The Inn Keeper

“Hey darlin’,” the words dripped off his tongue like honey on a hot summer day as he held the door for her. He wondered who this sweet stranger was.

A mouse sized “thanks” slipped out from the brightest pearly whites he’d ever seen. She stopped dead in her tracks as their forrest green eyes met and mirrored back to each other. Both of them felt like they were looking into a long lost memory. A message in a bottle finally fished from the shadowy depths.

Walking onto the sidewalk, he marveled at the sun coming out at midnight. Stepping into the bar, she mused at the fact that a stranger could pull a smile from her after the day she’d just endured. With each mile she had distanced herself from the city, the doubt grew louder and she started to believe that maybe she actually was losing it. Maybe her mother was right and she should just stick with the status quo. The faint voice that had been urging her to make the move had gone mute and her anxious thoughts amplified.

This town was the opposite of the city. A quaint, not quiet, backwoods coastal hidden gem. It’s one of those places that doesn’t exist anymore. Buried under years of history that have kept it safe from the modern warping of this world. Where everything was made to last, and nothing was broken for long. The kind of place where purpose is found, by accident, in the mundane tasks of the day to day.

She settled into an empty stool at the teak bar, her train of thought had just crashed head on into a chivalrous stranger. Suddenly she had some clarity on her move. Those eyes. She knows them. She had never seen them before, but she remembered them. With a renewed sense of hope, she sipped the dark amber liquor the bartender poured from the top shelf. The whiskey warmed her from the inside. The hum of the other patrons drowned out her ruminations.

The sureness she had when she first saw the Inn for sale online seeped back into her veins. Her redesign firm was solid back in the city. It was time to branch out. The lack of peace in her everyday life had to change. She had that feeling for years now, and it had slowly grown stronger until she could no longer ignore it. Her purpose was calling, even if she could barely see the first step.

On her walk back to her new home, she noticed a break in the tree line along the road. There were lanterns outlining a path and her curiosity got the best of her. The crunch of gravel under sandals faded to muted thuds as the trees opened up to the sea. The lantern path ended and the moonlight took over. A center stage spotlight highlighting her new favorite act. Sitting at the waters edge, was a newly familiar outline. He turned to see who was searching for solitude too.

“Are you stalking me?”

“Depends, are you gonna press charges?” The liquid courage flowed through her veins and she was a smidge more prepared for this meeting.

“Well,” he chuckled as he ran his hand through his beard, “I’ll let it slide if you let me walk you home. You know, then I’ll know where to send the cops.”

“I could use a local escort. This town may have like three streets, but I stumbled on this spot by accident. I’m sure there’s plenty of hidden paths less traveled. I mean.. maybe I just followed you because you’re such a good tour guide.” She gave his flirting right back, and it felt good. Natural even. They spent the entire walk home talking about everything and absolutely nothing.

She felt comfortable enough to be her full self. No need to hide anything or embellish any truths. He was thrilled that everything he said elicited a positive response from her. Even his wildest stories brought no judgement from her, but rather widened her eyes in further wonder. He was everything she’d been looking for in a man. She was the perfect package as far as he was concerned. They were both a breath of fresh air for each other.

They spent the summer redoing the Inn. With each wall that was ripped down in this castle by the sea, her guard fell too. This colonial masterpiece had once shown so proudly, and it was time to restore it to it’s original glory. He mended the cracks in the bricks and she painted new hues on the doors. Together the pair were doing more than a cosmetic repair. They were changing it to the core. An inside out investigation, and strengthening, of her home.

His slow, intentional ways showed her a new world. One not powered by schedules and deadlines; but rather a go with the flow type feeling. He was teaching her how to let go. But when the summer ended and the fall fog rolled in, she was still not prepared for his departure. Even though he had mentioned his sailing schedule, she secretly hoped he would choose her over the sea. A silly wish that was for the birds, and even they weren’t as free as he.

His presence lingered long after he left. The lavish house seemed so dull without him helping her paint. She had been shaped by him just as sea glass is formed by the harsh hands of the waves. A steady refining process that can’t be taught, it can only be shown. He had told her from the beginning he wouldn’t be here forever. She never imagined how much she would yearn for him.

In an attempt to occupy her mind and some time, she decided today was the day to organize the old photos in the attic. They had never gone up there, as it was just piles of pictures from the original Inn keeper. The town had a few on file, but the entire collection revealed the whole truth. This was the first time the construction had actually been completed. What looked like dilapidated rooms after years of ocean air, were actually the very beginning of an idea.

The man who started building this bed and breakfast didn't get it done. He bought the land with the intention to share the town’s beauty. To build a place to bring travelers into this special community. To share with the outside world that the unhurried ways of the old times were more productive than a rat-race... any day.

When she finally found a close up of him, a chill ran down her spine.

Those eyes. It was him. She finally finished what he had started.