approachable. “Our car broke down on the road. We were wondering if there’s a mechanic around the area who could take a look at it.”
“Oh, you poor dears,” the elderly man squeaked, motioning towards the group who were headed towards their rooms. The echoes of their squeaky shoes could be heard as they bounded up the stairs. “Their cars broke down on the road too. There’s no car shop around here for miles. Our youngest son is a mechanic, but he’s not back for another couple of hours. I could have our eldest son bring your car in, if you’d like. It might take a little while because there are three cars ahead of you.” He offered an apologetic smile. “It’s just our son working on them.”
Eclipse sighed, his face taut with regal displeasure. He didn’t like the answer he received and much like a King, he had no qualms about showcasing it. “There are no other mechanics in this town?”
“Eclipse,” I called when I saw the old man react as a servant would to his King: he began to freeze in terror. My eyes swiveled from him to the old man. Silently, I mouthed, “You’re scaring him.”
“I apologize,” Eclipse said politely to the nice old man, who was blinking in fear. “We’re in a hurry to meet her parents. It’s my first time meeting them and I do not want to make a bad impression by being late. I’m sure you understand.”
“Of course, of course!” the man squeaked again, finding bravery within himself after Eclipse’s apology. “I’ll call him right away and tell him to hurry. I’ll also see if I can arrange for your car to be fixed first since it’s just the two of you and the other couples are traveling together anyway.”
Boom!
The deafening roar of thunder seized Eclipse’s attention. He turned, his watchful eyes accessing the stormy skies through the foyer window. I turned as well and noted that the storm outside had become more menacing. The rain had certainly picked up.
A light changed in Eclipse’s eyes. He seemed to have reconsidered his previous stance about being in a rush.
“What do you think?” he asked, redirecting his attention to me. “Should we stay here for the night?”
“The storm doesn’t seem to be letting up,” I observed, secretly pleased that the typically hardheaded and arrogant Demon was genuinely asking for my opinion. I gauged the weather outside again. Despite how quaint the inn appeared, I honestly didn’t want to sleep here. There was something about it that perturbed me. Regardless, if it were between seeking refuge at the inn and braving the storm, I’d choose the inn any day. “I think we should stay the night. It’s safer.”
Eclipse nodded his concurrence. So against our own hesitancy—and because Eclipse and I were too chicken to brave the storm—we decided to stay for a night and wait for our car to be fixed. What other choice did we have?
“No, please tell your son to drive safely,” Eclipse said to the old man with a kind smile. “We shouldn’t be driving in this weather anyway. We’ll stay here tonight. Hopefully the car will be fixed by tomorrow morning.”
“We’ll make sure of it!” the man beamed, relieved that he was able to get some business out of us. I couldn’t imagine this inn receiving a lot of business during the year. It must be exciting for him to get some customers for the night.
While Eclipse spoke to the man about our room and told him where we had left our car, my eyes feathered over to the old lady. She was sitting so quietly behind the counter that I almost forgot she existed. My eyes traveled past her gray dress and cardigan and landed on the TV screen she was watching. I hid another smile when I noticed that she was watching Tears of the Rainbow —a popular drama that made everyone in the country (except me) cry when the main guy died from cancer and the main girl was left with amnesia, blinded, and all alone.
I laughed, finding hilarity in the fact that she was watching a passionate
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley