13 Chapter 12

“Thank you for seeing me again,” Elizabeth waved at Hailey lightly and led her towards the backyard porch, a spot which she had begun to savour over the past few days at the inn.

Vivian and Davis were out on their date night, the girls with Nolan on a not-so-secret fishing trip, hence Elizabeth decided it was the perfect time to call out Hailey for more questions on Harrison and Hope. She did not have it in her to give this letter not knowing what they were to each other. It was like when she read her novels, she never felt a part of the story until she could connect with the characters on a molecular level- which Maya had constantly told her was not how the real world worked, but Elizabeth could never let go of the habit, when it was a yearning she had to fulfil.

“Vivian actually left you here all by yourself?” Hailey asked amazed.

“Yes, it’s only one night, I can handle myself,” Elizabeth said laughing.

“Oh, I trust you can, it’s that Viv never leaves the BnB. She was physically chained to it.”

“I wasn’t aware,” Elizabeth said, “you mean she’s never left the BnB, ever?”

“Well yes, apart from the grocery runs, she had not stepped out into a bar or a night out with Davis in a while. This has to be the first time in a long time that Viv’s tried date night,” Hailey chuckled.

“A little encouragement was all she needed,” said Elizabeth shrugged and held out a bottle of miniature iced tea which Vivian had left for her by the back-porch loungers.

That could not be it, thought Hailey. The new girl got Vivian to go out on a date night after months of tying herself to the BnB. No one could even change Vivian’s heart about the innocent book club at the Cornwalls’ bookstore, but Elizabeth did. The undeniable doubt Hailey had about the letter in the hands of a stranger, slowly dispersed at the discovery of Elizabeth Hartley’s ability to separate the girls and the BnB from Vivian. Elizabeth had casually performed the one thing Hailey, being Vivian’s closest friend had always tried but failed to do and for her that accomplishment was accounted for something.

“What is it you want to know about Harrison and Hope?” Hailey asked feeling confident about her decision.

Elizabeth sipped her tea and looked at Hailey with deep inspection.

“Before we wade into that, tell me why you’re so intent on giving Harrison this letter?”

Hailey smiled at Elizabeth quizzically.

“Well it’s obvious that I want to help him recov—

“-recover yes, I do remember. But, that’s not just it, is it?”

Hailey looked at Elizabeth’s inquisitive eyes in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Hailey asked. Elizabeth leaned forward in her lounger,

“The whole town knows Harrison’s dilemma, though not it’s cause, nor the letter. You are not just doing this for Harrison, but the whole town. Why?”

Hailey opened her mouth and hesitated. Elizabeth could tell she was too confused about her own motives. She pursed her lips and nodded, vexed, seeing it was pointless hiding anymore

“Harrison, wasn’t just a Chelseaville townsfolk,” Hailey smiled wistfully shaking her head, “he was a paragon, but as all heroes went he never saw it. After Jasper was born he worked by Mayor Ortiz apart from the ranch and once he drove up with the sheriffs at the news of a little girl stuck between two ridges near the river. Nobody asked his for help, but he volunteered as if he was required to perform the rescue mission and he saved the girl. During his younger years he once surveyed the entire town when the cattle disease broke out, to provide protection to all farmers and ranchers, including his rival, the Mayfields. He never flaunted his ability or willingness to help. In short if the opportunity arose, the town knew he would be there, and he always did. Then arrived Hope from Portland after her father’s business hit rock bottom, her hometown which she was kept away from her for years. She arrived and made things better like a diamond among the rouge. The man who once carried the town on his shoulders in many ways, suddenly carried a light for the town too, a very visible one,” Hailey paused and shifted her gaze from the river ahead her, “and for himself.”

“Himself?”

“Harrison lost his parents young,” Hailey continued, “at least his heart was too young and ever since he was desolate and broken with rage and confusion at being left with a massive ranch all to himself and no one to turn to. He thought it was an eternal part of him, the darkness he bred within him, but then Hope swept in and well,” Hailey laughed softly as if to herself, “gave him Hope.”

“Just like that?” Elizabeth was now enraptured.

