The Inn at Holiday Bay: Letters in the Library

by Kathi Daley

“Actually, no. The letters that were found are mostly from Victor to Ursula, but there are several that look to be from Ursula to Victor. I am assuming that it was Ursula who left the letters in the library, so I don’t know why she would have had letters she had written and sent to Victor unless she tried to mail them to him, but they were undeliverable.”

  “You think he knocked her up and then left her here at the resort to have the baby on her own?”

  Georgia shrugged. “Maybe. I can’t tell for sure. The letters written from Ursula to Victor do make it sound as if she either doesn’t know where he is or she can’t reach him for some reason.”

  I took a sip of my coffee. “Okay, so what makes you think the gift that Victor left Ursula was a baby?”

  Georgia picked up one of the letters and looked at it. “Ursula seems to care a great deal about the gift Victor left her. I get the feeling that it has become the most important thing in her life. She seems to genuinely feel love for it, but I also get the sense that she is afraid for it. I suppose if Victor left her some big ol’ diamond, she might feel the same way, but I think her feeling for the gift goes deeper than that. Unless Ursula was a very shallow person, a baby is the only thing I could come up with.”

  I sat back and considered this. I supposed that a woman in the 1940s could have become pregnant out of wedlock just as easily as a woman today. “Are you certain that Victor and Ursula weren’t married?”

  “I don’t think so, although it doesn’t say anything about it anywhere in the letters. After reading through them dozens of times, it appears to me that Victor might be married to someone named Harriet.” Georgia sorted through the pile of letters, eventually settling on one. “This letter is from Victor to Ursula. It says: ‘Harriet must never learn of the gift. It would destroy her. I know the sacrifice is considerable, but it is a sacrifice we must be willing to make.’”

  “So, it appears as if Victor, a married man, had an affair with Ursula, whose marital status is unknown,” I began to summarize, “and that affair resulted in a gift, which you believe to be a baby. Ursula seemed to be staying at the house back when it was a spa, and by the end of the letter trail, it seemed as if she no longer was able to reach Victor, leading to the assumption that he dumped her and took off.”

  Georgia nodded. “While the letters are cryptic, with everything implied but never actually stated, from what I have been able to decipher thus far, that would be my best guess.”

  “I wonder what happened to the baby.”

  Georgia frowned. “I don’t know. But I am motivated enough to try to find out.”

  “I saw Willa Baker at the Parker twins’ birthday party, and she told me how she used to climb the fence and swim in the spa pool when she was a kid. I wonder if she would remember a pregnant woman staying here. It sounds like Ursula must have been here for a while, so it’s possible Willa might have seen her.”

  Georgia’s eyes grew large. “Will you ask her to talk to me about her?”

  “I don’t have Willa’s phone number, but I’ll call Lacy to see if she can set up a meeting with Willa for tomorrow, or as soon as possible after that. Right now, I am getting ready to go snowshoeing.”

  “Snowshoeing?”

  “With Colt. I’ve never tried it, but according to him, it’s easy.”

  Georgia laughed. “I tried it once and it was not easy, but maybe you will do better at it than I did. My legs are so dang short that I kept tripping myself up.”

  I glanced down at my own legs. They were longer than Georgia’s, but I wasn’t really any more coordinated than her. I hoped I wasn’t going to regret agreeing to Colt’s little outing.

  I glanced at the clock and realized I had over an hour before I needed to start getting ready for it, though, so I decided to check in with Lonnie. The remodel was moving along so quickly that I was afraid I’d miss an important stage in the transformation if I didn’t pop over every day or two.

  “Just the woman I wanted to see,” Lonnie greeted me as I walked into my brand-new kitchen through the back door.

  “What’s up?”

  “First of all, I spoke to Bobby, and he has us scheduled in two weeks for the refurbishment of the mantel and the creation of the new crown molding for the dining area, which, he assures me, you will not be able to tell apart from the original crown molding that is undamaged and has been here since it was installed when the house was built in the eighteen hundreds.”

