Chapter 10: The Winding Trail Inn

Kate entered the Winding Trail Inn and wasn’t surprised to find it hadn’t changed since she first visited seven years previous. She occasionally crossed paths with the owner, Jim Thornton, but otherwise never had any reason to visit the place.

Until now.

She rang the bell at the front desk and waited.

A minute passed and she reached her hand out to ring the bell again and stopped. All at once she felt utterly confused and disoriented. “What am I doing here?” she asked herself. She thought the man she met earlier was nice, but not… ‘meet him at his hotel to see how he’s doing’ nice.

Backing away from the counter, she turned and headed for the door.

“Katey? Is that you?” Jim hobbled up to the front desk and hit the spacebar on the keyboard next to the ten year or older computer. “Is everything alright? Do you need a place to stay this evening?”

Kate hesitated to turn around. If she had any excuse prepared, she would have delivered it and walked out the door.

In that instant, Thane popped into her head.

She turned around. “I’m sure you heard there’s a new guy that showed up yesterday. I thought he’d accidentally walked off with my… pen… and I wanted to get it back. I thought he might be staying here but it turns out,”

Mr. Thornton held up his hand and had already put the front desk phone to his ear while she was still talking. “One moment Kate, I know exactly who you’re talking about, I got him on the line.”

Kate shook her head. “What? No, Mr. Thornton he’s not here,”

“Sure he is,” the white-haired man said with a nod. “Just arrived. Clean-cut, snappy dresser. You know,” he gave her a scandalous look. “You two would make a handsome couple.”

“Mr. Thornton,”

The owner of the Inn ignored her and instead replied to the man talking on the other end of the phone. “No, she doesn’t mind waiting,” he lowered his voice to a whisper and covered his mouth, but Kate could still hear him. “She came to see you, after all. Alright. You’re welcome sir.” He hung up the phone and smiled at Kate, the look on his face as pleased as punch.

“He was in the shower Katey. He’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Kate sighed. “Thank you, Mr. Thornton. I’ll just…what’s on TV?”

“I don’t know. It’s one of the newer movies.” he began walking back to his office.

Kate glanced at the TV and recognized it immediately. She leaned over the counter and hollered, “Stand By Me isn’t new Mr. Thornton.”

He responded with a wave as he continued to walk.

***

Kate had only been watching the movie for ten minutes when she felt his presence enter the room.

"Kate was it?" he asked. "I haven't watched the movie yet, is there something I can do for you?"

Kate stood up and walked toward him while thinking, ‘Yes Kate, is there something he can do for you? What are you even doing here?’ She stopped a couple feet away in front of him and said, “I don’t mean to pry, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since you left the store.” she tilted her head up slightly, as she only came to the middle of his chest. “Why here? I mean, this place is literally hours from anywhere in any direction.”

The man shrugged and said, “Well why did you come here?”

Kate smiled and shook her head. “Uh, I know that trick. Don’t sidestep the question.”

The stranger laughed which made Kate smile.

“Would you like to sit down? or will the movie be a distraction? Normally it would be for me, but I’ve seen this multiple times.”

“Same.” Kate said with a hint of suspicion in her voice. “Sitting is good.” She walked back to the couch and sat down.

The man, once again in black, took his seat in the chair across from her. “I am scouting remote locations for an upcoming film. Unfortunately, that’s the extent of what I can tell you. Caribou Falls has been better than what was expected.”

Kate closed her mouth when she realized it was hanging open. “Oh my gosh, that’s… that’s incredible. Who’s going-” she stopped. “Sorry, I know you can’t say anything. I would have never thought anything like that would come here.”

The man waved his hand and brushed the topic away as though it were meaningless. “What about you? What brought you to the quaint little town of Caribou Falls?” He rested his chin in one of his palms, his attention completely honed in on her.

Kate knew that look, knew he was paying close attention to her. Of all the guys she’d met or dated, she should have been attracted to him right back. He worked in the film industry, knew movies, was friendly, courteous and well spoken. And though he didn’t have the accent, he kind of had a Fassbender look about him she appreciated.

“Well,” she started, “I’m from California,”

“Oh?” he asked. “What part?”

“Los Angeles.”

The man looked surprised. “So, a big change for you then.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” She rubbed her hands together and then folded her arms. Even for a lobby, it felt cold. “I didn’t have a lot of great memories there. Bad luck with boyfriends. My sister’s kind of a jerk. I uh,” she gave him an awkward smile. “I kind of like the dreary weather.”

He nodded. “I doubt you’d be here otherwise.”

She continued. “When my mom died, I had to leave. Things never went back to normal once she was gone,” Kate looked at the floor. “I couldn’t stay.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your mother,” he said sympathetically. “Do you ever miss any of them? Your family, I mean?”

