Room 212 (20 page)

“Love you, too.”

I might have created my own little world inside of my garden, but God had created a much more breathtaking landscape with the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. I stood gazing at them through the window over my kitchen sink. The lake behind my house was a clear blue and the moon was starting to reflect in it. I could hear the crickets start to serenade out the window, interrupted by the incessant barking of my dog, begging for anything he could get his jaws on.

“Shut up T2! You are ruining my Zen!” I grabbed a dog treat out of the jar on the counter and quickly threw it at him. “Now hush mutt, or I will have you gassed.”

He gave me one more bark for good measure. “Yeah, I know you’re the man of the house.” And thank God for that. I smiled again, cutting up the veggies for my rue. There was absolutely no reason not to smile. It was a beautiful night. My cell phone rang.

“Damn it.” I wiped my hands on a towel and quickly picked up my cell. “Hello.”

“Incoming!”

“Oh yeah, how many?”

“Twelve rooms for six months!”

“That’s great! When?”

“Tomorrow, the motel they were going to stay at had a huge water leak.”

I was careful with my words, but thinking it was just as bad as saying them. I threw caution to the wind. “Poor them, lucky us.” Yep, I’m still a brat. “Did you give them a discounted rate?”

“No. They said they would pay full and it was a tax write off.”

“Great, Linda, I’ll stop by tomorrow and we can go over the books. Please check in with Larry and Tessa and make sure they are straight with theirs. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sure thing, boss. Goodnight.”

I hung up the phone and beamed at T2, which stood for Tetris 2. I still felt guilty about letting Callie have T1. Bygones, Laura.

I saw Callie on my one and only trip back to Texas to bury my parents seven years ago. She was happy and was now part owner of the Lemon. Gary had taken a back seat. I stopped in and couldn’t believe how the place had changed. We laughed until we cried and our goodbye was tearful. I hadn’t spoken to her since. It was just one of those convenient friendships I guess. Dave moved to California shortly after I left Texas. I had no reason to ever go back. I loved my home in Colorado and my friends. I had been a drifter long enough in my early years and recognize a home when I saw one. This was mine. My life was here, my business was here, and I wouldn’t change a thing, not even the nightmarish road it took to get to this place.

I finished my dinner and grabbed T2 and tried to force him to enjoy my company. I don’t know why I insisted on wiener dogs, they were always so rude to me.

“Look, you little shit. I’m going to pet you and you are going to enjoy it.” As if on cue he turned to look at me, snapping at my hand and wandered off to his dog bed, giving me ‘eat shit’ eyes.

“You are so lucky I’m getting softer in my old age, demon dog.”

*****

I greeted Linda in the motel lobby and handed her a latte.

“This is why I stay here. You are the best, lady.”

“You’re not so bad yourself. Twelve rooms for six months, well that doesn’t suck.”

“You’re telling me, boss.”

“Did Renee call in again? I didn’t see her car.”

“Yep, she said her kid was sick.”

“Just let her go, Linda. I’ll do clean up today.”

“I hate it when you do that. Let me just let the service do it. You have no business cleaning.”

“Well, if you want something done right… Besides, I’m no better than anyone else, Linda. I’m going to go change. It’s getting late and I want to make sure it gets done.” I grabbed a key to Room 212, which I considered my room in the motel, and changed into some jeans and a tank from the sundress I was wearing. I looked in the mirror and laughed out loud at my hair. It was in a bandana, but it was painfully crooked. I didn’t need to look pretty to be a motel maid for a day.

I took my time getting together my cleaning supplies and began circling my squealing cart from room to room, knocking on the doors and taking note of who would not be staying in my motel ever again. Some of the messes were too much and I had to call Linda in for backup, but some guests had the trash ready and the task was an easy one. I was on my last room when I heard a motorcade approach the motel. I was excited for the steady amount of business and prayed this group would not trash the rooms that had recently been remodeled. I quickly cleaned my last room and pulled the door closed, looking up to see the newly checked in crew with their key cards walking toward me.

“Hi guys, welcome. I hear you’re staying with us for a while.” Most of them looked to be in their early twenties and very wet behind the ears.

“Yep, we’re here all the way from the great state of Texas. I’m Josh.”

“Nice to meet you, Josh. I’m Laura and from Texas as well. What part are you from?”

“Dallas.” Oh God. Seth?

No, no. I was just hearing things. I was just imaging the voice.

I gave Josh a broad smile. “Me too.”

“She grew up in Lancaster.” Still a figment of your imagination, Laura. Don’t turn around! He was directly behind me. I felt my insides drop.

“She can dance better than any woman you have ever seen and prefers dogs to people.”

He kept giving his crew personal tidbits about me while I stood with my back to him, freaking the hell out. His crew was laughing at that point as they slid their cards into their room doors and carried their gear in.

I turned around and saw the same shock on his face. This can’t be happening!

“Laura, what in the hell are you doing here?”

“I work here! What the hell are you doing here?” We both leaned in for a long hug and I felt my smile broaden as he took a little too long to pull away.

“I live here for the next six months. I’m building the new rec center.”

“My God, Seth, how long has it been?” His curly hair shone in the sun and I had to keep myself from lingering on his eyes, still a beautiful jade green. They had the same sparkle. Twenty-three year old Seth didn’t have shit on thirty-seven old Seth. His physique had changed somehow, it was…more masculine? He was still so beautiful and I was having a hard time keeping my composure. My heart was doing back flips. I let out a giggle while we both memorized the older version of each other and were at a loss for words. I noticed his bags were still in the breezeway.

“Well, I’ll let you get settled.”

“Dinner, let’s go to dinner.” He had a perma-grin on his face and I could see he was genuinely happy to see me.

“Sure, I mean if your crew doesn’t mind.”

