A Groom With a View by Jill Churchill

Author:Jill Churchill [Churchill, Jill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: det_irony
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“I'll see if Daddy has anything for me to do and if not, I will rest for a while. This is very tiring and must be even more so for you, Jane."

“I don't mind," Jane said. "It's what I came here to do. And most of the hard work was the planning ahead.”

Jane stayed behind to tidy up the room a bit more. Shelley had gone to clean up the croquet set. The sounds of the football game had faded as Dwayne's friends had drifted back to the motel to change clothes and clean up for the bachelor party later.

There was only one seemingly untouched glass of champagne left. Mr. Willis came in and started clearing away the last of the plates and Jane made a dive for the drink before he could take it away.

“You did a lovely job, Mr. Willis," she said.

“And this really is delicious. No wonder they all had to stagger away.”

He nodded his gratitude. "I'm leaving for a while to pick up a few more things and have put salads and dinners in the refrigerator for you and Mrs. Nowack. Will Mr. VanDyne be staying for dinner, too?"

“I don't know. I haven't had much of a chance to speak to him."

“I'll leave enough for him, too, then.”

He shimmered off, Jeeves-like, and Jane sipped her champagne in blissful quiet. Which was interrupted a few minutes later by Dwayne Hessling. He looked upset.

“What's wrong?" she asked.

“I've been looking everywhere for you," he said furiously. "Come see.”

They met up with Shelley in the main room, loaded down with mallets, balls, and hoops. Sensing something was up, she dumped all of it on a chair and followed Jane and Dwayne to his room.

It had been trashed.

Drawers were pulled out and thrown about, even the empty ones. The contents of his suitcase had been strewn around the room. A bottle of aftershave had been poured all over the bed. In the bathroom, his toothpaste had been squeezed out all over the floor, his shaving gear was in the toilet on top of a wadded-up dress shirt.

“Oh, my gosh!" Shelley whispered.

“What's this about?" Dwayne demanded of Jane.

“I don't know," she said. "When did this happen?"

“While we were all outside," Dwayne said angrily. "I changed my clothes to play football."

“Dwayne, why would anybody do this?" Jane asked.

“Hell if I know."

“Somebody's really mad at you," Shelley said. "Nobody's got the right to do this to my things. And I want it cleaned up right now."

“Then let's clean it up," Jane said. She'd been sympathetic at first, but his orders, sounding so like Jack Thatcher's, were beginning to annoy her.

“I'm not in charge here, you are. I'm a guest," he sneered.

“You're Mr. Thatcher's guest. Want to ask him to muck around in your toilet?" Jane asked.

“I'm going to find a convenience store to get new toothpaste," he said. "I hope everything is in order when I get back.”

He stomped out, leaving Jane and Shelley red-faced and furious. They stared at each other for a long moment.

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