Kate was silent as she thought about those she left behind.

‘What am I doing?’ She thought. ‘I’ve hardly told Tim about any of this, much less random strangers.’ She countered herself. ‘It might feel good to talk about it. Though I wish it would have been Thane who asked.’ She pointed out to that voice, ‘that’s not entirely his fault. I think he’s spent less time around normal people than me.’

The stranger waved at her. “Kate?”

“Do I miss them?” she repeated back to him. “Uh, sort of. Me and my dad were real close before my mom died. I think a part of him died with her,” she swallowed. “The part that made him smile on the inside.”

Seeing that he kept touching on a sensitive topic he asked, “And your sister?”

Kate grunted. “Eh. I could go another seven years without seeing her again.” Before revealing any more about her personal life she asked, “You know, I’m sorry, I just realized I never asked what your name was.”

“It’s quite alright,” he wasn’t offended in the slightest. “I’m Arcturus Varujan.”

Kate smiled. “That is nowhere close to anything I might have guessed. That’s not a name I've ever heard before.”

“Good,” he said with a half smile. “While unusual, I do appreciate being the only Varujan everywhere I go,” he looked around the lobby as though to make sure no one else was listening. “I am actually from Romania. I don’t share this with very many people, but as you were so open with me, I felt it was only fair to share something with you.”

Kate did appreciate that he was able to pick up on how she was feeling. “You sound like you could be from anywhere in the states. And this is America, you know? People think you’re cooler when you're from somewhere else. Why hide it?”

“That is true of most people,” he said, holding up his index finger. “Most employers in the US like US citizens. Suppressing my accent is part of acclimating.”

Kate blew into her hands and rubbed them again. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could remain in the room without an additional source of heat. “Sorry, Jim either needs to insulate this room or turn up the thermostat.”

Arcturus folded his own arms as though he now had permission to be cold himself. “I was just about to suggest we continue this conversation somewhere warmer. There aren’t any issues with the heat in my room,”

Kate’s mouth formed into a thin line. “Uh, I’m not so sure-”

His eyes grew a little larger and he held up his hands defensively. “No! No, that’s not what I was getting at,” he assured her. “It would be just somewhere warmer to talk is all,”

Kate shook her head. “I believe you, it’s just…” her voice trailed off. She wasn’t able to form the words that accurately expressed how she felt.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the man you were with yesterday?” he asked.

Her head snapped up. “What’s Thane got to do with any of this?” she shook her head. She felt irritated but had no idea why. “He was in an accident and I was just helping him find his way around town.”

Arcturus replied with a slow nod. “Very well then, if that’s the case I will retire to my heated bedroom alone.” He gave her a slight bow. “If you do want someone to talk to and watch movies with, I’ll be here for a few more days. It was nice to meet you, Kate.”

Kate stood in the front room of the Winding Trail Inn for a few minutes after he left. Arcturus was more compatible with her than any other guy she’d met, was attractive and was obviously interested in her.

Yet all she could think about was being in Thane’s arms. She sighed in frustration and asked herself. “Would it kill me if I made the obvious choice?”

Outside, Kate stopped walking after a couple steps and looked back at the Inn. It was cold enough to snow, yet somehow she felt warmer the moment she exited the building.

On her way home she noticed Tim walking on the other side of the street. She crossed the road that was only the width of a car and a half and punched him in the arm.

Tim turned his head a little to look at where he’d been hit. “Ow.”

“I thought you said you were going to bed,” Kate said teasingly.

Tim replied, “I thought you said you were going home.”

The two of them were quiet as they walked.

Kate apologized first. “Sorry about hitting you,”

“It actually didn’t hurt that much.” Tim said.

“What’s wrong? I haven’t seen you like this since you watched that new Star Wars movie. What was it called again?” She tapped her lips with her finger.

Tim glared at her. “You know what it’s called.”

“Seriously Tim, what’s the matter?”

Tim kicked at an imaginary rock. “Thane got mad at me.”

“About what?” she asked in disbelief.

“Uh,” Tim stuttered. “It may have been about you,” before she could ask any questions he asked, “Did you go see that guy that came in tonight?”

Kate felt her face turn red, though she didn’t know why. She hadn’t done anything wrong. “I did and he’s a nice guy. All we did was talk.”

“I think Thane may have interpreted it differently.”

Kate threw up her hands. “So what, he’s stalking me now?”

Tim held up hand in a quiet voice and said, “I think that’s exactly opposite of what he’s trying to accomplish.”

“Accomplish?” Kate’s voice went up an octave. “What’s he trying to accomplish, Tim?”

Tim closed his eyes. “He asked me not to say anything.”

“Too late,” she said as she shouldered past him. “Is he at Monroes?”

Tim didn’t respond.