Early Check Out by Diane Capri

Author:Diane Capri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AugustBooks
Published: 2019-09-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Ginny and I drove around the main village for an hour, popping into every drinking establishment we came across, looking for Karl. We stopped by the historical society office again—the “ten-minute” sign was still on the door—and checked his apartment. Nothing. No sign of him. I thought briefly about visiting his sister, Dr. Neumann, at the hospital, but thought again—that might be bad form.

As we pulled away from the curb behind the historical society building and rolled out onto Main Street, my gaze swept over the ferry dock and where JC and Reggie always sat playing their game of chess.

“Stop the cart!”

Ginny jerked us to a stop in the middle of the road. A horse-drawn taxi honked its horn and came to a noisy halt behind us. “What?”

I pointed toward the dock. “There’s Karl.”

She pulled the cart over to the curb near the Swan Song bar, and we jumped out and hurried down the dock toward the ferry station. Karl seemed engaged in a lively conversation with Reggie and JC, based on his hands gesturing this way and that. When we approached and he noticed us, his hands dropped to his side, and he visibly sagged.

He knew why we were there.

“Hello, Karl,” I said evenly.

He held his hands up in front of him, palms out. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“Is that so?” I lifted an eyebrow at him.

He pouted like a schoolboy being scolded. “I should never have led Melanie on.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. And you’re an ass for doing so. But you are an even bigger ass for not calling her back and telling her the truth. That poor girl ordered a wedding cake, reception food, a wedding dress.”

Reggie got to his feet and smacked Karl in the back of the head. “What the hell did you do, boy?”

“He let this poor girl that he just met think he was going to marry her. Tonight.”

Reggie smacked him again before Karl could dodge out of the way.

Karl said, “I know. It’s just…we drank so much, and she is very persuasive.”

Ginny crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Tell me you are not going to put this whole debacle on her.”

He put his hand up to ward off Ginny’s anger. “I know. I know.”

“You have a chance to make it right,” I said.

“How?”

“Come with us to the hotel and talk to Melanie. Let her down easy. Tell her how beautiful and desirable she is, but you can’t get married.”

“I don’t want to break her heart,” he said, and I believed he actually meant it. Karl wasn’t a callous man. He was just a reckless one, especially when it came to women.

Ginny still tapped her foot. I waited. Reggie and JC seemed like they might give Karl a couple more whacks for good measure.

Karl looked at all of us, ran his hands through his long, dark hair, and sighed heavily. “Okay.”

We all piled into the golf cart and went back up the hill. When we reached the hotel, I

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