AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What, no witty comeback?”
“That’s exactly who I am.”
Was she hinting that I wasn’t anything more than an uneducated hick? The air fell silent between us.
The Sycamore Inn’s door was open and I waited in the car while Henri checked in. She hadn’t smiled since we’d turned off Main Street but as she walked toward me, she looked even more sour. I opened the door and pulled out her duffel bag.
She took it and let it drop to the ground. “There’s no record of my reservation. And, she doesn’t have any rooms left – the film crew has booked them all.”
“I thought you said you booked it.” In one of our conversations, I could’ve sworn she told me that she’d booked a room at the Sycamore Inn.
Henri seemed to deflate and sunk to sit on top of her bag. “I did. But apparently the online booking system crashed a couple of days ago and no one has fixed it yet. Mavis, the owner,” she pointed to the quaint Inn’s door, called around to all the other hotels. They’re all booked because of that damn movie. Unless, I want to pay over a thousand dollars a night to stay at the Sugar Peaks Lodge.”
She looked like she was going to cry. It was very un-Henri-like. Even though I’d only known her for a day, I knew that she was the type who didn’t like to cry. She buried her face in her hands, but instead of crying, took a huge inhale in through her nose and then stood powerfully. “Jack, please take me to the Sugar Peaks Lodge. If that’s my only option, then I will spend my rent for next month on the rest of this Platypus assignment.”
Platypus? I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. “Or, you could stay one more night at the cabin.”
Henri’s head tilted. “No. Jack, I couldn’t.”
“Why not? It’s only one more night.”
“Are you sure?” There weren’t tears, but there definitely was a tremble to her voice. “I’m sure. And I know that my mom would never forgive me if I let you stay across the bridge.”
“Across the bridge?”
I tossed the bag into the back seat of my car for what felt like the millionth time that day. Henri beat me to the passenger seat of the car and let herself in. The driver’s seat was still warm and the car rumbled as I turned the key. “Yeah, you’ll hear a few local colloquialisms, over the bridge, means the rich people who have multi-million-dollar homes with heli pads in their backyards.”
“Like Charlotte.” I mused.
“Exactly. Like Charlotte. And over the tracks, well, that’s the rougher side of town.”
“I haven’t met any over the tracks people yet.”
I shouldn’t have said anything, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Yes, you have. Me.”
SEVEN
HENRI
The only thingthat surprised me more than Jack offering to let me stay in the cabin for one more night, was the fact that he had grown up as he put it, on the wrong side of the tracks.
“I thought that your parents were doing well. The house, the animals, the garage.”
“Sure.” Jack navigated his SUV along the snowy streets. The vintage windshield wipers having a hard time keeping up with the snow that was falling heavier by the second. “They are doing great now. But as a kid we needed those chickens and goats. That’s what kept us fed. The farmhouse was freezing cold in the winter, and there were days that I skipped school to help my dad chop wood to keep that woodstove in the kitchen running. It heated and fed us.”
My childhood hadn’t been bright and sunny either. “I’m sorry to hear that Jack, that must have been tough.”
“Not really,” he shrugged. “I didn’t know we were poor until someone told me. I had a great childhood. And, I’m so proud of my parents for what they’ve built. They deserve to retire and relax. It bothers me that they are still working the way they are. I’m actually hoping…” His voice faded out and he seemed focused on parallel parking in front of the flower shop.
“What are you hoping?” I pressed.
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
I knew that it was pushing the boundaries of our tenuous relationship, but I took a guess. “That you could help them retire?”
He put the truck in park and turned to me with a questioning look on his face. “How did you know?”
“I felt the same way with my mom. Before she passed.”
