Free Dancing in the Dark by Mary Jane Clark Page A

Gates.”
    “Is Matthew Voigt registered?”
    Carlos consulted his book again. “No. Just Mr. Gates.”
    Diane shrugged. “Well, that still doesn’t explain why we don’t have
a fourth room for ourselves.”
    “Gee, I’m sorry, Ms. Mayfield. I wish we had another room for you,
but we don’t. Everything is booked solid at this time of year. As it
is, we’ve reopened the top floor to accommodate you. We had been
working up there to have some really nice rooms ready for the fall.”
    Diane looked at him with alarm.
    “Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “It’s not a disaster area up there.
Kip and I worked all night getting things ready for you. We really are
hoping to draw in people from the city, and we consider this a big
opportunity. We want you to be satisfied.”

     
    As they entered the first room, Diane was charmed. The walls were
painted a pale lemon yellow with bright white gloss on the baseboard
and window trim. Twin brass beds were well polished and covered with
clean, white, hand-crocheted spreads. A blue knotted rug decorated with
garlands of yellow and white summer flowers covered the middle of the
waxed pine floor. A series of botanical prints matted in blue and
framed in white had been artfully hung. There were candles on the
Victorian-style oak dresser, and a small pile of books and magazines
were stacked on the bottom shelf of the night table between the beds.
    “I call this room.”
    Diane turned to see Michelle in the doorway. She tried to keep her
eyes trained on her daughter’s face rather than on her body.
    “Somebody’s going to have to double up, honey,”
    “Not me. C’mon, Mom. I want my own room.” Michelle walked over to
the window and pulled back the eyelet curtain. “Look. This one has a
great view of the beach.” There was more enthusiasm in her daughter’s
voice than Diane had heard in a long while.
    Diane looked at Emily while figuring out the arrangements in her
head. Anthony should have a room to himself. That left two rooms for
the three females. But would it be better if Michelle wasn’t left alone?
    “What do you think, Em?”
    “I don’t mind sharing, if you don’t.”
    “All right,” Diane decided. “We won’t be in the rooms that much
anyway. You can have this one, Michelle.”
     
    Carlos beckoned to them to follow him across the hall. “Well, then,
that decides who will get the other rooms. There’s a double bed in the
Nautical Room and twin beds in the Shell Room. So, Anthony, this is
your room.”
    Again, Diane was pleased. Pale blue walls, white trim, a fresh navy
bedspread on the knobbed pine bed. The prints on these walls displayed
sailing vessels, and a sisal rug covered the floor.
    Anthony nodded, grudging but approving as he tried out the mattress.
“Not bad.”
    “Okay then. On to the Shell Room.” Carlos led them down the hallway,
stopping at a small doorway. “Here’s the bathroom.”
    “
The bathroom? As in the only bathroom?” Michelle asked with
alarm. Carlos nodded.
    “It’s not the end of the world, Michelle, if we have to share a
bathroom,” Diane said, trying to keep the annoyance from her tone.
    “I’m sorry there’s only one bathroom up here,” Carlos apologized.
“We plan to put in another one, but for now there are plenty of clean
towels, and we will collect and replace them every day.”
    “It’s no problem at all, Carlos,” Diane said, refraining from giving
Michelle the withering glance she felt her daughter deserved. “This
will be just fine.”
     
    A few minutes later, Diane and Emily were dividing up the drawers
and unpacking their things. “Smell this sachet,” Diane said as she held up the silk pouch she had
pulled from the dresser drawer. “They’ve thought of everything, haven’t
they?”
    Emily laughed. “What do you expect, Di?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Duh. Carlos and his partner are gay.”
    Diane shrugged her shoulders as she replaced the sachet in the
drawer. “Well, they sure know