"INSUFFERABLE MAN!"
Mrs. Horwood was hanging the phone when Kathy crossed the threshold of the Bed & Breakfast.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"It's that Marcus Cameron…"
"Dr. Cameron?"
"Yes," answered Mrs. Horwood in a clearly irritated tone. "He wanted to talk to you."
"Oh, I wonder why he didn't use my cell number."
"Well, apparently, he wished to also offer Pat his condolences."
"You don't like him very much?"
"No," smiled the lady, conscious that her behavior had made Kathy's question purely rhetorical. "And I'm angry to see that now he may be trying to get his hands on you."
"Dear Mrs. Horwood," said Kathy, genuinely shocked. "I'm sure you must have your motives to speak that way, but I truly have no idea what you are referring to. So far, Dr Cameron has been very kind and helpful to me, and I have nothing to reproach him for. On the contrary."
"Well, I am relieved to hear that. Nevertheless, my experience, and Pat's, in dealing with this man, have been quite different."
Mrs. Horwood kept on cleaning the already spotless reception desk, while Kathy awaited a more detailed explanation.
"He hit on me," the lady went on. Kathy couldn't tell whether she was offended or resentful. "And on Pat and on Mrs. Sloan. All in the same week!"
"Really?" she struggled against the thought that Mrs. Horwood was not telling the truth.
"I buried my husband a long time ago, and with him I buried romance. So when he started to flirt, I simply cut it short in the most polite manner. And that would have been it, had I not heard him ask Pat out for dinner. She, mind you, had just come out of a difficult marriage and was not to be dazzled by a third-age Don Juan, so she handled the situation quite skillfully. However, I thought it would be wise to have a word with Mary Anne, and find out if she knew who she was mixing with.
And it seemed she did. That's when she told me he had suggested they became more than friends and she had rejected him. But it seems she managed to remain on good terms with the fellow."
"But what was Dr. Cameron doing on the island, anyway? Had he been invited by Mrs. Sloan?"
"No. He invited himself when he knew she had bought the hotel and this property."