“It does not take much to have a change of heart,” Hailey said, her eyes softening at the glint of the pebble stone river, “I’ve observed and spent time with Harrison for the past couple of years, and there’s not a lot of things that make him stir, so it wasn’t hard to spot how he stirred at the memory of a certain woman.”

It was written all over Hailey’s face and it was then Elizabeth realised this was not just a letter she could drop off, when too much hung on the line.

“You want to revive the old Harrison back to the town.” She stated.

“Just Harrison,” Hailey’s face fell, “he may have changed in the eyes of the others, but I know he’s the same Harrison Crawford, dying to get back.”

“For lost love he sure gave up a lot,” Elizabeth murmured as words from the letter spun in her head alive as if Hailey’s story had given it life in her head. “Did the town hate him for leaving everything and everyone behind?”

“Oh, they could never, he was too loved and appraised for,” she said, “instead the town pitied him, which wasn’t a better option.”

Amidst the forlorn love lost between a pair of star crossed lovers, Elizabeth couldn’t help feel the isolation and guilt Jasper had felt every day he grew up to understand that his father had lost his chance with the only woman he had loved enough to lose himself, one whom he had never met and was clearly not his own mother.

“Did Jasper ever hate Harrison for falling back to memories of another woman, that wasn’t his mother?”

The night sky crawled in unaware to the women by the river. When a wayward cricket landed on her face only did Elizabeth discern the darkness and the sounds of water sloshing against rocks, which were the only thing that proved of the river’s existence.

“Jasper,” Hailey began, and Closed her eyes lightly as if she were about to tumble into heavy waters, “I would be lyin’ if I said he remained a saint. There were times when he avoided trips home back from school, to surpass the awkwardness at home after he discovered old letters his father had in his shed- which were forgotten of course and were literal junk mail, Harrison was anything but unfaithful. Jasper was young and furious. But he brought himself to become apathetic when he realised that Hope was not just a girl from the past, she was something more…permanent.”

Elizabeth could not bring herself to words, at the uncomprehending way she took the letter light to her heart. She began to see why Hailey was so intent on Jasper being uninformed about their actions as there were daggers waiting to drop over more than one heart if things took a grave turn.

A part of her should be mad at Hailey for selfishly passing her over the ticking time bomb, but she knew Hailey wanted things back to normal as much as she herself had begun to care for.

“Sometimes I’m amazed by how much Jasper’s willing to suppress for me,” Hailey laughed sadly.

“Lovers, friends, family- we’ve all got secrets we can’t put words to.” Elizabeth stared at the slight shimmer of the river lit by a waning moon, that had exposed himself to the wanderers below.

“Look I know it wasn’t right of me to dump this letter on you and I know this news only made it harder—” Hailey said a sharp confident tone reigning her voice.

“Hailey, you did nothing wrong, you love Jasper and you don’t want to hurt him even if it is for the best,” Elizabeth said, “ but I’m a stranger on vacation, I’ve haven’t got any strings to cut, so you did the smartest thing a woman could do for the people she love.” Even though Elizabeth meant to comfort Hailey, her own voice wavered.

Hailey shook her head,

“I’m gonna have to break it to you that you can’t stay in a small town and not have at least one string about you,” she said smiling guiltily.

“If that’s the case I assure you that string would be tight as hell,” Elizabeth laughed and was relieved to see Hailey dissolving back into her lounger only to sit back up,

“I’m sorry but ever since you arrived all we’ve done was mourn about love lost, so leaving aside the misery for later, tell me, is the big city still bright and ecstatic?”

“still?” Elizabeth asked frowning.

“I wasn’t always from Chelseaville you know, was born a Brooklynite.”

“I knew there was something about you that felt familiar- it was your outfit, I may not be a fan of the city, but I know my street styles. But the accent?” Elizabeth said after she had picked up faint traces of a drawl in Hailey’s speech.

“Oh, the accent,” she laughed, “once you pick it up, it flows in you like an incurable disease!”

Hailey truly looked like she belonged here, thought Elizabeth.

“It’s been six amazing years and every morning is like the first I ever saw,” Hailey said dreamily. The similar vibrational frequency of a New Yorker was evident but there was something else, a pearly zest lacing her, which Elizabeth had noticed in most of the folks in Chelseaville.

