Wed January 7 2019

The Funeral for Dr. Thurston was Wednesday January 7. The reception would follow at the University. Bobbie and her mother looked out at the freezing rain and Bobbie smiled a little and said, “Look, the weather is a pathetic fallacy; we’d better wear layers.”

Trixie was still in town and was planning to meet them.

The church was full but Greg stepped out of the procession and pulled them to the front of the church with him. They slid in beside the family feeling a little conspicuous. Florence found herself beside one of Greg’s young nephews and proceeded to occupy them with a Sudoku she was surreptitiously filling out on her phone. She claimed it calmed her nerves. Bobbie pretended she didn’t notice and turned to Greg. She started to murmur condolences and Greg picked up her hand and squeezed it appreciatively.

After the service Greg said, “I’ll see you at the the reception. It’s at the University.”

Bobbie smiled, “Mom gets a little tired and I think it’s best we–”

“That’s OK” interrupted Greg, “I’ll follow you back to your place and pick you up. Le me help you with your coat.”

Bobby had no chance to reply but caught Trixie’s eye on the way out and mouthed, “Come to the University!” Greg was looking much better than the night of the party. His face was clean shaven and you could see his dimples again and his thick greying hair had a new stylish cut. His intense blue eyes were clearer and he looked good in his dark suit.

The reception was in the boardroom near the President’s office and the crowd was small. Bobbie was quietly wondering what she was doing there when she saw Trixie walk in. She paused a moment to admire her friend’s style. She had a long Burberry coat with snug black pants tucked into high boots. She removed her coat and she had a long sleeved fine knit jersey shirt covered with a stylish oversized teal vest that sort of slid over to one side. Her dark thick silvery hair was down and parted in the middle and she had clunky silver jewellery. Bobby made her way over to her and said, “You look stunning”.

“Yes, it’s my high fashion, bad weather, mourning attire. Is there booze here?”

“Sadly no,” said Bobbie. They got themselves some coffee and sweets and sat at the edge of a table. They chatted a few minutes and started making plans to go somewhere for dinner later.

Trixie said, “We should head out soon and drive to your motel and see how the outside looks. You’ve started some work haven’t you?” Since Trixie was her finance person, she knew Bobbie was spending money.

Bobbie looked up and saw Greg moving towards them, “What motel?” he asked.

Trixie answered, “Bobbie and Alex bought a motel to rehab in their retirement. It’s the one on the river, on the old highway north of town called the ‘Waterwheel Motel’.”

“Oh I remember that place, it’s a no-tell motel. We’ve got good memories of that place.” And winked at Bobbie.

Bobbie blushed, without really knowing why. ”I’d ask you to join us but I know you have your hands full here.”

“Well the University scene is more Van’s thing.” Greg was referring to his sister-in-law Vanessa, who was a professor and taught Physics and Biology. Then he said “Right then, I’ll get our coats.”

As she put on her coat Trixie murmured, “My car only has 2 seats.”

On the way out Bobbie turned to Greg and said, “We’ll take your car”.

When Bobbie arrived at Crow Harbour in early December, she got quotes from window companies to replace the leaky windows on the North East side of all the rooms of her motel. They faced the pool and she wanted to make them bigger and convert them to glass sliding doors. The 10 rooms on the second floor rooms need balconies to overlook the new pool and patio doors too. When they got there Bobbie was pleased to see the new doors looked good and work was started on the balconies.

Trixie said, “Wow Bobbie, it looks better already!” They went into one room and were surprised at how bright it was.

“I got a pretty good deal Trixie. Each smaller room was about $1200 for both the window and the door, installed. It’s another $1200 to finish the balconies but there’s only 5 of them. They’ll get done when weather allows. The last 4 rooms on both the top and bottom level are going to be finished as 2 bedroom suites, so that means only 4 more doors, and 2 larger balconies upstairs. The contractor has quoted me $5000 each for the demo for the suites and the new doors and windows.”

“So rooms 17 and 18 will be combined by smashing through the walls between them?” asked Trixie.

“Yes,” said Bobbie, “and 19 with 20 and 7 with 8 and 9 with 10 on the bottom. They had connecting doors already.”

“So you’d have 12 small rooms and 4 suites.” confirmed Trixie.

“Sadly no,” said Bobbie, “the Architect has one room becoming the restrooms for the restaurant, with outside access for the pool. I lose that one and the room above the bathroom will be laundry. That gives me much more room for reception and a small bar as the laundry and a small bathroom used to be behind the restaurant in the new building. I think it’s a good idea. So there are 5 rooms and 2 suites on the bottom, and 5 rooms and 2 suites on top.”

“Too bad you lose the rooms but it’s makes more sense,” concluded Trixie.

“It’s good that the ground isn’t frozen yet, they got these footings installed in the nick of time. I never realized how beautiful it is out here. You have ocean views on the west side and mountain views on the east side so the sun rises over the mountains and sets into the ocean,” said Greg when they returned outside.

“Do you want to see my future home?” asked Bobbie. They walked up the metal stairs and Bobbie opened up the door to the cleaned out storeroom that was to become the ‘owner’s apartment’. It was the second floor of the newer construction that held the Water Wheel restaurant and check in desk. The door opened onto 3000 square feet of a big empty warehouse-like space that had tall ceilings. The northeast corner was floor to ceiling windows.

“So the restaurant has these windows too,” confirmed Greg.

Bobbie nodded and pointed to a row of high windows which had been installed along the southwest side of the apartment where the newer addition was about 6 feet taller then the 2 story motel it was connected to.

“These are new,” she pointed to a few more and said, “so are these.”

They were silent for a moment and Trixie put her arm around Bobbie and said “This is going to be marvellous Bobbie.”

Greg reached out and pulled her towards him, “I admire someone who can dream big,” and hugged her.

Bobbie pushed him away gently and said, “Thanks but it was Alex’s dream too.”

Trixie ignored the awkwardness and declared, “Well we’re losing light and I’m starting to feel the lack of heat in this place. Greg, Bobbie and I were going to head out to eat and–”

“Oh,” interrupted Greg, “we have reservations for the family at the yacht club. I’d be happy to call and add a couple seats and would be honoured if you’d join us.”

Trixie and Bobbie exchanged glances and Bobbie could tell Trixie was a little hesitant and undecided but said, “Sure.”

They had a lovely dinner at the yacht club and Bobbie was having a great conversation with Vanessa about her knitting group. Bobbie was genuinely interested and said she’d love to join. She looked up and saw Trixie and Greg were dancing. “Damn they look good together,“ thought Bobbie, thinking they are dancing a so close. “They’re both so tall and handsome”. Bobbie gave her respects to Vanessa and said she’d be in touch but she was getting sleepy so she was going to head home. On her way to the coat check, she stopped Trixie and Greg and said, “You kids have fun, I’m just going to get an Uber home,” and gave Trixie a wink. They barely acknowledged her.

She fumed a bit in the Uber, but then admitted to herself that she really just wanted to be friends with Greg and hoped that she had made him feel better about his Mom’s death. It was nice to pretend that he was a little interested in her. Truthfully she felt they could be good friends. She also wondered if those two confirmed bachelors Trixie and Greg could make a go of it.