A Most Unpleasant Wedding

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Book: Read A Most Unpleasant Wedding for Free Online
Authors: Judith Alguire
Tags: Suspense
They’d beat anyone to a pulp if they caught it on them. The dining room, one step down through frosted French doors. The aroma of bacon and eggs and toast. The wide staircase with its curved banister. The elegant old elevator with its brass gate. He’d started as a scullery boy that first summer, worked his way up to janitor. The year before he left to go to college he’d graduated to bellhop and thought he knew everything there was to know about the operation of a hotel.
    His father had not been delighted when he informed him he’d be forgoing medical school. “Innkeeper,” he’d said. “Probably better than being a vaudevillian — although not much.” He’d worked in grander hotels during his apprenticeship, interned at more pretentious resorts, but not until he laid eyes on the Pleasant did he feel the thrill of having rediscovered the Baltimore.
    He considered his father’s words. Of course, he could have been a vaudevillian. He was almost as good a dancer as Fred Astaire. At least as good as Gene Kelly. Kelly didn’t have the body for dance, in his opinion. Always looked like a bull pirouetting about. He shrugged. Great dancers were a dime a dozen. “How many great innkeepers do you know?” he asked Margaret. She did not respond. He smiled. He knew what she would say: “You’re the best, Rudley.” That’s what she would say.
    The fudge was ready. Tim helped himself to a piece. “I saw Officer Owens in town today.” He winked at Gregoire. “He looked rather dashing.”
    Tiffany gave Tim a frosty look. “How very nice for you.”
    Gregoire gave the counter a wipe. “It is better than having him here, which we do all too frequently.” He paused. “He is always welcome, of course, in his unofficial capacity.”
    Tiffany looked away. “Officer Owens’ activities are of no concern to me.”
    Tim and Gregoire exchanged glances.
    After a long pause, Tiffany said, “I’ve had second thoughts about Officer Owens. I’m not sure we’re compatible.”
    Gregoire rolled his eyes. “Just last week you were telling us it was refreshing to have an uncomplicated relationship. You said that was the problem with your previous situations. That your beaux were oozing with existential angst and performance anxieties about their iambic pentameters and arpeggios.”
    She gave him a defiant look, then relented. “You’re right. I did say that.”
    Tim made a pretence of searching his memory. “Let me see, you said you liked the fact he was transparent, that you didn’t feel he was playing games. You said he was easy to be with. Thoughtful. Unlike Officer Semple who, although he could play a musical instrument, was self-involved.”
    She folded her arms. “True.”
    Tim raised his brows. “So?”
    â€œHe’s not sufficiently challenging.”
    Gregoire removed his apron. “I do not understand this business of a challenge.” He balled up his cap, stuffed it into his pocket. “You are attracted to someone. You do things together you enjoy. You go to fine restaurants. You eat magnificent food, drink excellent wines. Perhaps you prepare gourmet meals together. You go to the theatre. After, you stop at the café for dessert and cappuccino. You travel, sample the local cuisine. What is it with these complications and challenges?”
    Tiffany looked at him, bewildered.
    Tim straightened his tie. “What Gregoire is trying to say is that you don’t need to subject your soul to constant nitpicking. You hook up with someone you like and go with the flow.”
    Gregoire sniffed. “I think I said it more eloquently.”
    Tiffany turned away, turned back, lower lip quivering. “The truth is I’ve learned something disturbing about Officer Owens. Something unforgivable.”
    Gregoire’s eyes blazed. “He has been unfaithful. I

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