“Refund?” Shaking her head, she turned to the computer, typing frantically. “A reservation for tonight? We need twenty-four hours’ notice to provide a refund.” Dex glowered, and I swore I could see sweat beading on her forehead. “It’s policy. I’m sorry.”
“Policy,” Dex repeated. I stepped in front of him before he could unleash hell on this poor woman.
“Hi,” I said, offering a smile. “Sorry about him. He gets cranky before bed. So, here’s what happened.” I leaned against the desk, donning my best parent-teacher conference voice. “A friend recommended your lovely establishment, but he happened to leave out the fact that it’s a couples hotel. You can imagine our confusion.”
The woman laughed nervously. “Yes, I imagine it was quite a surprise.”
“We’re exhausted. On our way to Oregon, been driving since Boston,” I told her, and her eyes lit up.
“A road trip! How wonderful! What’s in Oregon?”
“It’s a long story.” I lowered my voice, adding, “Our dad just died.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh. I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.” I sighed, wishing this wasn’t the second time I’d done the dead dad bit in less than two weeks. To be honest, Dad would have encouraged it, but it still felt sort of slimy. “It’s been rough. My sister, Phoebe—the one taking a picture of the taxidermied bear dressed like Dolly Parton?—she’s been taking it hard, but the trip is helping. Anyway, I’m just trying to say that we’re tired and sad and this is ahugemisunderstanding.”
“Of course, of course.” The woman looked between us, biting her lip. “You know, you’ve been through so much. I’ll refund the reservation, no problem.”
I placed a hand over my heart. “Oh my gosh. Thank you so much.”
“I’d hate for you to get back on the road when you’re so tired, though,” she said. “Why don’t you take the room, anyway? On the house.”
“No,” Dex said, taking a step backward. “Thanks.”
“Uh, hello? We will absolutely take it,” I cut in, meeting his incredulous gaze. “We’re not passing on a free room.”
“A free room here. In this hotel.”
“Who cares if everything is pink and heart shaped? Have a little whimsy in your heart.”
Phoebe snorted. Dex clenched his jaw so hard, I expected to hear a tooth crack.
“We’ll take it,” I said to the receptionist, who beamed again. “But, uh, is that one room? As in one bed?”
“The reservation was for one room.”
“I reserved two,” Dex said. She shrank back. “Two rooms.”
“I’m sorry. There must have been a mistake.”
“Well, we can pay for another room,” I said, bumping Dex’s arm with my shoulder. The woman shrank even more.
“We’re all booked up this weekend, unfortunately.”
I threw on another smile. “It’s fine. It’ll be fine,” I said. “Thank you for being so accommodating.”
“Enjoy your stay!” She hesitated. “Maybe keep the child out of the courtyard past ten?”
My eyes widened. Dex coughed.
“Oh.” I laughed uncomfortably. “Yeah, we’ll, uh. We’ll do that. Thanks.”
“Oh my god,” Phoebe whispered, grabbing my arm as Dex finished checking in. I steered her away from the desk, cheeks burning. “I wanna go to the nighttime orgy in the courtyard!”
“Stop. That can’t be what it is.”
“What else would it be?”
