by Rachel Hauck
A piquant, cheerful woman with white hair floating above her heart-shaped face appeared behind the narrow registration desk. “Well, there you are. I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind.”
“Changed my mind? I’m sorry, but I don’t have a reservation. I’m—”
“Corina Del Rey. Yes, yes, we know. Come on in. Don’t hover by the door.” She came around the desk, hand extended for Corina’s large suitcase. She wore a white peasant blouse and a black skirt with a laced tunic overlay.
“You know? Who knows what? And h–how do you know?”
The woman offered a sweet, bow smile, which weakened Corina’s defenses. “We have your room all ready. Lovely it is too. On the fifth floor with a grand view of the city. Quite stunning, I says.” She crossed her hands over her heart and sighed. “My favorite place on earth. I hope you don’t mind the stairs. We’ve no lift. Or elevator, as you say in America.”
“The clerk . . . at The Wellington . . . Did he called you?” How nice of him. And surprising, since he didn’t seem all that eager to help. But what other explanation could there be?
“The Wellington? No, no one from The Wellington called.” The woman snickered, covering her mouth with her delicate hand. “I really must walk round and see the city close up. I’ve not been here in quite a while. Now, shall I take you to your room?”
She was crazy. Certifiable. “Listen, I appreciate your cozy little establishment, but I think I’ll try the Royal Astor.” Or maybe a park bench. Surely there was one with Corina’s name on it.
But the eccentric hostess paid no attention. She snapped her fingers and twisted her lips, pointing to a closed door beside the fireplace. “I always forget this part.” She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Brill! Come for the luggage, eh, my good man? She’s here.”
No, nada, not doing this. The Manor was just too weird. Out there. Maybe Cathedral City’s Hotel California. Corina stepped back once. But why did she feel peace? At home in the light and the space?
A drop of perspiration slithered down her temple. “Know what?” she said with a raspy croak. “I just realized I have a place to stay.” She reached for the large suitcase, but the woman did not let go.
“My name’s Adelaide.” She offered her hand. “Please, don’t go.” Her tone canceled Corina’s rising fear.
“All right . . .” Corina took the woman’s hand in hers with a light shake. “I–is this place on Cathedral City’s hotel register?” She didn’t know what else to ask for proof of the hotel’s validity other than to see their city license. Which felt slightly insulting. If the woman said yes, then she could exhale, relax. Enjoy this quaint, out of the way, back-in-time hovel.
“My dear lass, we were the first inn built in Cathedral City. By King Stephen I himself.” Adelaide puffed out her chest. “Fifteen fifty-five.”
“Fifteen fifty-five?” Four hundred and fifty years ago? Ah, realization dawned. This must be publicity for the movie. Surely. Which explained Adelaide’s costume. And the lady in white. An actress trolling the streets looking for confused tourists to send here. Corina took a sly gaze about the room, hunting for hidden cameras.
“But never you worry. The place has been fixed up. Modernized, if you will. Save for the adding of a lift. But we got Brill. Ha. He’s our lifter. Brill!”
“Here, here. Where’s the girl?” A tall, big-boned man with a jocular face and thin, greying, curly tufts of hair squeezed through the side door, entering the lobby. “There she is. Well, how do you like that? Fit and pretty. None worse for the wear. How’s the girl a-doing? What say you of this place?”
“F–fine.” Corina’s thoughts were on a crash course with her emotions, debating to the quick rhythm of her heart. Run-stay-run-stay. But this Brill? She liked him. Felt drawn to him as if she’d known him her whole life.
“Stop badgering her, Brill, and leave her be. She needs her rest.”
“Then let’s get her settled.” Brill picked up the large suitcase and nodded toward the stairs. “Ladies first.”
“Adelaide? Brill?” Strange how their names rolled off Corina’s tongue so easily. Like she’d said them a thousand times. “How did you know I’d be coming?”
“It’s our job to know.” The twinkle in Adelaide’s eyes bloomed as if God had created them from stars.
“Your job?”
