What Happened on Beale Street by Mary Ellis

Author:Mary Ellis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736961721
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

Wednesday morning, Nicki munched on a cold bagel and broke an orange into sections. The neighborhood grocery didn’t have fluffy croissants, and the packaged cheese had looked far too brightly colored to be natural. However, her financial outlay was far less than a twenty-eight-dollar room service bill added to Hunter’s tab.

Apparently, their night out on Beale Street had been a complete success. All Nate did was talk about everything that happened and repeat every word said, especially those uttered by Isabelle. If Nicki didn’t know better, she would think her cousin had a crush on Danny’s sister. Izzy had certainly loosened up quite a bit since their initial meeting. From her clandestine surveillance, Nicki spotted Izzy glancing at Nate when she thought he wasn’t looking—and vice versa. Yet Nicki knew nothing would come out of this. She and Nate would soon be heading south while Izzy remained here in the land of the Delta blues. Long distance relationships seldom worked.

Nate was also thrilled to get the names of other sax players. He planned to track down Leon Perkins today. Unfortunately, he had refused to let her tag along. Nate said the public housing described by the Blues Nation bandleader was no place for ladies to go. He apparently forgot why she was here, along with the fact her mother lived in subsidized housing in Natchez.

Not everyone in this world was rich… or even remotely middle class.

Nicki had seen poverty her entire life, from the soles of her shoes up to the tarpaper patches on Mamaw’s roof. She wouldn’t have been shocked or afraid.

Instead, she was trapped in her luxury suite waiting for Nicholas Bennett to return her call. The lawyer hadn’t been quite so polite when she called the first thing this morning. Perhaps it was because she forgot to use Clotilde’s accent. More likely it was because she started rambling about expensive gems.

“Tell me again who you represent, Miss Price.”

“Mr. Henry Prescott, a retired bellman of the Carlton Hotel. Mr. Prescott knew your grandparents, Horace and Betsy, during the fifties and considered them friends.”

Nicholas made a dismissive click of his tongue. “Even so, both of them have passed on. Any sort of reunion would be impossible.”

“I understand that, sir. But I’m piecing together the scavenger hunts for Henry in case other participants are still living. Because Horace and Betsy won in 1957, they would have planned the next year’s event. Do you know who won the 1958 hunt?”

“I haven’t the least idea,” Mr. Bennett said, sighing wearily.

“What about the prizes your grandparents won? Any idea what kind of matching jewelry they found hidden inside the hotel?”

“What exactly is this bellman after? Some kind of claim on my grandparents’ estate over a scavenger hunt prize?” His tone of boredom morphed into distrust.

“Absolutely not. He and I only wish to locate any surviving participants. I’m curious about the prizes only so I can piece together the past for Mr. Prescott. You have my word.”

Of course, the word of a stranger might not be worth much.

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