Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 95311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
To his right a door opened and a elderly woman with salt-and-pepper hair and keen blue eyes popped her head into the hallway. "You looking for her?" she asked, her face pinched in concern. "Who are ya? I know she don't have a boyfriend."
Elliott tried to offer a less cross face, his lip hinting upward at the side. Just enough to look friendly but not seem like he was putting on a show. "No. I'm her employer," he supplied and noticed the woman's wariness ease a bit. "I got a note that she wasn't going to be back for two weeks but she left no reason why. I was concerned."
"Ah," the woman said, stepping into the hall halfway in her lavender colored sweatpants and white sweatshirt. A small gold cross hung from her neck. "Yeah, it was weird. She's usually so quiet. But as soon as she got in last night, all I heard was noise. And then I heard her door open real early this morning. I was up, I don't really sleep much anymore. And so I got up and looked out and there she was in the hallway with a few bags and a couple cups of coffee. Looked like she was going on a road trip somewhere."
"Hmm," Elliott said, trying to sound nonchalant, "that's odd. Alright, well thanks for your time. If she comes back, please tell her to give me a call," he said, automatically reaching for a business card and handing it to her. "I just want to make sure she's alright."
But he wasn't going to wait for the nosy neighbor to phone him and tell him she had finally returned home. He needed to find her. He needed to set things straight. To get all this stuff off his mind, to get her out of his mind, so he could focus.
Without giving it much thought, he packed a bag, told Sally to cancel his plans for the next week and got in his car.
He didn't have much to go on. But a quick internet search of Stars Landing gave him the general location of a very small town in rural Pennsylvania. Chances were her parents still lived there. He couldn't imagine why one would live in a small town their whole lives and then move in their forties or fifties.
It had been well after five when he finally got onto the road. And he was in for many long, grueling hours of bright headlights ahead of him. He hit traffic as soon as he crossed over into Jersey and was stuck in bumper-to-bumper until almost eight o'clock at night.
By the time his GPS told him he needed to take a right and then a left and he would be at his destination, it was deep in the dark hours of morning. He cursed, rubbing his sleep-deprived eyes and following the instructions. Then he saw it. The same white sign with blue and silver writing.
Welcome to Stars Landing.
He worried, perhaps a bit too late, what the hell he was thinking. He should have found a hotel in one of the busier towns he had passed through. He certainly wouldn't be finding Hannah at that hour. What were the chances that a town like this had a place open that he could stay at?
He had been driving through hills and fields for hours before even pulling into Hannah's hometown. He hadn't been prepared for how small of a town this was. It was straight out of 1930's rural America. There was a main street which, he noticed with a laugh, was called Main Street. On each side were a few small mom-and-pop businesses: a diner, small market, book store, bar, and others. All long dark, making the town look eerie and abandoned.
He wasn't used to finding things closed. Everywhere he frequented he could find convenience stores and restaurants open all night.
He drove a few moments, passing old historic buildings, perfectly up kept. A library. A museum. Small town things in these grand old structures. Then he saw a light ahead, down a bit from all the other places, settled grandly on a corner. An inn. With the lights on.
Elliott parked his car, but left his bags, expecting to find a locked door. The building was falling into slight disrepair, but it was gorgeous, an old Victorian house with wrap around porches on both levels. Its white paint was chipping as was the green paint on all the shutters. There were window boxes overflowing with white and red flowers under every single window.
Elliott turned the door and found it unlocked and it opened with a chime of a bell. He stepped into the main entrance, met immediately by a large wood staircase in front of him and a sitting room to his left decorated with faded chaise lounges and captains chairs. A fire was still burning in the fireplace. To his right was a reception area, a large boxed-shaped area, open only slightly on one side for employees to walk in and out. The desk was large and a deep polished wood. On it was the usual fax machine and computer, land line phone and paperwork. On the wall behind was a rack with keys and a section of cubby holes full of various items- clothing, mail.