Inn Love (chapters 5-8)

Chapter 5

He stood in the storage room inspecting a stain on the ceiling tiles adding that to the tally of repairs that the restaurant would require to continue running as it currently was. When Mrs. Michaels emailed the financial documents, he would asses if it was worth doing any of these repairs. He suspected not, unfortunately. If it were up to him he’d help every small and struggling business he came across, help them grow into something bigger and better, and most importantly, more profitable. Just because his name was Brookstone, it didn’t mean he had any real say in anything. He worked for his father because it was a secure job, and he’d never done anything else. His father sent him to University for business and hired him the day after he graduated. Anders never wanted to look elsewhere for work because he liked the stability of his pay cheque, and liked pleasing his father, even if he often disagreed with the man’s decisions. His younger brother Alec had been the wild one. He went travelling through Europe after graduating high school and didn’t come back for five years. This broke his mother’s heart, his father’s too, Anders assumed, though Blair would never admit such a thing. Anders was the stable one, the reliable one, the predictable one. All the Brookstones liked it that way.
Leaving the storage room, he headed back out toward the dining area where he was met with a somewhat unexpected sight. There, sitting by the window was Jane, and next to her was an older woman, whom he assumed was her mother, judging by the freckles speckling the woman’s skin. Between them sat a little girl in a wheelchair. He stood where he was, watching them interact. The girl was very animated and looked happy, though he couldn’t hear what they were saying. Jane looked concerned but was smiling, her mother held her face in a similar way. He stayed, observing the trio for awhile when the woman with the dark curly hair glided up next to him. 
“That’s Ellie,” she said tilting her head toward the girl. “She’s Jane’s daughter, and the one who made up that mud puddle cookie recipe.”
“That was a good cookie,” he said meaning it.
They were both quiet for a moment, then Iris spoke to him without turning to face him, “Try not to close this place down please. I like working here. Besides,” she tilted her head again toward Jane and Ellie, “Jane needs this place, she’s a widow, she needs it to look after Ellie.”
“I...,” he tried to speak but couldn’t find his voice. He knew from the amount of information he had already gathered about this business that his father would more than likely want it closed. He would want to tear down the building and put up his beloved condos. Anders just didn’t think there would be any way to convince him otherwise. Iris shrugged when Anders failed to continue his sentence and walked back to her side of the kitchen. 
“Who’s that?” He turned when he heard the girl’s voice shouting from across the dining room in his direction.