“What made you move here?”

“It’s the little things Liz,” Hailey sighed, “always the little things.”

Elizabeth leaned back against the lounger and stared at the thick black sky where a few stars blinked at her.

“What is it that pulled you here apart from the letter or the need for a vacation, which I think is bullshit, because no one comes here for holidays.” Hailey said.

She let the question simmer in her mind, but it was of no use, she still could not find any answers as it was the one thing she could not put to words.

“I don’t really know” she shrugged helplessly.

“You mean you just whisked yourself here in a whim?” Hailey’s eyes widened.

Elizabeth sighed a little frustrated, having to explain to everyone why or what led her here. But she knew the well-known expression from all over the world, another one right before her now, that she would never be able to ignore for long.

“Seems like it doesn’t it?” Elizabeth said effortlessly. Hailey caught the vacant look of desperation and solitary in Elizabeth’s face. She had seen that look in a lot of people before Chelseaville, maybe even in herself.

“As vague as that sounds, at least you came to the right place.” She said grinning.

“I’m going to have to ask what that meant?” Elizabeth turned to her quizzically.

“I don’t know what you’re going through and maybe things seem displaced and messy, but out of all the places in the world, you chose Chelseaville, this tiny hole of a town, to get away from it all and I damn well know that nothing is ever random.”

“What are you saying?” She sat up straight slowly.

“I’m just sayin’ that maybe this town chose you instead,” Hailey said meaning well.

Elizabeth looked at Hailey with arched brows like Maya used to look at her, whenever she talked out of the ordinary, which was all the time.

“The town chose me huh?” Elizabeth laughed dubiously, “now what makes you say that?”

Hailey shook her head as if she had given up and checked the time glowing on her phone. She tilted her head to a side and smiled amiably.

“One of those things where you can’t put words to,” she shrugged and stood up, “it’s almost time when Chelseaville streets turn empty and soulless.”

Elizabeth pulled herself out of her zone and led Hailey to the front porch. Hailey saw the puzzled and baffled creases on Elizabeth’s face.

“Hey, don’t wear yourself out on thoughts you can’t make out, just breathe in the town and you’ll see what you’re meant to. Night Liz.” Hailey squeezed her arm lightly and stepped down the porch into the street that was now lit up by the orange glow of the streetlamps. Even after Hailey had gone, Elizabeth stood still on the porch as the quietness of the night seeped into her. Her eyes spanned across the street that looked wide as always, only grander with the Victorian styled lamps adorning the sides along the maple trees. Billy’s chop shop was closed, and a mandatory fluorescent lamp stayed lit for the shop’s company. Everything was still that it made it look as if time had slowed down around her. Distracted, Elizabeth drew in a deep breath forgetting her usual fear of familiar smells, ranging from smoke to garbage, entering her system, but to her surprise she felt herself pleasantly inhaling light traces of maple mingled with the air around her. Amazed and content she wrapped her arms around herself, as the breeze tingled her skin through the flaky summer dress.

What am I doing in this haven of a town?

Elizabeth pondered, while her eyes concentrated at the orange glow which showered the empty streets.

*****

The stagnant endurance of the BnB stirred, as if interrupted from a deep lazy nap, every morning as it donned the setting of a musical when Elizabeth hummed her daily tunes to Gene Kelly and Billy Joel. Back home when Elizabeth sang in the shower Maya would scream back annoyed with Lady Gaga and Rihanna, but to Elizabeth’s wonder here at the Woods BnB there was no one to retaliate. She decided then and there that showers at Chelseaville was something she would treasure. Until one morning as Elizabeth was about to head out after her pleased and undisturbed performance in the shower, Nolan Woods, whom she had not seen still in one place since her first day at the inn, sat by the counter with a mug in his hand, with a neat smirk playing on his face as she walked into a kitchen of excitement where Davis was getting the girls ready while Vivian was busying herself with the breakfast preparations. She could tell from the smirk he had heard her, nice and clear.

