Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

It was thirty minutes later when Declan and Charlie found the Rosebud Inn, a large two-storey clapboard house. Unlike Hoodoo House, it was covered in a fresh coat of white paint. They climbed the three steps to the light grey wooden porch which wrapped around three sides of the building. The porch roof was supported by slender turned posts that were covered with machine-carved decorations, each painted in alternating muted colours of maroon, blue and green. Declan thought it was a bit fussy, but complementary to the style of the architecture. On the porch were a number of white-painted wicker chairs with overstuffed cushions in floral prints. An elderly woman, also in a floral print, sat on one of the rocking chairs. She was so still that he didn't see her at first. In her lap was a pudgy sable-coloured ball of hair with heavily lidded eyes and a curly tongue. Declan nodded. The woman smiled and nodded back.

"My sweet Pekingese Frisky would say hello," she said, "but he's done in. Been chasing a ball all afternoon and he'll be out until happy hour."

"A very sensible dog," Charlie said.

"That he is," she said, scrubbing him a little too harshly on the head. The dog woke, and nipped at the woman's hand.

"And playful," she continued as she thoroughly fussed him up. The dog let out a yap, then settled back into her ample lap and seemed to fall asleep.

Declan and Charlie walked past her up to the front desk and rang the antique bell sitting on the counter. A sleepy-looking face popped up from behind the desk. It was attached to the body of a young man. He was about Charlie's age. His name tag identified him as William. He brushed himself off.

"Please don't tell anyone you found me napping behind the counter. The boss would not be too pleased with me."

"Your secret is safe with me," Declan said as he flashed him a big smile.

William smiled back. "Frisky usually naps with me and barks as soon as he hears someone coming up to the desk. I'm not sure where he is."

"I think you'll find him curled up in a woman's lap outside," Charlie offered.

"That would be Mrs Carlyle. She's been a resident here for the last few years, ever since her husband died when he was run over by his cow."

"Pardon?" Charlie said.

"I saw it happen. It took the cow a good two minutes from start of run to the ultimate collision. I yelled at him and waved my arms but old Mr Carlyle was short-sighted and deaf as a post and paid no attention to me. He turned around just before Concetta hit him. That heifer threw him a good ten feet. It was truly tragic."

"It certainly sounds like it was," Declan said, trying to maintain his composure.

"Now how can I help you?" William asked.

"Well, for starters," Declan said, "our car's broken down just south of town on the highway. Is there a mechanic in the area?"

"That was Mr Carlyle," William said sadly.

Declan paused. "Is there anyone else in town?"

"Oh sure," William replied. "His son has the business now. I could give him a call to see if he could fix it, but I don't think he'll be able to look at the car until tomorrow."

"Why's that?" Charlie asked.

William lowered his voice to a whisper. "Well, his mother out front told me he went into Calgary. He's got a date, and I don't think he's gonna get back until the morning. But if you like, you could wait around in case the date goes badly. In the meantime, we have a fine restaurant if you're interested in dinner. And if he doesn't make it back, we also offer accommodation."

Declan shrugged. "What do you say, Charlie? Why don't we live large and spend the night?"

"Sure, why not?" Charlie replied.

William looked down at the register. "You're in luck. We have one room left. It's the Honeymoon Suite with a king-sized bed and a pullout couch in the living room…in case somebody snores."

"We'll take it," Declan replied.

William looked at them, tilting his head slightly to one side. "You two wouldn't happen to be on your honeymoon, would you?"

"No!" Charlie and Declan said together.

"Because if you were," William said carefully, "the hotel would provide you with a complimentary bottle of champagne at dinner in our county-famous dining room."

He looked at them, hopefully.

Declan glanced at Charlie then grinned. "Well, babe, what do you say?"

Charlie glowered at him.

Declan turned back to William and said, "We would be honoured to take you up on your offer."

William smiled. "Great. Oh, and just a heads-up. It's not real champagne, it's a sparkling wine…from the Okanagan Valley."

Charlie and Declan took the keys from William and walked up the stairs to their room. It was the lone room in the attic of the house. Declan unlocked the door and announced that he would take the bed and Charlie could have the pullout. Declan looked around the room. It really was quite pretty with a nice view over the farm fields, including a pasture with a single cow.

