Chapter Twenty-Four Innkeeper’s Daughter
Chapter Twenty-Four: Innkeeper’s Daughter
Meri
The dining room was full. Two anniversary dinners, a meeting of the local ladies club, and the regular inn clients had claimed every table and chair available.
Somehow Jane and I stayed on top of things from the kitchen while Kitty, Lucy, and Lydia waited on the customers.
Mom chatted up the president of the ladies club, while Dad held down the fort at the lobby desk.
It wasn’t ideal since he wasn’t particularly good with computers, but he had told us he would find one of us if he ran into an issue.
Since all the check ins for the day had taken place, it seemed wise to have him there.
Plates moved from the kitchen to the tables quickly. We had already served the majority of the meal, and some tables were on dessert.
I was stacking another batch of dirty plates into the dishwasher, the steam giving me an impromptu facial.
“Table six," Jane said, sliding plates towards Kitty.
“We need more pieces of that mouse cake you made," she advised us before heading out of the kitchen.
“How many pieces?” Jane called but Kitty had already left. She rolled her eyes. “I guess I’ll just do up a few plates and see what happens."
I grabbed a filter and set up to make another pot of coffee. When it was busy like this, we could go through the stuff quickly. “We’re almost done and then it’s just clean up."
“I keep telling myself that," Jane agreed as she sliced the cake, putting the pieces on plates.
That was when Dad entered the kitchen. “There’s a young man at the front desk asking for Meri."
I froze, wondering who it could be.
“Really?” Jane paused, looking at Dad in surprise.
“He said his name is Ben Ramesly. I don’t suppose you know who that is?” Dad questioned. “He’s a very polite fellow. Said he could wait in the lobby however long you needed him to."
I slowly wiped my hands on a towel. Why was Ben here? Had something happened to Aryn? My heart was suddenly beating very fast.
“I can tell him to go away if you want," Dad offered.
“Meri?” Jane softly questioned.
“I’ll talk to him," I decided. I wouldn’t be able to function until I knew why Ben had come to the inn. I would only worry about Aryn. Putting down the towel, I went to the lobby to find Ben sitting comfortably in one of the chairs near the fireplace. He looked up as I approached and quickly stood.
“Hi," he said.
“Hi," I echoed, uncertain of what to do, how to ask why he was here. I fiddled with the edge of my sweater sleeve.
“I came because I wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed you being a part of our group the other weekend. I wanted to invite you to play with us again, and if you’re not comfortable with that, then I would like to introduce you to my girlfriend.
I really think we can all be friends," Ben mentioned.
He had a fond smile. “Kitty wanted to come with me today but she can be a bit over friendly sometimes even when her heart is in the right place.
I thought I should give you a chance to decide if you wanted to be friends with us before bringing her over. "
It was obvious from the soft look on his face, Ben adored his girlfriend. He had been kind to me during the D&D game.
I didn’t have many friends since I wasn’t very adept socially. I slowly nodded. “I would like to be friends. I’m not sure I should be in your group though."
“Because of Aryn?” Ben gently mentioned.
I nodded.
“He messed up. All of us have taken him to task for it. He was stupid for not telling you about his production company from the beginning and he feels terrible about it," Ben responded. “He regrets it."
I shrugged, looking down. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Aryn should be telling me this, not Ben.
He shifted slightly, reaching into his jacket. His hand stayed there for a second longer than necessary before he pulled out a folded piece of paper. He didn’t hand it to me right away. He looked at it once, then back at me.
“He wrote this for the Lantern Letter thing in hopes that you might read it. I decided to hand deliver it instead. He doesn’t know that I have it," Ben added. He held it out to me. “You don’t have to read it now, but I think you should have it."
I slowly took the piece of stationary from him, fingering the edge of it.
“Here’s my phone number. If you ever need anything or you’re ready to hang out with me and Kitty, I would love to hear from you." Ben handed me a card with his name and telephone number.
“Aryn’s not great at saying things the first time," Ben added. “But he meant this."
