The shrill ring of the telephone interrupted Jenny’s thoughts. Miriam was about to pick it up when she began to sway. Jenny rushed toward her as Miriam grasped the table, lost her balance, and fell to the floor with a loud thud.
“Oh, my God!” Jenny shrieked, kneeling at the unconscious woman’s side. She looked absolutely lifeless. “Miriam! Miriam! Wake up!”
Miriam didn’t move.
“Help!” Jenny called frantically, her face frozen in shock. Her mind would not work. “Help!” she called weakly, as if trying to awaken from a nightmare.
Chapter 5
“Help!” Jenny called out to no one in particular. She was shaking uncontrollably. “Help!”
Danny Goodwin, scraper still in hand, rushed into the room. “What happened!”
“Miriam collapsed, Danny. Call an ambulance!”
Danny frantically grabbed the phone off the counter and made the call, then he knelt opposite Jenny and looked at Miriam’s face, now an ashen gray. The other painters hurried into the room and Danny told them to go outside and flag the ambulance when it came.
A few minutes later Devon suddenly rushed into the room. The moment he saw Miriam on the floor, a look of terror came over his face. Jenny assured him that the ambulance had been called. He checked Miriam’s pulse and listened to her slow, shallow breathing. “What happened?” he asked, lightly holding the old woman’s hand.
“She just collapsed,” Jenny said with a frightened look. “She looked faint and then it just happened.”
“She’ll be all right,” Devon insisted, though it seemed he was not convinced.
Miriam opened her eyes with a start.
“Miriam!” Jenny said.
“Are you all right?” Devon asked her.
“Did I fall?” Miriam asked weakly, trying to sit up.
“Just lie still,” Jenny said. “We called an ambulance.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, again trying to get up.
“Don’t move,” Devon said firmly, like an authoritative father who will not be overruled. “I don’t know what happened, but we’re not taking any chances with my number one girl.”
Jenny felt a rush of love—literally felt it—when he said that.
“They’re going to check you over before you move.”
Miriam needed to feel special. And she did feel special. You could see it in her eyes. She laid down and took a deep breath, her arm quivering slightly, the blue veins visible under her wrinkled, frail skin. Jenny held her other hand and smiled with compassion. Devon grabbed a pillow off the couch, then knelt next to Miriam and gently placed it under her head. At that moment he and Jenny looked at each other, their faces inches apart. It was as if Devon was seeing Jenny for the first time, and it was if she was seeing him for the first time.
“The paramedics will be here in a few minutes,” Devon informed Miriam. “Until then, I want you to lie perfectly still.” He winked at her. “I know that for you taking a break will be a first, but that’s how it’s got to be.”
She reached up and touched Devon’s face. “You remind me so much of my husband. So strong. So reliable.”
He lightly rubbed his fingers over her cheek. Jenny got up and paced the floor, walking to the window and silently urging the ambulance to arrive. “Maybe you better go home today,” she told Danny.
“No!” Miriam called, lifting her head. “They’re doing a wonderful job and I want them to finish as soon as possible. I’m fine. Fine, I tell you.”
The painters waved in the ambulance and within minutes Miriam was being transported to the hospital. Devon asked Mrs. Roberts, a neighbor who had been hired to work the desk, to keep an eye on things.
“Ms. Lamb and I are going to the hospital,” he said, obviously worried, “and we’ll be back as soon as we can.” He glanced at Jenny. “Come with me.”
If Ivan had said those exact same words, Jenny would have bristled and felt intimidated, but coming from Devon they had a whole different connotation. He was saying that he wanted Jenny’s support and company. He was upset and he was reaching out to her. Not only was she part of the team and somebody important to the Riverview Hotel, she was somebody important to Devon, too.
