“I don’t think this is going to work out,” he finally said. “I think it would be best if I radio around and try to find another cook.”

“You can’t do that! I need a toilet!” Stephanie narrowed her eyes. “Boy, you have a lot of nerve. First you foist your ramshackle house off on me. Then you practically attack me and use it as an excuse to kick me off the ship. I’m going to get the Better Business Bureau after you. I’m going to call the League of Women Voters. I’m going to tell your mother!”

Ivan ran his hand through his hair. “First of all, my house wasn’t ramshackle until you moved in. Second, that was a mutual attack. Third…” He stopped and sighed. Stephanie’s big blue eyes were shining with fury, and her lips were pressed tightly together in indignation. She didn’t like this any more than he did, he thought, but she really needed Stanley Shelton to fix her plumbing. He swore softly, knowing he wouldn’t try to get another cook, and plucked a piece of leaf from her hair. “You picked up some hitchhikers when you tripped and rolled down the hill,” he said, his smile returning.

Stephanie combed her hair with her fingers, looking for more leaves. “I didn’t trip. I was pushed.”

Ivan looked at her sideways. “I don’t remember seeing anyone else up there.”

“I know. Isn’t that odd? I was sure I was alone, and then all of a sudden I felt two hands give me a shove.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re very strange?”

“Yeah, well, strange things have been happening to me ever since I bought your house. I had a perfectly normal life till then.”

Ivan nudged her out the door. “I find it hard to believe you ever had a normal life. What did you do before you became an innkeeper?”

“You’re pretty nosy.”

Ivan snagged her by the back of her shirt as she started up the ladder. “I have a right to know my employees’ work records.”