For the Love of His Life (4 page)

“Let’s get something straight right now,
young
man! This is
my
place you are staying at, and only with my permission, and only because I have a soft spot in my heart for my grandson Jared. But that soft spot only goes so far. He asked us to keep an eye on you so you don’t kill yourself before he can direct you in his next movie. But after meeting you, I can’t figure out what he sees in you. Personally I don’t care if you have a death wish and want to drink and drug yourself to an early death, as long as you don’t take anyone else with you.”

She stopped to take a deep breath.

“And that’s another thing,
Rall
. My father was a Canadian Mountie and I was raised to follow the laws of the land. If I even suspect you have brought anything illegal, like drugs, onto my property, I’ll have you escorted out the door and leave you with your suitcase out on the highway. It’s a long walk, about twenty miles, to get to Grand Marais. But don’t worry—by the time you’ve walked a few miles, the police will get there to give you a ride the rest of the way. Only problem is, if you think the service around here is slow, wait’ll you get some of their hospitality in the local jail. They’ll be glad to make you feel as welcome as any other drug addict they pick up.”

Raul began to defend himself, “I don’t have any drugs here…what little I could find in town I did there, in the can…”

Marie pointed a finger into his face. “Are you sure? You’ve been so messed up when Jake drives you back home after closing time, I don’t think you can even remember your own name. You’d better be sure, because if you
do
bring drugs onto my property I
will
have you arrested.” Suddenly Marie smiled. “Ronnie? Why don’t you go get our guest some of my soup, then he can have a piece of your sour cherry pie. He looks like he hasn’t eaten in a while. I’ll bet his disposition and manners will improve once he gets something in his stomach.”

While Veronica was getting the soup, Marie poured herself a cup from the fresh pot of coffee and refilled Raul’s cup. She pulled out a chair and sat across from him at the small table to speak in a more companionable fashion.

“And I did want to talk to you about your keeping Jake up all night.”

“But Jared told me he would drive me around any time…”

Raul hadn’t realized just how hungry he was until the homemade soup was put in front of him. The smell that close to his nose made him ravenous. The hunk of fresh, warm bread next to it was too much for him to take.

“Do you mind?” he asked politely, gesturing towards the food.

Marie smiled as Veronica busied herself slicing the pie and putting a piece onto a plate.

“Of course not! There’s nothing I like more than watching someone enjoy my cooking! I made the bread this morning and the soup’s been cooking for hours. Let me know how you like it.”

Raul was already chewing on some bread with the soup on its way into his mouth.

While he ate, Marie drank her coffee and Veronica settled down onto a nearby chair with a Penzeys Spices order sheet and catalogue on the table in front of her. She began to comment on the items she might want to buy for the kitchen, which got Marie talking to her, allowing Raul to eat without a rapt audience.

He was surprised at how much he was enjoying the soup, beef with tomatoes and vegetables, and crusty French bread. He was about to ask for more soup when Veronica slid a piece of sour cherry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in front of him, then poured him more coffee.

He smiled briefly at her, then attacked the pie with relish. When he was done, he pushed himself back from the table and smiled contentedly before commenting, “Now I’ll have to run ten miles to work off all of that food! But it was worth it! I don’t know what I enjoyed more, but it was all delicious!”

Veronica smiled. “I could take you out back and give you a tour of the resort grounds. We have some really beautiful scenery back there. You could map yourself out a ten mile run easily…”

“Not yet, Rall,” Marie said sternly.

“Ra-ul,” he corrected.

“Uh-huh,” she continued, “Jake may have graduated from school, but he has other things to do besides carting your ungrateful ass out to bars and back at all hours of the night. Jared said he was to drive you around, but you don’t need to spend the entire day in town, as well as the nights. We need to make some rules for you, since you don’t seem to be able to make them for yourself.”

Raul was about to object but a stern look from Marie made him think better of it and he kept his mouth closed to listen.

“So I’m thinking you need to give Jake his days to himself and let him eat some dinner. His mom will be really upset if you keep getting him to come up here so early he ends up eating McFood every night. How about we set a time of, say, eight o’clock, before he has to be here to drive you into town?”

Raul couldn’t believe he had to argue about this with the tiny, white-haired woman, but something about her attitude made him argue politely.

“How about seven? That’s about the time I usually head out for the night.”

Marie shook her head.

“Now see, son, that’s one thing you need to get control over. I know an extra hour, one way or the other, isn’t going to have that much effect on your drinking. But if you start later, that is one extra hour your liver has to recover before you assault it again. So I’ll call Jake and let him know he’s to be here by eight every night, unless you tell him to come later or not at all on a particular night. How’s that?”

“How are you gonna call him when there’s no damn phone signal up here?” He realized he had sworn in front of an elder when Marie’s eyes narrowed. She fixed him with a stare that made him squirm.

“We don’t need a phone signal when we have a land line, honey. And we do have Wi-Fi here. Jake spends lots of time on-line every day, between his Facebooking and his game-playing with friends. So there are ways to get in touch with him if you need to.”

Realizing he was not going to win this battle with his formidable opponent, he nodded morosely.

Veronica said, brightly, “So what about that tour? Are you ready to walk off your meal? Or did it exhaust you so much, sitting here and arguing with Gram-Marie, that you need a nap now so you’ll be up for your evening plans?”

Raul looked at the tall blonde speculatively and smiled gradually.

“Oh, I think I can handle a stroll around the yard. Lead on, sweetie.”

He was rewarded with a snort from the old woman, and a glare from the Nordic princess who had just returned from putting his dirty dishes into the kitchen.

