Chapter One
Ben
I snapped awake in my bed, and for a moment I was confused. I didn’t know where I was. My heart was beating too fast in my chest, but my breathing was coming out calm. Then I looked around and remembered.
Right. Shit.
I was back home, in my little place at the hotel. Still, I didn’t calm down immediately, and I closed my eyes to take a few deep breaths, getting my heart to return to normal.
I shook my head and got out of bed, heading for the showers. It took exactly five minutes before I was done and drying myself out. I picked an outfit for the day, then debated whether or not I should leave my room.
You should, I thought to myself. You can't keep yourself locked in here forever.
But the thought of leaving had my heart beat coming up again, and I knew I needed to stay calm.
I wasn’t quite fresh out of the Navy. I’d been back for some time, though I mostly kept to myself, shit, I barely left the hotel. The only reason I even came back here instead of drifting, was because of my injury. When I’d returned, I’d found the hotel closed. Dad had left it to my sister, but she was in the middle of remodeling. Things had been going slowly, with her having just had my nephew, Makas, so she needed someone to look after the hotel. I didn’t know a whole lot about running the place, but Scarlett had hired a girl from town to manage the place and report to me.
The few times I’d left the hotel was when I went to see my dad. Besides that, I’d been adamant about not going into town. Because I didn’t want to see her.
“Just go down,” I sighed to myself. “Get something to eat, see Scarlett for a few minutes and come back up…”
My sister, Scarlett, worked around the hotel. Instead of going to college, like both Dad and I had insisted, she’d instead taken a few online courses in hotel management, and some culinary classes so she could stick at the hotel. Before I came back, she and one other guy who worked part time were usually at the reception, save for the times she was in the kitchen, helping out because they were understaffed when there hotel received too many guests.
After a few more minutes of talking myself into it, I walked out of my room and headed for the lobby.
When Trisha left to go back to college, I hired a new manager, Ken. He was in the lobby when I arrived downstairs and I gave him a wave on my way to the dining hall.
I headed to the dining room and sat down. She must have noticed because moments later, Scarlett was coming out of the kitchen with a plate of food in hand. She looked like me, all tall, dark haired and blue eyed, with lightly tanned skin. She grinned at me, stopping at my table. She didn’t do a lot of work at the hotel anymore, because she had a family of her own. Her husband, Dan who`s nothing like the kinda guy that I thought she`ll settle down with, he`s a lot older than her, but he makes her happy. So, she comes once in a while to help out and I know that it´s mainly to check on me.
“Eggs, bacon and toast,” she listed off as she set the plate down in front of me. “Do you want coffee or pancakes to go with it?”
“No to the coffee.” I was going to say something to her, about the fact that she owned the place. She really didn`t need to come in and cook, but I needed someone to talk to and there was no one else I trusted or could confide in as much as Scarlett. I decided not to back her away as I said, “But I wouldn’t say no to the pancakes. And a cup of tea, please.”
“Right away, sir,” she chirped, then whirled around and walked away.
I tucked into the eggs as I waited for her to get back. The food was good, as usual, and one of the things I loved about being back home and out of service. She didn’t take that long before she was back with a stack of pancakes on a tray. Then, she brought the tea.
I expected her to walk back to the kitchen, but instead, she sat down across from me, watching me eat.
“Would you like some?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nope. It’s just that it’s not often you come out of your room. I was going to drag you out today if you didn’t come on your own, which is why I’m here so damn early in the morning, leaving Dan to look after Makas. I wanted to talk.”
That had me pausing, and I pushed the food away so I could focus on my sister.
“What, is it something to do with Dad?” He’d been acting like a loose cannon, ever since Mom died. It was annoying, and another reason why my sister had never left the hotel, until recently. Because neither of us had thought Dad could properly look after it with all the other shit he was messing up. Though it only made me feel doubly guilty for leaving when I knew the situation was bad.
But again, she shook her head, only slower. “No, Ben. This is absolute to do with you. And Ginger.”
Shit. The one person I was avoiding by not going into town.
“Look, I don’t know exactly what happened between the two of you before you left. But I think, instead of hiding, you need to face it head on and talk to her. It’ll only get worse the longer you wait, and you’ve done enough of that already. I won’t pry, but I know you’ll regret it later. So, see her today. She’ll be at work.” Scarlett said her piece, then left me alone to think.
I finished breakfast in a thoughtful mood. My sister must have grown sick of me hesitating if she’d brought herself to speak up about it. And the regret, I felt it already.
She’s right. I need to go. Ginger…
Ginger would be pissed as fuck at me, but it would be better to go before she gave up on me completely, if she hadn't yet.
So after eating, I left the hotel. My heart started beating too fast again when I did, but I would not run away this time. I got in my car and drove into town, headed for the hair stylist salon, where Ginger’s mom used to work, and where she now did.
I parked the car and stepped out, then walked over to the door. The door was made of glass, and a big portion of the front wall was also made of glass, so straight away, I saw Ginger.
She wasn’t the little girl sitting around the salon and watching her mom do hair anymore. They were working side by side now, and I could see the smiles on both their faces at being so close. It made me miss my mother, but she’d been gone for a while.
My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I took a couple of deep breaths. I mustered up enough courage to walk the few steps toward the door, then reach over to open it. When I did, there was a light ringing sound from the bell above the door. Ginger didn’t look up to see the new entry, though. Because at the same time, a little girl ran up to her and knocked into her legs.
Ginger looked down at the little girl, stunned at first, but then smiling. And the little girl was grinning up at her. Then she opened her mouth, and the word that left her mouth had my heart thumping in my chest.
“Mommy!”
Mommy…
My eyes darted from the little girl to Ginger, then back again. She looked just like her mother. I stepped into the salon, the door closing behind me causing the bell to ring again. This time, she did look up, and her expression froze when she caught sight of me. I didn’t let it deter me, though, not outwardly. I raised a hand up and gave a tiny wave.
“Hello, Ginger,” I said, my first words to her in years.
She didn’t look happy with me at all.