Though they drove to the hospital in silence, Jenny never felt so keenly aware of another person’s presence in her entire life. She was still trembling with fear because of Miriam’s fall, but she felt secure next to the big, powerful man. He really did have a presence. His arms were strong, capable. His whole body expressed power and independence. Even his hands stood out. If Ivan tried to hurt her, Devon could make mincemeat of him. And if the situation was ever right, those exact same hands could remove her panties and caress her into an unknown world of pleasure. And those same hands—those big, strong hands—those hands could hold Miriam gently and tenderly, protecting and comforting her.
Jenny looked at him. “She’ll be all right.”
“Yes,” he answered, glancing at her. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
That was all they said. Devon parked in the lot, then hurried inside with Jenny. He called Terry as soon as they entered the foyer. After a few minutes in the waiting room the doctor came out to see Jenny and Devon.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Allen, Miriam’s physician. And before you say a word,” he cautioned, raising his hands in front of him, “let me assure you that Miriam is in no danger.”
“Thank God!” Devon said with a sincerity that touched Jenny to the core.
“What happened?” she asked.
“We’ll do some tests, of course, but I’ve known Miriam for a long time and she’s suffering from a stress related disorder. She’s always been prone to worrying and anxiety but now it has caught up to her. The problems with the hotel have been weighing heavily on her.” Again he raised his hands slightly. “Even with the wonderful work you’ve done, Mr. North, she hasn’t felt at ease for a long time. And I knew the news about Terry would hit her hard.”
“You mean the long trips?” Devon asked.
“That, and the fact that he’ll be fishing the same water where his father died.”
“I didn’t know that,” Devon said, looking at Jenny.
She nodded knowingly, as if they were sharing a secret code.
The doctor continued, “You can see her for a few minutes, but be careful not to say anything that might upset her. She needs rest and we’ll keep her here for awhile to make sure everything’s all right.”
Jenny and Devon thanked him, then went in to see Miriam. She looked very tired, but was obviously pleased they had come. Terry arrived, rushing into the room, hurrying over to Miriam and kissing her on the forehead.
“The doctor said you’re okay,” he declared, looking deeply into his mother’s eyes. “He told me you have to relax and stop worrying about things.”
She hesitated a moment, seeming to debate whether to talk about what was bothering her, then gathered her courage. “Don’t take that fishing job, Terry.”
“Mom, what can I do?”
“Please!” she begged, tears forming in her eyes. “I couldn’t bear to lose you out there, too.”
“You won’t lose me.”
“I never thought I’d lose your father either, but that ocean claimed him. I can’t stand the thought of you fishing where he died.”
“Mom, let’s not talk about this now.”
“Promise me you won’t go there. I made a pledge to your father on his grave.”
He sighed and shook his head. “I’ll look around, all right. If anything at all comes up, I’ll take it. Okay?”
Miriam pulled Terry to her and kissed his cheek. “You’re a good boy. You’ve always been a good boy for your mama.”
Jenny and Devon, feeling that they were intruding on an intimate moment between mother and son, told Miriam and Terry they would visit her soon and then left quietly.
They talked about Miriam all the way back to the hotel, but once they got there, something suddenly occurred to Jenny. With Miriam ill,
the situation had gotten much more serious. The hotel had to succeed! But Miriam was the backbone of the place. She knew everything, ran everything, organized everything. When people had questions, they did not go to Devon, they went to Miriam. Even Devon went to Miriam. But, for the time being, at least, she needed someone to take her place.
Devon parked next to the office. “Thank you for being there for Miriam,” he said.
“She’s a very nice lady.”
“When I first came here, I didn’t know what to expect,” Devon said. “Everything and everybody was new, but Miriam made me feel right at home.”
“Me, too,” Jenny noted.
“Well, I better get back to work.”
“I have some things to do, too,” said Jenny.
She went to her room in the Captain’s House and sat, lost in thought, on the bed. So much had happened in her life of late that now she felt overwhelmed, as if it all came crashing down on her at once. The whole world was topsy turvy and Jenny felt empty and drained. Everything had changed, irrevocably and permanently. She was obviously worried about Miriam, but was confident that with rest and reduced stress she would recuperate quickly. The reality was that Jenny was alone, completely and utterly alone. She had no family, no past, no bond to her life. Miriam had been a friend, but now even she was removed from the immediate surroundings.
