* Lots of thanks to Dawnj for editing! *
Spring
Jill stood in the front room, looking out over the small parking place she had for visitors. Ever since her marriage had run aground she had been trying to fend for herself -- it hardly made a difference anyway, she thought -- and over the last four years or so the bed & breakfast she'd begun had turned out to be a solid source of income. It was hard work, next to the secretarial part time job she had, but it made just that little extra that she needed for the things that were really important.
Jill was a little over forty. She had brown, slightly curly hair that she wore halfway down her shoulder blades, brown eyes, and a nice smile that hardly anyone ever saw. She usually wore trousers and a sweater, and she would have been genuinely surprised if she'd known she was considered a beauty by quite a few men. She'd have shaken off the idea of men because her marriage had put her defences up. The thought of it made her shudder still.
A car was about to park in the empty parking place, a small red one that looked rather old-fashioned to her. But she didn't know; sometimes those things seemed to be quite expensive. It was driven by a young woman who seemed to Jill to be all she was not. She had impossibly long legs, blonde hair to her waist, and big breasts, and the single traveller that had just left that morning had positively gawked at her. She had heard the girl invite herself to dinner the night before, and they had left together. They had returned together as well, and when she had seen to the rooms that morning, she found the bed in the girl's room had not been slept in.
Oh well, each in her own way. But somehow it felt wrong and discourteous to use her house as a place of ill repute, and just like plain bad behaviour of both parties, although she couldn't never say so to them. The young woman stepped out of her car as if she were getting out of a limousine, all those long legs first. She walked up to the front door. Jill went and let her in, and the young woman looked at her with something like disdain. She did greet Jill more or less civilly, though, before she climbed the stairs to the room Jill had put her in.
It was a quiet Friday. There was just the one girl for guests. Jill went back to her living room and sat down with the book she was reading. She'd almost finished it, and she was keen to know the ending. Reading had been one of the things that had helped her survive her marriage; it helped her cope with the spare time she often had on her hands. Reading, and music. The problem was, though, that music had a tendency to leave her feeling all sad and wrung out -- and longing for she didn't quite know what.
Reading was safer, but occasionally it might get at her, too. Still... She got immersed into the story, and she was so busy reading that she missed the bell first time round. Then she heard and went to the door. There was another single traveller standing in front of her. He seemed to look at her appraisingly, and she gave him a noncommittal look.
"Good afternoon," he said. "I am afraid I have not reserved, but could I stay here for a couple of nights?"
Jill rather liked his face. He seemed a soft spoken kind of person, and she did have room enough.
"I think so," she said. "I am Jill Maddox."
"Ben Greene. Pleased to meet you."
He took her hand and shook it.
"Would three nights be alright?"
"By all means," she said. "Shall I show you your room?"
She walked up the stairs before him, and she took him to the single bedroom at the back, the only single room she had. It was the room she would prefer, and she opened the door and stood aside to let him enter. She hoped he would like it a little.
Ben entered the room and looked around. It was a cosy room, with a low table and an easy chair. There was a small bookcase with what seemed to be an interesting selection of novels, and there was a bed that looked alright. From the window he had a wide view across a vista of fields, and in between two hills in the distance he thought he could see a small triangle of blue.
"Oh, lovely," he said. "Is that the sea in the distance?"
Jill nodded. "It is. I love the view."
"Yes. It is beautiful. Thank you very much; I'll be happy to stay here."
"Alright. The bathroom is the next door on the right. Breakfast is between seven and nine."
"Good. I'll be on the early side, I think." He smiled at her. It was a nice smile, she thought.
"Is there a place where I can have dinner nearby?"
"There are a few reasonable places. What do you have in mind?"
"Just warm and good food, really. Nothing fancy."
"Okay. There are two places I can recommend."
She told him and he listened carefully to the directions she gave to the first option she'd mentioned.
"Okay. Thank you," he said. "Mmm, I think I'd better go now. This looks like a very nice room indeed. I will get my suitcase from the car when I come back."
They walked down the stairs and Ben went out through the hall.
Jill looked at his back as he went out into the open and she just heard the young woman accost him.
"Hello," she said. "I wonder if you..."
She missed the rest because Ben had pulled the door closed. Somehow it irked her immensely. What kind of a man eater was this young girl that she should go and pick up this man? But she was a looker alright and Jill thought she herself was a nonentity in that field. She wouldn't wonder if he fell for her, too. When she returned to her book in the living room, she had to make a real effort to get into the story again.
Ben listened to the girl with a growing feeling of irritation. He didn't know her and he did not want to have anything to do with her. He was tired, he disliked being seen as easy prey, she was far too young and not his type at all. He certainly didn't' think her make-up looked sexy... What felt worse was the disdainful way in which she dismissed the establishment they stayed at and the snide remarks about his hostess. He liked what he'd seen, and he thought this creature was nothing like her.
When she had finished her proposal, he said he was sorry but he had no inclination to come along.
He immediately rejoiced in having done so; she gave him a foul look and turned around without a further word.
He shrugged. He didn't like the type. Then he noticed the small red car and grinned. Ernie, a good friend of his, was into classic MGs. He ran a magazine about them, and this was a wonderfully well-kept specimen. He got his cell phone from his pocket and took a series of pictures to send to him when he was home.
He had a good look at the car, and the pictures he had taken were quite satisfactory, he thought. Nice! Then he walked to the restaurant Jill has told him about. It was small and cosy, the service was friendly and he sat down to a good vegetarian meal with cashews and raisins and salad and some nice cheese.
It took him about ninety minutes in all, and he was back at the B&B well before nine thirty. He walked to the parking place to get his suitcase from the car. The MG was not there, to his regret. He walked to the front door and rang the bell.
Jill let him in. He gave her a smile that made her feel warm and told her the restaurant had been a great success.
There was no sign of the girl; maybe she'd come later, Jill thought. But then it was none of her business, fortunately.
"Have you read the books in my room?" Ben asked.
Jill smiled. It seemed most people hardly noticed them, and no one had commented on them as yet.
