Paradise Inn (eBook)

Maureen Anaya (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017 | 1. Auflage
100 Seiten
First Edition Design Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-5069-0492-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Jill Moore was elated when receiving the news her husband won a jingle contest conducted by Sweet's Jam Company. The prize: as Bed and Breakfast Inn with a very historical past. Located in a small town of Owensville, which was in an agricultural area. There were few buildings in the town, a post office, grocery store, old Civil War bunkers, a railroad station and the inn.Little did Jill and Tom Moore know other winners lasted less than a year as inn keepers. The question remained whether it was the Owen Clan who consistently had the inn under surveillance and seemed to own most of the town or Sadie, a ghost, who reportedly haunted the inn?Jill kept a secret from her husband, which would come into play when she found herself being transported, on a train, to an unknown destination. When Jill awoke from her sleepwalking, she was in the train's luggage compartment and luckily, none of the Owens detected her presence; however, she witnessed their illegal dealings as foreigners were transported from the Canadian border to Owensville to work in the fields and given fictitious names. There were other questionable activities in the town.When safely back at the inn, she confided in her husband, Tom, about the event. They decided to keep it quiet until one of the illegals came into the inn, through a secret passageway, and allegedly stole expensive jewelry from one of the guest. It triggered off an investigation, which involved the insurance company and Jill viewing the perpetrator blurted out his fictitious name in front of the investigator causing her to be summons to a hearing on the matter; however, before the event was to take place the so called thief was killed by one of the Owen Clan and Jill's life was in danger because she knew too much.

Textauszug

Chapter 2 - THE INN

 

 

Jill observed the downtown area as they passed through on their way to the main highway. Thoughts of the familiar places and memories of past events flowed through her mine. She realized that, if they moved, the contact with friends and relatives would be strained. Tom cautiously maneuvered through a congested area, onto a main highway then into the unknown. Jill pondered what life would be like as innkeeper’s wife in the remote town of Owensville. They would still live in Vermont but in a different demographic location, on a waterway, adjacent to New York State.

“What do you know about the inn and Owensville?” Jill queried

The award committee spokesperson told me that the town of Owensville is mostly farm land, lots of crops. It has an inn, a few houses, a post office, grocery store and a diner. If you want to do some serious shopping, you’ll have to go to another town.

“I guess you’ve been checking out the winning,” Jill remarked.

“I tried to check out the information Sweet’s Jam Company told me about the inn, strangely the town has a unique rail system, which runs adjacent to the inn. The inn’s historical background is rooted in the past: however, I’m not too sure these stories are true. We’ll have to check out the winning property since it doesn’t designate an owner’s name.  The inn has been renovated several times; therefore, a lot of the past design has been lost but the upgrade brings it up to current building standards.”

“I guess they need a rail service to transport their produce to various markets.”

“They were vague on its use when I asked,” Tom replied.

It was chilly and the rain increased in intensity; therefore, Tom put the heater on full blast while Jill put her jacket on and sat back comfortably while soaking in the information about the inn. The car radio belted out some oldies and the couple seemed to be absorb in deep thoughts as they drove toward Owensville.

“Look! The road is starting to follow the waterway, which leads to Owensville,” Tom exclaimed.

A fisherman sat, on the banks of the East Bay River, pole in hand waiting for a big catch oblivious to the pouring rain.

“It’s too cold and rainy for that man to be fishing,” Jill commented as they passed by.

“Tough guy,” Tom commented.

They traveled, a few miles then turned at an intersection marked Owensville following a sign with an arrow directing them toward the town.

They noticed acres upon acres of farmland, which encompassed a large amount of area as they drove into outskirts, of the town, and admired the blooming foliage on each side of the road.

“I wonder what type of crops they grow and how they are harvested,” Jill inquired.

“The company was not sure.”

The narrow road, in town, led them past the post office, a few houses, and a grocery store. The only activity was in the diner where a large number of people seem to congregate; otherwise, the town was quiet. Tom followed a sign, which directed them to Paradise Inn. As he pulled up, in front of the inn, a breathtaking view, of the Tongue Mountain Range appeared across the waterway. The inn was a three story structure, which stood proudly displaying several centuries of endurance; however, it had been recently renovated and painted beige with green trim, which seem to mask the true historical value of the inn. A mansard style roof with five large attic windows gave the inn a European Ambiance. A newly constructed wrap around porch encircled the building along with enlarged steps and a side ramp for the handicapped guests.

“This area is absolutely breathtaking,” Jill remarked.

Tom took her hand as they walked up the stairs to the inn’s entry door. They both felt pride belonging to this historical relic, which seemed to seal their decision on whether to accept the winning. The huge antique door knocker and knob was inscribed with symbols and faces of unusual significance.