“That’s Mr. Brookstone,” Jane said, “he’s here to look at the building and to see if it needs fixing. He’s our new landlord.”
“Hi Mr. Brookstone!” the girl said enthusiastically as she zoomed toward him in her electric chair. 
“Hello,” he said cautiously. He’d never met a disabled child before and was not sure what to do exactly. 
“I’m Ellie,” she smiled and held out her good hand. He was surprised by the girl’s manners and confidence.”
“I’m Anders Brookstone,” he smiled and shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you.” There was a moment of silence amongst the group until Fae introduced herself. Ellie looked much like her grandmother, she had her fierce eyes and similarly cropped hair, though it was more of a strawberry blond shade. The girl’s build was also slight, much like Fae’s, who was currently eyeing Anders in a manner which made his shirt collar feel tight. “You created the mudpuddle cookie I ate, right?” he asked, trying to distract the two older women from piercing his soul with their laser death- ray eyes.
“Yup. Did you like it?” Ellie asked excitedly. Jane shook her head in a gesture which indicated to Anders that Ellie relished any feedback on her creations.
“I did. It was tasty. Where did you come up with such a cool idea?” He spoke gently too her but tried not to appear to be talking down to the girl. Be normal he thought to himself, don’t make this situation any worse than it will already be for these women.
“I dreamt it,” she said.
“Ellie has always been very creative when it comes to her cookie creations, haven’t you sweetie?” Jane stood behind her daughter and absent mindedly stroked the girl’s hair.
“Mom!” Ellie spoke harshly, “don’t mess up my hair!” Anders could see the girl was quickly becoming a “tween” a fact that was amplified by what seemed to him as evidence she’d just finished having a growth spurt. Her pants looked a couple inches too short and her knees were bent up at an angle slightly higher than ninety degrees. He realized that they would soon need a new chair for her. He wondered how they would pay for such an item. Surely the café couldn’t provide such a necessity as that? 
“Sorry,” Jane said, glancing sheepishly up at him, her dark eyes hooded in dark lashes. She ended the gesture by rolling her eyes as if to say, “kids these days.” 
“I’m all done here,” he cut in, wanting to make his escape before he found out any more information that might make his life more difficult. He just wanted to do his job, not ruin the lives of people who had a tough go already. He handed Jane a card as he got to the door. “Email those financial figures to me as soon as possible please and I’ll get back to you about the list of repairs I’ve made.”
“Will do,” she said, looking distractedly back over her shoulder toward her daughter.
“Nice to meet you,” he shook her hand and then waved to the other women. “All of you,” he nodded to Iris’ bobbing head in the pass-through window. “I’ll be in touch.” 
With that, he hastily retreated from the café, feeling somewhere between bewitched and horribly sad.