“Come, love, we’ve plenty of time to chat after you’ve rested.” Adelaide took hold of the smaller roller board, a thick gold chain with a gold medallion swinging out from under the pale purple tunic.
Corina hesitated. Follow or flee? Follow or flee!
Adelaide paused on the first step. “Are you coming?”
Follow. “Y–yes, yes I’m coming.” With faith.
As they climbed the stairs, Adelaide ran a narrative. “Like I said, the Manor was built by King Stephen I, for his true love.”
“Magdalena?” After brushing up on her history, Corina had high expectations for Hollywood’s depiction of the larger-than-life King Stephen I and his queen.
“Oh yes. Weren’t they the greatest of loves? Together they built the House of Stratton, established this kingdom. Oh, such was a trying time for the newly independent nation, but Stephen I and Magdalena loved well through—”
“Excuse me? What did you say? Loved well?”
“Yes, they knew how to love well. Magdalena was the woman who won the king’s heart.” Adelaide prattled on without answering, pausing on the third-story landing, breathing deeply. “She fought in King Stephen’s army against Henry VIII. Their love was the foundation of the new kingdom. Such a gift, such love.” Her blue eyes peered through Corina. “Don’t you agree?”
“I–I suppose I do.” Why did this woman speak as if she knew something?
Adelaide smiled down at her. “It’s important to know history.”
“Ladies, these burdens don’t get any lighter standing here listening to you gab.” Brill huffed and gruffed, but the tender old man would never blow down anyone’s house.
“Hold your horses, Brill. We’re going.” Gathering her wind and her skirt, Adelaide bounded up the steps, the gold medallion rocking from side to side, the keys in her pocket jangling.
Corina followed, rounding the narrow curved staircase to the next landing. “I’m looking forward to the film’s portrayal of Magdalena.” Come to think of it, the first queen would make a great sidebar to go along with her premier piece, and this woman seemed to be somewhat of an expert.
“Oh, they won’t do her justice. You can’t contain a woman like Magdalena on a movie screen. Such a beauty, she was, very much like you.” Adelaide glanced back at Corina. “Dark hair, olive skin, eyes like amber stones. Independent. Brave, taking up her brother’s sword when he was killed in the serf war.” Adelaide paused on the fourth-floor landing for a deep breath, her eyes glossing over with a faraway gaze. “Oh how King Stephen loved her. Enough to defy his privy council. He wanted her at their table but his generals did not. She was too strong for those men. It was Stephen’s first test at loving well.”
Adelaide pressed on to the fifth-floor landing, the old wide board steps creaking.
“Test? What do you mean?”
“Could he be king and servant?” Adelaide raised her finger. “’Tis the number one rule in the kingdom.”
“In Brighton?”
“In the kingdom. To rule one must serve.”
Corina stuttered her next step. What was she talking about? The kingdom.
“Get along, lassie. Me arms are tired.” Brill gently bumped her shoulder, and Corina stumbled along the dark passage under a low, exposed-beam ceiling.
“Hold yer horses, Brill. I’m a-telling her about the kingdom.”
“Are we talking that already?” Brill adjusted the suitcases in his grip. “You said to let the girl rest.”
“I see, today you decide to listen to me and quote meself back to meself.” Adelaide led the way down a narrow corridor toward a wooden door while Brill grumbled in
his chest and Corina snickered softly.
What a hoot, these two. How she got picked for this adventure she’d never know, but she made a mental note to keep an eye out for hidden mikes and cameras, and take notes for yet another story to go along with the movie review and premier story.
At the door, Adelaide worked a key into the lock and twisted the knob, exposing a grand, sprawling room that ran the length of the inn.
Corina hesitated, peering inside before going in. It was beautiful, inviting, and despite the icicles of trepidation about this place, the kindness of Adelaide and Brill stoked the furnace of peace growing in her spirit.
She hadn’t known what to expect of a room here, given the condition of the Manor, but the space was exquisite, state of the art, with an open, vaulted ceiling, cream-colored, textured walls, and polished, gleaming hardwood floors.
