut reaction was that the woman was lying through her teeth. Though she’d never experienced migraines herself, she knew they could be painfully debilitating, and nothing about the way Tessa looked even hinted that she was in pain. Why lie though?
Gathering every ounce of control she could muster to keep her irritation in check, she simply nodded. “I’ll be back later then, and I hope your headache gets better.”
“And the second thing—” Tessa held up the blouse she’d changed out of. “Could you please see that this gets cleaned?”
“Sure,” Charlotte answered, taking the blouse.
“The dye in the new scarves I just bought bled through,” Tessa explained. “I ordered more—silk this time—before I left home, but I had to leave before they were ready. A friend of mine is supposed to bring them, but—” She shrugged. “I don’t have them yet.”
Charlotte glanced down at the blouse. Just as Tessa had said, there was a faint red tint beneath the collar where the scarf had bled through.
“Thank you,” Tessa murmured.
Once Charlotte had gathered her cleaning supplies, she left the room. In the hallway she checked her watch. If she hurried, she’d have time to clean one more room before lunchtime.
The room next to Tessa’s clearly had a DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging on the outside doorknob, so Charlotte went to the next room and knocked. “Housekeeping,” she called out. After waiting a moment and getting no response, she pulled out her entry key. Just as she was about to insert it into the lock the door swung open.
The dark-haired woman standing in the doorway was probably in her late thirties or early forties, and was dressed in slacks and a silk blouse. “May I help you?” she asked.
“I’m the maid, and I’ve come to clean your room.”
The woman nodded. “Good. Come on in. I can use some clean towels and washcloths, and some extra packets of decaf coffee for the coffeemaker. Will it bother you if I continue working?” She motioned toward a desk that contained a laptop and several stacks of file folders.
Charlotte shook her head. “Oh, no, ma’am, not at all.”
Once Charlotte had gathered the necessary supplies from the cart, she headed for the bathroom. She had just finished wiping down the mirror, sink, and countertop when she heard the phone ring in the other room.
The woman immediately answered the call. “This is Margaret.” A moment passed then she said, “Oh, hi, Tessa. It’s good to hear from you.”
Normally Charlotte preferred minding her own business, and though many times she’d been put in the position of eavesdropping, she usually tried to ignore it. But hearing Tessa’s name gave her pause. After all, what were the odds that the caller was yet another woman named Tessa in the same small hotel? Of course it was possible that the call had originated from outside the hotel. Even so she figured the chances of the caller being yet another woman named Tessa were slim. With a shrug she poured disinfectant into the toilet.
“Now, now, Tessa, just calm down,” Margaret told her. “Are you sure she overheard you? Okay, okay, don’t cry. I’m coming. Just give me a second to shut off the laptop. And if it makes you feel any better, I was able to pick up that package for you before I left. But I’ll need the ones you have for the exchange. Bye, now.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. It was hard to imagine that tell-all-Tessa could be upset about anyone overhearing her about anything.
A minute or so later Margaret appeared at the doorway. In her hand was a small paper sack. The bright purple logo of several triangles and a tulip on the white sack caught Charlotte’s eye. Beneath the logo was the name of a store she’d never heard of before.
“I’ve got to leave for a while,” Margaret said. “Please, don’t bother anything on the desk, and don’t forget to leave me an extra pack of decaf.”
Charlotte nodded and a moment later she heard the outer door open and shut.
Though Charlotte tried to concentrate on her cleaning and tried to ignore the one-sided phone conversation she’d overheard, she couldn’t help wondering who the “she” was that Tessa had mentioned. And what was it that “she” had overheard? But even more curious, why was Tessa seemingly so upset by it?
As Charlotte reached down and flushed the toilet, parts of the conversation between Tessa and her Red Scarf sisters played through her mind. She frowned. What was it that Mary Lou had said to Tessa?
Aw, come on now, there’s got to be something else.
And Tessa had answered, I can’t talk about it. Not now. Not yet.
Was it possible that whatever Tessa couldn’t talk about to Mary Lou had something to do with the phone call she’d made to Margaret?
Charlotte groaned and shook her head. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, just mind your own business.”
Chapter 2
The double parlor of the old house-hotel had been converted into a restaurant. The moment Charlotte stepped inside the room a thin, pale woman who looked to be in her thirties approached her. “Hi, my name is Simone, and I’m your hostess today. May I help you?” she asked, her gaze raking over Charlotte’s uniform.
Charlotte returned the gaze, noting that in addition to having below-the-shoulder-length black hair, the woman also wore a black, flowing dress that was mid-calf length. Though Charlotte was sure the woman was striving for an elegant, sophisticated look, in her opinion she looked like a leftover cast member from Interview with a Vampire.
“I’d like a table for one, please,” Charlotte told her. “I’m one of the temporary maids. My name is Charlotte.”
“Nice to meet you, Charlotte. All of our tables inside are occupied at the moment, but if you don’t mind eating on the patio, I believe there’s a table available out there.”
Charlotte glanced around the room. Sure enough, all of the tables were occupied, mostly by women wearing red scarves.
“The patio is fine,” Charlotte told her.
The woman nodded. “Just follow me.”
Charlotte followed her through a side door onto the porch that had been extended into a covered deck area.
The woman stopped at an empty table. “Your waitress will be right with you.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte murmured, seating herself at the table. Though not as cool as the air-conditioned restaurant, the striped awning blocked the high-noon sun and the ceiling fans stirred the humid air, making the outside part of the restaurant comfortable.
Within minutes, a waitress appeared and handed Charlotte a menu. “What can I get you to drink, ma’am?”
Charlotte smiled up at the perky young woman. “Unsweetened tea, please.”
“And what about an appetizer?”
Charlotte