Chapter Six

Later that night, after Ellie had gone to her room to do her homework, Jane and Fae sat at the kitchen table with cups of tea and discussed the doctor’s appointment.
“The doctor recommends we get her a new wheelchair in the next six months or so, she’ll be too tall for this one by then,” The older woman said and lifted a steaming mug to her lips.
“Well it’s May now, so, that’ll be?” Jane stopped and counted the months on her fingers, “November. Maybe we could push it an extra month? A new chair for Christmas? Do you think that Santa will bring it for us?” She frowned. Her mother gave her a half smile in return. 
“She keeps growing and getting stronger Jane, that’s good. Remember how scared you and Tom were when she was born? Look at her now,” Fae reached across the table for her daughter’s hand and looked at her, misty eyed.
“I know,” Jane sighed and squeezed her mom’s fingers a bit then retracted her hand to pick up her mug. “It’s just, I wish there was a way I could get her everything she needs. I’m so proud of how confident and smart she is, I just want to keep her there in that place forever.” Her mother nodded with emphasis to indicate her understanding. 
“We’ll find a way. We always do, right?” Fae gave her another half smile.
“Yes, we always do,” Jane smiled back, but it didn’t make it to her worried eyes. She picked up the pen and slid a stacked of lined note paper she’d left lying on the table when she went to make tea and wrote out the last remaining steps for Ellie’s cookie of the day and put the sheet into a large lime green three ringed binder which her daughter had decorated with glitter glue pens and butterfly stickers. Jane had kept every one of Ellie’s creations since she started coming up with recipes. This was their third binder and it was almost time for a new one. 
“Remind me to buy a new binder this weekend please Mom,” Jane said as she closed the front flap and slid the binder to the back of the table and stacked the paper and pen on top. 
“Today’s cookie was a good one. Ed likes chocolate, so I put two in the box for him. Hope you don’t mind,” Fae smiled to herself a little.
“Oh no, that’s fine,” Jane took a drink from her mug to cover the grin that was growing across her face. “Mom?” she was cautiously moving forward now, “have you ever thought of talking to Ed outside the café, like maybe you two could go out together or something?”
“Heaven’s no!” Her mother’s green eyes turned an interesting shade of turquoise and Jane knew her mother was lying. 
“Really Mom, it seems like you two get along and Ed is a nice guy. He’s pretty good looking too,” Jane said, hiding her mouth behind her mug again.
“Yes, well,” Fae held her mug with both hands, “he is a fine man. Truth be told, he has asked me out to dinner a couple of times. But I said no.”
“What!” Jane was incredulous. She couldn’t believe her mother hadn’t told her this. “Why don’t you go out with him? You like him Mom I can tell. And he really likes you.”
“Well honey,” her mother was silent for a moment. “I’m just not ready I guess. Your father,” she let the rest of her words die. 
“I know, but he’s been gone for a long time Mom, maybe you should try going on a date and see how it feels? It doesn’t mean you can’t still love and miss Dad, but, it means you are living your new life without him.”
“I don’t see you living a new life,” Fae said. Jane was hurt but knew her mother was not trying to be mean.
“I have Ellie to worry about. I don’t want to date anyone right now. I’m happy alone.” Her freckles grew a little darker from the effort it took to say that.
“No one is happy alone sweetheart,” Fae offered. “Perhaps it is time for both of us to consider new things.” 
Jane didn’t respond but found her mind drifting to earlier that afternoon and watching Anders Brookstone talking to her daughter. She had seen the look of shock on his face, and then the look of sympathy, pity, and something else she couldn’t pinpoint. Guilt? Maybe, or dread, or some sort of combination. She was certain there was a shadow of some sort that had flashed through his blue eyes like a cloud over a calm lake. Their little family had become accustomed to the looks they received whenever they left the house. Tom, she remembered, used to be furious at the parents whose children gawked at his own, the ones who would shush and drag their children away from a grocery store aisle at the slightest question or lingering stare. Perhaps worse were the parents who did nothing and just let their children yell out “What’s wrong with that girl!?” and they never answered the question. She knew that it was hard for him to accept that there was anything wrong with their daughter. She was perfect in their eyes, though in her heart Jane always knew that life would be a struggle, not just for them, but for Ellie. She had thousands of questions that filled her mind after Tom’s death. What would happen to Ellie if she died too? Will Ellie make it to college one day? What would she do for a living? Living life confined mostly to a wheelchair was difficult, very difficult. The world was not designed to help people who were different. Jane wanted nothing more than happiness for her only daughter and she would do anything to guarantee that for her. Unfortunately, the café, while popular and a great place to work, left very little at the end of the month that she could put away for Ellie in case of a rainy day, or, as was the current situation, in case of the necessity for a new wheelchair. The look on Anders Brookstone’s face reinforced this to her. They were soon going to be in trouble. And it wasn’t just going to be a little bit. 
Jane looked at her mother, “I just wish I knew what the future holds Mom.”
“We all do Janie.” The older woman smiled sadly.

