The Hotel - 20

"May I buy you a drink?" Edwin asked as I was walking to the elevator after dinner. "You look like you could use one."

"No kidding. Sure, why not." I chuckled. "It's not as if it's going to cost you anything."

"I don't get the liquor for free," he replied, huffing. Then he laughed. "Don't I wish?"

We went into the cocktail lounge, which was empty at the moment with the exception of Vern behind the bar.

"This is so frustrating," I said, taking a seat on one of the stools. "I look at them, wondering if one of them is guilty of murder."

"Maybe I could—" Edwin was interrupted by Vern asking what we'd like to drink. I don't know why, and I was probably wrong, but I had the feeling Vern had done that to keep Edwin from finishing his sentence. Whether he had or not, it broke our concentration because when I ordered a draw, Edwin tried to convince me to try something stronger. "It will help you relax," he said.

"Probably too much," I replied.

"Why is that a problem?"

"I don't like losing control."

Edwin nodded. "I remember, now. You did say one beer was your limit."

I chuckled. "I don't think I quantified how many, though that's usually the case."

By the time Vern set my beer and Edwin's whiskey in front of us I decided I wanted to shelve any talk about Tessa and all that involved. Instead, I asked Edwin if he'd always lived here, "Meaning the mansion."

"No. I grew up hundreds of miles north of here. The place belonged to my great-uncle. When he died I was his only surviving relation so it passed on to me." He took a sip of his drink, smiled wryly, and said, "Moving here was the last thing I wanted to do, until I saw it. If you can fall in love with a building, I did."

"Of course you can and I can see why you did. It's spectacular—the mansion and the surroundings."

"I agree. I moved in and set to work refurbishing it with the help of a couple of men from town. Henry and his brother, to be precise. They're sort of jacks-of-all-trades. It wasn't until we got started that I realized quite how huge it was. I said something about it to Henry…" He chortled. "Several times, actually. It was his idea to turn it into a quality hotel for people who wanted to get away from the city life for a weekend or a week, but weren't interested in a ski resort. He introduced me to Logan, whose wife was friends with Felicia. The rest is history."

"And you'll be here until the day you die."

"I will, which hopefully is well in the future."

I looked at him, trying to determine his age. "At least fifty years, if not more," I said.

"Given that I'm only thirty, I hope so."

I caught Vern smiling knowingly at Edwin's reply and wondered what that was about. If I hadn't known Vern was straight I might have thought he and Edwin had something going on between them.