Wait. What? Lucy’s reporter radar perked to attention. She set her coffee aside. “I’m sorry. She asked for incentive?”
“Not directly, no. You know how these things work.” Sarah waved her hand as though Lucy should know.
Lucy didn’t know, but she was getting the idea. “What exactly did she say?”
“Well…let me think. She told Max that they’d made a mistake and since you were already in the room, there wasn’t much she could do. She emphasized the word, much. It just felt funny to us. But your husband talked to her manager and they’d already arranged for you to move. So it didn’t matter anyway.”
Except it mattered a lot.
“What do you thinkmuchmeant?” Lucy pressed.
“I think it was pretty clear, if we wanted the room, we needed to grease the way a little.” Sarah’s expression was of total distaste. “The whole thing was odd.”
“You want to sit down?” Lucy’s desire to dig deeper won out over any latent annoyance with Sarah for sleeping on thousand-thread-count sheets.
“That’d be great.” Sarah slumped in the chair across from her. “I came down for breakfast. Max isn’t an early riser, and he can be amazingly grouchy in the morning.” She laughed. “I figured I’d slip out. I’m so glad I did because I love making new friends.”
Apparently, Lucy had received a promotion from William’s “honeymoon prop” to Sarah’s “new friend.” That probably meant her day was looking up.
Lucy really wanted some time alone to process last night’s confessions and the two a.m. cuddle, but this was more important. The woman seemed desperate to talk to someone, and really, Lucy was happy to be that someone.
Lucy took a stab at small talk. “How long have you been married?”
“Eight months. We finally had a chance to get away. Max is a doctor, so his schedule is crazy. What does your husband do?” Sarah asked.
“He’s a landscaper.”Liar.
“Max is a doctor.”
Yeah, she had mentioned that. “A doctor in the family must come in handy.”
“You have no idea. He’s a specialist, so I get referred to a colleague when I’m sick. It’s okay, though. I know how busy he is. Do you work?”
Uh…
“I work with him at the landscape company. I’m his receptionist.”Lies, all lies.
“That’s so romantic.” Sarah’s eyes got dreamy. “What are your plans for the day?”
Now that she had a lead, she needed to coordinate with her missing reporter. Wherever he’d gone.
“Will had to go deal with business. I’m on my own.” Lucy lifted a shoulder.
“Then I declare today a spa day.” Sarah clapped her hands together softly.
In Sarah-world, apparently that was that. She had proclaimed the day a spa day, and so it would be. Since nothing had been going to plan anyway, and Lucy’s schedule was clear until Will returned, so she might as well hang with Sarah at the spa and ask around there.
…
Facedown on the massage table, Lucy was awkwardly covered with only a thin, white sheet as Rebecca, the massage therapist, kneaded out a kink in her neck.
Sarah had persuaded her to get a couple’s massage because “it would be so relaxing.” In hindsight, nothing was calming about being naked while Sarah—also facedown on the next table over—chatted about everything from the weather to her desire to breed designer Chihuahua puppies.
“What are you doing tonight? Come to dinner with Max and me so the boys can get to know each other, too.”
“We have plans. Some kind of dance Will is taking me to this evening.”
“The barn dance! I saw the flyer. Oh fun,fun. I’ll talk Max into going, too. We can double. Oh! And tomorrow I signed us up for that honeymoon therapy thing with the guru. You guys should come.”