Feeling agitated, Jenny went for a walk around town, then returned in the afternoon just as Devon was leaving for his house down the river. She waved slightly at him and he nodded slightly at her. A short time after he left the driveway, Jenny walked around to inspect the work of the painters. By this time the entire front of the hotel had been scraped and Danny was putting the finishing touches on the window frames, painting them a dark green.
“Nice work, guys!” Jenny exclaimed with a disarming smile.
“Thanks,” Danny replied, pleased by the praise. “How’s Miriam?”
“A little overtired, but she’ll be okay. She just needs a few weeks of rest.”
“That’s good news,” Danny said with genuine relief.
Jenny nodded. “The main thing for me is to make sure everything goes smoothly while she’s gone. I don’t want her worrying about the hotel. Can you come by tomorrow morning, same time?”
“We already told Mr. North we would be here,” Danny said.
“Okay, good,” Jenny responded, wiping that concern off her list. “It’s going to look great when you’re finished.”
“It will,” Danny assured her. “Miriam will be proud to come back here.”
“Thanks, Danny.”
The men finished their work at six and Jenny helped them put the equipment in the shed. That done, she puttered around the office, making sure everything was running smoothly. To her surprise, even though the hotel looked exceedingly drab now that it had been scraped of the old paint, two more rooms were rented. At eight Jenny retired to Maria’s room in the Captain’s House and was amazed at how different it looked at night with the soft lights on. It had a homey, but deeply individual character. She opened the top drawer of a bureau to put in some of her clothes and found a beautiful brush with an ivory handle. She picked it up, found a few jet black hairs in it, and, on the back, the name Maria inscribed in gold.
She pulled out a hair and examined it, noting that it was the same color as the hair of the mysterious woman she had seen in the window. Jenny was awed by this as she put the brush back into the same drawer, then put her clothes in other drawers. When she finished putting her things away, she walked around the room carefully examining every object in it. One thing that particularly caught her attention was the pedestal and basin next to the wall. She opened the door to the Captain’s room and light shone into it. A matching pedestal and basin, not even noticed before, were in his room, next to the wall, just as in Jenny’s room. She looked over the surroundings, growing dark now in the fading light of the setting sun.
Jenny crawled into bed and read well into the night, but even after turning off the light she had a hard time getting to sleep. It was incredibly quiet and she felt like a stranger, almost as if the room was not used to her and was not sure if it wanted her there. When she did doze off, for minutes at a time, she dreamed of Devon. He was locking the hotel and going away forever, or he had his back turned as Ivan grabbed her and dragged her down. Then she would wake, only to drift off one more time into a light, restless, and dream-filled sleep. Her eyes were already open when the sun came up.
As the first rays of light illuminated her room, entering through gaps in the carelessly drawn curtains, she suddenly felt a tremendous sense of peace. It was as if all her fears and anxieties had been washed away, as if the room had decided to accept her, and, with that, Jenny supposed, the spirit of Maria. She was happy to be there. Life was good. But she was still tired from the restless night and fell back into a deep sleep, awakening only an hour before noon.
When she got up, Jenny went to the bathroom and gathered a pitcher of warm water, soap, a face cloth, and towel. She returned to her room and locked the door, then she disrobed and slowly washed her entire body. It felt pleasantly intimate to use a face cloth and soap in a basin. The shower was efficient but anonymous somehow. Using the basin made her deliciously conscious of her nude body, which she looked at in the big mirror. In the past, she would stare at herself only in a critical way, searching for flaws. But now she saw herself in a sensual way, her body a flowering vessel for carnal pleasures. This heightened sense of her sexual self seemed to be rising of its own accord and she was mightily turned on by it. A new location, a new outlook on life, or maybe just a sense of deliverance from her last boyfriend—whatever it was, the modest Jenny Ashbury was transforming into a vixen.
