Chapter 15

Day 10

It was just about seven in the morning when Sean opened up Emmett's Place. There was already a line waiting to enter the small bistro.

"Morning, Sean!"

"Hi, Jim. The usual?"

"Yeah! A large cup of Em's special blend and one of his popovers."

"Butter on the side?"

"Nah, I'm living dangerously today. Slice it and stick a small pat inside."

"That's what I love to see, a man who likes to live on the edge." Sean and his customer laughed as Sean prepared his order.

Stevie, an intern sent from the Pittsburgh culinary institute hustled in, he threw on an apron and began to take orders.

"Good Morning, may I take your order?"

"Large coffee, milk, no sugar and a popover please," John Anderson told his order to the eager young man behind the counter.

"I'll have the same but three sugars in mine." Unbeknownst to John, Dr. Raphael Angles had come up behind him.

"Raph! I'm sorry I didn't see you there," John exclaimed.

"I'm a little hard to miss," the tall dark skinned man said.

"True, my only excuse is that my nose is buried in the newspaper. It seems the only chance I get to read it is when I'm standing on a line of some sort." John shoved his paper under his arm as Stevie handed him his order.

"I know what you mean. And it's all bad news. Why is it the press never report something good?" Both men shook their heads as John led the veterinarian out the back doors to the patio.

"Uh, John, if you haven't noticed, this is January … in Pittsburgh, not Puerto Rico."
Raph hesitated at the door.

"Ah, but you may not be aware that my crew did the renovations for Emmett's and I had him install special outdoor heaters." John flipped the on switches for the five heaters that were strategically placed. Within a few minutes the ambient temperature of the patio rose to about fifty.

"Wow, this is amazing. An early Spring within these walls. I never understood why he didn't make his place bigger."

"The bistro was originally intended for Emmett's catering business. It's mostly ovens and stoves. Then he decided to put in a couple of tables so that the customers could try out his new creations and give Emmett their feedback.

"And the fancier table?"

"He sets that one up when he wants to wow a new client. He also has an office on the second floor so he can show off his wares in style."

"What brings you to Pittsburgh so early?"

"Muncherville."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm sorry. This is embarrassing, uh, my brother has always referred to Lindsay and Melanie as 'the Munchers'. It's rather crude but unfortunately we can't seem to break Brian of the habit."

"A habit that appears to be contagious," Raph noted.

"Yes, well, they are lesbians." John and Raph both shuddered with exaggeration then chuckled. "They're on vacation in Florida and as Fate would have it, their old house started to break down almost immediately after they left. Brian called me in to assess the damage and fix it."

"Guess it helps to have a brother in the construction business," Raph commented to John.

"Why are you up so early? Is the clinic open already?"

"No, but we've been experiencing some rather weird things lately and I thought if I got to the clinic early enough I'd catch the perpetrator."

"Weird things?"

"About a week ago someone left a box by our delivery entrance. When we looked inside there was a cat in the box. Scared, scrawny and infested little thing. Barely alive. We've been trying to nurse it back to life."

"Any idea who dropped it off?"

"No, but every few days there's been an envelope or small packet of crumpled bills shoved in the door. I'm not sure if I want to know how the money is getting there or by whom. Anyway I got up real early and parked across the street hoping I'd see whoever was leaving the money but no one showed up."

"It was very cold last night; perhaps that deterred your mysterious benefactor."

"Maybe. Anyway, I better get to the clinic and open up. It was good to see you again, John." Raph stood to leave. John stood to shake his hand.

"It was nice to see you again too. And give my regards to Hector. We should all have dinner some evening, minus the shoveling, of course."

"I'd like that," Raph said as he left the patio.

John sat back down to finish his coffee and to read one last article in his paper. "All bad news," he mumbled to himself as he read about an outbreak of muggings that were occurring up and down Liberty Avenue. The thief was randomly holding up people at knife point, demanding their cash. "Just all bad news," John grumbled as he turned off the heaters and left the patio to start his day at Muncherville.

 

*****
 

"Morning," Melanie said as Lindsay stirred and opened her eyes.

"Have you been awake long?" Lindsay asked as she stretched luxuriously.

"Not long. I was waiting for you."

Lindsay smiled. "What time is it?"

