Returning Pride (16 page)

L
ess than a week later, Allison sat with her mother on her newly purchased day bed in her new room at the Hotel. Megan had gone with them to purchase the bed, an oak night stand, and a dresser. Later, she and her mother had gone to Walmart in Edgeview and purchased a large flat-screen television for her new room. Her mother had picked out the new linens and towels, all the time explaining how excited she was that Allison was finally moving out. Not once did her mother comprehend what was going on. She’d explained it several times and each time she had to start from the beginning.

Now they sat in the freshly decorated room.

Her mother looked at her and said, “It’s so wonderful here. I can’t believe you got me such a wonderful room. How long did you say I would be staying?”

“
Mom, this is your new room. You’re going to be living here now. Remember?”

“Well, I think it’s just wonderful. Everyone is so friendly. It’s such a nice place. I never want to leave.”

Iian was outside his house, working in his garden area off the back patio, when he noticed a shadow over him. It caught him off guard; and he hated being caught off guard. The man stood in a dark brown outfit and held out a clip board. Iian read his lips.

“So, if you’d just sign here we can get started.”

“I’m sorry,” Iian stood, dusting off his hands. “I’m deaf, could you please repeat what you said?” He hated the look that others, who didn’t know him, always gave. First it was always shock and then they would get embarrassed, like they’d done something wrong,. They always ended up with a pitying look.

“I’m sorry. I’m from Brandon’s Furniture. We’re delivering your new furniture. If you’d just sign here, we can start unloading the truck.”

Iian had ordered the furniture for the bedrooms upstairs. A lot of what had been up there was outdated and in need of replacing. So, he’d gotten on his laptop and in the process had found out that he loved ordering online. He had enjoyed taking his time picking out what would go in each room. He’d even ordered himself a few items for his kitchen.

He was spending quite a lot of his inheritance on fixing up the place. After all, he hadn’t touched any of the money since he’d turned twenty and had been given full rein to do so. He figured his father would’ve approved of all the improvements he’d been making. Iian made enough at the restaurant to live comfortably and didn’t usually bother with the extra money that sat in his accounts. He also hadn’t touched his income from the other family business, Jordan Shipping, which Todd ran full time.

Two hours later, he had sweat rolling down his back between his shoulders. He’d moved everything around until he was completely satisfied with the outcome. Gone were the little kids’ rooms, and in their place were two guest bedrooms and the most professional art studio he’d ever seen. He stood back and smiled at the outcome.

The light colored walls were still bare, but he could just imagine hanging some art in different places. The furniture was light oak and had simple lines, which kept with the flow of some of the older pieces he had. He’d kept the large bay windows uncovered. He liked the light that came in through them. The view in this room was the best in the house. His bluff stood a few yards out and he noticed that today the ocean was a peaceful blue with a matching sky.

The other rooms, his and Todd’s old bedrooms, were outfitted with their own unique furniture.

Smiling to himself, he thought that the only thing missing was someone to help fill the emptiness. Grabbing up his coat, he decided an evening walk would help him think of how he’d get Allison where he wanted her.

Driving home felt lonely. Her mother had looked like she was enjoying herself playing Bingo, but still the worry played in the back of her mind. Had she done the right thing? She felt like a mother leaving her child at school for the first time. Was her mother going to play nice with the other people? Would she have a freak-out moment? She knew the staff was well equipped to handle her mother’s condition, but still she couldn’t help worrying.

When she parked in her spot, she could see the bright lights coming from the main house and knew it was dinner time. Most of the guests at the bed and breakfast were enjoying their dinner there. Not wanting to be around the crowd, she started walking towards her cabin on the dimly-lit pathway.

It had been a cool cloudy day and the sun never really had made an appearance. Here in the trees, it was even darker and gloomier looking. She’d made it almost halfway to her cabin, when she heard a sound behind her. Turning around, she thought she would see another guest walking the path. But there wasn’t anyone there and the sound had stopped. She turned and proceeded down the pathway until she heard it again.

This time it was faster and louder. Spinning around she braced herself, but again, no one was there. Looking around slowly, she could only see darkness in the trees. Her breathing was starting to come faster and she could hear no normal sounds coming from the trees, no birds, no crickets, no frogs, nothing. Just an eerie silence. Cautiously, she turned and picked up her pace, glancing over her shoulder occasionally. When her cabin came into sight, she rushed to the front porch and hastily opened the door with her key. Slamming the door shut, she make sure to flip the lock quickly. Leaning back against it, she realized she was out of breath and her heart was racing. Had it been an animal? Was someone following her?

Just then her phone rang causing her to jump almost a foot off the ground and let out a small squeal. With her hand over her heart, she went to answer it.

Fifteen minutes later, she was shaking and out of breath for different reasons. Long gone was the feeling that someone had followed her. Instead it was replaced by the worry and questions she had about her future.

She had some thinking to do. Looking out the large front windows of the cabin, she decided a long walk on the beach might help clear her mind. Even though it was still gloomy, she thought the cool air would help clear her mind.

Grabbing up her jacket, she headed out the door to take the pebble path through the tall grass which opened up to the sandy Oregon shore. Large chunks of drift wood lay scattered across the empty beach.

The summer weather had finally settled in leaving most days warmer, but the breeze off the water was still cool enough. Looking off to the horizon, she could see large dark clouds. It appeared there would be a storm later that night. Keeping her head down, she walked along the shore and did her thinking.

Iian stood on his cliff; he watched the rain forming far off in the horizon and knew a storm was coming. Usually the weather could take a few hours to reach land or just a few minutes. Living on the coast his whole life, he learned he could usually gauge it pretty well. This one, he thought, might hit the shore before he could make it back to the safety of his house. So, he’d get wet. Living in Oregon, you learned to either love it or hate it. He loved it.

Then he saw her. At first glance she appeared to be just a dot on the horizon, but he could tell it was her. He would always be able to tell it was her from afar. Her head was down, the hood of her bright red wind-breaker covered her hair and face. It was the way she walked that set her apart from anyone else. She carried herself like a dancer most of the time, but when she was deep in thought, she tended to march as she was doing now.

He took a path that would take him to the beach before she passed the cliffs he frequented. He knew she hadn’t seen or heard him, even though he had dislodged a truck load of pebbles and dirt getting down the hill.

Coming up behind her, he easily matched his pace with her brisk one.

“Heading somewhere?” He asked.

She jumped and then whirled around putting her hand up to her heart. Her face was flushed from the brisk walk and the tip of her nose was a bright pink. No doubt from the cool wind.

“
Oh,” she said. He watched her lovely mouth make the all-too-familiar word.

It took Allison several seconds to realize where she was. She hadn’t intended on going this far up the beach. Looking around, she realized she was past the bluff. How could she have gone this far and not known it?