Dex lowered his voice. “We should talk about the girls.”
I nodded once and followed him into the hall. The air felt calmer away from the cameras. A few guests walked past, chatting about the wedding festivities and the Christmas tree in the lobby. I found myself wishing everything inside the walls felt as peaceful as it appeared from the outside.
Dex pushed his hands into his pockets. “That pool house is freezing.”
“I noticed.” I said dryly. I had little faith that the heating system would manage enough output to make it reasonably warm by the time Lucy and Jane retired for the night.
“And apparently there is no water,” he said.
“I noticed that too.” Again, I refrained from pointing out that with little to no heat, water wasn’t an option.
He sighed. “We should help. Make it less miserable.”
I had been thinking the same thing since the moment Lucy shivered through a joke about losing feeling in her toes. “Or we should switch places with them and give them our rooms.”
Dex paused. “We might as well go live at your sister’s ski lodge then. However, it’s a long drive back and forth.”
I had no intention of going to Hale Lodge. Not with James Elman here on the premises. “We can get more blankets.”
“And a real heater,” Dex added.
“And an extra rug,” I said. “Lucy complained about the cold floor.”
“Let’s see if we can get the water running,” Dex remarked.
We found William kneeling beside a door hinge near the back office. He was holding a screwdriver and humming to himself. He looked up when we approached.
“What can I do for you?” he asked, which was generous of him because he definitely already knew we were about to request something.
“We need to know how to get water running to the pool house,” Dex said.
William gave us a long stare. “No.”
“Is that a no to the question or a no in general?” I wondered.
“No to everything,” he said firmly. “There is no water there in winter. If you turn the pipes on, they will freeze and burst. You will flood the place. It will be a disaster.”
“So there is no way at all,” I said.
“Not unless you want to build new insulated plumbing by digging through frozen ground,” William said. “Which you don't.”
Dex exhaled. “How are the girls supposed to shower?”
“Lucy and Jane have moved out to the pool house for the duration of the stay of the wedding party,” I explained.
“They can use a bathroom in the inn,” William said. “Kitty, Meri, and Lydia share an apartment. They can borrow theirs. It will be fine.”
I doubted “fine” was the right word. But it was a workable solution.
“It might be better if we give them one of our rooms and we double up.” I suggested. “At least then we would all be warm and have access to plumbing.”
Dex nodded reluctantly. “Yes. That makes sense.”
William returned to his hinge without another word, which I took as the end of the conversation.
Dex nudged me. “We should move our stuff into one room then gather Lucy and Jane’s things.”
I eyed Dex. “Do you kick?”