  I smiled. “That’s wonderful. The first thing I saw when I walked into the house on the day I first arrived was that mantel. I knew it would need to be preserved.”

  “Bobby will bring her back to life. Which brings me to the mantel in the library. It is not as intricate as the one in the living room but still very old, and I thought we could strip and stain it rather than paint over it as we initially discussed.”

  “Will Bobby have time to tackle it as well?”

  “Probably not, but the design is much simpler. I was thinking of asking Lacy if she wanted to take a stab at restoring it. If you are open to the idea and she is willing, I figured she could find a sitter for Maddie while the older five are in school in the mornings.”

  “I’ve seen Lacy’s work and it is perfection. If she is interested in tackling the job, go for it.”

  Lonnie nodded. “I’ll talk to her about it this evening, but I think she will be thrilled to have the opportunity. If we decide to sand and stain and not paint, you will need to choose a stain. Actually, now that we are going to replace the shelving in the library, you are going to need to look at a stain anyway. It would look nice if the shelving and mantel matched.”

  “I agree. Send me some swatches along with a few suggestions and I’ll take a look. How is the downstairs bath coming?”

  Lonnie grinned. “It’s done.” He took my hand. “Come on and I’ll show you.”

  I followed him into the suite that was originally going to be the manager’s suite but Georgia and I had decided to rent out for the time being at least. I’d chosen varying shades of blue for the room, which had worked out to be simply amazing.

  “Wow. Look at that shower.”

  The shower was lined in a deep, royal blue granite, while the shower pan, as well as the floor in the large room, had been tiled with wood grain planks. The walls were painted light blue and the whole room was framed with white molding along the ceiling and floor.

  “Four heads, just like we discussed,” Lonnie said. “It will feel like showering under a waterfall.”

  The Jacuzzi tub was tucked into a nook, with a window looking out to the sea. It was white, but I could imagine how it would look once I’d stacked deep blue towels along the rim. The cabinets where the double sinks were located were topped with the same blue granite as the shower, and the commode was tucked into its own small room so that it could be used at the same time someone else was taking a soak in the tub.

  “The bedroom walls are painted, the wood floors laid, and the fireplace tiled with white,” Lonnie added.

  “I know I’d want to stay in this room,” I said. I walked into what would be the seating area of the suite. “In fact, I’m pretty sure Georgia is going to change her mind about living in the guest room in the cottage once she sees this.”

  “Georgia has seen the room, and while I do think she is a little bit in love with what we have created, she is totally committed to making a go of the inn and realizes that having six rooms to rent out will make all the difference.”

  “Georgia is really great,” I said. “How are the rooms on the second floor coming along?”

  “We’re moving right along. The two suites on the second floor will be laid out much like this one. The plumbing and electrical are being seen to next week. Once that is all in, we can begin with the floors, walls, and closets. Have you decided on colors for the two second-floor suites? I know you said you wanted them all to be different.”

  “I think I’d like the suite on the right to have medium gray cabinets because I found that dar
k green granite for the shower and countertops in the bathroom. The granite has gray running through it, so I think it will tie together nicely.”

  “The granite really is striking. Some of the most unique I have ever seen.”

  I took a few steps away from Lonnie and looked out the huge picture window, which would bring the sea in to both the sleeping and sitting area. “I’m thinking wood grain tile planks for the bathroom, maybe in light gray, and hardwood floors for the sleeping and sitting area. Maybe we should just use the same hardwood flooring through the entire house.”

  “I agree with that as well,” Lonnie said. “You discussed a room done in black and white. Do you want that suite on the second floor or the third?”

  “I think I will save the black and white for the attic, although I may very well change my mind by the time we get to that point. We are adding a lot of windows up there, so there will be plenty of color coming in from the outside if we do decide to go with that option.”

  “Sounds good. Have you decided on colors for suite two on the second floor?”

