Chapter 5
Thane – POV?
It was always strange stepping into the Inn that my mother ran during the tourist season. It was her dream to own an Inn and with her obsession with old Victorian houses, my father, brothers and I worked hard to give her exactly what she wanted.
Ten years ago, we cleared the land and set out to build the Inn of her dreams.
I was able to mockup the blueprints for it, put in every nook and cranny that she wanted, while my father and younger brother, Sean, handled the construction and Devin, the youngest, took care of landscaping the yard and installing the pond area in the back.
My mother and baby sister, Megan, of course, took delight in decorating the Inn from top to bottom in all the frilly and personally, atrocious décor they could find, but it just wasn’t my style.
Thankfully, I was in the minority, because the guests loved the atmosphere and complimented the house, and everything in it to the point that my mother installed a community board, where people could leave notes about their stay or about Once Again in general.
“Oh, there you two are,” my mother said as she breezed through the doorway to the dining room. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show up.”
“And miss out on your cooking, never,” Hunter replied, kissing her on the cheek.
She patted him on the chest before she shooed him away to take his seat.
Hunter may not be related, but he was as much a part of this family as anyone else.
His family were childhood friends of my parents and when they passed away when he was twelve we took him in shortly after, bringing him into the crazy show that was the Barrows family, and he fit right in.
“Hello, son,” she whispered, giving me a hug. “Thank you for stopping and getting the deserts from the bakery. I have a guest staying in the blue suite and wanted to make sure I had some for in the morning.”
“It’s not a problem, mom, you know that.” I kissed her on the head and moved to my seat in the dining room.
Everyone said their hello’s and started pulling plates and bowls of food to their side of the table to scoop out their own portions.
Sean grumbled as he reached across the table and grabbed the bowl of green beans, “why does the table feel bigger?”
“Oh,” mom fluttered. “I had your father help me put the extension in it. I was hoping my guest would join us for dinner, but when she came back from the bakery, her niece was crying and was so tired, that they went to bed early.”
I paused mid-chew, with my fork halfway to my mouth.
“Just the two of them?” My sister, Megan, asked.
“Yes. You won’t believe what happened!”
“Now, Helen, don’t go telling everyone that girl’s life story.” My father, Patrick, admonished as he loaded his plate with mashed potatoes.
“Oh, pish, posh,” she waved him away, “it’s no secret. She, well that is, Courtney and her adorable niece, Ava, just bought old man Kruger’s place! Can you believe it? She is hoping to fix it up.”
Devin gave a low whistle. “I haven’t seen that place in years, but even then, it was a mess.”
My mother looked distraught, her hand cradled her face, “yes, Courtney mentioned that the grass was up to her waist and the house itself needed serious repair, but she has this look, you know, like nothing was going to stop her.”
She was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t know what happened, but she has custody of her niece, and they moved here from several states away, she said. She is hoping that this will be a new beginning for the both of them.”
“So, that’s their names?” Everyone looked at Hunter. “I met her at the stoplight, kids a cute little blondie and she’s a gorgeous brunette, right?”
“Oh, my God,” mom laughed, “I forget about that. She did tell me, a man on a horse, told her to come to the Inn.”
“I remember them!” Ethan said, with a mouth full of green beans. “The little girl was so happy to see Rocky.”
Hunter smiled. “Hmm, little girl,” he said, giving me a look, his eyes shining in amusement. “Or was it a troll?”
Damn bastard!
My mother gasped, “Hunter James Savage!”
He held up his hands, that damn smirk on his face as he eyeballed me. “It wasn’t me.”
My father squinted at Hunter, then looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I knew he would probably let it go, but not my mother. She was like a bloodhound.
So, I caved and told them what happened. Of course, my brothers, including Hunter, were laughing. My father looked like he wanted to smile but was covering his face with his hand. My sister was huffing about stupid men and my mother…
Well, she looked like she wanted to dump the bowl of gravy on me.
I held up my hands, “I’m planning on apologizing when I see her next, to both of them, so don’t kill me just yet.”
She just huffed, narrowing her eyes at me before looking down the table at Hunter. “And Hunter James, don’t think you are innocent, either.”
He stopped his snickering and looked shocked at my mother. “What did I do?”
“You will leave poor Mako alone,” mom said, brandishing her butter knife like a sword. “You are going too far in your teasing. Bernice said that when Mako came back from the bakery she had a run in with you and was not herself for the rest of the day.”
“It’s all in good fun,” he grumbled, pushing his food around on his plate.
“Maybe for you, but not her. Bernice is worried that she might do something …”
Hunter’s head flew up and locked eyes with my mother. “Might do something? What the hell does that mean?”
She slammed her hand on the table, “it means, stop pushing her.”
He opened his mouth to say something more, when there was a blood curdling scream coming from upstairs.
I reacted immediately.
I threw myself out of the chair and raced for the stairs, taking them two at a time. I reached the door to the blue suite when another scream pierced the air followed by gut-wrenching sobs. I shouldered the door hard until it gave way under my weight and froze at the scene.
