Welcome to Westbrook

Chapter 2

Two

I woke up around seven the next morning, feeling completely refreshed. I slept like a baby in that bed, which was unusual for me. Knowing that there was still an hour before breakfast, I took a shower and changed into a pair of jeans and a burgundy sweater. I put on minimal makeup, like usual, and left my brown hair down to dry. Satisfied with my outfit, I took my phone off the charger and checked it for messages. Except there was one problem; there was no cell reception. Literally, my phone had no bars of service. The available Wi-Fi signal was also very low, prompting a slow connection over my phone.

"Crap," I muttered. My cell phone almost always had reception, even in areas that had minimal cell towers. And the lack of Wi-Fi was disturbing as well, considering I send e-mails often for work as a journalist. I'm constantly contacting people via e-mail as sources or for more information about places I write about.

I sighed and looked around to see if there was a phone in the room, but there wasn't. I'd just have to ask Lorena about making a call after breakfast. I spent the rest of my time trying to look up the Ashford Inn online when my phone did have a signal, but couldn't find anything about it. Not one website had information regarding this inn, which I found to be very odd. Most hotels, motels, inns, and B&Bs had an online presence, allowing their guests to book rooms online. In today's society, an internet presence was almost essential to the success of a business.

"Morning, Mom!" Ben exclaimed, just as he started to climb out of his bed. He seemed like a different person when he was fully rested, since anyone could now notice how much energy he had.

I shoved my phone in my pocket. "Morning, buddy! Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, let's get you dressed and we'll get some breakfast."

After helping Ben change into fresh clothes, we headed downstairs for some food. I went straight to the small eating area on the first floor near the entrance of the inn. There were about six small round tables in the room, each with small breakfast menus on them. There were also a few menus on the bar along the back wall. I picked a stable for Ben and I to sit at, just as Lorena came over with a huge smile on her face.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?" she asked us.

Ben nodded, while I answered, "Yes, very well, thank you."

"Good! Now what can I get you for breakfast?"

I looked over at Ben. "Oh, I have a feeling he'll want some blueberry pancakes," I said to Lorena, knowing it was practically the only food Ben every ordered out. "Unless you feel like having something different?" I asked him.

Ben vehemently shook his head. "No! Blueberry pancakes, please."

Lorena laughed and I shook my head, smiling. "Okay, just checking. I'll have a plain bagel with cream cheese and a coffee. And orange juice for him," I added.

"Great choice, I'll go put your order in and get you those drinks." She came back in no time with the drinks and an older looking coloring book for Ben to busy himself with. I thanked her just as I remembered to ask her about using a telephone.

"I meant to ask, do you have a telephone I can use? My cell phone has absolutely no reception."

"Yeah, cell phones are pretty useless here during a snowstorm. Let me go grab you the landline phone," she said. Snowstorm? Surely it wasn't still snowing. Shouldn't the cell phone reception be up and working by now?

Nonetheless, I thanked Lorena for handing me the phone and giving me some privacy as I dialed my parents' phone number while Ben started coloring. Of course they were concerned after they saw how bad the snowstorm was in the northeast, especially Vermont.