Matched by Moonlight. Gina Wilkins

hoped it might. Barely giving Serena a chance to murmur a nice-to-meet-you, she nudged her daughter aside and offered her right hand to Dan in a regal gesture. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Phelan. We’re delighted to have you as a guest at my daughter’s wedding. I know you’ll write a lovely story about it. We’ve worked very hard for the past year planning every detail.”

      Dan shook her hand only long enough for civility, though his tone was cordial enough. “I’m sure the wedding will be beautiful. But you should understand that I’m here to write about the inn and other local attractions, and why future couples would want to book events here. I’ll use your daughter’s wedding only as an example of the services offered here.”

      A loud thump from the table made everyone turn instinctively to look. Eva’s almost-five-year-old grandson had helped himself to a pastry from the plate and was cramming it enthusiastically into his mouth, scattering crumbs and smearing glaze across his face. Added to the stress of the preparations for the rapidly approaching wedding, Eva was babysitting her grandson while his travel-agent parents were away on a business trip. Kinley had been assured by Eva that the trip had been unavoidable, but Serena’s brother and sister-in-law had promised to be back the day before the wedding. Eva sighed loudly. “Grayson, you know you’re supposed to ask Grandmother before you touch anything.”

      The boy glanced at her, but didn’t slow down on his munching. Eva turned back to Dan. “Grayson is my son’s child. He is going to be the ring bearer, aren’t you, darling?”

      “I’m thirsty,” the boy said around a mouthful of soggy pastry.

      “I’ll get you a glass of milk,” Bonnie offered, pulling out a chair for him and offering him a napkin. “Eva, Serena, can I get you some coffee? Or iced tea, perhaps? Feel free to help yourself to a pastry, if you like.”

      Taking advantage of the opportunity to escape, Kinley spoke to Dan. “Why don’t I show you around while Bonnie chats with Serena and her mother? If you ladies will excuse us.”

      Without giving Eva a chance to detain them longer, Kinley took Dan’s arm to rush him out of the dining room and into the foyer.

      He smiled knowingly at her when they were alone. “A challenging customer, huh?”

      Because she would never gossip about a customer, Kinley merely smiled. “We do our best to satisfy even the most exacting client. I’m sure Serena and her mother will be very happy with the services we’ll provide for the wedding Saturday. Now, shall we begin our tour? I thought we’d start inside and then view the gardens.”

      Taking her cue to change the subject, Dan slipped into a professional manner that matched hers. He removed a small camera from the bag he slung over his shoulder by a thin strap. “Maybe you’d like to stand beside the reception desk? I want to take some preliminary photos during our tour. I’ll try to capture the welcoming atmosphere of this foyer. That chandelier is great, by the way.”

      Kinley automatically straightened her cardigan as she moved to the desk. Though she hadn’t been prepared specifically for photos today, she felt somewhat vindicated in her style choices by knowing her outfit was quite appropriate for a magazine shot. Maybe she’d have added a bit more color had she known, but this would do.

      “The chandelier is original to the inn,” she said. “As is the desk.”

      Dan was already focusing on her, his gaze fixed on the camera screen. She didn’t see how he was going to get the chandelier in that shot, but maybe he just wanted a close-up of her and the desk this time.

      “I read the history of the inn you emailed me,” he commented absently, still looking at her image on the screen. “Built by your great-grandfather in the mid-1930s. He and his wife ran it until their son, Leo Finley, eventually took it over. Leo kept the inn open until his wife died some twenty years ago, after which it was closed until you and your brother and sister inherited the place.”

      She smiled in approval. “You did read the history.”

      After snapping a couple more shots, he looked up from the camera. “I try to be prepared.”

      She nodded. “That’s my motto, too.”

      He chuckled. “Why does that not surprise me?”

      They grinned at each other in a moment of silent communication that felt oddly like bonding—as if they already knew each other, in a way, even though they’d met only an hour or so earlier. Brushing off such uncharacteristic foolishness, she stepped away from the desk and motioned toward the staircase as she went back into her tour-guide spiel. “We have five suites upstairs, the other four very similar to yours. Two handicap-accessible suites are on this main floor. We aren’t set up for children, so we accept only guests over the age of twelve. We direct callers with younger children to several local motels that are more family oriented.”

      “A nice little perk for your guests who want to get away from kids,” he murmured.

      She nodded and continued, “Bonnie lives full-time downstairs in the basement apartment. It’s accessible only from the outside, to keep it separate from the inn. Uncle Leo converted it into living quarters for himself and his wife many years ago, and that was where he continued to live even after he closed the inn. We had it renovated for Bonnie’s use. We use the attic for storage.”

      “You don’t live here?”

      Leading him toward the common parlor, she shook her head. “I spend the night downstairs occasionally, especially when we want to get an early start the next day, but I rent a house nearby.”

      “And your brother?”

      “Logan lives in the caretaker’s cottage at the back of the property, just down the hillside from the gazebo.”

      Dan nodded thoughtfully. “So you all work together but you’ve managed to maintain private residences. Good idea.”

      She smiled over her shoulder before entering the room they called the parlor. “We know that even the closest of siblings should give each other plenty of space, especially if they want to remain close.”

      “I don’t have any siblings, myself, but that sounds like a reasonable philosophy.”

      “We think so.” Entering the parlor, she greeted the couple who sat on one of the comfortable sofas, both studying the screen of a tablet computer one of them held. They looked up when she and Dan came into the room. “Dan, this is Travis Cross and Gordon Monroe, who are visiting us for a few days. Guys, meet Dan Phelan, a travel writer who’s staying in room 203.”

      After exchanging polite greetings, Gordon explained, “Travis and I were just looking at a list of nearby attractions, trying to decide how to spend the day. We’re thinking about driving down to Wytheville and checking out a few of the museums.”

      “Good choice,” Kinley assured them. The inn was located close to the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford area, bordered by the Blue Ridge Mountains on the south and the Allegheny Mountains to the north. Historic Wytheville was less than an hour’s drive south. She would be sure and encourage Dan to mention the many local attractions in his article.

      Travis and Gordon obligingly posed in conversation with Kinley for Dan to snap a few photos of the common room in use. Dan thanked them for their cooperation, but Kinley could tell the couple rather liked the idea of appearing in the magazine. Dan chose several angles to maximize the view of the room Bonnie had decorated in inviting Southern style. Kinley considered igniting the gas logs for the photos, but decided to leave it alone for now. Maybe they would take more photos in here before he left, perhaps with a crackling fire in the background.

      Two games tables were positioned at the far side of the room, and an eclectic assortment of games were displayed on nearby shelves. As Travis and Gordon departed for their museum outing, Kinley explained to Dan that almost every evening guests gathered around those tables for games and socializing. “They tell us it’s nice to simply unplug their electronics for a few hours and play some old-fashioned board games, face-to-face with other people.”