  “We are using dark green and light gray for suite one, so maybe we can use sage green and a dark gray for suite two. The areas will have their own feel, but I think that a similar color pallet would provide consistency. I still haven’t worked out the colors for the third floor, but I suppose we have time before we need them.”

  Lonnie nodded. “We are removing and replacing a lot of walls on the second floor, so it will take a while. Especially with the plumbing upgrades and fireplace additions we have planned. Still, it doesn’t hurt to keep tossing around ideas so that you are ready when we need them.”

  “I’ll chat with Georgia about it. She has a lot of good ideas.” I glanced at my watch. “I need to run. I’m going snowshoeing with Colt.”

  Lonnie chuckled. “Be sure to wear layers you can peel off. It will start off cold, but I promise you, by the time you have been walking for fifteen minutes you will begin to get hot.”

  Chapter 6

  “You’re kidding, right?” I stood with my mouth open, staring at the huge snowshoes Colt held. “Don’t you have shorter ones? There is no way I can walk in those.”

  “When we begin to climb, the snow is going to get deep. You’ll need the larger pair. You’ll be fine once you get used to them.”

  I didn’t think so, but Colt was a cop, so I doubted he was trying to kill me. I sat down on a large rock from which he had cleared the snow while he strapped the monstrosities onto my boots. I had a feeling that I would be walking with a limp tomorrow, if I was able to walk at all. Once my snowshoes were strapped on, Colt strapped on his own and then took my hands and pulled me to my feet.

  “The secret is to lift your feet into the air when you step. Don’t drag them. If you do, you will likely trip. Just lift your leg, take a step forward, and then lower your foot to the ground.”

  I did as Colt instructed without falling, which was, I guess, something. Of course, he still held both my hands. He told me to repeat what I had done with the other foot and I did.

  “See?” he said. “You’re doing just fine. Keep going.”

  “How far are the falls?” I asked.

  “A couple of miles to the trailhead that climbs up the backside, and then maybe another half mile.”

  “So in all, we are going to walk five miles to the falls and back?”

  Colt nodded. “Yeah. About that.”

  I took another step and then paused. “You do realize that even if I manage to make it to the falls and back without breaking my neck, at this pace it is going to take a month.”

  Colt chuckled. “You will be able to walk at a normal speed when you get used to the shoes. Just keep going, and before you know it, you won’t even notice the snowshoes on your feet.”

  I highly doubted that, but I took another step and then another. Colt let go of one hand and then the other, which terrified me at first, but after I’d taken a dozen or so steps on my own, I began to feel more confident. I was actually doing fairly well as long as I focused on my feet, but then Colt began to explain what he had learned about Karen’s death since our last chat and I got distracted and dragged rather than lifted and fell flat on my face.

  “Are you okay?” Colt lifted me out of the snow and into his arms.

  I spit out the snow that somehow had ended up in my mouth. “Peachy. I guess I just lost focus.”

  “That’s okay, you’re doing great. It won’t be long before you don’t have to think about stepping, not dragging. It will come naturally.”

  Again, I doubted it. If you asked me, this felt like one of those walking-while-chewing-gum scenarios. I was fine as long as all I did was walk, but introduce a second element and I was toast. I was glad that Colt had suggested layers because once we started to walk, I got very warm, and the layers began to come off. I didn’t want to carry them, so I just tossed them onto the snow behind me, figuring I could gather them up on the way back.

  By the time we arrived at the trailhead, where we were going to begin to climb, I actually felt like I had the hang of things. I hadn’t said a single word since I’d fallen, but I felt I’d found a rhythm and could probably handle both walking and talking, so I asked Colt to fill me in on what he had discovered since we’d last spoken.

  “After I found out that the break to Karen’s arm could very well have been a defensive wound to ward off her attacker, I went back to the beginning and reinterviewed everyone I had spoken to the first time around. I realized, even as I launched my campaign to talk to the people who knew Karen best, that my effort could very well be fruitless, but when her body had initially been found I had been speaking to folks with the idea that the fall had been nothing more than a terrible accident, so I wasn’t looking for motive so much as a timeline.”