Chapter Seven

Looking in the mirror Anders worked on tying the double Windsor knot in the blue tie Meredith had picked out for dinner with his family. 
“Matches your eyes.” She’d said, in her way, which was always calm and serene. Absent mindedly he wondered if they taught morticians to be calm sorts of people since working with dead bodies was admittedly creepy. You certainly wouldn’t want any sudden movements around the embalming room if you could help it. Meredith sat on the edge of his bed waiting for him, picking invisible bits of lint from her grey skirt. Her light eyes looked even paler in the light from the window. Contrasted with the nearly blue- black of her angular bob he thought she looked absolutely striking. The picture of a future Brookstone woman. 
He had again been contemplating the perfect ring for her. Tiffany’s was the customary choice of the Brookstone men. One carat, platinum, knife edge band, princess cut diamond. Traditional, but flashy. While he knew Meredith would most likely love this type of ring, he wasn’t sure it was right for her. Something was holding him back and he just couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Darling, are you having trouble with your tie?” Meredith walked up behind him and looked at his face reflected in the mirror. 
“No, no. I’ve got it,” he said and finished up, though the tie ended up a bit crooked.
“Are you alright? You seem a bit distracted. Here,” she turned him toward her and fixed his tie.
“Oh, just dinner with my parents. You know.” He half smiled, then turned back to the mirror, careful not to look directly at her for fear his thoughts on the engagement ring may be visible in his face. “Better, thanks.” Anders donned his suit jacket, in a charcoal that accentuated his own dark hair and they rode down in the elevator silently. Meredith kept her hands folded in front of her body, even when Anders grazed a hand down her back to feel closer to her. He knew she was on the cool side of the affection scale but hoped that the more he reached out to her the more willing she would become to express her feelings. They had been together for some time and things never seemed to warm up, leaving Anders feeling lonely many times when they were together. He loved Meredith and wanted to show her his affection. Riding alone in an elevator seemed like the perfect opportunity, but, Meredith evidently felt differently about the situation. Anders sighed and attempted to release the feeling of loneliness and focus his mind on dinner with his family. He sighed again, realizing he often felt alone with his family too.
Leaving the elevator, they hailed a taxi and rode to his parents’ place across the city in the same direction as he had driven the day before to visit the café. The image of the little girl in the wheelchair- Ellie – stuck in his mind. Guilty bile began to rise in his chest and he coughed.
“Are you alright?” Meredith reached toward him and took his hand. A gesture Anders was glad to accept.
Anders cleared his throat, “yes, yes,” he held her chilly hand in his, hoping his warmth would transfer to her. “Have you ever met a child in a wheelchair?” He asked, trying to seem nonchalant.
“What a peculiar question,” Meredith said and looked at him, thoughtful for a few moments. Anders waited for her response and ran his thumb back and forth over her knuckles using friction to warm her skin. “No, I haven’t met a child, or really anyone for that matter, who was in a wheelchair. I had a friend in elementary school, Gloria, who had a prosthetic arm. Why do you ask?” She pulled her hand away and folded her fingers in her lap, looking at him with her eerie eyes.
“Yesterday, when I went to check out the new property Dad bought, I met a young girl in a wheelchair. I was thrown, I didn’t know how to talk to her. I felt so awkward.” Anders was embarrassed by his confession and hoped Meredith wouldn’t think less of him. 
“Whatever for?” Meredith’s confusion was evident.
“I didn’t want to say anything that might have been offensive,” he said, not entirely meeting her eyes. Meredith was a very practical straight forward woman. Thoughts like these would most likely, never cross her mind. 
“What did you say to her?” She wanted to know.
“I said hello, tried to act as normal as possible. I told her the cookie recipe she invented was good,” he looked at Meredith with pleading eyes hoping he’d done alright.
“That seems fine, Anders. I think the most important thing is that you acknowledged her. She is a person, just like everyone else, regardless if she is in a wheelchair.” 
Anders knew that she was right. He took her hand and grasped it. She patted his hand and then removed both of hers back to her lap. Anders didn’t tell Meredith how he was going to be responsible for closing her mother’s business and leaving her without an adequate wheelchair in the very near future.
When they arrived at his parents, his mother greeted them at the door, dressed in a crisp mint green skirt suit with her pale blond hair curled elegantly around her ears. She had an enormous grin on her face. Anders figured something must be up since he never got such a happy greeting from his mother. They moved into the house and found his father in the den smoking a cigar talking with someone who had his back to the door. It was his brother Alec. Back from another stay in Europe. This time, Alec had been studying working with marble, so he could install beautiful marble floors in his father’s condos.
“Alec!” Anders grabbed his younger brother in a bear hug. Alec’s build was slightly more muscular than Anders, slightly taller, and slightly blonder too. He had the same eyes, his father’s eyes, though his face was somewhat rounder, like his mother’s. “When did you get back?” 
“Last night,” Alec slapped his brother on the back. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet,” he swept his hand across the room toward a woman who stood silhouetted in the window. “I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Valentina.”