And she liked the feeling.
To her surprise, someone suddenly opened the Captain’s door on the first level and then walked up the stairs. There was a pause and then the Captain’s door opened. Jenny quickly put on a white sundress, nothing underneath it.
“Is that you, Devon?” she asked.
“I thought you would be up and gone by now,” came his familiar voice from behind the door that separated their two rooms.
“I was tired. I slept in.”
“How was your first night in Maria’s room?”
“I liked it,” she said, exquisitely conscious of his presence only steps away.
“That’s good,” he said. “I was working here the other day with my drill and now I can’t find one of my bits. I was thinking maybe I dropped it in this room.”
“Mr. North?”
“Yes?” he asked, suddenly stopping his search and listening for her question.
Jenny hesitated.
“Did you want to ask me something?” Devon said.
“Yes,” she stammered, her curiosity overcoming her reserve. “How long did the Captain and Maria live here?”
“A long time,” he replied.
“How long?” she persisted.
“Thirty years.”
“Thirty years!” Jenny exclaimed. “That long?”
“That long.”
A pause followed.
“Do you think they had a relationship?” Jenny asked softly.
He hesitated to answer and she wondered if he heard the question.
“Do you?” she said more loudly.
“It would be impossible not to, wouldn’t it?”
Jenny smirked. “You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean. What do you mean?”
She shook her head. “Do you think they loved each other, silly?”
Devon was struck when she called him “silly.” In his whole life no one had ever called him that, and until now he thought he would be offended to be called silly, but coming from Jenny, in her playful way, it was extremely endearing to him, something she hardly noticed, but something powerful and poignant to him.
“Well?” she persisted. “Ground control to Major Tom. Anybody home?”
“I can’t imagi
ne them living that close for that long if they hated each other.”
“Hello!” she said, relentless in her need to know. “I didn’t ask you that. I asked you if they loved each other. Do you know? Give me your word you’ll tell the truth.”
“Even if they did love each other, it wouldn’t have mattered,” Devon said, “because she was a nun and he was married.”
“What!” Jenny cried. “The Captain was married?”
“Married.”
A short silence followed.
“Here it is!” Devon exclaimed. “I found the bit. I’ll leave you to your privacy now.”
“Hold on, big guy,” she said with a hint of demand. “You’re not leaving me guessing. The Captain was married? What did his wife think about him living next to a beautiful woman all those years?”
“She didn’t care. They never saw each other in the last thirty years of his life.”
“You mean they were divorced?”
“Not divorced,” Devon said. “There were too many legal and religious complications. No, they remained married, but he moved from Gloucester, Massachusetts to Nova Scotia and lived out his life a married bachelor. She shacked up with three or four different men over the years, but the Captain stayed at Maria’s side. Unfortunately for our dear Captain, when he left his wife, she kept all his worldly things and all monies from the businesses he founded. All the Captain had to his name was what money he brought to Canada. That was enough to start building the Riverview Hotel, which he did. The rest is history. He worked hard, saved his money, expanded the hotel, and built this little house we’re in for himself and, as it turns out, for Maria.” He paused. “Danny and his friends are doing a good job of the painting.”
“Yes, they are. Did the Captain and Maria love each other? Tell me if you know!”
“You tell me something first,” Devon responded immediately.
“All right,” she agreed.
“Are you running from something?”
Jenny’s heart stopped for a moment. “What?” she stammered.
“The Captain was running from his wife and ended up at the Riverview Hotel, living in the very room where I’m standing right now. Maria was running from something and ended up in the room you’re in. Maybe I’m running from something, too.” He paused. “And I was just wondering if you ended up at the Riverview Hotel under the same conditions. Are you running from an abusive husband, Jenny?”
Passions in the North Country (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 9