“Let me get cleaned up.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you in the lobby. An hour?”

“Sounds good. Laura. God, it’s good to see you.” He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me into another hug. He twirled me around and set me down. It took all of four seconds and I felt every single one of them.

“You too, Seth. See you soon.”

As soon as the shock wore off, the horror set in that he had seen me in my worst clothes. I quickly locked my cart in the janitor’s closet and headed for my room. I took a scalding hot shower and put my hands over my face, embarrassed about the way Seth had seen me. I knew I had put on at least twenty pounds and gravity had won on a few occasions in certain areas, but mostly, I still looked the same. If he could only see how much I had changed. Screw it, let him think what he wants. I put on my new yellow sundress and some black sandals with a mesh fabric flower print lining the top. I brushed my long brown hair and left it down. Seth liked it that way. Seth!

Seth. The bastard who broke your heart, Laura, who you still compare all men to, Laura, the reason you are twice divorced, Laura, the reason you can’t— Enough. He was only to blame for my first accusation. The rest was my own doing. I was having dinner with an old flame, nothing more. Of course I wanted to look pretty. I had nothing to be nervous about, it was just dinner.

He had on khaki shorts, loafers and a white button down shirt that was left open over a white tee, the exact same outfit from our first date. I laughed openly at seeing him and he looked slightly puzzled at my response to him.

“Really, this wasn’t on purpose?”

“What?”

“Nothing, Seth.” I chuckled as we rounded his work truck.

“Seth, why don’t we take mine? I know the area well and we can go to my favorite spot.”

He stopped at his door and peered at me through the truck cab windows. “Okay”

I started walking toward my Land Rover and saw him pause at Linda’s car. I smiled at the thought he assumed Linda’s Honda was mine. My car and my home were the only extravagant purchases that I had ever made. Seth hopped into the passenger seat and I saw a look of puzzlement hit him as he surveyed the interior.

“You work here as a maid and can afford this?”

“Grownups don’t talk about money, Seth, it’s rude. And I work hard.”

“Ah, so we’re grownups now.”

“It’s the fine lines that give me away.”

“You are more beautiful now than you were then, Laura.” I felt his eyes on me and started to lose the ability to drive. I was suddenly correcting the wheel to keep us on the road. Shit! He seemed to notice and started to chuckle.

“Shut up, Seth.”

“So, Laura, how did you end up here in Colorado?”

“Look around.”

He tilted his head out the window to get a better mountain view. “It is beautiful.”

“That’s why I stay. And you are still in Dallas?”

“Yep, home sweet home. I travel all over, though. I’ve built everywhere.”

“Isn’t it your job to design? Aren’t you an architect?”

“Yeah, I design and build. I guess you can say I’m selfish with my work. I want the whole thing from start to finish.”

“That doesn’t surprise me one bit.”

“Where are you taking me, woman? I’m starving.”

“Shut it, we’re here.” We drove past the drawbridge leading into to the restaurant and parked in the gravel. I grabbed two bottles of red from the back seat and handed them to Seth.

“Wino?”

“Yes, I managed to escape being a drug abuser to be an alcoholic. It’s BYOB here.”

“Oh, cool. I drink red.”

“Well, you didn’t bring any,” I winked at him.

We made our way to the bridge that covered a large mountain stream onto the front porch of the house where rocking chairs were lined up by the dozen.

“This is really beautiful.”

“The food is amazing.

We walked in and were seated at a small candle lit table with mismatched antique chairs and a plaid tablecloth. The walls were lined with framed photos of celebrities who had dined at this little hidden gem. We were tucked in a corner next to a large window with a breathtaking view of the bridge, stream, and surrounding cliffs. I could tell Seth instantly liked it.

“You really didn’t have to do all this, Laura. We could have gone to McDonald’s or Burger King.”

I gave him a confused look, and quickly realized he was referring to our first date. I laughed loudly giving the bottles to our waiter to open.

“I dine here at least twice a week.”

“What should we order?”

“Rainbow trout, hands down the best thing on the menu. They bring the sides. Let me handle it?”

“You’re the grownup.” I saw him staring at me as I ordered our food and handed the menus to our waiter. I took a sip of red.

“So how long have you lived here?”

“Ten years.”

“Married?” He looked at my empty ring finger.

“Twice, it was fun.” I rolled my eyes. “You?”

“Once, it was enough. You said twice?”

“Don’t judge, the first time I was young and dumb, the second I was old and dumb.”

“And now?”

“Indestructible,” I grinned, grabbing my wine.

“So tell me everything. When did you leave Texas?”

The day you told me you hated me.

“Oh, years ago. I haven’t been there since my early twenties. I roamed around like a gypsy for a few years, not all of them fun, and landed here.”

“That’s cool, you look happy.”

“I am. Tell me about you.”

“I finished school and got married and divorced.”

“Kids?”

“Yeah, I have a twelve year old boy.” He pulled out his smart phone and showed me a recent picture. It took my breath away. It was a young Seth. He had his father’s curly strawberry blonde hair and green eyes.

“Oh, Seth, that’s awesome. He looks just like you.”

“He does, right? I don’t see him enough, his mother got custody in the divorce. I get every other summer and weekends, stuff like that. We’re close.”

“You’re probably an awesome dad.” His eyes softened on me. I felt his stare growing more intense as we spoke, even though we kept our conversation casual. The waiter brought our food and we dug in, the silences growing longer.

“Well, this got weird.” I eyed him, sipping my wine.

“Still blunt, Laura?”

“Oh, yes sir.”

“I love it.”

“What do you love?”

“That you’ve changed, but you’re still the same. It’s crazy. It’s like you…”

“What, Seth?” I was dying for his answer and needed to put my wine down. I was staring at the bulge in his arms, his full bottom lip. No more wine, Laura.