"Should I call him again?" Dixie paced around her room. Lying stomach-down on the bed, Sarah looked up from the magazine she was reading.
"Sure, honey, go for it."
"I don't want to look too pushy. He might not even be here, what if he's out of town?" Waiting like this was already wearing on her. She began to panic. "He could even be seeing someone else for all I know."
"Easy, easy, you need to calm down. Give yourself a couple of minutes to gather your wits, everything is going to be fine."
The door was oak framed, a glass panel with frosted lettering read "Heatherwood." *Bingo,* thought Tad. He sauntered over to the front desk. "Excuse me, sir," he worked at getting the attention of the man behind the desk.
"May I help you?"
"Yes, there's a woman I'm looking for, but I can't remember if she's staying at this hotel or the Valley Inn, across town. Would you mind telling me if she's listed in the computer?"
"Certainly. What did you say her name was?"
"Is there anything under the name 'Cooney?'" Tad quizzed the man hopefully.
The man scrolled through the listings. "I'm sorry sir, no one by the name of Cooney is currently staying at our hotel." He moved the mouse to close the window, but Tad stopped him.
"Wait!" Tad protested. "What about 'Martin.'"
"There is a Martin family staying here," the man said warily.
"No, that wouldn't be her..." Tad hummed. "Well, if it isn't any trouble, would you mind getting me a phone book? I'd like to call the Valley Inn before I leave here."
"Yes, one moment sir." He walked to a back room. Tad waited until he was out of sight and turned the monitor toward him. Scanning through the list of the hotel's occupants hopefully, no names rang any bells. If Dixie had checked in under another last name, he had no idea what it was...-- But if she'd kept her first name... He found it almost immediately. "Dixie Carson, room 205." *Carson, hmm?* Then it clicked, Tad's mind flashed back to the time when JR's friend Sweeney had been killed, and Tad was a suspect. *'Listen, you've got to meet me. You've got to meet me right away. I want you to meet me at the Pine Cone Motel. I'll be registered under Mrs. Carson, okay? Just whatever you do, meet me there, okay? Just do it for your own good...,' that's what she told me,* Tad remembered. *Would she have used the name again? If he went to room 205, would my wife-- no, ex-wife, answer the door? Or would it be a stranger who wouldn't understand how much meaning her name holds for me?* He couldn't just stand there wondering. He turned the monitor back around and called over the counter, "Listen, forget about the phone book, okay? I won't be needing it." He sprinted across the lobby to an elevator and boarded it, pressing the "2" button urgently until the doors closed, and his ascent to the second floor began.
"Maybe I'm moving this all too fast," Dixie stressed, phone in hand. "What if--"
"What if everything is just fine? Look, you're going to drive yourself crazy with the what-ifs and worst case scenarios."
"You're right," Dixie breathed. "I'll just take it nice and easy, then try calling him again."
Before any "taking it nice and easy" could occur though, the women were startled by a shrill knocking at the door.
"Dixie!"
The color drained from Dixie's face as if someone had just poured bleach over her skin. The phone dropped from her hand. "Oh my god. I don't believe it," she whispered. "It's Tad."
"Is anyone there? Could you please answer the door?"
"He's not supposed to know I'm here. He can't!" Dixie waved her arms desperately.
"Can we just wait until he leaves?"
"No chance. He's not going to give up that easily."
Surveying the room, Sarah quickly got to her feet. "Take Jenny, get in the bathroom," she instructed. "Now. I'll take care of it."
Dixie did as she was told, hid in the bathroom and waited. Leaning against the wall, she did her best to decipher what was happening outside. The lock clicked to the door and creaked as Sarah opened it.
"May I help you, sir?" Sarah asked with feigned exasperation.
Tad felt awkward immediately. "I'm looking for a Dixie Carson."
"Well, that would be me," Sarah told him without hesitation. "And who are you?"
Tad's heart sank. *It's not her.* He felt like a complete fool.
"Look, ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you. I thought you might be someone else. See, my ex-wife's name is Dixie, and-- I don't know, we had some connections to the last name Carson. It's kind of hard to explain." Blood was rushing to his cheeks. Sarah decided it would be best to pretend that she was brushing him off, so as not to prolong his stay any longer than she had to.
"Well, I'm Dixie Carson, but I'm pretty sure I'm not your ex-wife."
Tad smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, me too." Tad turned and headed back to the elevator, Sarah shutting the door behind him.
*That was absolutely ridiculous,* Tad scolded himself. *That poor woman probably thinks I'm nuts. Ha! Who am I kidding? I am nuts!* Walking out of the hotel lobby and towards his car, he decided to call Liza. *I should get back to those stupid meetings.* He got into the car and pulled out his phone, which was flashing a "1 new message" sign across his screen. Tad pressed a button, and held his phone to his ear.
"Hi, Tad. It's me. Dixie, It's Dixie. I was just, well, I'm back in Pine Valley. I was hoping maybe we could get together. Dinner tonight, if you want. Or something else. We could do something different if you want. Or if you don't want to do anything, that's fine too. Umm... yeah, so, you can think about that. If you want. And-- I'll call you back later. Bye."
Tad tried to swallow, but choked in excitement, and ended up having a coughing fit. *This is SO unbelievable,* he thought between coughs. *She's back! And she wants to have dinner WITH ME.* It was as happy as he'd been since she'd left. He was, in fact, euphoric. Checking the number from the incoming call, he redialed it quickly. As the call connected, he pinched himself. It hurt. *Good,* he thought triumphantly. "This isn't just a dream."