“My name is Veronica. My friends call me Ronnie…but
you
can call me Veronica.”

Good! I’ll know what name to yell out while I ride your ass!

Aloud, he said, “Fine, Veronica. Lead the way.”

Chapter Four

Raul looked around with surprise when they walked out the same door he’d walked in through a short time ago. Then he had been oblivious to anything other than his own bodily discomfort and his anger at the world for his predicament. Now he had a full belly and a pot of coffee in him, he was impressed at the beauty of the natural surroundings he hadn’t noticed before.

“That is one beautiful lake,” he said as he tried to keep up with the blonde with those long legs she seemed to enjoy stretching. He hadn’t been doing his usual exercise routine lately, figuring there would be time enough to get himself into great shape before the movie actually started filming. So he was huffing and puffing as he raced to keep up with the woman who rounded a small building that held canoes and other stuff he didn’t recognize.

She stopped and leaned back against the wall to point at the lake.

“See how pretty the sun looks when it bounces off the—hey! What are you doing?”

Raul had caught up to her then done what he always did…tried to kiss the pretty girl. Only this pretty girl turned her head and moved, so he ended up hitting his face on the wall. He looked at her, aggrieved.

“I was trying to kiss you. What else?”

“Why?”

He was taken aback. “Uh, because you’re pretty? And because I figured that’s why you invited me out here away from that nagging old bag…”

Veronica’s hand shot out and slapped him across the face.

“What was that for?” He rubbed the sore spot that proved it wasn’t just her legs that were in good shape.

She advanced on him, her eyes narrowed, “Don’t you
ever
call my grandmother an
old bag
again! Don’t you even think it! You are a conceited pompous jerk with an ego the size of an elephant! Though I can’t for the life of me see what you are so proud of…a string of lousy movies that consisted of you taking off your shirt early and often? Dialogue that sounded like it was written by a love-struck twelve-year-old? I have no idea what Jared sees in you, but whatever it is, it must be buried pretty deep!”

He retaliated. “Until you got all high and mighty, I was willing to overlook the fact that you look like you eat more of your own pie than you should, and you people up here obviously have no idea there might be any benefit to using makeup. I was willing to lower my standards to throw you a bone…my bone to be exact. Who knows if you’ll ever get another chance to take a famous movie star into your bed? But if you’re going to be all nasty and stuff, then forget it.”

Veronica giggled, which grew to guffawing and continued until there were tears in her eyes. He stared at her, his anger beginning to fade as her infectious laughter made him smile.

“What’s so funny?” He demanded when she stopped for a breath.

“You! You actually thought I wanted you to kiss me? You really thought I was so hard up to get laid I’d even consider a spoiled, out-of-shape, drunken drug-addict like you?”

He stopped smiling.

“You’ve probably got more venereal diseases than I can even name! You’ve been linked to every female you’ve ever made a movie with! I think you should just be honest about things and make porn. Since the money’s better where you are, you’re smart to ride the gravy train while you still have your good looks. Lord only knows that won’t be much longer, as hard as you are working on killing yourself.”

He glared at her. “Are you done yet?”

She nodded, “Uh-huh. I think that about says it all.”

“Why did you people agree to put me up if I’m such an asshole?”

Veronica shrugged. “We love Jared and he asked for a favor. He’s making a movie about Gram-Marie’s late husband’s great-grandfather. Jared used to love the stories Grampa would tell about his family and the early days back when old Hank Maynard was founding the city of Grand Marais.”

She picked up a stone and tossed it into the lake, making it skip three times before it dropped into the water.

“Besides, we had no idea you’d be so difficult to get along with. Jared told us to not let you drive and Jake is excited about the big pile of money Jared is going to pay him when he gets here, for driving your ungrateful ass into town so you can get drunk enough every night and pass out.” She stared into his face, multiple emotions raging there as he tried to formulate a reply to her accusations.”You know,” she added conversationally, “We do have beer and wine in the dining room. You could be a nice guy and give Jake the occasional night off and just take what you need and drink yourself into a stupor in your cabin…or out by the lake. Unless, of course, you are partial to older women who hang around in the bars in town hoping to get laid. In which case, have at it.” She looked closely at his face, “You don’t remember much about being in the bars in town, do you?”

He gave up trying to remember and shook his head, deciding the truth was easier. “No. I buy a round for the place on the way in and I spend the rest of the night with a drink always in my hand. I like to be the life of the party,” he said defensively. “I’ve always had a good time in bars. And the folks in town are getting a real kick out of having a famous movie star drinking with them.”

Veronica nodded, “I’m sure they are. Especially when you’re buying rounds.”

She started to walk towards the woods.

“Where are you going?” Raul demanded of her back.

“I’ve got some lines in the water pretty close to here. I’m going to check them and see if anything bit. You’re welcome to come along if you want to,” she turned to look at him blandly, “Unless the fresh air is too much for you.”

“No, I could use the exercise. Pretty soon I’m going to have to look like the kind of man who hikes across uncharted wilderness to start a town. I might as well start getting used to hiking around in the woods.”

Veronica smiled back at him, “This is hardly a wilderness, dude. This is a well-worn trail that leads to some cabins further back in the woods. If you really want to try some wilderness hiking, let me know. My brother and his wife own a backpacking and canoeing business and they’re used to taking newbies out into the backwoods. Or I can take you on some hikes that’ll start getting you into better shape. We might not have actual mountains around here, but there are some pretty damn big hills that will make you work up a sweat.”