I wonder if that's Concetta?

"Shall we go down for dinner?" he asked.

Charlie nodded. "Sure."

"We'll put it on Sinclair's tab," Declan said as he headed towards the door.

Charlie paused. "Just gimme a sec. I'm going to text Carrie and let her know I won't be coming home tonight. I don't want her to worry."

He quickly tapped a message into his phone, then they made their way down to the dining room, just off of the lobby. It was small with six tables, five for two people, and a corner table for four. Sitting at the table nearest the fireplace was Mrs Carlyle. She was propped up on what appeared to be two phone books and a floral cushion. Frisky the Pekingese occupied the opposite chair.

As they tried to decide whether they should take a table or wait to be seated, Mrs Carlyle said, "Just grab any seat. Fergus will be in soon to take your order. I always have the steak tartare. That way if I can't eat it all, Mr Frisky will take care of it."

"He seems like the perfect date," Declan said with a wink.

They took the table by the window and waited for the waiter named Fergus.

After ten minutes of discussing the events of the day, they were interrupted by a "Good evening gentlemen. I understand we have a special occasion tonight."

They looked up to see William, now dressed in a black suit and white shirt wearing a name tag that identified him as Fergus.

"William?" Declan said.

"It's Fergus, sir," he said, pointing to his name tag. "Management doesn't like people to think they can't afford to hire another staff member," he whispered.

"Well then, Fergus," Declan said. "Yes, my…husband and I are celebrating our honeymoon."

"Well, congratulations. Management would be pleased to offer you a complimentary bottle of our finest sparkling wine." Fergus, née William, leaned in close again. "I've just been told we can't call it champagne anymore. Something about trademarks."

"I understand," Declan whispered back.

Fergus the waiter nodded and scampered off.

"Well, husband, it looks like we managed to save Sinclair some money on the wine," Charlie said.

"It will make up for how much we're going to spend on dinner," Declan replied. "Have you looked at the menu?"

Fergus returned, crestfallen. "I regret to inform you that the hotel is out of the Okanagan's finest sparkling wine. Can I offer you something else?"

After a quick look at the menu, they opted for a couple of glasses of an expensive pinot noir, followed by the filet mignon, medium rare, with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus.

Once they had finished their meal, they made their way back up to the room. After they'd reached the suite, Declan turned to Charlie and asked, "Up for an after-dinner drink?"

"I wouldn't say no to more of the pinot."

"My thought exactly. Be right back."

It took Declan ten minutes to locate Fergus and procure a few more glasses of wine. When he returned, he found Charlie sitting on the floor in front of the bookcase.

"I've been doing some research since you've been gone," Charlie said, holding up a copy of The Ragtag Crew.

"I've done you one better," Declan said, holding up a DVD of the movie. "This'll save us time."

Declan and Charlie discovered that there was no DVD player hooked up to the television in the living room, but there was one in the bedroom. And the TV was larger there so, glasses of wine in hand, they climbed onto the king-sized bed to watch the celebrated adaptation of Marjorie Ellis' vaunted novel.

* * * *

Declan woke up to a blue-screened TV. He must have fallen asleep during the movie. He couldn't figure out how something that had won so many awards and accolades could be so boring. Even his arm had fallen asleep.

It was at that moment that he realized why his arm was tingling. Snuggled into him, head resting on his shoulder, hand on his chest, knee over his leg, was Charlie. Declan's arm was wrapped around him. Charlie had fallen asleep practically on top of him and Declan had to admit, he loved it. Charlie's head, with its unruly mop of blond hair was within easy kissing distance. He leaned his head closer to it and breathed in his scent.

What would Michael think about this?

He lay there for a few minutes before sliding his arm out from under Charlie's head and letting it settle on the pillow. He moved Charlie's hand off of his chest and ever-so-gently slid Charlie's knee off of his leg. He removed himself from the bed, his bed, and stood, looking at the man he found himself married to, if only as a joke to get a free bottle of wine. He sighed. Why couldn't things be different with Charlie?

Declan couldn't resist. He bent down and gently kissed Charlie on the head, a mere caress of his hair with his lips, then turned off the TV and the bedside lamp and went out to the living room to sleep on the couch.