“Eh the guest of the hour has graced us with her presence,” he had raised his mug much to Elizabeth’s annoyance, but she had remained calm, remembering his pact for all causes, “Viv you didn’t tell me we received an oldie for a guest who couldn’t make it back to the eighties,” he mentioned to Vivian, but his gaze remained on Elizabeth. She felt annoyance ticking over to anger at his snarky remark towards her music preferences and she ached to say that Gene Kelly belonged to the fifties, but she smiled tightly instead. While Vivian slapped Nolan’s arm with a sharp glare and Davis shook his head in disagreement with his usual timid smile, Elizabeth avoided Nolan’s gaze and headed out, but she still felt his irritating smirk follow her all the way out of the BnB.

And ever since that embarrassing day Elizabeth had decided to keep her tune light, which was why that particular morning as Elizabeth stepped out of the shower in her robe after a take of singing in the rain, she jerked to a halt in shock and surprise that she almost slipped on the wet floorboards at the sight of Sage sitting at the slightest edge of her bed with a shy awkward smile, which strongly resembled Davis’.

“Wh-hey…Sage,” Elizabeth said unsure. Identical twins were hard, but Sage’s shy smile and Savannah’s confident demeanour made the distinguishing easier. Elizabeth made to the bed in her oversized robe and sat next to the girl, to which she quickly jolted up as if she had been ordered.

“please sit, it’s alright,” Elizabeth said slowly, “it’s cool, the room gets lonely every now and then, so company is always welcome.”

“Hi uh okay,” Sage said and fumbled her hands together as if she was searching for something.

“You can say it Sage,” Elizabeth held the girl’s fumbling hands to which she did not retract.

“I think you sing real pretty,” Sage blurted. Elizabeth frowned swearing she was not louder this time, but she quickly wiped away the frown.

“It’s just aimless humming,” Elizabeth laughed, “but thank you.” Sage’s smile twitched to the corners and her hands relaxed to her sides.

“Can you maybe sing again?” She asked almost giggling, and Elizabeth saw the twinkle in her eyes as she spoke. She had never sung for anyone and she had to admit it was odd, but the way Sage gazed at her in anticipation, made it impossible to turn down even an amateur show for the girl.

“Alright, but let me look presentable,” Elizabeth stood up, “I don’t think your momma would approve me of serenading you in a bathrobe.” She scrunched her face and slipped into the bathroom hastily, while Sage muffled a giggle.

The instant Elizabeth walked in dressed, Sage insisted that she sang Billy Joel.

“Don’t you got taste Sage,” Elizabeth’s eyes raised appreciatively as she made a spot for Sage on her bed. Once she crossed herself on the spot, with eagerness, Elizabeth stood before at the foot of the bed. She never thought she would be singing to an eleven-year-old on one of her escapades, but she was already doing a whole lot than she would normally do, hence she shrugged away the thought.

She began to hum lightly, but as the words poured out into the room she forgot the BnB was not exactly empty in the mornings and her voice amped louder and higher as she lost herself in her own tune. Sage’s eyes twinkled as her heart warmed up to the lady before her slowly with every tone and pitch. At the chorus, Elizabeth pulled Sage off the bed and twirled her around the room, never realising she happened to have a way with kids.

*****

Apart from the little ecstasies Elizabeth bumped into, her mind was still burdened by the thought of figuring out a way to reach Harrison without pissing of Jasper, or the miraculous option of convincing Jasper. The latter was the safest, the right way, but she could not help feeling exasperated to her shame, that Jasper was being a dramatic gatekeeper. Walking helped surge answers, hence with the intention of forcing an answer out of her brain Elizabeth decided to visit the famed Crawford ranch.

The sun berating down her, made the walk seem like a daredevil trudge across lava as beads of sweat streaked from her temples and worst of all the god-awful sweat patches that were forming at an alarming rate. Vivian had suggested that Elizabeth take their truck at home, which she had politely refused, not because she felt she was imposing, but because she had not driven a vehicle since forever. The constant rides around the city in subways and taxis made her forget what it felt like to sit behind a wheel ever since her drivers ed. She had not wanted to look dumb and arrogant in front of Vivian when she had offered, but as of now she wished nothing more than her feet off the ground.

