Chapter 4
When Jenny awoke to glorious sunshine, her first thoughts were of Devon North. That annoyed her. She didn’t like the man, had no affection for him whatsoever, and wished he would leave her alone. But she also visualized him changing her tire in the rain, making her feel safe when the whole world seemed to be crashing in around her. If he wasn’t such a jerk, they might have been able to be friends. But as it stood, she had no idea how she could work with him. Especially as he was quite clear that he wanted her gone.
“Time to get up, dear!” Miriam called, lightly knocking at the door. “The boys will soon be here.”
“Okay, Miriam, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“I’ll make tea,” the elderly woman said as she walked back toward the office.
Jenny took a quick shower, then emerged from the bathroom wearing a towel. The sound of an electric saw interrupted her reveries as she dried her hair. Pulling the curtain aside just far enough to peek out, she could see Devon standing by the Captain’s House and cutting lumber on a work bench. She slightly shifted her position to get a better view and the towel fell, leaving her as naked as a jaybird. Hidden behind the curtain, her current state was not a threat to her modesty, but it gave her a vicarious thrill to be looking at Devon while standing in the nude.
“You are good looking,” she muttered, her eyes locked on the strong, capable man as he expertly went about his work. “Too bad you don’t have a personality to match.” He bent over to pick up another board, his tight, full buns perfectly framed by his snug jeans. “Definitely easy on the eyes.”
Again a strange spirit of desire overcame her. She closed the curtain and laid on the bed, fantasizing about having sex with Devon. He was naked, on top of her, driving his hot, hard erection into her. Steady, relentless, perfectly smooth strokes, a bonfire of kissing, holding his tight, hard buns, pumping up and down, moans, shrieks of pleasure, their bodies slapping together, the room full of sex smell…Jenny started rubbing her legs together and without even touching herself approached a massive orgasm. But then his words of rejection and his arrogant attitude surfaced in her mind. The erotic spell was broken. She sat up, short of breath, chest heaving, and chided herself for thinking about him in that way…yet again.
“I don’t care how good he looks,” she said, sounding like an addict trying to quit her drug, “I don’t want this guy in my life, or in my thoughts.” She held out her hands as if making a pronouncement. “Stop thinking about him…especially in that way!”
She quickly dressed in tight blue jeans with a pink belt, light green sneakers and a yellow top with the buttons undone just enough to see part of her smooth, creamy cleavage. The colors she wore were all over the map and often looked frivolous when she was a blonde, but now that she was a redhead, the perspective seemed to have changed. Instead of looking frivolous, the red hair made her look almost rebellious, as if she was making a statement. Sort of. “This is me and I don’t give a damn what you think.” And in a way, she rather liked the change. It was refreshing.
Jenny opened the curtain expecting to see Devon, but instead her eyes were instantly drawn through a gap in the trees where she noticed a man walking past on the street. He looked exactly like Ivan. Exactly! She had seen him for only a few seconds, but the height, the black leather coat, even the gait—everything was a perfect match. If it was, she knew he was here to kill her. To obliterate her. To wipe her off the face of the earth. Her heart pounded and she kept watching, but the man did not emerge again on the other side of the hedgerow.
“He must have turned down Gunnery Road,” she said pensively, biting her lip. She rubbed her fingers. “No, it was just a coincidence. Yes, a coincidence.” She tried hard to convince herself. “It definitely wasn’t Ivan! There’s no way he could have found me this fast.”
She suddenly noticed Devon had rounded the corner and was looking right at her. It was obvious he had seen her staring at the sidewalk with an alarmed look on her face. He looked at the street just as she looked at him, then their eyes met. Jenny quickly turned away and Devon apparently thought he must have misinterpreted the look of distress.
He casually went back to work.
A moment later Jenny emerged from her room. Devon looked up at her for an instant, saw that she looked perfectly composed, then went back to measuring and cutting. Ignoring him, Jenny walked toward the office and met three young men as they rounded the corner. Devon watched Jenny greet them with a beaming smile, and each of the young men was instantly charmed. She spoke to them for a few minutes and then walked up to Devon.
“Nice day,” she said.
“I own this hotel,” he stated. “Let’s make sure we keep that straight.”
She glared. “Don’t start!” she snapped lowly, though she looked back at the young men with a smile.
They smiled back.
“What do you want them to do?” Jenny asked him, her lips set firmly in an angry scowl. “Where are the ladders? Where is the paint?”
“Oh, I thought you might have taken care of it.”
“Where are the materials?” she asked sharply and with a humorless expression
He looked at the boys. “The hotel needs to be scraped first,” he noted. “Everything you need is in the shed.”
“Everything you need is in the shed,” Jenny repeated, but much more warmly. She floated like a butterfly across the yard. “Mr. North is very pleased you’re on time, Danny. Thank you.”
They all smiled and grinned sheepishly at her, still taken by her elegance and femininity. Danny led them to the shed where they found scrapers, ladders, and paint. Apparently experienced, Danny told the others exactly what to do, and the young men set about their task with seriousness and determination.
“When they finish, the hotel is going to look fantastic,” Jenny said. “A few hanging flowers out front would really set the place off. Do I have your permission to buy three or four?”
