Chapter 4 A Day of Adventure
Chapter 4: A Day of Adventure
Emma
I was stunned when he asked me what exactly I wanted, but the real shocker came when he called me back to stay.
Earlier, I had been woken by the ring of my phone. I was ready to curse Sandy for daring to interrupt my sleep, but it was my mom. She”d wanted to know how my trip was and if I was okay, and also to send my father”s greeting. It was only after the call that I realized it was morning already.
I was headed to the kitchen to make breakfast when it dawned on me that there was no food in the house. So, I took a warm shower instead, debating on how to go about my day. Then I remembered the earring and decided to make a quick search.
I checked my purse—not like the piece of jewelry had legs to walk into it, but what if I had subconsciously dropped it there? As I opened the front door, Tarry was approaching my doorstep. He still wore the clothes I had seen him in the previous night.
“Good morning Tarry.”
“Ahh, Lady Emma.”
“Just Emma, please.” I smiled at the old man.
“How was your night? How did you find your room? Is there anything you need? Any improvement you suggest that we make?” he asked.
“No… No. I found everything just fine. It”s a nice touch you have done with the place.”
“Our tour guide is presently not available. He would have taken you around the vicinity for a short tour this morning, but news reached us that he sprained an arm at the lake yesterday.”
“Oh, that”s okay. I was just leaving. I need to do some grocery shopping and maybe have breakfast.”
“Will you be needing the cleaning agency?”
“No. I can handle it myself. Any news about your Lady Catherine?” I teased.
“She”s not mine. She belongs to the community,” he replied.
“Oh, I get it. I will catch you later, Tarry.” I nodded.
He nodded back.
Moving a little further away, I stopped and turned back to him.
“I was going to ask, are there other guests around here? Or is it just me?”
“It”s still early summer and you”re our first guest for now. Most tourists come along at the end of the month. Why?” he said, looking at me curiously.
“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to know.” I smiled at him and slipped myself into the front seat of my car.
The town was explicit in its structures, so it was quite easy to locate a coffee shop. I bought two, thinking it”d be nice if I shared one with the owner of the antique store.
Getting there, I realized I was too early, as the doors were still closed. So, I stood by, watching the townspeople as they went about their activities. After a few minutes of waiting, I spotted him coming towards the store.
One might be hasty to judge this man as being old and grumpy, but in actual sense, he wasn”t really old. It was a case of being unkempt. His beard was full and crowding the little space where his lips were supposed to be. His eyebrows were bushy and even though it was early in the morning, his lips were cracked already.
The frown I had seen the previous day still lingered on his face. I would have thought it was because of me, but after carefully studying his face, I could make out the wrinkle lines that had become permanent on his forehead. This only goes to explain that he was most often like this. Definitely, there had to be a reason.
I didn’t quite understand his rudeness when he rejected my coffee, but I knew this man wasn’t sad because he’d just woken up and decided to be. There was something. It was this something that made me less bold around him. I”d caught myself stammering more than once around him already, which was very unlike me.
In my experience of interacting with different people, I knew better than anyone to jump into peoples’ private lives the first moment they gave you an audience for a chat. Especially when this person seemed to be a recluse.
So, when Jack, on second thought, invited me back, I was conscious enough not to dig deeply into his private life. That would make him edgy and uncomfortable. And if I was to help this man, then I needed to make him comfortable enough to trust me. That might be hard, considering the fact that he said very little, but I was ready to try.
“Look, I”m sorry I was so rude, okay? I”m not supposed to be like that to you, especially when you”re here to invest in my business.” He ushered me into the seat opposite his.
“It”s fine. I will forgive your rudeness only if you accept this coffee.” I pushed the cup across the table over to him.
After a brief hesitation, he wrapped his hands around the cup, looking straight at me.
“It”s safe,” I teased.
“I know. It”s just… Well, thanks,” he mumbled.
“Good. So, we can now talk business.”
I didn”t know exactly what business we were to talk about, but I wasn”t ready to blow the cover now, having realized that it was the only reason I still had this man”s attention.
“I would not be doing this if I had enough finance to keep this place running.”
“So, what exactly do you want?”
“This place has become dormant. It”s summer and I was hoping to make some changes to attract the tourists that will be coming into Serenity Springs.”
“Okay… So, that”s where I come in?” I asked, trying to understand the situation.
He was going to say something, then he paused and glared at me.
“I sent this whole thing to your company already. Why are we talking about it like it’s all new to you?” he asked.
“Umm… You see, I need to hear it directly from you,” I feigned.
“Now you have.”
“Yeah. I will talk to my firm, and get back to you. But before that, I was hoping you”d show me a little of what Serenity Springs looks like.”
“I can’t.”
“You can”t?” I raised a brow.
“Yeah. I can”t. I mean, I can”t leave the store to take you out,” he insisted.
“Okay. It”s an added advantage to the store, though. If I get familiar with the town, I could bring up ideas that could help us grow your store.” I shrugged.
“But the store—”
“You said it yourself that the store has been dormant. I cut him off.
“Hmmm.” The lines on his face deepened.
“What do you say, Mr. Jack?” I knew I had gotten into his head, so I waited triumphantly for his response.
“Fine. Hold on.” He stood up from the desk, walked down the aisle, and disappeared into an adjoining room.
I stood up as well, studying the objects on the shelves. There was a portrait lying face-down on one shelf. I picked it up, cleaning the dust off at the edges with my fingers. It was a picture of a woman and a little girl, both smiling. They were beautiful, with cascading curly hair. Who could they be? It didn”t look like a random painting.
I didn”t hear his footsteps, so I jerked away when his hand came heavily upon mine, snatching the portrait from me. His eyes were red with fury as his lips formed a tight twist.
“Why did you touch that?” He spoke in a frighteningly calm tone. I bowed my head like a school kid being reprimanded by the principal, not knowing what to expect.
“Don”t—don”t ever touch this again.” With that, he placed the portrait back on the shelf and started walking towards the door.
“Are you coming or not?” He paused halfway to ask.
I could feel my heart beating. I could just go out there and tell this rude man that I wasn”t the investor he had mistaken me for, and end this whole thing. But I didn”t. I kept telling myself that he needed help.
And you think you can help him? I heard my inner voice ask.
There was only one way to find out, and that way was playing this game to the end. So, I marched forward, meeting him at the doorway.
“Why are you so mean and grumpy?” I threw at him as we descended a small hill that led out of the town”s market.
“I don”t know what you are talking about.” He munched into the apple in his hand. I had insisted he take it from the few items I’d bought at the market.
“You don”t know what I”m talking about? Of course you do. Now, look at this.” I moved in front of him, squeezing my lips hard to produce a grim look.
“Don”t you ever, ever touch that again,” I said in a mimicking tone.
I could swear that I saw his face loosen a bit into what looked like a smile.
“That”s you! And that”s mean.”
“I surely don”t sound so feminine.”
“No, you don”t. And that”s a good thing.”
Now I was sure I saw smile lines. If I could make him smile in one day, then certainly, there was a way to make him loosen up and speak more. But who was that lady and child in the picture? And why had he been so upset about seeing me with it? Could they be his family?