Twelve Months of Kristal: 50 Loving States Maine

“Rodge, stop being a baby and let me in!” Melvin pounds on the locked doors. “I don’t want to lose this friendship, and I know you don’t either. That’s why you rushed to my house to save me. Open the door! You’re just being stubborn.

Melvin bangs on the doors so hard, they rattle in protest.

I wince. But Rodge simply gives his computer a few more taps, before looking up to ask us, “So you’re finally checking out today. Wanna settle this huge bill of yours now?”

“Yes,” Hayato says, heading directly toward the reception desk.

I wouldn’t call Hayato cold. More like really on task. I should be too, but I can’t stand the sight of Melvin pounding on the door. It looks like it’s freezing out there. And humans don’t have a revved-up body temperature like elves.

“I’m just going to…” I say, inching toward the door.

“Let him in, and I’ll triple bill your boyfriend for your stay,” Rodge answers, his voice as hard as a stone.

“Sorry,” I mouth to Melvin, throwing him an apologetic look before mincing over to join Hayato at the desk.

“C’mon!” Melvin calls out behind me. “Don’t listen to him. He won’t really do it. He’s all bark and no bite.”

“Here’s all your room charges, including incidentals,” Rodge says, pushing the bill toward Hayato. “Just sign right there, and we’ll get you on your way.”

Hayato’s pen hovers. And though I can’t see Rodge’s mother, I can tell she must be yelling at him something fierce.

A faint grimace passes over his face before he signs his name to Rodge’s bill.

I wait, hoping that Hayato will finally give Rodge’s mother and me the answer he refused to utter upstairs. But he simply hands the receipt back to Rodge with a head bow and a black card.

To be fair, Hayato’s newly out of the supernatural closet. I shouldn’t be surprised. But I am kind of disappointed when I end up having to resort to plan B.

“Hey, Rodge, a question for you,” I say, plopping my sketchbook on the reception desk’s countertop. “Is this your mom?”

Hayato stiffens beside me as Rodge pulls up his readers to look at the picture. “She never wore her hair braided like that.”

“So I’ve been told. But can you imagine her with a loose bun instead?”

“Yeah, that was her,” Rodge answers. A wary expression comes over his face. “What’d you see a picture of her in the hallway or something?”

“No, actually, this just in. Your inn is riddled with spirits, and one of them’s your mother. And get this, she has a message she wants to be passed on to you.”

Rodge freezes in the middle of taking the signed receipt back. “What’s that now?”

“Your inn—”

“Were you two going to sneak out of here without saying goodbye to old Maeve?” Maeve’s voice cuts me off.

We turn to see her coming toward us from the dining room. Declan and Siobhan are right behind her.

“No, of course not,” I answer.

“Unfortunately, with the plane awaiting our arrival, we do not have time for breakfast,” Hayato says beside me.

“But we totally would have stopped in to say goodbye before we left,” I assure her.

Hayato nods. “Yes, of course. I would also like to thank you for your hospitality.”

“No thank you needed. If not for you, my Decky would have never come to his senses about this perfect match he left back here in Maine.”

“And Ma would never have gone to the doctor,” Declan adds, with a pointed sideways glance at his mother.

“Maeve, Declan, Siobhan, let me in!” Melvin calls out on the other side of the door.

“Jayzus, is he still here?” Siobhan asks. “Uncle Rodge just let him in. It’s colder than a witch’s tit today.”

“If he’s still out here when I return from dropping Mr. Nakamura and Kristal at the airport, I’m opening the door,” Declan informs him, his voice military hard.

“Do it, and our agreement about you taking over the inn is done for.”

Maeve shakes her head at her boss. “Janey Mac, Rodge, why are you being so cruel to that poor man? This really isn’t like you!”

Okay, c’mon now. Even I have to shoot Maeve a skeptical look after she says that. This is so like him from what I’ve seen. Rodge is one of the grumpiest people I’ve ever met in the real world. It’s like she’s talking about a totally different person when it comes to him.

Rodge’s lips thin. Then he turns back to Hayato and me. “If you’re done spouting off about your ghost nonsense, I’d be happy to show you to the side door. Declan can get the shuttle from out front and pull it around for you. Feel free to run over Melvin if he gets in your way.”

“What ghost nonsense?” Maeve asks. Then her eyes widen on me. “Oh bless the fairy, you can see ghosts, too? If so, could we possibly do a wee séance before you leave? There are a couple of questions I wanted to ask my terrible da about why he left my mother. It’s been sitting on my soul for such a long time.”