Chapter Eight

On Monday morning Anders went in early to the office. He had a lot of things to think about. The shock of his brother getting married was the main thing that kept him from sleeping in past four o’clock, that and the thundering storm rattling outside his bedroom window. But he had other things on his mind, namely Cutie Pie’s Café, along with Ellie and her striking mother. The other businesses in the building were also on his mind. The spa was doing well, better than he’d expected, but it wasn’t enough to leave the property running as it was. He’d finish his report for his father this morning. In his gut, he wanted to save the businesses, especially the café. The look on Jane Michaels’s face stuck in his mind. When he read her email and reviewed her financial documents his heart sank. They were just barely making the rent every month. He had hoped for better and wondered if there was something more he could do to help save the business, but in his post little- brother- got- married haze he could think of nothing. He finished writing the report and walked down the hall to his father’s office and deposited the folder on his desk.
      Looking down at him from the portrait high up on the wall was his father’s face. Even if he weren’t aided by the dim light in the hall that shone through the door, Anders could feel the superiority oozing from his father’s gaze. Anders felt a rise of bitterness in his throat. He turned and left the office quickly and walked back to his desk where he sat with his head in his hands. His brother eloped and his parents, by some miracle, were happy about it. It must have been because Alec had been gone for so long when he lived in Europe the first time that they were just happy to have him home and safe. Anders had never been brave enough to do anything of which his parents did not approve. He was the good one, the sturdy, dependable, responsible, obedient older brother. At thirty-four, he had never imagined falling out of line with the Blair Brookstone way. Alec had always been braver, more adventurous. Three years younger and full of fire, their parents had never known how to deal with the towheaded wanderer. Just to now have him settle down, work for Brookstone Holdings and live in the same city as the rest of the family, had them head over heels trying to keep him home.
      Anders trudged back to his desk suddenly overcome with exhaustion. He sat and laid his head on his forearms. Thoughts of jealousy and bitterness swirled in his mind surrounding his brother’s marriage and his parent’s lack of enthusiasm for his own relationship with Meredith. He tried to push them aside. Why couldn’t they see Meredith, acknowledge her presence, her dependability, her beautiful, if not a little startling, figure and see that he would be proposing shortly to the woman, a woman who might give them their first grandchild, very soon. Instead they gave his brother all the leeway possible, freedom, and no expectations, and were thrilled to just have him in their lives. Why couldn’t they feel the same way about him? He’d always done everything they wanted or asked of him, while Alec had never done anything they’d asked. Anders adjusted his head on his arms to prevent his ear from being smashed, closed his eyes, and took some deep breaths to push the bile back down his esophagus, and thought about the report he’d just left on his father’s desk. He’d suggested keeping the building and transforming it into a hotel. He’d run the numbers, tourism was a good idea for the area and he knew that he’d be able to keep the businesses already in the building, maybe even give the caféa bigger spot in the building. Make it a full restaurant, with a nice big kitchen where Jane Michaels could do more of her fantastic cooking. He knew it would work, he’d just have to convince his father of the idea.
 
 
      Somewhere between his deep breathing, the gently pattering rain hitting the window, and thoughts of slender fingers handing him a plate full of freshly baked cookies, Anders had fallen asleep. He was startled awake by his office phone. When he lifted his head, he found his neck had a terrible crick and that it was just barely light out. He glanced at his watch and saw it was a few minutes after six and wondered who would be calling at such an early hour.
      “Hello,” he said, pulling his head away from the receiver to clear a frog from his throat. “Anders Brookstone, Brookstone Holdings.”
      “Mr. Brookstone?” said a familiar female voice in a tone that was very keyed up. He couldn’t place who it was with his sleep addled mind.
      “Yes,” he said cautiously.
      “This is Jane Michaels, I wasn’t expecting to catch you in the office at such an early hour,” the voice sounded confused now and he pictured the tall woman looking befuddled, her pretty hand wrapped around the phone, pressing it to her ear. “We have a problem,” the woman went on, sounding less confused, concern creeping in to her speech. “There’s a leak, a huge, enormous leak in the café and I can’t stop it. It’s probably the roof. All the rain overnight...” She let the sentence die since it was an obvious statement.
      “I’ll be right up to take a look,” he found himself saying to her.
      “You will?” she said, sounding surprised. In fact, they were both surprised by what he’d said, since, he hadn’t intended to offer to drive all the way out to her so soon after having seen the property, particularly when he could have just sent one of the many contractors they employed to look.
      “Absolutely,” he said, somewhat in disbelief at his own words. They hung up the phone and Anders immediately picked up the receiver to dial his brother. Anders knew how to handle real estate, but roofs were another matter. He was going to need Alec’s help. He hoped the newly- weds didn’t mind being awoken this early in the morning.