AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Five
The rain let up a bitand seemed a kind of shimmer, the kind that illuminated little rainbows across the pavement. Elise walked down the sidewalk of Main Street with her head in the clouds. That man. The way he had cared for her. It overwhelmed her.
Of course, after all, Sean had done, it stood to reason that she was overwhelmed by something like that. At this point, the bar was on the ground.
Still...
When Elise reached the Willow Grove Guest House again, she remained drenched and sticky and bandaged. Connell looked on the verge of a heart attack.
“What on earth! I wondered what happened to you. You were gone forever,” he said. He hustled around the side of the front desk and heaved a sigh at her wet hair, her mussed makeup.
“It’s okay. I took a tumble, though, to put it lightly,” Elise said with an ironic laugh. “I’m just going to shower and head out again in a bit.”
“You’ll let me know if you need anything, won’t you?” he demanded.
“Of course!” Elise had heard stories of Midwestern hospitality, but this was almost too much. Californians weren’t like this, at least, not in her experience—and certainly not in Calabasas.
Elise headed back to her room, stripped off her wet hiking clothes, and stepped into the shower, careful to keep her bandaged leg out of the stream. Her blonde tresses caked down her back as she tilted her head upward.
This was certainly a strange start to her time on Mackinac Island.
When she finished, she dressed in a simple black dress, donned a pair of sandals, and dried her hair somberly, grateful to have her old California soft, loose curls back in the wake of the rain. When she stepped back out of the bathroom, her brain fizzled out.
She was starving.
Her backpack still held that freshly-baked, now-drenched scone. She had to find another option. Luckily, the bed and breakfast’s breakfast portion still ran till eleven. She sat near the window overlooking the water and ate eggs smeared with goat cheese, a biscuit, and sautéed mushrooms. When she turned her head, she spotted Connell watching her.
“I was just so worried about you!” he called.
Elise rolled her eyes inwardly. “It tastes delicious!” she returned.
“Oh, good. Eat as much as you like. Our other guests headed out this morning. You’re the only one left today!”
Elise thanked Connell as he removed her plate and rushed toward the kitchen. She had the strangest instinct to take the plate herself and clean it up, as though she’d just spent the night at a friend’s house and wanted to do her part.
The clouds shifted overhead, shifting and breaking up like cotton candy in water. Eggshell blue sky peeked through, then became that perfect orb again. As Elise stepped out, the sun reflected across the puddles in a way that reminded her of a painting.
When Elise stepped into the foyer of the Mackinac Island Public Library, a librarian stepped out from behind the counter and beamed at her. “Hello! I wondered if I would get any visitors after the blue skies returned. Rainy days are perfect for libraries. Sunny days—not so much.”
Elise smiled. “This place is beautiful. I love the blue walls.” Within the library, all of the walls had been painted the most glorious blue, which was all the more illuminated with the bright sunlight peeking through the windows.
“We like them,” the librarian said. “Can I help you with something?”
“Um. Yes. I heard a rumor there was an exhibition for the film that was made here in the late ‘70s.”
The librarian tapped her nose twice. “We don’t get questions about that very often anymore. There’s been talk of removing the exhibition. Christopher Reeve isn’t even the Superman everyone talks about anymore.”
“Who do people think is Superman?” Elise asked.
“I don’t know all these actor names anymore,” the woman said, heaving a sigh. “All I can tell you is, I stopped paying attention to pop culture a long time ago, and I’ve been happier ever since. Follow me. The exhibition is right this way.”
They swept through the big blue belly of the library, back toward the far wall. Once there, they stepped through a thick wooden door and into a room of dark ruby walls, framed photographs, and a hanging banner that read: Somewhere in Time Wrap Party 1979.
“Wow. It’s like stepping somewhere back in time...” Elise said, trying out the joke.
The librarian had either heard that joke a million times or refused to laugh at it. Either way, she made no noise.
“Here we are,” she said. “As you can see, we have numerous photographs from set, along with the very photograph that Christopher Reeve falls in love with.” She pointed toward the far wall, where the gorgeous photo of an old-world Jane Seymour hung. “There’s also a number of newspaper articles written about the filming in that book there—” She pointed to a large tome, located on an antique desk. “And that desk was actually featured in the film, as well. I believe Jane Seymour sat at it during at least two scenes.”