"Still time for Seamus' breakfast."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

The girls quickly showered and got dressed. When they walked into the dining room, Seamus greeted them with a pot of fresh coffee. They ate everything he put in front of them, then invited him to sit with them over a final cup of coffee. They wanted some suggestions about how they could spend their day.

"You've done most of the sites around here," Seamus admitted. "Most people don't stay for longer than a week. Maybe you could just stroll through the town, take in the ambiance of St. Augustine."

"That sounds good," Lindsay agreed. "I'm kind of sightseeing-ed out."

Seamus laughed. "That may be so, but you both seem much more relaxed and … happier than when you first arrived." He hoped he had chosen his words carefully enough.

"Yeah, we are," Melanie admitted. "Sorry for being such a bitch when we first got here."

"Not at all. I've learned to handle all kinds of guests and whatever moods they might be in."

"I think we've made real progress in our relationship," Lindsay said softly. Her hand reached for Melanie's where it rested on the table.

"Then your time here has been well spent," Seamus said with a smile.

"I guess Brian Kinney was right," Melanie admitted trying to keep the resentful sound out of her voice.

"He is right sometimes," Lindsay told her.

"I think he's right most of the time," Seamus felt compelled to add.

Melanie tried not to scowl as she stood up. "Let's go walk through town. Maybe I can find something cute to take home to JR."

"We should find something for Gus and Danny too," Lindsay said as she followed Melanie out of the room.

Seamus took a final sip of his coffee and shook his head, before starting to clear the table.

 

*****

 

When Brian arrived at Muncherville, he found that a great deal of the work on the electrical system had already been done. John and Aaron had worked what looked like miracles on the old system in the house.

"We have all the outlets working again," John informed his brother. I'm replacing them with new grounded outlets. It's time consuming, but it will be worth it for safety reasons. Aaron's replacing the old wiring."

"That's great," Brian said. "I feel better about Gus and JR and Lindsay being in a house with adequate wiring."

"Didn't you leave someone out of that equation?" John asked with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah, Danny, but he'll be back in his own house when the Munchers return," Brian said tongue in cheek.

"You are incorrigible," John laughed.

"That's me," Brian agreed. "Where's Danny?"

"Went to check on his own house while we had the electricity shut off here."

"I'm glad you're making good progress on the improvements. I'm going into Kinnetik for an hour or two. Will you be coming home tonight?"

John shook his head. "If we work all day, I think I can finish this up tomorrow. I'll go home when it's done."

Brian nodded. "Enjoy the loft."

John smiled. "It hardly knows what to make of me being alone there at night."

Brian grinned. "It can't handle all the action anymore that it once saw. That was a long time ago."

"You and Justin have kept up the tradition."

Brian smirked. "Yeah, I guess we have … over the years." He turned and walked out of the house, leaving John to get back to his work.

 

*****
 

"My feet are killing me," Lindsay said as she slid into a booth in a small restaurant on George Street.

"You should wear more sensible shoes," Melanie chided.

"These make my ankles look great."

"And kill your feet."

"Let's get a drink," Lindsay said changing the subject.

A few minutes later they were each sipping a tall drink with a slice of orange and a cherry topping them off.

"This is delicious," Melanie said as she drew up the drink through her straw.

"Take it easy. I think these are more powerful than they look," Lindsay cautioned.

"Yummy," Melanie replied as she took another long sip through the straw. "Tastes like another one."

"It's only afternoon, not even the cocktail hour," Lindsay reminded her.

Melanie ignored her wife and signaled the waiter to bring another.

Lindsay decided to take it slow with her drink since Melanie seemed to be intent upon getting sloshed.

"Have you enjoyed this trip?" Melanie asked out of the blue, as she sipped on her second drink.

"Very much," Lindsay replied seriously.

"I think it was a good decision to come here, but…"

"But what?" Lindsay asked with a frown. She didn't like the sound of that but.

"I could go home tomorrow. I kind of miss the kids and our house … and work."

Lindsay looked at her partner. "I kind of miss those things too, but we've only got a couple more days."

"We could try to get an earlier flight," Melanie suggested.

"Are you that eager to get away from me?" Lindsay asked testily.

"Of course not. This has been great. I just think we've had enough alone time."

"Then maybe that's why we need to stay the remaining days and see what comes of it."

"What do you mean?" Melanie frowned.

Lindsay sighed. "I mean that we have been getting along really well. I feel like we've made some real progress, but it's all been very idealistic. Maybe we need a couple of days of more down to earth events."