Then he left.
I stayed where I was for a moment, looking at the folded paper and the business card that was simple but felt expensive.
“Everything okay?” Jane asked as she came into the lobby.
“Yes."
“We’re almost done. Why don’t you give me your apron and be done for the evening?” she suggested.
“Yes," I agreed with a nod. “Thank you."
After giving her my apron, I headed upstairs, the sounds of the inn fading behind me with each step. My room was a sanctuary in that moment as my emotions tumbled over themselves, wondering what Aryn had written. I closed the door and leaned back against it for a moment before opening it.
I frowned at the salutation then realized the letters from the festival were supposed to be anonymous. I continued to read.
To the Innkeeper’s Daughter,
I told you before that I handled things badly. I’m not going to repeat all of that here. You already heard enough of it from me. I’m sorry, I regret it, and if I had the opportunity I would do things differently.
I keep thinking about the game. It felt like you let yourself be there, that you were comfortable with us.
Then you smiled and it was like my whole world changed in that moment.
I already liked you. I liked that you were direct with me, that you didn’t seem at all impressed with what I do for a living.
You have a dry sense of humor, we share a love of books, and the way you handled that water situation at the inn…
you just jumped in and dealt with things. It was impressive.
At the hotel when you fell apart, I got the chance to get to know you better, the real you. Then the fact you wanted to geek out with me and my friends over D&D made me like you more.
Then that smile.
That was when I knew I wanted to be there with you for all your smiles, all your tears, and everything in between. You’re special. You’re direct yet careful. You’re smart and imaginative. You constantly impress me.
I miss you.
You have a choice in what happens next.
If you want to talk to me, I would like that.
If you don’t, I’ll respect it.
Your servant, the Mage.
I read it once, then again, slower the second time.
I let out a slow breath and set the paper down beside me, then picked it up again a second later, rereading it again.
He liked my smile. It sounded like he liked me.
I played with the edge of the sleeve of my sweater, fiddling with the soft thread.
He said he wanted to be with me for my smiles, tears and everything in between.
But did I trust that? He had hurt me once. Yes, he had apologized, but how did I know he meant it?
Ben seemed to think he did.
I reached for my phone and unlocked it. Scrolling through my contacts, and called my former representative at the publishing company.
The last week had been difficult with lawyers involved, working through the release of the rights of my books back to me, but the representative had been encouraging to me, hoping that if I ever changed my mind, I might reach out to them and try again.
She had promised I didn’t even need to deal with them through Tara, someone else whose representation had been pretty straightforward to dissolve.
Thank goodness for the cancellation clause I had insisted on in our contract.
“Meri, how nice to hear from you," the rep said in greeting.
“Hi. I know this is an odd question, but I was wondering if you could find out if the production company that was in talks with the publisher for the film rights to Ember and Ink was still interested?” I asked, getting directly to the point. “Could you find out for me?”
“I’m sorry, Meri. They pulled their offer. I’m sure if you were interested in pursuing this we might be interested in discussing it with you," she said.
“No. Thank you for letting me know. Have a good night," I murmured, ending the call.
He was telling the truth.
I reread the letter another time, lingering over the fact that Aryn had said he missed me.
Scrolling through my phone to my emails I found his last message to me.
I opened a new reply.
To the Mage,
I read your letter.
I might miss you, too.
The Innkeeper’s Daughter.
I read it once, then pressed send before I could rethink it. I didn’t really know what else to say. It was everything and not enough at the same time.
When the screen lit up a few minutes later, I immediately picked it up, quickly pulling up his reply.
Dear Innkeeper’s Daughter,
Would you be willing to meet? Anywhere you want, anytime you want. I would like to be able to talk to you in person if that’s okay.
Your Mage.
My Mage. I looked at the simple words and felt some hope flutter in my chest.
I typed the response without stopping to revise it.
Yes. The café in town is open.
I hit send. The response was immediate.
I’ll meet you there.