The ranch was situated at the far east corner of the town snuggling up close to lake Evershore, a couple of meters away from Pebble stone river. It was quite the enigma for Elizabeth how the river and the lake never connected even though they were crammed into this small town- so close and yet so far.

At the end of Oak street, Elizabeth found a large poster too keen on emphasis, hung against a florist’s store front on Barnfield Grove street, which was the street which branched out to the two main ranches of Chelseaville, at least had branched out according to Vivian who had told her that the Mayfield ranch withered away years ago and was turned into housing grounds, while the Crawford ranch remained.

Her eyes went up to the faded poster that screamed the words ‘CRAWFORD RANCH FOR SALE. HEAD THIS WAY!’ in red. She felt the desperation of the words. The arrow beneath the sign pointed towards a lane right beside the store. Elizabeth crossed over the street and paused in front of the lane, which looked narrow, unused, and decrepit as wild shrubs and flowers sprouted at the edges of the lane carelessly. It was too obvious that no one unsuspecting had ever walked into this pathway.

Taking a deep breath Elizabeth dived into the pathway. It felt lonely and eerie as the shrubs transformed into bowed creepers as they intertwined from opposite sides above her head, but the discovery of perfectly paved pathway grounds with foot strides made her sigh in relief that she was not the first ever to tread these grounds. A few strides later through the overgrown path, Elizabeth appeared out of the other side onto a laid out patch of dusty grounds, that beheld a pasture beyond a long strip of white fence, which stretched for a good few acres until it stopped near the thin strip of woods. Elizabeth felt her eyes widening in disbelief and amazement. A low gasp escaped her at the sight. It was a vast desolate beauty.

As she reached the fence, that was broken and degraded with disregard she stared at the marooned barn where a cattle shed was attached to it, which looked shabby and uninhabited. The faded greenery of the pasture blended into the light browns of the shed and barn, distorting a once forgotten paradise into a part of town which was buried and irrecoverable. The only thing alive was the breeze that brushed the wild moor grass which had shot up in patches across the pasture. As she walked against the fence in a haze while the gravelly grounds crunched soundly under her thick heeled Doc Martens, she spotted a rusted steel pole stuck to the ground visible from the fence, with a board nailed to it saying:

CRAWFORD RANCH: FOR SALE 10 ACRES

213-609-0818 – Mr. Crawford

Elizabeth’s bows knotted together in pity and anger. This ranch was theirs, not just his, it was Hope’s too. She remembered Hope’s words and now she felt her anguish and pity through her bitter predictions:

“…. ah the ranch. I’m not stupid to believe that the ranch is green and alive, in fact if I’m right it should be a barren land as of now…”

Elizabeth thought it was not fair that Harrison could just give up all of this and as she did she allowed her angrier side reside in her, and she let the frustration gush out as the actions began to make sense. Harrison thought he could forget or cut out the thought of her by abandoning the ranch, gradually forgetting that he was cutting out a part of the town too, and it just wasn’t fair to let it all go for lost love. Startled by her own affection for the town, Elizabeth paused, it had only been five days, almost a week.

“Are you lost?” Inquired a voice behind her and Elizabeth jumped to her feet in alarm as chills rushed.

“What?!” She turned around in a swing breathing heavily, eyes wide which turned wider as she saw Nolan with his arched brows. Nice going Elizabeth, you have made another normal second impression. “Oh, it-it’s you.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to jump on you” he apologised much to Elizabeth’s surprise. He cocked a brow at her inquisitively, “are you lost?”

“No…well not yet anyways,” she said, avoiding his eyes.

“Alright then what’s keepin’ you here?”

Elizabeth looked back at him, the disaster stubble which was not still taken care of ticked her as she wondered if he ever will.

“Am I trespassing? Or do you always feel the need to interrogate your guests?” Elizabeth asked politely.

He smiled crookedly and nodded while raking a hand though his messy brown hair, that fell on his forehead stubbornly.

“If you are not here to buy that, then yes and do I love interrogating my guests? Hell yes,” he grinned. She was about to point out that she had not said ‘love’, but she steadied herself and stayed put.

“I’m not here to buy, I’m just trying to…fill holes about Harrison Crawford,” she said turning back to the ranch. Nolan walked up to the fence and leaned against it.