  “And…?” I asked as I stopped after coming to a fallen log. There was no way I was stepping over that without serious injury.

  “And at first I found that most folks answered the questions I asked in much the same way that they had the first time.” Colt stepped over the log, turned, and offered me a hand. I accepted his hand, lifted my leg as high as I could, and took a huge step over the log. If Colt hadn’t been hanging on to me, I was certain I would have experienced my second face-plant of the day, but I was able to land safely on the other side.

  “I’m sensing that at some point the answers changed,” I said after we started walking again.

  “They did. One of Karen’s very best friends, a woman named Lily May, mentioned during our second interview that Karen had recently gone through some stuff that had left her feeling pretty devastated. I asked what sort of things had caused her to feel that way, and Lily didn’t know, just that the reason Karen went hiking alone was to work through something.”

  I paused and took several deep breaths. The hike had definitely gotten harder. “Whatever was going on with Karen must have been serious if she didn’t confide in her best friend.”

  “Yes. I think Lily was hurt that Karen seemed to have kept a secret from her. All she would tell Lily was that she needed time to think about things, and try to figure out what she was going to do.”

  I paused and leaned against a tree. I guessed that I was in worse shape than I thought. “Do about what?”

  Colt shrugged. “Again, Lily didn’t know. Karen had been upset about something maybe four months before the accident, but she seemed to have been able to work through it. Lily said she appeared to be back to her old self after a period of what seemed like mourning to her, but then Karen started acting even more strangely a few weeks before her fall.”

  “What does that mean? Even more strangely?”

  “Karen seemed to withdraw into herself. She was losing weight and looked like she hadn’t been sleeping. Lily asked Karen about it repeatedly, but the only thing that she was willing to share was that a family member had passed away the previous winter and there had been a trickle-down effect that she hadn’t been expecting.”

  “Do you
know who died?” I asked.

  “Lily didn’t, but I plan to do some checking. Karen’s father died when she was young and her mother died a couple of years ago. As far as I know, she was an only child, but I didn’t dig into her family history all that much when she fell. I know that a cousin was determined to be her next of kin, so I am assuming that there weren’t any siblings or grandparents in the picture then.” Colt paused, adjusted the strap on his snowshoe, and then continued. The terrain was getting even steeper, so maintaining a conversation was going to be tough. At least for me. Colt seemed to be unaffected by the effort required to make the climb. “Anyway, Lily didn’t know what was wrong with Karen, so I kept digging around and found out from another friend, Gloria Dover, that Karen had told her that she was thinking about moving. Gloria thought that Karen was happy in Holiday Bay and asked her why. Karen said that she needed a change of scenery.”

  “Sounds like guy trouble to me.”

  “That was my first thought as well.” Colt stopped walking so that I could catch up. “Just another quarter mile.”

  A quarter mile wasn’t all that far unless you were walking straight uphill. I looked behind me and wondered how in the heck I was going to get back down this hill without rolling end over end. Maybe Colt was trying to kill me.

  “So, did you find out if Karen had a guy in her life?” I asked, trying desperately to focus on something other than the fact that my legs felt like jelly and I was sure they were about to crumple beneath me.

  “I asked around, but none of Karen’s friends knew of a man, so I decided that her emotional state must have been based on something other than a love affair gone bad.” Colt stopped walking, pulled some low-lying branches aside, and gestured for me to move on. “I still don’t know what that something might have been, but I have a few more friends to talk to,” he added after he continued on behind me.

  “Okay, so Karen seemed to be going through something in the weeks before she fell to her death, but we don’t know what. Anything else?” I paused and gasped for air. Holy Moses, my lungs were burning. Of course, the burning in my lungs didn’t compare to the burning in my legs, which, as it turned out, was even worse than the jelly feeling. I seriously had no idea how I was going to go on. If we didn’t reach the top soon, Colt was going to have to go the rest of the way on his own.