Chapter 8
FLYING BURRITO
Thane
One solitary candle illuminates the front window of the small bed and breakfast, lighting our way through the pelting rain.
We drip on the floor just inside the door, and attempt to wring ourselves out before moving further into the entryway.
I drop our suitcases, and a squishy thud echoes across the creaky hardwood.
A little old lady looks up from the front desk with a flashlight in her hand and a smile on her face. She tosses us a towel to dry off.
“You must be Pearl,” I say, extending my soaking wet hand. “I’m Thane Donnelly, and this is Sera Spencer. Marla sent us over from the Waffle House.”
“Of course! She called and told me to expect you. Welcome.”
“We’re so grateful for you taking us in, even with no electricity,” Sera replies, shaking Pearl’s hand.
“Well, checking you in may take a bit longer, being that my computer is down. But I can still remember how we used to do it all on carbon paper from the ‘olden days,’” she says with a giggle.
Pearl pulls out an old carbon-copy notebook and begins filling it out. I hand over a hundred-dollar bill and fight against my wet jeans as I attempt to stuff my soggy wallet back into my pocket.
“So, is this a one-bed situation, or a two-bed situation?” Sera asks nervously.
Pearl looks between Sera and me, and a sly grin crosses her face.
“Oh, darlin’, don’t you fret. This is a two-queen bedroom, so you can still wear white at your wedding.
But if you’d rather have the king suite, your secret’s safe with me.
I’ll just need to clean it real quick. The guests staying in that room left when the power didn’t come back on. ”
“Oh, no. We aren’t together,” Sera retorts quickly. “Thane and I are just old childhood friends. Really.”
Pearl smiles and nods slowly. “Mmm-hmmm.”
I raise my hand to the side of my mouth to pretend to block my words from Sera’s ear. “Honestly,” I interrupt, “I’m glad there’s two beds. This one can get a little handsy.” I point my thumb in Sera’s direction and flash my most charming grin.
The way Sera’s mouth drops open in shock is exactly the reaction I’m going for.
“He’s totally pulling your leg! Thane is the biggest tease in the world. He only wishes I would get handsy with him…” she protests.
Thank you, Fina, for always rising to the occasion.
I continue to feed the fire. “Especially if she’s had anything to drink. She’s such a lightweight, it only takes one beer before I’m fighting her off of me. Remember that time at the bonfire, Fina?”
She shifts her gaze from Pearl to me and narrows her eyes. I’ve seen that look a thousand times in my life, and it’s a dead giveaway that I’m on the right track to pushing her buttons. So, of course, I keep pressing.
“She got so plastered, I had to carry her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes back to the lake house. The whole way up she was smacking my butt, and it was one inappropriate comment after another coming from her. I kept thinking, ‘I can’t believe she kisses her mother with that filthy mouth.’ Then, after I plunked her into her bed, I had to lock my door.
The girl would not take no for an answer! ”
Sera lets out an exasperated sigh. “We all know you’re lying through your teeth right now, so I’m not even going to dignify this fisherman’s tale with a response.”
As if Pearl hadn’t even heard Sera, she chimes in, “I have just the thing to make sure she stays on her side of the room, Mr. Donnelly.” She pulls out a folded-up blanket from the closet behind her and smiles.
“This is my chastity blanket. My mother made it for me and my sisters when we were being courted. Every one of us found true love and had long marriages.” She unfolds the blanket to reveal what looks like an adult-sized swaddle with laces up the back.
“This thing is foolproof. I can tell you from experience. Why, I was pretty determined with my Walter…”
“No need to go on. I trust you,” I interrupt, putting up a hand for her to stop.
Sera’s shoulders shake and her face grows bright red from holding in her laughter. “I don’t think we’ll be needing that tonight,” she says through giggles.
“Oh, yes we will!” I say emphatically.
“Perfect,” Pearl replies, tearing out my receipt and handing it over. “I’ll show you to your room, then.”
She hugs the chastity blanket against her and leads us down a dark hallway. Her flashlight illuminates old photographs on floral wallpaper as we pass by, before we scale a small staircase in the back of the inn. At the top of the stairs she stops and sticks the key into an antique doorknob.
“You’ll have room thirteen tonight,” she says as she swings the door open.
Sera leans in closely to Pearl. “Are there any other rooms besides this one?” she whispers.
