Page 33 of Always Be an Us

It was…nice.

Prior to that, I thought he hated me.

So why did he cover the bill?

There’s only one way to find out.

When I pull into the parking lot, there's another truck parked next to Declan's jeep. It has the Atlas Construction logo stamped on it. Hal must be here.

I get out of the car, breathing in the wild scent of the forest.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here.

The hotel sits silently at the end of the road like an abandoned castle of a fairy tale.

In some way, the Pink Hotel reminds me of sleeping beauty, but in the sense that the castle itself is asleep just waiting for a prince to bring it back to life

I used to hope that someone would come around and polish it till it returned to its former prestige as the historical landmark of our town.

I suppose that for me, maybe it’s twisted, but it would be a means of honoring my parents too, making their final home shine, physically preserving their memory in a sense.

Perhaps Declan is that man and his arrival is good news after all. Maybe we were short-sighted in rejecting him too quickly.

I hear the voices echoing out as I approach the guest house.

"How much is it going to cost?" Declan's deep voice asks.

"Man," Hal responds. "I really don’t think that–"

"Forget what you think. How much?"

The door is open and I watch Hal wring his baseball cap in his hand. He runs his hand through spiky dark hair, looking little like he just got electrocuted.

Then he finally catches my eyes in the doorway.

"Emm." He looks surprised to see me. "Nice to see you here."

Declan turns too. But his expression is harder to bear so I focus on Hal.

"Hi, Hal. Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to talk to him for a bit. But I’ll leave you two–"

"No need." Declan suddenly stands out of his seat. "Hal, organize your quote and send it to me. That's all."

"...sure." Hal reluctantly shuffles out past me, his large shoulders sagging. I grow curious. I’ve never known Hal to be sad about work.

"So does everyone in this town know you?" Declan asks, distracting me from my musings.

"Pretty much," I say. "It’s a small town."

"Mmm." He shifts closer, concern sparking in his eyes. "How's your grandfather?"

"He's alright." Nerves bounce around my stomach, growing with his nearness. "Speaking of which, I wanted to thank you for what you did."

He shrugs. "No big deal. Driving you to the hospital is a civic duty."

"No not that. I mean the other thing." I sigh. "You know, covering the hospital visit."

His expression doesn't change.

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