The door opened as soon as the knocker hit the oak door and a middle aged plump woman stood, in the doorway, to greet them. They surmised it was Mrs. Stable and noticed an artificial aura about her judging from the bleached blonde hair, heavy make-up and mascara around her hazel eyes: Sadly the woman was trying to recapture her youth. The aroma of heavy perfume seemed to permeate from her, which could be offensive to some guests.

“You must be Mr. and Mrs. Moore. I’m Stella Stable,” she introduced herself.

“You don’t have to be formal with us. Just call us by our first names. I’m Jill and this is my husband Tom.”

“Did you accept the inn yet? You are so lucky this is a very old and historical inn,” Mrs. Stable informed.

“No, we want to spend a week end here before we decide,” Tom stated.

“I’ve assisted the previous owners and have been here for several years; therefore, there is a system in place that I’ve developed over the years and it seems to be working since there are a lot of returning guests. I hope you don’t intend to change the way I run the inn,” Stella remarked.

“We don’t know anything about running an inn; therefore, feel free to continue as before. Jill could help with breakfast, if that works for you,” Tom said.

“Well, that sounds fine. Sweets Jam company spokesperson gave me some information on your backgrounds. “Jill is a Home Economics teacher and you work in the computer field. You’ll need a lot of training to run an inn; however, I could use help in the kitchen,” Stella remarked. “Come this way I’ll show you to your room.”

They followed Stella down a long hallway, passing doors with various numbers until they came to number 5 where she stopped and inserted a key card in the door. “I hope this is satisfactory. Jane, our chambermaid, does an excellent job keeping the inn clean. Have a good rest,” she forced a smile then left the couple.

“I guess we’ll go over to the diner before we turn in. I hope winning this inn is a good omen because I didn’t get the feeling Stella was happy about our arrival,” Tom speculated.

“We only need her around for a year then we can take over full management of the inn,” Jill replied. She glanced around the room and felt a sense of belonging. She admired the decorative four poster bed with a lovely canopy top cover with a material pattern matching the bedspread, pillow sham, and curtains. The room had a full closet, two old oak bureaus and a rocking chair sitting idle in front of a propane fireplace, which had an automatic temperature control. Jill went over and turned it on low.

“What are you doing?” Tom inquired.

“When we come back from the diner; the room should be warm,” Jill explained.

After unpacking, showering and changing clothes, they headed to the diner. As they walked down a quiet dark street a shadowy figure, leaning against a lamppost, observed their movements. The diner was quiet as they entered observing only two customers, one drinking coffee at the counter and the other playing pinball; otherwise, the booths were vacant. When they selected a booth, a waitress approached the table to take an order. Tom noticed her nametag was inscribed with the name Jane and he asked her if she knew anything about the inn.

“Yes, I work there,” Jane replied.

“We’re Mr. and Mrs. Moore. We won the inn,” Tom informed. He expected a congratulatory response; however, her face took on a pallid look almost as though she was scared or saw a ghost.

“I don’t know if I that’s a good thing. I’ll take your order now,” Jane requested.

“We’ll have the special with coffee. Do you want to explain the reason why you don’t think it’s a good deal?” Tom queried.

“I can’t say now,” she replied and turned to place their order; however the man, previously playing pinball, blocked her way.

“If you say anything to them. You’ll live to regret it,” the acme skinned, red faced, man sporting a visor cap, pulled over his face to partially hide his appearance said in a gravelly voice.

“I didn’t say anything about the inn,” she retorted.

He stepped, to the side, and let her continue placing the order. “Be sure you don’t,” he threatened.

“I wonder what that’s about.” Tom addressed Jill.

“I don’t know. Something about the inn,” she stated.

The strange oversized man with the visor cap left the diner.

When Jane returned with the food, Tom inquired about the incident.

“Just that the inn is haunted. I guess he didn’t want to scare you,” she replied as she placed the two dinner specials on the table and proceeded to get the couple coffee. After pouring the beverage she left the check, on the table, avoiding further conversation.

Two men built like lumber jacks came into the diner addressing each other in a foreign language. They gave Tom and Jill a menacing glance. Jane showered special attention on the attractive men, flirting and seemingly trying to get a date. One spoke in broken English to Jane. “You nice, attractive thin woman, black hair, blue eyes. I like you. Date me?”

“I’m not married. I’ll think about it,” she said.

“Nice looking woman,” he said to the other man who nodded his head and didn’t seem to understand much English.

“I wonder where they came from?” Jill queried in a low voice.

“Probably tourists,” Tom acknowledged.

They left the money on the table and walked hand in hand down a dark deserted street unaware of the stranger watching them from afar.

Exhausted the couple wearily accomplished their nightly tasks and slipped into...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.10.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror ► Krimi / Thriller
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 1-5069-0492-0 / 1506904920
• ISBN-13: 978-1-5069-0492-4 / 9781506904924