Essential Beginnings (7 page)

H
enley ran cold
water over her face, but it did nothing to erase the exhaustion that had settled into her shoulders and produced the bags underneath her eyes. It was going on eight o’clock in the morning and the lodge had a scheduled guest showing up in an hour. Within the next couple of weeks they would be filled to capacity for the spring season and then it would most likely stay that way throughout the summer. She didn’t have time to dwell over what had transpired between her and Mav last night. It wasn’t like he could say anything in his defense after she’d finally called him out on finding those damn magazines. It disgusted her that he viewed her as nothing but a sex object, yet she didn’t feel any better having it out in the open after stewing over it for so long.

There had been no other events last night, not even Berke calling back, so Henley should be able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Mav had most likely already left town. The only problem was she wasn’t comforted by that fact and that stressed her out all over again. At this rate she’d be getting an ulcer and that was the last thing she needed to deal with right now. She blotted her face dry with a towel as she walked back into her bedroom with every intention to forget what happened and push it under the rug—at least until next year when Ernie’s gang of former Marines arrived for their annual beer fest. Unfortunately, a knock sounded on the door and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it was one of two people.

“Coming,” Henley called out, tossing the towel onto her dresser and pulling out a lightweight long-sleeved white shirt. She quickly pulled it over her head and settled the hem over the waist of her denims she’d slipped on earlier. Grabbing a brush, she gave her hair a couple of strokes before reaching for a hair tie and heading for the living room. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Ernie tell her to hurry up. Yanking open the door, she found out she’d celebrated too soon. “What is that odd look for?”

“You can march yourself into town and stop Mav from leaving.” Ernie lifted his worn ball cap up and then fitted it back onto his head in frustration. Henley wasn’t going to go into detail about why his request wasn’t going to be granted and she could only hope that their guest arrived sooner than nine o’clock. “I’ve never heard the likes of this bullshit and now of all times is not the occasion to be battling each other over petty horseshit. I know it’s all over a stupid misunderstanding.”

Henley could tell that Ernie was baiting her into telling him the entire truth, because she highly doubted Mav had said anything. The two men might be as close as father and son, but Mav wasn’t the type to divulge something so personal. And wasn’t that just a double standard? She’d accused him last night of basically being depraved and yet she was assuming he was reputable enough not to share details that had passed between them.

“Ernie, Mav told you he had to leave today.” Henley gathered her long hair and finally wrapped the black band around the strands, letting it hang down her back. Her own anger was starting to show and she didn’t have time for this crap. “I have nothing to do with his decisions, but I do have lodge business to attend to…your business. The caldera didn’t erupt and life is going on as scheduled, which includes a guest arriving in less than an hour. I already stocked his refrigerator, but I need to go over the room one more time to make sure I didn’t forget anything.”

“Go ahead then,” Ernie said, his voice gruff as he turned away. The morning sun shined through the trees, giving a glimpse of the bright day ahead and yet it was dim right where she was standing. She’d hurt his feelings and he was letting her know that. “Take care of business.”

Henley inhaled deeply and counted to ten, telling herself not to call out to him. He’d said the word
business
as if she didn’t know that Mav meant more to him than this fishing lodge. She tried to remind herself that Tank was baiting her, but seeing his hunched shoulders as he walked away was just too much.

“Tank, you know what I meant,” Henley called out, leaning against the doorframe in defeat. Ernie stopped and only turned enough so that he could look over his shoulder at her with disappointed blue eyes. “I know you believe that Yellowstone will erupt at some point, but it’s not going to be today. Mav knows that too, which is why he’s heading back home where he has responsibilities…just like we do right here and now.”

“Putting that aside, do you really want to let a year pass with this festering between the two of you? Mav can be stubborn when he feels dishonored or betrayed, but I thought you handled things better than he did. To be honest, your differences are what I thought would bring the two of you together.”

“Dishonored?” Henley asked, shocked that Ernie would use such a severe word. She was now questioning exactly what Mav had told the older man last night. She pushed herself off of the doorjamb, took a step outside onto the small porch, and then crossed her arms in anger. “Betrayed? He was the one who had magazines in his vehicle with me plastered on the cover as if I was nothing more than a sex object. Don’t stand there and make it sound as if that’s okay. It’s not. They weren’t recent covers either, Ernie. They were from my younger years and it made me feel filthy. He doesn’t want
me
. He never wanted
me
. He wants what those photographs represent and she never existed. I do. I’m here, flesh and blood just like everyone else, and I damn well deserve more respect.”

“You are just as stubborn as he is,” Ernie muttered with a shake of his head as he removed his cap. Henley was practically out of breath from her tirade. She recognized a trap when she fell into one. She tilted her head back and looked up at the sky in exasperation, her frustration not dissipating at all. Tank shouldn’t be concerned about her personal life and using it to keep Mav here in town because of his obsession with an apocalyptic event wasn’t fair. “Is that what’s got your panties in a twist? Old magazines? Did you ever think to ask Mav why he had them in the first place?”

“No, because it’s wrong no matter how he answers,” Henley exclaimed, turning to walk back into her cabin. She left the door open because she figured Ernie would just follow her inside anyway. “And that’s not even the issue right now. You want him to stay, so you’re going to use whatever means necessary to do that—even me, which let me tell you is downright manipulative, old man.”