“So, you’re the girl who flew miles for a letter then?” He asked unamused. Elizabeth saw him squinting his eyes at the horizon of the ranch, where the sun was setting.

“This is she,” she smiled to herself sheepishly, finding herself unable to retaliate back at his vain tone.

“Do you always run across the state for letters?” He asked, blue eyes focused on the horizon, but he was not mocking her.

“Run across states? Always,” she said a smile curling up sadly followed by a wave of shame creeping up her as home and its constituents formed in her mind, “for a letter though? Now that’s a first.”

Nolan shifted his gaze to her and for a second Elizabeth thought he saw the shame across her face.

“What’s the place that took you off your feet?” He asked nonchalantly as if someone asked her what her favourite ice cream flavor was. It was her turn to gaze into the horizon, for that was when memories seeped, when you gazed into nothingness.

“Porto Cesareo,” Elizabeth smiled nostalgically at the sharp memories of the isolated port in Italy, which was a last-minute stop on her Europe escapade. “Sandy turquoise beaches, a sunshine which dances on your body, and fish. A lot of fish,” laughed Elizabeth to herself as she felt the memories flooding in “and the nights were the most magical, where the streets bubbled with townsfolk as they passed age old wine around and strummed guitars under fuelled lamps as couples, children and travellers danced on the streets, just out in the open, without a care in the world. It felt out of this world. Come mornings and the sun rose over…” Elizabeth reminisced on in a poetic tone oblivious about the stranger who remained all ears as if spell bound.

“…Oahu Hawaii- that was the last stop, before I crash landed here.” Elizabeth’s voice had risen in excitement during her tale, but now she paused as if a candle had dimmed out abruptly. It was then did she realise how quiet it had been, and Nolan was beside her just as he was when she had started. She felt herself heating up, hoping she had not sounded boastful, and when she turned to him awkwardly, she caught a ghost of a smile while he was shaking his head.

“I rambled I’m so—

“Jeez stop,” he raised his hand and Elizabeth felt her chest tighten, for what reason she wasn’t aware of, “you’ve walked the earth than I ever could, if you don’t ramble how would people know?” He stated as a matter of fact. Elizabeth could not tell if this was what he always was, rude when he preferred it and nice when he had no choice but to be.

“But a letter tossed you into this hacky old town,” he said dubiously, “what is it with this letter?”

She was instead too keen on figuring out why Chelseaville was ‘hacky’ for him, but she thought otherwise and let it pass over.

“I thought this town had a fairly strong gossip streak,” she smiled at the evening clouding over the barn.

“Ah yes that she does, but I’m gonna need more than just reuniting two lovers,” he paused in confusion, “or one lover?”

“There’s not much to say really,” she lied.

“Alright,” he said resting his elbows on the fence and turning his whole body towards her, “tell me why you are so hell bent on givin’ this letter to Harrison.”

She knew he was doing his part as the interrogative inn keeper, and the nicest she could be was cooperative, but she could not help being exasperated and appalled by the way he looked at her, too keenly. He would expect a short-clipped reply from her, Elizabeth thought, and she decided to not give him what he expected.

“There’s an incommunicable need to do so. It may be a twenty-four-year-old letter, but the words are too alive, I feel it.” She paused for effect and felt his curious unamused gaze on her, “um, it could help Harrison, I hear he’s not the best as of now.”

“A miracle letter.” He smirked and nodded impressed.

“You don’t think it’s possible?” She asked noticing his long-lasting smirk.

“Believin’ the impossible only breaks hearts,” he pushed himself off the fence and stood beside her, “but hey we’d all love an occasional miracle.” He smiled goofily, “good luck with the letter.” He winked at her and headed away from the lane behind them towards the stretch of woods which lined the ranch.

“Nolan?” Elizabeth called after to which he swung around casually, “the pathways that way,” she pointed to the lane behind her.

“There’s a secret hide away path leadin’ to the lake, I take it every day.” He said nodding towards the woods.

“You take a secret pathway to the lake every day?” Elizabeth asked eyes wide, “do I need to hold my thumb over an emergency call button around you?”

