He wiped his eyes with his fingers, then lifted the replacement key form. A few extra chuckles escaped. She’d signed this document, as well as the registration, Penny Lane. Jack shook his head again. Did she really expect him to believe her parents had named her after a Beatles song?
Jack lifted his gaze to the front door. She’d given a Los Angeles address when she’d registered. Who was she? And why would someone from Los Angeles spend a month at a cabin in Trinity Falls, Ohio, by herself under a fake name?
“Benita, when you told me you’d made a reservation for me at a vacation rental cabin, I thought you meant one with other people,” Audra grumbled into her cellular phone to her business manager, Benita Hawkins.
Although still tired from the red-eye flight from California to Ohio, she felt much more human after she’d showered and dressed.
“There aren’t any people there?” Benita sounded vaguely intrigued.
“The only things here are trees, a lake, and a taciturn registration clerk.” Audra’s lips tightened. Her manager wasn’t taking her irritation seriously.
“Hmmm. Even better.”
Audra glared at her phone before returning it to her ear. She could picture the other woman seated behind her cluttered desk, reviewing e-mails and mail while humoring her. “What do you mean, ‘even better’?”
“I told you that you needed a change to get over your writer’s block. You’re having trouble coming up with new songs because you’re in a rut. You see the same people. Go to the same places. There’s nothing new or exciting in your life.”
That was harsh.
Audra stared out the window at the tree line. She’d noticed right away that none of the windows had curtains. The lack of privacy increased the cabin’s creepiness factor.
A modest lawn lay like an amnesty zone between her and a lush spread of evergreen and poplar trees, which circled the cabin like a military strike force. In the distance, she could see sunlight bouncing on the lake like shards of glass on the water. The area was isolated. Audra didn’t do isolated. She’d texted her parents after she’d checked into the cabin to let them know she’d arrived safely. Maybe she should have waited.
“This place is like Mayberry’s version of the Bates Motel.” She turned from the window. “How is this supposed to cure my insomnia?”
“Writing will cure your insomnia.”
“Have you been to these cabins?”
“No. When I was growing up in Trinity Falls, Harmony Cabins went into bankruptcy and was abandoned. They’ve only recently been renovated.”
“I’m coming home.” But first she’d take a nap. The red-eye flight was catching up with her. She wasn’t safe to drive back to the airport.
The cabin itself was lovely. The great room’s walls, floors, and ceiling were made of gleaming honey wood. The granite stone fireplace dominated the room. But a large flat-screen, cable-ready television reassured her she’d have something to do at night. The comfortable furnishings that were missing from the main cabin were scattered around this room, an overstuffed sofa and fat fabric chairs. The dark décor was decidedly masculine. That would explain the lack of curtains at the windows. Men probably didn’t think about details like that.
“You promised me you’d give it thirty days, Audra.” The clicking of Benita’s computer keyboard sounded just under her words. “I sent the rental a nonrefundable check for the full amount of your stay in advance.”
Audra frowned. Benita’s check had allowed her to register as Penny Lane. “It was your check, but my money. If I want to cancel this anti-vacation vacation, I will.”
They both recognized the empty threat. The cost of a monthlong stay at a rental cabin was too much to waste.
Benita’s exasperated sigh traveled twenty-four hundred miles and three time zones through the cell phone. “You owe the record producer three hit songs in four weeks. How are they coming?”
Audra ground her teeth. Her deadline was August 4, twenty-five days from today. Benita knew very well she hadn’t made any progress on the project. “How can you believe this place is the solution? You’ve never even been here.”
“Do you really think I’d send you someplace that wasn’t safe? I have family in Trinity Falls. If there were serial killers there, I’d know.”
Audra tugged her right earlobe. She was angry because she was scared, and scared because she was outside her comfort zone. “I don’t want to be here. It’s not what I’m used to.”
“That’s why you need to be there. And this is the best time. Trinity Falls is celebrating its sesquicentennial. The town’s hosting its Founders Day Celebration on August ninth. I’ll be there.”
“One hundred fifty years. That’s impressive.”
Benita chuckled. “I’ll see you in a month.”
Audra stared at her cell phone. Her manager had ended their call. “I guess that means I’m staying.” She shoved her cell phone into the front pocket of her tan jeans shorts and turned back to the window. “In that case, I’ll need curtains.”
The chimes above the main cabin’s front door sang. With three keystrokes, Jack locked his laptop and pushed away from his desk. The cabins had had more activity today than they’d ever had before.