Henley stopped at the counter and yanked the coffee pot off of the burner, pouring two cups of coffee before she realized what she was doing. She was so used to having Tank join her in the morning to talk about their day that she didn’t think that this was basically an open invitation for him to continue this conversation. She slid the pot back into its rightful place and then grabbed both mugs after she’d heard the door close.

“Mav isn’t a recruit that needs to be told what to do anymore.” Ernie took one of the mugs out of her hand but didn’t bother to sit down. Instead he walked over to the window located on the right side of the living area and stared out at the mountain that she’d loved since she was a child. “He’s decided to leave and there is nothing I can do about it but hope for the best. I don’t doubt that the caldera will erupt soon, but the two of you might be right about it not being now. Mother Nature has her own agenda and she keeps it close to her chest. That vent is still releasing pressure, but there haven’t been any follow-up events big enough to keep Mav here or bring the rest of the group back home. Bottom line, young lady, is that I love that boy like he was my own and seeing the hurt in his eyes when he came back to my cabin was hard for me. He’s a good man, Henley.”

“Good men can still have flaws,” Henley pointed out, her annoyance leveling out to where she would finish this discussion without raising her voice again. She took a careful sip of the hot coffee, having gotten used to drinking it black years ago to cut back on calories. Now it was more out of habit than watching her weight. She closed her eyes to savor the lightly roasted rich flavor, urging the caffeine to do its job. “Ernie, there are shortcomings I can handle and there are those that I can’t. I’m happy here. I’m content on my own, love this town, and am finally at peace. I don’t need someone with me to make me whole. I do that all on my own.”

“I’m not saying that you aren’t complete, Henley.” Ernie took a drink of his own coffee and then finally turned to face her, the knowledge in his blue eyes making her comprehend that he knew more about her than he was letting on. “But take it from someone who’s been there. Life is so much sweeter if you have someone to spend it with.”

“Then why haven’t you asked Mabel out to dinner?” Henley took a seat on the couch facing Ernie, relieved that the conversation had progressed past her and Mav. Now this was a topic she could handle. “She’s been waiting.”

“I will ask her when the time is right and not a minute before,” Ernie stressed, raising one of those bushy eyebrows of his and making it seem as if he was chastising her for meddling in his business when he’d been doing the same to her. She elevated her own eyebrow, letting him know he didn’t intimidate her. “Now here is something you might consider to put things into perspective for you. If I recall Mav was supposed to have gotten some magazines signed by you for the daughter of a man he worked with back in Chicago. I remember him saying something to that effect after I told him I’d hired you, but then he called weeks later when that same little girl got real sick with meningitis and asked if I’d mail out a picture she could have instead. Could those have been the sick little girl’s magazines that you saw in his Jeep?”

Henley froze, although the brown liquid in her cup was the only thing still moving. Memories of Ernie asking her for some stock photos with her signature came back to her, but she’d assumed they had been for Van’s administrative assistant. Van had mentioned on more than one occasion that first time she’d met the whole gang that Kinsey had wanted an autograph. The reality of just what her misjudgment might have cost her hit hard, but she still had to verify this with Mav.

“Tank, why didn’t he just tell me that last night?” Henley asked, pushing herself off of the couch and setting her coffee cup down onto the table. “I told him what I’d found in his vehicle and he walked away. How was I supposed to take that as anything other than a confirmation?”

“I can’t speak for Mav, but I know how I would feel if Mabel thought that little of me.” Ernie finished off his coffee and then walked over to the counter, rinsing out the cup and gently setting it in the sink. He still held his cap in his left hand as he walked to the door, leaving her to her own misery. “I guess I better make sure the boats are prepared for our guest. I’m sure he’ll want to hit the lake later this morning and as you said…we have business to attend to. I wanted to check the supply side filters for the siphon pump at the spring and top off the storage tank before we get too many guests arriving for the season. I’ll need to reset the on-demand storage to five hundred gallons with the increased number of visitors.”

Henley followed close on his heels, grabbing the keys to the rusty old F-10 pick-up truck she’d purchased from Mrs. Geary after her husband had passed. It always got her to and from where she needed to be and Ernie had rebuilt the stake bed when it had rusted out. It could haul what she needed and would do the same now, only this time with a little more dust in her rearview mirror.

“I’ll be back before our guest arrives,” Henley called out, jogging to the driver’s side door and yanking open the old hunk of metal. She didn’t even bother to look over her shoulder, knowing full well there would be a smile on Tank’s face. “If you so much as say I told you so, you’ll be the one changing the sheets and cleaning the cabins before next week’s group arrives.”

Henley slammed the driver’s door hard and then slid the key into the ignition, turning it until the engine rolled over and started. She nudged the gearshift into drive and then pressed her foot on the gas pedal. She didn’t think an apology would change anything, but she’d always prided herself on owning up to her mistakes. Mav could accept it or not, but at least she wouldn’t have to go the whole next year berating herself for a misunderstanding she’d let go on for far too long. She already had too many regrets and she didn’t need this one added onto the long tattered list. Contrary to what Ernie thought, she wasn’t nearly as stubborn as he was and she was about to prove it.