“You need permission?”
“I’d like it, yes. For twenty or thirty dollars you make a huge investment in the presentation of this hotel. All right? Can I buy the flowers and be reimbursed by Miriam out of the hotel account?”
He hesitated.
“Well?” she asked flatly.
“Make sure you have the receipt,” he replied coolly.
Jenny rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir,” she said sarcastically, saluting him as if he was a general.
“I’ll call Mr. Weatherby at the hardware store,” Devon said, a tone of suspicion in his voice. “I have an account there and I’ll tell him you’re coming by. Thirty dollars—max. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she said flatly and with a smirk.
Devon looked back at the young men. “I know they’re good at smashing things and committing acts of vandalism, but I don’t know if your employees are any good at painting.”
“They won’t be good,” she said with confidence, “they’ll be great.”
“Really?” Devon said flatly.
He was surprised by her cocksure attitude, but for some reason he rather liked it. Jenny said no more and walked around the side of the building, joining Miriam on the veranda for breakfast. She hoped Devon would soon root himself in another section of the hotel where their paths would not cross. Unfortunately, that did not transpire. No sooner had she sat down than Devon rounded a corner with a wheelbarrow full of rotten wood. He warmly greeted Miriam but ignored Jenny as if she didn’t exist.
She scowled at him in a nasty kind of way, completely without reservation. He shrugged it off and continued working. It suddenly struck Jenny that though they had a poor relationship, if you could call it a relationship at all, she was not afraid of him like she was afraid of Ivan. On the contrary, she knew she could stand up to him, battle him even, and he would not hurt her. She knew that beyond all doubt. In a strange kind of way, that made scowling at him a very pleasurable experience. She could have tension with a man, including strong conflict, and there would be no negative r
epercussions, outside of him wanting to avoid her company. After what she had been through with Ivan, the constant walking on eggshells and watching absolutely every tiny thing she did, this inspired her with a tremendous sense of freedom and lightness. It was as if she had been liberated from a prison.
“Mr. North,” Miriam said, “Mr. Taylor called from the bank. He says he’d like to arrange a meeting in the not too distant future.”
Devon’s expression instantly changed and he looked not only stern, but gravely concerned.
“Jenny is going to stay and help out for awhile,” Miriam suddenly said with unbreakable conviction. “We can certainly use her help. But right now we have only four rooms open for occupancy and room twelve is one of them. Would it be possible for her to stay in the Captain’s House?”
Jenny was thrilled at the prospect of living in the same room where she had seen the beautiful and exotic spirit.
“I don’t know,” he hedged. “I can’t pay her anything.”
“She said she’s all right with a free room,” Miriam insisted with the look of determination.
Devon rubbed his hands. “All right,” he surrendered, as if it was almost painful. “She can have Maria’s room. We’ll see how it works out.”
“It will work out just fine,” Miriam assured her. She turned to Jenny. “Go get your things and I’ll take you up to Maria’s room.”
“All right,” Jenny said excitedly, pleased on many fronts. Devon had not been unbendable and though he did not seem enthusiastic, he was at least resigned to the idea. This also gave her a steady place to live without having to drain her account, and the room was about as private as could be. It would become her sanctuary. “I’ll be right back, Miriam.” She snubbed her nose at Devon as she walked past him. He smirked, shook his head, and went back to work.
Jenny quickly gathered her things and returned to find Miriam waiting for her by the step. To her surprise and pleasure, Devon and Danny were standing by a ladder and conversing in a friendly way. She met up with Miriam, exchanged comments on the beautiful day, then proceeded toward the Captain’s House.
It was set on the back of the property and largely obscured by high pines, flowering crab trees and vines, including a grapevine wrapped around a white trellis, and a blooming clematis interspersed with thick rose bushes. The entire area had a delicious, almost intoxicating aroma, and there was also an air of mystery about the place. There were no established pathways, only a thin trail Devon had made of late by walking back and forth to renovate the Captain’s House.
“Why did he spend time back here,” Jenny asked, “when there’s so much work to do on the hotel?”
“He was thinking about living in the Captain’s House. Down at the river house he’s paying rent. Here he could live for free.” Miriam took keys out of her pocket and unlocked the old green door. “There was also a safety issue here.” She pushed the door open to a long, narrow room with nothing in it except two more doors. “But Devon replaced all the wiring and he fixed the plumbing. It’s habitable now.”
Jenny stepped into the room with Miriam, a look of wide-eyed wonder on her face. “What a strange set-up.”
In front of them were the two doors, wide apart. On the right door, hanging about three-quarters up, was an oak sign that stated, Maria’s Room. On the left door, at the same height, was an identical oak sign that stated, The Captain’s Room. Jenny was intrigued.
“No one has lived here for many, many years,” Miriam said. “It was written into the constitution of the Riverview Hotel that these rooms could never be rented. Since you’re living here for free, there is no rent, therefore no violation of the constitution.”
Jenny inwardly laughed at the seriousness with which Miriam related the details.
“They lived side by side for years,” Miriam said, “and they were madly in love, but they never became lovers.”