"Isn't that what we'll get when we go home?"

"Yes, it is, but I don't want to go back to things being the way they were before we left."

"Was it that bad?" Melanie asked.

Lindsay could hear the hurt in her wife's voice. "Melanie, we came here to work things out. We've made a good start, but we still have some things to resolve."

"Like what?"

Lindsay heard the anger in Melanie's voice. "Like why you get your back up whenever I want to really face our issues."

"You sound just like him, you know," Melanie said sarcastically.

"I suppose you mean Brian."

"Of course, I mean Brian," Melanie parroted back Lindsay's words, upping the sarcasm quotient with each word she uttered. "Who the fuck else is there in your little world?"

"I'd like to think there's you," Lindsay said pushing her drink away. "I'm going back to the B & B. Are you coming?"

"I need another drink," Melanie replied signaling the waiter.

"Well, enjoy yourself." Lindsay slid out of the booth grabbing her purchases from the seat. "I hope you don't get so drunk that you can't find your way back … but then maybe you don't really want to."

Lindsay turned and walked decisively to the door. She heard Melanie say her name once, but she kept going. She paused outside the restaurant for a minute hoping that Melanie would come after her. When no one appeared from inside, she threw her shoulders back and started walking towards the B & B. She wondered if she could get an earlier flight for herself. She'd check that out. There was nothing to keep her in St. Augustine any longer.

 

*****
 

"Brian?"

"Yeah, is that you Lindsay?"

"Yes."

"What's wrong?" Brian could hear the tears in his friend's voice.

"Everything."

"I … what can I do?"

"I want to come home," Lindsay sobbed.

"Tell me what happened."

"I … I thought things were going so well. We were out all day shopping and walking. I guess we were both tired. We stopped for a drink and everything went to hell. She hasn't changed, Brian. She just doesn't get it."

"Want me to arrange for a flight home for you?" Brian asked not knowing what else to suggest. He was so bad at these relationship problems.

"That's what I thought I wanted when I called you," Lindsay cried.

"But now you're not so sure?"

"She … we … we made some progress. We really did, but she still resents you."

"Me? What the fuck do I have to do with any of this?"

"You know how she is whenever your name comes up."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, she said some not nice things about you, and she promised that she wouldn't do that anymore."

"And you defended me?"

"Kind of."

Brian rubbed his temple where a headache was forming. "Don't defend me, Lindsay, not when you know how she's going to react."

"I hate it when she gets started."

"I know, but as long as she's not doing it in front of Gus, I can handle anything she throws at me."

"I know you can. That's not the point. She knows it upsets me, and she does it anyway."

"Have you told her that?"

"Of course I have. I thought we'd settled that. She said she wouldn't do it anymore and then she did."

"Sometimes I think she can't help herself," Brian suggested. "And sometimes I say some not nice things about her," Brian said remembering his conversation with John earlier in the day.

"What am I going to do?" Lindsay said sobbing.

"I think you should give her one more chance."

"You do? I … I don't know."

"Yes, you do. You want to make it right. Try one more time."

"Okay, I will," Lindsay gave in. "But she better come home soon."

"I'm sure she will."

Lindsay set down her phone wondering how long she would have to wait for Melanie to return to the B & B, and what would happen once she did.

 

*****
 

Melanie wandered the streets of St. Augustine. She had left the restaurant not long after Lindsay. She had lost her desire for another drink as soon as Lindsay walked out on her. Since then she had been wandering around trying to decide what to do. She wanted to go back to the B & B and try to make up with Lindsay. She wasn't even sure what they had been fighting about, but she knew she wanted to make it right. She turned down another street as she concentrated on what she might be able to say to Lindsay to make up for the fight they had just had.

Suddenly Melanie looked up. She was approaching the "Love Tree". She walked tentatively towards the fence that protected the tree from tourists getting too close to it. A couple was standing in front of the fence staring in at the tree, or more precisely trees. Melanie wondered what they were seeing. They turned to each other and kissed softly. Melanie watched the man's arms entwine around his woman. He held her gently, not unlike the oak held the palm tree.

Melanie let out an involuntary gasp. She stood staring at the trees, while the couple gave her a strange look and then moved away. Melanie shook her head and then turned around. She needed to get back to the B & B. She thought maybe she knew what to say to Lindsay.



 

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