Shallie glanced around the room, almost shocked at how spare and tidy it was now, compared to how it had looked when she’d arrived. What she remembered from the old days was a mess of papers and files, a guest book that always seemed to go missing, various shabby magazines, an overstuffed rubbish pail. Russ had clearly made an effort to do some cleaning and sorting.

She reached for a slice of cheese and took a small sip of her watered-down bourbon. He took a big gulp of his—likely not watered down and clearly not his first of the day.

Shallie felt self-conscious and, judging by his awkward expression, Russ did, too. The one subject they had in common was their shared past, so she started by asking him about Della and Norm, whose deaths had been so close together, and how he’d dealt with it. He shrugged, but didn’t answer. Then he grinned. “Do you remember the time he got drunk and assigned the same room to three different customers? You woulda been around ten.”

“Actually, yes,” she said with a laugh. “What I remember most is how furious Della was. She had to talk all of them—one was a couple, right?—into not leaving. She not only gave two of them new rooms but gave everyone a discount.”

She and Russ exchanged a playful smile at the memory.

From there they went on to recall several other humiliating incidents. Like the time the curtains in Room 5 fell down. And the plumbing disaster in Room 4—with water from a flooded toilet seeping under the door into the hallway.

Then, without any warning, Russ told her, “You’ve probably already figured this out, but I’m pretty unhappy. I have no idea what to do with my life. Never really did. The property’s worth practically nothing. I get the occasional guest, don’t have any employees. I don’t have a college degree or real job experience. Haven’t been anywhere. I’ve got hardly any friends.”

Shallie felt a surge of compassion for him and, perhaps oddly, respect. His circumstances were troubling but his honesty was hopeful. She resolved that if she could help him, she would. She’d have to encourage him to come up with some plans, though, and be willing to change his life.

She mentioned Bethanne. He said they hadn’t been in touch for some years. According to him, she’d been doing well, which Shallie already knew, with a husband, a business somewhere in Texas, but he suspected she’d taken “the long slide.” They agreed they should try to make contact again, hoping she was still alive…

After that, she said something about Reba, about missing her, and he confided that he’d “had a huge crush on her back in the day.”

Yeah, you and everyone else.