“I’m sorry, but we only have one.”
I snorted.
“Yeah, right.” I chuckled. “No, I’m serious. We need two rooms.”
“No,I’mserious. We only have one. We have some remodeling taking place.”
“That’s fine. I don’t care if my walls aren’t painted,” Amelia told him with wide eyes.
He chuckled and smiled at her. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but it’s a little more drastic than that. There is no furniture in the rooms being remodeled. No running water, no electricity. They’re being totally redone.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked as I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“I’m not fucking kidding you,” the man replied.
He definitely had an attitude toward me. Must be her big fucking blue eyes. They got me too, bud.
“Does the one room at least have two beds?” Amelia asked.
“No, sweetie, I’m sorry. It only has one queen-size bed.”
Another car pulled into the parking lot, its headlights flashing through the room.
“I’ll take it,” I said immediately.
“Great,” the man said, starting to get things together.
“Hey!” Amelia argued, rounding on me, clearly thinking I was stealing the room out from under her.
Two guys walked into the lobby. “We need a room for the night,” one of them said.
“Sorry, no rooms available,” the man behind the counter replied.
“But the sign outside said you had a vacancy.” He motioned over his shoulder with his thumb.
The older man behind the counter flipped a switch on the wall. “There. No vacancy.” The wordnowas suddenly lit up before vacancy.
The guys grumbled but turned to leave.
We finished up the paperwork, and Amelia and I walked back out. She started to untie the goat.
“What are you doing? I was serious. I’m not sleeping in a room with a fucking goat. Go put it back.”
“I’m putting him in the truck to sleep with me,” she shot back. “Since you took my room.”
I sighed. “You’re sharing a room with me. Leave the damn goat.”
“I can’t tie him up and leave him in the back of a truck all night.” She jutted her bottom lip out at me and blinked those too-blue eyes.
“Then let him go. That isn’t animal cruelty, is it?”
She shrugged. “I guess not. At least then he’ll be able to find food and shelter for the night. Someone will probably catch him tomorrow and get him back home, right?” She looked around nervously before looking back at me.
“Yes, exactly. Let him go.”
She pressed her lips into a tight line, and she kneeled. Wrapping her arms around the goat, she hugged its neck. “I’m going to miss you, Kevin.”
I snorted. “Ah, fucking Kevin.”
