Innkeeper's Daughter (5 page)

Authors: Dormaine G

BOOK: Innkeeper's Daughter

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“Stop, John.” It was Hanna’s mom.
Mrs. Parsons. She walked in and shut the door behind her. “Please, Mr.
Chandler,” she could barely talk her eyes were so swollen from crying. They
already sagged and her tissue was barely useable. “I love my daughter with all
my heart, but I know that she loves you too. My husband means what he says,
that he will disown her. We had, we have a son…” the words were too hard for
her to express. I understood what she meant. Their son disobeyed his father,
too. I didn’t get the dynamics of this family, and how one could be so
controlling, but that’s subjective I guess. Who am I to judge with the terrible
things I’ve done.

“I beg of you,” she sobbed.

“Mama, please…”

How could I split a family in two
that’s already broken? I needed to deal with my own crap and get my life
together before I could take care of anyone else. I’ve come to love Hanna in
such a short time, as if she were my own heart, but I could not take her away
from her family. Her mother. If I took her daughter too, it would break this
fragile woman’s heart.

“Hanna…” I looked at the floor
teetering on the words that needed to be said. Tears instantly came.

“No, Sterling…” she yelled
pointing at me. “You love me. You said it.” her mother held onto her daughter’s
arm when she reached for me.

Her screams broke me. I felt my
heart ripping at the seams the way she bellowed. It felt as if I was killing
her. I wanted to die, too. I knew it then, that she was my soulmate.

This was my penance.

It took all that I had when the
tears filled my eyes as I walked over to her and kissed her on the lips. “You
are my beginning and you are my end, but not like this.” I rubbed her face
staring into her eyes covered with a river of water.

She shrieked my name “Sterling,
please don’t go,” repeatedly as I had to pull away with her mother’s help. Her
mother fought desperately to hold onto her child.

And as I walked away, her
dreadful cries of pain crushed me. It took all that I had to walk towards that
door, not looking back as I heard her fall to the floor.

Her father stepped aside as I
turned to leave. I stopped in front of him and wiped my face. Not facing the
man, I told him “If you ever lay a hand on her again I will kill you myself.” I
then faced him. He looked away in shame.

I finally opened the door but
hesitated for a split second, tormented by Hanna’s continued begging me not to
leave her. But somehow I found the strength to move forward. A long time ago I
heard the saying ‘If you love someone set them free, if they come back it was
meant to be.’ Something like that. I clung to that hope, but for right now my
heart felt like my world had just crumbled.

It was the first selfless act I’d
done in a while.

CHAPTER 6

That first year after
leaving Hanna was the hardest. I lived in a dark place most of that time,
suffering through depression to eventually numbness. Karma is a bitch and
believe me it doesn’t discriminate. Vail was my punishment.

After leaving the resort, I
decided not to take the job in Denver, but fly back to D.C. I told my wife, Rachel,
what happened and she laid into me, but in all honestly she could not make me
feel any worse than I already did. She screamed, hit, threw and threatened my
life. I took it. I would stand there in a daze allowing her to add to my suffering.

I didn’t tell her I fell in love,
but she figured it out. She was happy that I was miserable. She told me “Now
you know how I feel,” and she was right. I was a self-centered man who deserved
to be alone to suffer in the dark.

We were friends long before we
were lovers, so the saddest part is I lost my best friend. My wife was right. I
was never in love with her, now knowing what true love is. She deserved better
than me. I still love her, but she is a good woman who deserves someone who can
give her the world. I realized that I forced myself to live a life that was not
mine to live, and in return hurt two women.

When all the dust was settled, we
learned to talk things out. She admitted she got comfortable after the first
year and I admitted that we should have never been. She filed for divorce and I
paid for it all. I was adamant about that. I didn’t fight her over the house
and both cars. I just wanted my classic 1970 Camaro. That she let me have.
There was no child support to worry about or alimony since we each made a good
living and had no children.

Now it’s been five years since
Vail and I reside in New Jersey. I deal with computer programming on oil rigs
or other off shore jobs. I’m the one who corporations fly out to fix the
computer systems. They pay me a lot of money for that. It’s solitary work, but
I like that about it.

I think of her often. It’s still
hard to say her name. I envision her at the resort skiing like she loved to do,
or maybe she made it out and someone is sponsoring her skiing. My stomach turns
when I picture her face, but I only allow myself a few moments to dream about
her. Sometimes I think that I’m crazy and I should be over her by now, but how
do you forget your own heart?

I go out, but I don’t date much.
I’d rather stay to myself and hang out with the guys whenever I have time, but
not on a regular basis. I throw myself into work and focus on my next gig.

Today I made it back home after a
job and headed to my favorite espresso spot. I like to get my work done here
every time I fly home. I guess because it’s a mom and pop owned business and
it’s warm and cozy. Something I need. It reminds me of back then. As I took a
sip of my coffee my stomach dropped when my world flipped upside down.

“Okay, now just one muffin,
Sterling, then mommy has to get back to work. It’s her first day.”

I looked up and there she was:
Hanna talking to a little boy who could not be any older than four. His deep
olive complexion was close to mine, his hair sandy brown, and his eyes were
green.

I dropped my cup making a ruckus
in the shop and she turned to see where the noise came from. She spotted me. She
gripped the tiniest hand I’d ever seen and time froze.

Not thinking of the spill or the
people around us, I walked over to her. At first she took a slow long deep
breath, as if she’d seen a ghost, and it seemed like time indeed had stopped.

“Sterling.” she whispered
breathlessly. A tear fell from her eye and I caught it with my fingers.

“Your son…” she slowly managed.
“I tried calling but your number changed… I sent letters but they came back…”

“I…I just wiped the slate clean
and started over. New number, new address … I never in a millions years
expected this.” I pointed to
my
son.

She reached out to touch my face
and I knew in that very moment everything would be all right. And as if time
never passed, the electric surge between us was still just as strong.

About the
Author

Dormaine was born in Long Island, New
York, where she lived most of her life. As an adult she liked to travel out of
the country, though her favorite places to explore were her fantasy worlds as
an author. She may be a nurse by profession but her heart has always belonged
to writing. As a young child she spent many Saturdays in the library nurturing
her love for books. There she discovered her fascination for the science
fiction genre, through books, movies and graphic novels.

Now she resides in Colorado with her
husband and two feisty dogs. After many years of working in hospitals and
travel nursing she took time off to pursue a career in writing. Her first novel
"Connor" is in one of her favorite genres, young adult urban fantasy.
Her second love is for horror for which she created the "Madame Lilly,
Voodoo Priestess" series. This is just the start of her exploration as she
stays locked up in her office in Colorado spinning more tales.

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