Room for Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

be Nancy’s first.
    Carrie dropped into her seat, hearing the leather sigh beneath her, and fumbled with the envelope, eventually pulling out three thin sheets of writing paper, all covered in Nancy’s sprawling purple ink.
    The first page was, as she’d expected, a message of love from her grandmother. The second bore an entreaty to treat the Seniors well, and to trust the staff Nancy had put in place. Nate will help you, if you let him. Trust him. He’s a good man now. Carrie’s mouth twisted up into a half smile. Nothing unexpected there, either, given that Nancy had included the Seniors’ bookings with the most important Inn documents. And she had always loved her staff.
    The third page was about the Avalon itself. And about Carrie.
    I know you love this place every bit as much as I do. And I know you’ll want to make it your own. Just remember, the Avalon is, and always has been, a home, first and foremost. Make it earn its keep, certainly. But never lose that love.
    Carrie folded the pages and returned them to the envelope, blinking against threatening tears. How could Nancy think the Avalon would ever be anything but home to her?
    She just needed it to be profitable, too.
    It was even later, now, and Carrie knew if she didn’t sleep soon, she’d never get half of what she needed done the next day. So she gathered up the files, tucked Nancy’s letter into the back of her notebook and headed into reception.
    With everyone gone, an eerie silence shrouded the inn. Carrie didn’t think she’d ever been all alone there before. There was always Nancy, or the staff, or the guests, or Puss.
    Which begged a question in itself. She could understand the absence of everyone else, but where was old Pusscat the Fourth? Nancy would have written if something had happened to him, which meant either no one had been looking after him since Nancy died, or else that he was skulking around somewhere, and she just had to find him. She could always rely on Pusscat for company on cold nights. Even if he did like to sleep on top of her head.
    Nate would know, she realized. He knew everything that went on around here, it seemed, and Nancy had trusted him. If anyone knew where Puss had got to, it would be him. Besides, if she went to find Nate, and Puss, she could put off fetching her suitcase from Nancy’s room for another half an hour or so, which was no bad thing at all.
    The autumn night was drawing in fast, the evening breeze chilly through the open doorway. Carrie dumped her files on the reception desk and grabbed a coat from the rack tucked away beside the front door, only realizing once she’d shut the door behind her that it was one of Nancy’s old knitted cardigans. It came down to Carrie’s knees, and the waist tie wrapped around twice, but the soft wool and the scent of roses comforted her enough to ignore even the garish cerise color.
    The summerhouse sat on the edge of the woods, through the gardens and past the fountain. Last time Carrie had been there, it had been filled to the rafters with Nancy’s boxes of junk. But theoretically it was a proper lodging; she’d even stayed there herself one summer when the inn proper was full. It would be interesting to see what Nate had done with the place.
    The lights of the summerhouse were visible from a way back, glowing yellow against the dark of the woods, warm and inviting. Carrie wrapped her cardigan tighter around her, and stepped up the three wooden steps to the door.
    Nate answered her knock quickly, a paperback in hand, and didn’t look in the least surprised to see her. Stepping aside with a quirk of a grin, he motioned her inside, and shut out the night air behind her.
    “Drink?” he offered, moving to the kitchenette in the corner of the main room, which held a microwave and mini fridge. “I’ve got wine or beer, I think. Or whiskey.” He looked up and saw her still hovering by the door and said, “Sit down, won’t you?”
    Still Carrie hesitated, as he