A fragrance hovered and Corina breathed it in, filling her lungs.
As Corina passed into the room, Adelaide handed her the key. “You won’t need it, but I pass it along as a sign.”
Corina laughed though her skin tightened with chills. She gripped the key against her palm. “A sign? What kind of sign?”
“That it’s yours, Corina. Just believe.”
She froze, rooted where she stood. Did this woman know about Stephen? How? “Adelaide, what’s going on here?”
“Quite loverly, isn’t it?” Adelaide cradled her arms at her waist, smiling as she glanced around the room, quite pleased with it all.
“Quite.” Corina crossed the room, taking it in. The outside wall was a large single-paned window, like the one in the lobby, that framed a breathtaking view of Cathedral City and the River Conour. “It’s beautiful.”
“Think you’d like to stay?” Adelaide’s eyes twinkled.
Corina regarded the strange couple. “I’m not quite sure what to make of you two or this place. Is this some sort of movie stunt? What’s going on here?”
“Movie stunt?” Adelaide patted her hand to her chest. “Mercy no, lass.”
“Then what is all of this?”
“Ahem.” The man of the place stood in the doorway, Corina’s bags in hand. “Where do ye want these?”
“Brill, I’m so sorry. Just put them by the door. I’ll arrange them later.” She took the roller board from him and tucked it in next to a walnut cabinet.
“Yes,” Adelaide beamed. “You will do nicely. You are the one.”
“The one?”
Adelaide’s eyes sparked with a glint that set Corina’s spirit on fire. “Anyway, as you see, here’s your bed.” She patted the massive mattress covered with a cream-and-brown quilt. “It’s made for dreaming, I say.” She moved about the room. “Here’s your sitting corner.” She switched on what looked like an authentic Tiffany lamp. “And the loo is just down this jaunty little corridor.”
Corina followed Adelaide around the bedroom wall into a bathroom haven. Tile and granite with a sunken whirlpool bath, a vanity, a shower with gold fixtures, all washed in the morning light sinking in through a large skylight.
“I don’t know what to say.” About any of it. The inn, Adelaide, her kingdom talk, and the friendship she felt with the odd couple. Corina inspected the porcelain sink, running her hand along the smooth, slate-colored granite.
“Say nothing but that you’ll stay.” Adelaide patted the cabinet’s smooth drawers. “Here are your towels and linens. We’ll leave you to get settled. If you need me, just tug on this here.” She pointed to the thick damask pull next to her bed. “One Old World thing we hung on to. We thought you’d like it.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Isn’t everything to your liking? The colors, the furniture?”
Corina scanned the room. Very much so. All pieces she’d select. In fact, she’d debated purchasing a cabinet just like the one with the towels and linens. “Why won’t you answer my questions about what’s going on here?”
“My dear girl.” Adelaide grabbed Corina’s hands. “You have just flown all the way from Georgia. We have plenty of time to talk.”
“See, that’s what I mean. How do you know that?”
“My sweets, ’tis me job. Now, take your rest.” She motioned for Brill to start down the stairs. “We’ll bring up tea and cakes, leaving them outside the door. When you hear a knock, you’ll know we was here.”
“Wait! Hold on.” Corina retrieved her purse from the bottom of the luggage pile, digging for her wallet. “Tip. I need to give you a tip.” She offered two ten-pound notes to Adelaide. “One for you and one for Brill. Thank you so much. You’re a life saver.”
Adelaide shoved the money back at Corina. “Keep it. We’ve no use for it.”
“No use for money?” Corina shoved the money at the crazy old woman. “Who on earth doesn’t need money?”
“Folk who are not of this earth.”
“Huh?” The word came as a dull reflex. A weak challenge from her soul to something Corina knew to be true in her spirit. This moment contained something from the Divine.
Adelaide’s soft footsteps echoed down the stairwell as Corina sank through the light of the Tiffany lamp onto the chaise lounge, money still in hand. She was confused but oddly at peace.