The room was dark except for the balcony doors that had been pushed open letting in a small sliver of moonlight, a soft breeze fluttering the sheer curtains. Sitting on the ground, in front of the doors was a woman cradling a sobbing child.
The same woman from earlier. The same child from earlier.
“Courtney?” my mother whispered, coming into the room. “Sweetheart?”
I stepped forward into the silent room, wanting to help, wanting to do something, that I was so focused on the two of them I didn’t notice my heavy booted foot had stepped on a piece of glass that was shattered on the floor; it sounded like a gun shot in the silence.
I glanced up when I heard a gasp and saw two pairs of haunted eyes staring at me. They both looked so broken that I felt my heart had climbed up into my throat and threatened to choke me.
Ava was staring at all of us like she had seen a ghost. Courtney looked like she was suffering just holding her in her arms but still trying to be strong.
“Mommy,” Ava wailed. “I want mommy. And daddy. I want mommy and daddy!”
Everyone froze.
“I know baby. I want them too.”
“When are they coming back?” She clawed her way up until she could bury her face in Courtney’s neck. “Where is Lolo and Dodo? Why did they leave?”
“Ava baby …” Courtney whispered, tucking Ava closer to her body.
“I sorry, I be good. I be good, now.” Her sobs were uncontrollable now.
I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to go over there and wrap both of them up in my arms and promise that nothing would ever hurt them again, but I had no idea what caused it, what was causing their pain, and I didn’t want to add to it.
So, I waited.
My mother appeared beside me and handed me a broom and dustpan to clean up the broken glass, while she and Megan moved to the bed, stripped it and put on clean sheets.
I was thankful for something to do.
I’m not sure what happened with the others, but someone had taken the broom and dustpan from me and then I was left alone with Courtney and Ava sitting out on the balcony, listening in to their broken words and soft whimpers.
I don’t know how long I stood there, watching them, but Courtney eventually stood up from her spot with Ava hanging onto her for dear life. Without a word, she walked by me into the bathroom and shut the door. I waited until I heard the sound of the water coming on, then quietly left the room.
I felt like I had already invaded their privacy, but I couldn’t stand in their room while they showered, so I closed the door as best as I could considering I broke it coming in and headed downstairs to the dining room.
Everyone but Hunter and Ethan were still there, helping mom pack up dinner and clean up.
“They left. Said that Ethan got overwhelmed and since it was getting late, he thought it was best to leave, however, he said to call him if he could help in any way,” mom said as she came up and wrapped her arms around me.
“What was that, mom? I have never heard something so heartbreaking in my life,” I whispered to her.
I looked down at her. She had wet tear marks dripping down her face and she was chewing on her lip; something she did when she was trying not to cry.
“I don’t know, son. But everyone has a story, a reason for coming here.”
She stood back and wiped her hands under her eyes, cleaning up her tears, “we just need to be understanding and patient.”
She patted my arm before she went to my father, who gathered her up close.
It’s true that Once Again had a tendency to collect broken people. It had been a running joke for the people of the town and that is how it got its name; once again – someone showed up who was broken, once again – someone was hurt, once again – someone was running from something.
But over the years Once Again began to take on a new meaning; once again – someone was healed from the past, once again – someone started a new life, once again – someone found something to run towards.
In fact, that was the case with nearly every single person I knew in this town, myself included. For two years, I was running from scandal, putting my life on hold because of someone else’s actions. I felt like I had lost myself, lost who I was and what was important to me.
And as crazy as it sounds, I think I found it again.
I found it in a little girl who was so damn happy to be called a troll. I found it in the beautiful woman who sent me a soft smile when she agreed that I looked like a bear as she walked away from me.
I found it in the way I wanted to be their rock, their safe place. I wanted to be the big, strong bear, who kept the nightmares away, that dried their tears and put a smile on both of their faces.
I wanted …
At the sound of the stairs creaking, I turned around and saw her standing in the doorway.
She looked exhausted, but still I thought she was beautiful.
Her dark brown hair hung past her shoulders; her t-shirt and jeans hugged the curves of her body making it look like her clothes had been made just for her.
Clothes? Why the hell was she wearing clothes? She should be in bed!
She looked around the room, her hands twisting in front of her, “I am sorry for the commotion earlier …”
“Absolutely, not!” My mother jumped away from my father and held her arms out as if she was going to hug her.
She flinched. I don’t think she meant too, but it was almost like an involuntary response. She even looked embarrassed by it as my mother dropped her arms.
“There is nothing to apologize for, sweetheart. Is there anything we can do for you? For Ava?”
Her eyes swept the room, landing on me. “Oh, no, I…” she cleared her throat and stepped away from the doorway, “no. It happens sometimes when she is really tired. She didn’t have that long of a nap today and with all the excitement, it triggered her …”
She let the sentence drift off.
Good God! Triggered? That means this had happened before and could possibly happen again.