The Haunting of Twisted Oaks Inn (#5)

[Adelina]

Morning broke to the gentle sounds of birds chirping happily in the rustling trees. There was no bright sun today, only a few scattered rays peeking through a blanket of gray clouds. Ivy looked skyward from her perch on her patio. Today would be a day to stay inside. That was fine; her garden could use a good dose of rain. For now, she had other things to think about. Breakfast time was imminent, and she needed to get cracking. After a quick shower and dress, Ivy busied herself in her kitchen, rounding up fruit from the fridge and thawing breads from the freezer.

In a short time, Ivy had a tray of warm baked goodies arranged on the side table in the great room upstairs. Coffee was brewing; juices were set out in glass pitchers; a large basket of fresh fruit sat invitingly at the end of the table. Good, good. All was in order.

One by one, two by two, her guests came downstairs. Ivy greeted them all with her usual smile, stopping to chat here and there with various folks as they sipped tea or nibbled on her homemade zucchini bread. Although she hid it well, she wasn’t quite as attentive to the talk as she usually was. She was waiting for one more guest to come down those stairs, and he wasn’t here yet.

Eventually, Ivy gave up waiting and went into her small office at the front of the house, where several days’ worth of assorted mail and forms sprawled over her desk, waiting for her attention. She sat down and began to work, chipping away at the array of papers as time went along its merry way.

“Pardon me, miss…”

Ivy jumped in her desk chair, startled by the voice. She looked toward her office doorway to see Hurley framed inside it.

Composing herself in an instant, Ivy cleared her throat and pasted on her business face. “Yes, of course. Sorry. I got rather caught up in my paperwork here.” She looked at the pendulum clock hanging on her office wall. Two hours had passed. No wonder she felt sluggish.

She thought she saw Hurley cast a glance at the sloppy piles of paper covering her desk. Was that a hint of a grin? She couldn’t quite tell. She could see that he looked well-rested though, and gave herself a mental pat on the back for being such a good little innkeeper.

“What can I help you with today?” Ivy asked with a polite smile.

“Need a coffee mug.”

“Oh. They’ve all been used up, eh? Well, that’s easy enough to fix.” The young man stepped aside as Ivy exited her office and went to the sideboard where the mugs were kept, producing one and handing it over to Hurley.
Ivy stood to the side as he wordlessly got filled his mug from the carafe, added some hazelnut creamer, and took a sip. “Good coffee.”

“Thanks.”

Both fell silent as Hurley sipped away at his steaming cup. Ivy puttered around the room, looking for things to straighten or polish, but she kept looking back at the young man. She felt a sort of kinship with him. She knew was it was like to love and lose.

This is silly, she thought. Just say something.

“Would you like to talk?”

Hurley turned toward her with a look of mild surprise. “Huh?”

“Hurley—that’s your name, right?” He nodded. “Um… I know this is forward of me, and really very unlike me, but… well, you mentioned you’d broken up with your girlfriend.”

Hurley shook his head slightly. “She kicked me out.”

“Oh.” That was a little disconcerting, but Ivy continued anyway. No point in backing out now.

“Anyway… I was engaged, and it fell apart, and… I know where you’re coming from. I’ve been there myself. So, you know, if you want to talk…”

Ivy watched as he studied the contents of his coffee mug, as if the answer lay in the swirls of cream. Finally, he gave a nod. “Sure.” Ivy motioned toward the sitting area, where a cluster of plush chairs waited with open arms. When both were comfortably seated, she decided to break the ice before another long silence had a chance to descend.

“What happened?” she asked simply.

Hurley’s brow furrowed. He held his cup in both hands, seeming to focus his gaze on it. “It’s kind of strange. But I guess you’ve seen it all, right? With all the people coming in and out of here…”

Ivy thought about her meeting with the paddling ghost and smiled. “I’ve seen things. Try me.”

Hurley breathed deeply and paused before answering. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Well, let’s see. How long were you with this person?”

Another pause came before he answered, “About a year.”

“That’s a long time.”

Hurley nodded heavily and took a long drink from his cup. “She was starting to get that weird look, you know, whenever we walked by a jewelry store, with the rings in the windows.”

“So, it was going well?”

“Yeah, it was great.”

Ivy allowed some wait time before pressing further. “But…?”

“This is where it gets strange. But don’t worry, I’m not crazy or anything.”

Ivy nodded gravely, drawing her legs up so that she was curled in her chair.

Another sigh. Another pause.

“You know how you’re supposed to be honest about everything, right? Hopes, fears, desires, all that stuff they talk about. So, I thought, if we’re going to be serious about this, she should know what I’m about.”

A fluttery feeling stirred somewhere within Ivy’s belly. This was getting interesting. “Go on. Please.”

Hurley coughed and went on, “I have this fetish… oh, nothing crazy,” he noted, seeing Ivy’s eyebrows rise on her forehead, “not like whips and chains or anything. Just spanking.”

OH.

The flutter in Ivy’s belly suddenly tightened into a giant knot. It was if his words had socked her in the gut. Not words, no. Just one word, really. She could feel her eyes grow wide, but did her best to keep her expression calm. “I guess she didn’t like that?”

“No.”

Hurley fell quiet again, twirling his now-empty cup through his fingers. After his longest pause yet, Hurley said, “She thought I was some kind of sadist or sick freak or something. I tried to explain, but she wouldn’t hear any of it. The look on her face was awful. She looked totally disgusted.”

Her loss, Ivy thought. “So… just like that? It’s over?”

“Yes.”

It was Ivy’s turn to look pensive now, turning Hurley’s words over inside her head. She could feel a flush creeping up her neck as she pondered his story, and when he looked up at her, she could tell that he saw it. His dark eyes focused on hers. “You don’t look disgusted.”

She certainly didn’t feel disgusted. She felt… what? She didn’t even know. Her thoughts were spinning in a mental vortex, flying past her experience with that spanking ghost, her own failed engagement, and, most notably, the broad shoulders that stretched Hurley’s shirt, just so. Funny, she hadn’t noticed that before.

Struck by a flash of inspiration, Ivy leapt up from her chair as Hurley blinked in surprise.

“Come with me, Hurley. I want to show you something.”

[sarah thorne]

Yeah I'll bet she has something to show him!