“Changing your mind about the king suite?” Pearl says with another wink.
“Uh, no. I just don’t like the number thirteen.”
“Oh, sure, Fina! That’s the oldest play in the book. See? I told you she wanted me,” I say, elbowing my new best friend Pearl.
“You were right about this one. I’m not leaving until she’s good and tight in that blanket.” She eyeballs Sera.
Sera grabs her suitcase in a huff and wheels it inside. I tap the flashlight on my phone and set it on the nightstand between the beds.
“I’ve got some candles downstairs for you so you don’t run your phone down. I’ll be right back,” Pearl says, hobbling away.
The second we’re alone, Sera turns and glares at me, putting her hands on her hips.
“What?” I feign ignorance.
“Are you kidding me right now? You’ve sunk to a new low. I am so embarrassed!” She points a stern finger at me. “I’m gonna kill you, Thane Donnelly!”
“If I had a dime…” I reply, sitting casually on the bed, completely unbothered by her empty threat.
“So help me, I will get you back one way or another! It may not be tonight, but mark my words, I will avenge my dignity before this trip ends.”
“Duly noted. Now you’d better get ready for bed quickly. Pearl will be back soon, and you’ll regret not going pee before she straps you in,” I say, laughing.
Sera pivots toward the bathroom. “Did I mention I’m going to kill you?” she asks before slamming the door.
A few minutes later, Sera comes out of the bathroom bare-faced and beautiful—my favorite look on her, though I’ve never told her that. Her wide-neck T-shirt drapes off one shoulder, exposing a tiny, caramel-colored birthmark I can’t seem to forget about, no matter how hard I’ve tried.
Seeing it brings back a slew of memories of swimming in the lake, of how her tan darkened each day to the point that her birthmark almost blended in with the rest of her skin.
I memorized the strawberry shape of it that rested just above her collarbone, and I dreamed that just once, I could brush my thumb across it.
Or my lips, I’m not picky.
She pulls her hair from a towel on her head, and it falls down her back in damp, midnight strands.
I watch her absent-mindedly brush it, the way her head tilts, exposing her soft neck.
I know I’m staring—I can’t help it. To this day, I prefer a black, dark-roast coffee because it reminds me of her hair.
I got homesick every day of the year I spent in Costa Rica, because my morning coffee only brought me thoughts of Sera.
Seeing her like this makes me homesick for her all over again.
I want to tell her how much I missed her.
How I thought about her every day I was away.
I want to tell her how hard it was to leave, and that it was even harder to forget her once I was gone.
I want to hit my knees and tell her just how sorry I am for leaving her the way I did, and to beg for her forgiveness.
I want her to wrap her arms around me like she did that day I kissed her on the side of the road, and sigh into my chest. I want to erase the five years that passed between us, where we grew from secret soulmates to strangers.
I step closer to her, my heart ramming into my ribcage.
I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna finish what I wanted to say to her at the Waffle House.
I take a breath in and exhale slowly, trying to return my pulse to normal.
She absent-mindedly moves toward her suitcase to put her brush away and ends up chest to chest with me.
The space between us electrifies with a loaded static charge.
All involuntary functions in my body halt, and I’m left trying to manage breathing, blinking, and a pulse all on my own.
Her dark eyes search mine in the dim light, and her attempts to steady her facial expression wobble.
Does she want this as much as I do?
I clear my throat. “Sera, I—“
A knock sounds on the door. “Are you two decent?” Pearl calls from the hallway.
The moment shatters, and the walls around her heart stand firmly in place.
I turn the knob and open the door. “Well, I am, but I’m not sure that will ever be a word we can use to describe ‘Handsy’ over there,” I say with a laugh, trying to hide my disappointment.
I hate that my default setting is to tease her, but it’s the only way to vent out the real way I feel inside about Sera.
“Okay, dear. Let’s get you settled in,” Pearl says, handing me an armful of candles and a book of matches. She motions for Sera to lie on the bed.
“Oh, I don’t think that’s really necessary.” Sera shakes her head and shoots me an S.O.S. look with her eyes.
“I do,” I quip, ignoring her distress call.
Pearl stands at the edge of the bed and smooths out the opened blanket. She gapes at Sera expectantly, and her stare is enough to stop bird poop mid-air.