“Okay lady, if I was a bloody serial killer, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now would we?” He said narrowing his eyes with a cheeky grin making his eyes blue eyes crinkle.

Elizabeth felt a wave of irritation flow through her.

“What do you do at the lake then?” She asked defensively.

“I give tours of the lake,” he said plainly.

“You give tours?” Elizabeth couldn’t help sounding rudely amused that this man who was possibly arrogant and a horrible tease, but rarely nice in the most unexpected ways, could be anything but hospitable.

“Come on now, I’m sure I’ll be able to impress you.” He said and Elizabeth waited for the smirk, but nothing, he remained expectantly with an honest expression. She sensed her face heating, and she thanked the purple flushed evening skies for dimming her mien.

“You-you weren’t teasing,” she murmured to herself, “do uh do you always try to impress everyone um with your lake tours?” She asked quickly, desperate to fill the awkward silence she had created. He smiled at her passively.

“Why don’t you visit the dock sometime and I’ll show you?” He asked with less simpering and more earnestly.

“I don’t know if I want to be on the same boat as a man who doesn’t believe in miracles,” she sighed dramatically to his amazement, “so don’t get your hopes up.” Elizabeth winked at him and turned away to walk towards the path.

Nolan stood, watching her leave, a lighthearted laugh echoing within him.

“Hey!” He called after, and the moment she swivelled around, he shrugged, “then make me believe in one.”

She could not say if he was teasing or testing her and the lackadaisical shrug which followed after did not help either.

“What?” She asked, not knowing what to say.

He walked a few inches up to her.

“You’re so tenacious on making miracles,” he said, “so make me believe in one.”

It was the way he sounded so cock sure, even of her own intentions that made her exasperated, but she could not prevent the corners of her mouth stretching. She quickly pursed her lips together at the realisation.

“This town could surely use a miracle,” he said looking around pitifully.

“Why does everyone say that this town could use a little of this and a more of that?,” Elizabeth asked noticing a stark difference in Nolan as he had said that, “what is the town really missing?” She asked slowly.

Nolan shook his head as if hauling himself out of a hazy trance and raked his fingers through his hair all the way to the nape of his neck and rested his hand there, wearily.

“This town’s missin’ a lot of stuff,” he sucked in his breath, “a whole lot of stuff.” Elizabeth knew it was almost sundown, but she could see at that instant his sparky eyes darkened for a split second. She wondered if he had meant his parents, but he said nothing more.

“A miracle is at the top of the list?” She asked her eyes searching his.

“Oh, I reckon a miracle’s at the top,” he laughed affirmatively.

“Well I can’t do miracles,” Elizabeth said helplessly, “I’ve never been one to perform any, quite the opposite if you ask me.”

Nolan looked at her as if in inspection and puckered his lips as if in deep thought.

“Why don’t I believe that?”

“What?” She asked as if dazed out of a trance.

“Miss Hartley let me tell you somethin’,” he smiled and turned towards the ranch. Elizabeth shrank, she had eliminated the rest of the habitants at the inn from addressing her as if she were the high queen of England except for him, who stubbornly had not deferred from the term,

“you don’t just visit Chelseaville from miles away for a vacation. This town’s an opportunity seeker, she does not take her visitors for granted.”

Well there is something you’ve got in common with the town, Elizabeth thought stubbornly, but her ears were intent. It was not normal for her to witness a town so engulfed with its own people, no one was ever on their own, and every personal problem was felt by the town as if ‘she’, had her own soul. Elizabeth smiled in realisation at the strength of the town spirit.

The way Nolan spoke of Chelseaville as if it were a cosmic life source of theirs made her think of her own home. But there was none for her there and the feeling gnawed the pit of her stomach disturbingly.

“You alright?” He asked noticing the veins throbbing in her temples.

“Yes,” she looked up at him. She realised now that she was going to have to look up at his tall lean demeanor hovering over her. “I’m fine.”

“The miracle’s still on, but I’ll take you to the dock anyways.’ He said, sounding more of a hospitable inn keeper than a testy interrogator. Elizabeth nodded her head in return.

When he had gone did she grasp that he had not asked her to the dock and yet she had agreed.