While this place made no sense, Corina knew she was supposed to be here. Not by her intellect but by her heart. Otherwise, she’d be out of here in a Georgia Bull Dog minute.
After a few minutes, she collected herself and walked to the window, filling her lungs again with the peace that surpassed her understanding.
Cathedral City sprawled before her view. Breathtaking.
Ever since she came out of the fog of death in January, God seemed to be whispering to her. In small ways. Large ways. Through everyone from Gigi to Ida Mae to Melissa and Mama, Daddy, and Daisy. Stephen. And now perhaps this odd pair of Adelaide and Brill.
Unless they were actually actors posing as Old World innkeepers to publicize the film. Corina glanced toward the door, listening, expecting to hear the sound of other guests arriving.
But her room remained quiet except for the timbre of her own heartbeat.
She just had to make sense of it all. She had to conquer her doubts about Stephen, be willing to risk her heart in God’s hands. Would he come through?
God owed her nothing. In fact, he’d already given her a gift beyond measure when she neither deserved it or knew enough to ask for it.
But oh, this “love well” adventure was scary. Downright frightening.
What if this journey meant gaining nothing for herself but losing everything to God? To Stephen? What if the journey meant she returned home empty-handed yet all the more Christlike. She shivered, the idea plucking at her sense of self-propriety and preservation.
She’d known all along this Brighton trip wasn’t about movie premiers or celebrity interviews but about “loving well.” About the motions of a prayer she’d prayed on a cold, hard chapel floor when she felt obliterated and empty.
TWELVE
Friday afternoon Stephen waited backstage at the Madeline & Hyacinth Live! show for his cue, hot and sticky in his starched white shirt and dark blue Armani jacket.
The makeup artist hovered, patting the shine from his brow. “You’ll cool off on the set. It’s freezing out there.”
A few feet from him, tucked in the folds of the stage curtain, Thomas scanned the crowd, talking to his team of three through the com tucked into his sleeve.
Stephen angled around the hulking bodyguard to see the bleachers. The audience of mostly women seemed harmless enough. He had insisted Thomas’s security measures were overkill, but the man stuck to protocol without wavering.
Stephen clapped him on the shoulder. Thomas glanced back with a nod. He should be grateful for the man’s vigilance. It was Stephen’s lack thereof that got men killed. His trust of another man with hidden vicious intentions.
He scanned the audience once again. But not for intruders, but for . . . who?
Corina? The look-alike Corina?
How did they dare push against him? He should’ve never gone to Florida.
“All secure, sir,” Thomas said, low, in Stephen’s ear. “Outside security is still sweeping the car park, but in-house we’re all clear.”
“Thank you. But I don’t think the King’s Office would’ve cleared this appearance if they weren’t confident of security.”
Thomas made a face. “You know my rule. Never underestimate dinosaur terrorism.”
Stephen laughed. “Isn’t that a ‘blast from the past.’ I’ve not heard you mention that term in a good while.”
“I thought it time to remind you. Never relax your vigilance. An attack can happen anywhere, anytime, at any given moment, unearthed by the anger, passion, opportunity of mere men. Ignored by naive governments. We trick ourselves into believing it all might have gone the way of dinosaurs until it rears its ugly head. It’s the tyrannosaurus rex of our day. Didn’t you see Jurassic Park?”
“So what are you in this scenario? The velociraptor?”
“If you like.” Thomas grinned. “I rather fancy that image.”
Stephen shook his head, smirking, checking his watch. He was due on any second. However, Madeline and Hyacinth were cooking up a meal on stage with animated chef Connie Spangler.
The stage manager flashed “five minutes.”
Still too warm, Stephen slipped off his jacket, draped it over the back of a stool, and took a seat.
Public appearances. He’d kept them limited since Afghanistan. Though lately he’d carried out his share of royal obligations.
However, a few years ago when the Brighton Eagles asked Stephen to do a publicity junket—as their most renowned player—the Crown declined. Too risky. Too public.