“Really?” Jenny asked, genuinely intrigued.
“Really,” Miriam assured her. “The Captain was a handsome fellow who ached for the beautiful Maria, and she loved him with all her heart, but she was a nun.”
“A nun?” Jenny exclaimed in wide-eyed wonder.
Miriam nodded. “A Roman Catholic nun. Young and beautiful, but a nun. She had been sent here to develop a school in Newbridge, the first school ever. She needed a room. Since the Riverview Hotel was the only place to stay in town at the time, she ended up here. But she needed a long term placement. The Captain suggested she take a room in this house, as he was always out at sea and would never intrude upon her space. Maria loved the grounds and the location, and since the school was only a ten-minute walk from here, she took the room you are about to see.” Miriam unlocked the right door, the one to Maria’s room, and swung it open to an enclosed staircase. “No one has lived or even stayed here since Maria died, but the Captain was injured on a whale hunting expedition and ended up retiring. He moved back to the Captain’s House, but by that time Maria loved the room and did not want to leave. So she didn’t, even after he moved in.”
“No other woman has been in this room since Maria?” Jenny questioned, clearly recalling the naked woman in the window.
“None.”
“What did Maria look like, Miriam?”
“I don’t know. I thought it was written somewhere that she had long black hair, but I’m not even sure of that.”
They walked up the steps where they came to a third door. Miriam opened it to a beautiful and quaint room of unexpected size. There was a twin bed, a newly installed bathroom, with shower, a mahogany writing desk with three or four books on one side and an old-fashioned feather in an ink well, next to some writing paper. There was a recliner chair, a coffee table, a large closet, two dressers, and two large, ornamental windows with pretty pink-and-white curtains. A huge mirror, framed by ivory painted with Japanese pagodas, faced the bed and reflected almost the entire room.
“I love it,” Jenny said, walking to the window where she had seen the woman looking down at her. She studied her surroundings from the heightened vantage point. Only then did she notice a door in the middle of the wall. “Where does that lead, Miriam?”
“The Captain’s room,” said the elderly lady.
Jenny made a funny face. “The Captain’s room? You mean the Captain and Maria could enter each other’s rooms directly through that door?”
“That’s right.”
Jenny laughed awkwardly. “There’s this huge separation at the bottom of the steps, as if those two doors lead off to different worlds. Yet if they unlocked this door, they could just walk through?”
“Close, but not quite.”
“What do you mean?”
“The door was never locked.”
Jenny was flabbergasted.
“It couldn’t be locked. And for years that’s all that separated the handsome and lusty Captain from the beautiful and sensual Maria. An unlocked door and two people in love who had never physically touched each other.” She raised an eyebrow. “For years and years they lived like that.”
“Talk about sexual tension.”
“She taught in the school and he built up the Riverview Hotel into the best hotel on the South Shore. People came from all over the world, but when the day was over and they retired to their rooms, they would be only a short distance apart, separated by a thin wall. Funny thing is, people said they lived almost like man and wife when they were together. She would help out around the restaurant, he would give talks at the school about the seafarer’s life, they would go for long walks on White Sands Beach. Some said they would even sit on opposite sides of that door and talk every night before going to bed.”
“What a strange relationship,” Jenny said. “By the sounds of it, they were definitely in love.”
“Never consummated,” Miriam said. “Unfulfilled passions.”
Jenny laughed at Miriam’s terminology, thinking she must read romances, too. “Or maybe the door was opened without anyone knowing about it.”
&nb
sp; “Don’t be scandalous, dear,” Miriam said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
Jenny’s eyes also flashed. “What do you think, Miriam? You’re a young woman in love with a handsome captain, who just happens to be in love with you. There’s only a door separating you. It doesn’t even have a lock. What do you think?”
“There was more than a door, dear.”
Jenny waited for an explanation.
“Her vows stood between them. No matter how much she wanted to, she could not. And no matter how much he wanted to, he could not.”
“Methinks there is a lot of history here,” Jenny said thoughtfully. “What happened inside these walls I can only imagine. It must have been a fascinating dynamic.”
“So, you like the room?” Miriam said, growing upbeat.
“Love it,” Jenny replied. “I feel right at home.”
“Good. I’ll leave you here to put your things away. Come down when you’re ready, okay?”
“Okay.”
Miriam gave Jenny the keys, left the room, and walked out of the Captain’s House. Seconds after putting away her things, Jenny hurried to the door that separated Maria’s room from the Captain’s room. She tentatively opened it, stepped across the threshold, and gave the quarters an inspection. The Captain’s room was identical in size and also had two windows, but above his huge bed was a set of deer antlers and an antique musket resting on the rack. There was a huge bed with a plain white spread and pillows in yellow cases. On his desk was a picture of a ship and a lamp in the shape of a ship’s wheel. Next to the door, oddly enough, was an old pair of rubber boots. Jenny could not help wondering if they were boots that had been worn by the Captain and left untouched all those years, or if Devon had been working on a rainy day and had merely left them there.
She left the room, quietly closed the door, and then leaned her back on it. “I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in here,” she said. “I bet it got so steamy.”
Passions in the North Country (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 6
