AN: My sincerest apologies, I did intend to crank out this next chapter much sooner than this. My lovely significant other and I are to be married this September. *squee* And I've been quite busy with the various wedding planning things.
And yes, before anyone comments on it, I know I may have over-embellished her obvious British roots.
I am planning on a few more chapters to this one before we close out "The Gardener" and move on to the next phase of their relationship.
Onward!
As Delbert drove the carriage up the long cobblestone path Amelia's eyes grew wide at the expansive property.
"My word," she muttered, her eyes taking in the large, manicured lawn surrounding the nearly castle like house with attached observatory.
"It is big, isn't it?" Sarah must have heard her sharp intake of breath at her first glance.
"There aren't words for what this is."
"Oh come now, that's hardly fair. My parent's house is twice this size." Delbert's comment was meant to be easy going, but it amazed the women in the back.
"That can't be an accurate statement, though I certainly understand now where the money came from to finance the voyage."
"Well with all that money squirreled away you certainly have enough to hire a cleaning crew, not that you actually would."
"Pardon me, a cleaning crew?" Amelia's eyebrow arched as the carriage pulled to a stop at the front door.
"Oh, I had my work cut out for me when Jim and I first moved here. But there's plenty more to be done." Sarah blathered on as she fished for the front door key from her bag. At last with the iron key thrust deep past the tumblers, the monolithic door swung open.
Hanging Delbert's jacket on the first available peg, she stepped inside gingerly, marveling at the vaulted ceilings, the floor high stacks of books, and the lack of any open space.
"Oh, my dear Missus Hawkins you weren't joking."
"You'll have to excuse the mess, ever since he got back from that trip and with the exception of coming out to the construction site, he's been holed up in his office doing god knows what." Sarah led Amelia through the dining room and into a large, and fully equipped kitchen with a tiny table nestled into a nook. The smell of roast and simmering vegetables lingered in the air and made for a wonderfully warm and inviting environment.
"I've told him and told him to clean up his mess, but does he do it? Nooo..." Sarah moved a kettle over onto the stove and continued. "And is it so much to ask to clean up your mess? I did not watch my inn burn down just so I could live here and clean up after Delbert."
Changing the subject with an awkward cough she racked her brain. "So, how long have you two known each other?"
"Oh, it's a long story. His late wife, Abagail was an amazing cook. But every friday, they came to the inn to have dinner. They were regulars for a long time, Leland and Delbert got along famously. It was right around the time Abagail passed that Leland left. Delbert didn't know how to cook, so he came around to the Benbow every morning to have breakfast and pick up lunch and dinner. He was around so much, he's practically like family."
"Leland is your husband, I take it?" Sarah nodded, twisting her apron in her hands nervously.
"Yeah. Leland is a spacer, always has been. I didn't expect him to give it up when Jim was born, but part of me wished he had." Sarah continued in a wistful tone as she turned to the stove. "Jim didn't care, he was his dad. He looked up to him so much." Sarah stopped, clearing her throat. "I haven't seen him for a long time, I don't even know if he is still alive."
"Even after you've lost someone, you still feel them." Amelia's words were slow, as if she was discovering her own feelings, rather than trying to offer a sense of comfort for the nostalgic former inn owner. "It's a strange feeling. You know that they are gone, yet they seem to be right at your side, just like nothing happened."
"You sound like you speak from experience."
"Aye. In my business, it helps if you don't get to attached to anyone."
"A lot of good that did you," Sarah scoffed, a smile pulling at the edge of her lips.
"What are you insinuating?" Amelia's eyes narrowed.
"I'm not blind. I've seen the way you two are with each other. Don't even try to deny it." Sarah set the two tea cups down, taking her place in the seat beside Amelia.
"I don't know what you are talking about. Delbert is a wonderful man, beyond that we are just friends."
Sarah pondered this for a minute before a grin broke out on her face. "Something happened with him."
"Not at all. I sustained an injury, and he was a perfect gentleman."
"An injury? What happened?"
Knowing that Sarah wasn't privy to the details, Amelia thought it best to be succinct. "Things were not what they appeared to be."
"Oh dear god." Sarah muttered, her hand covering her eyes.
Amelia watched the slightly older woman run through a range of emotions before finally settling on something she couldn't quite pin point.
"Why am I not surprised something went wrong?" No sooner had these words left her mouth, the back door slammed shut.
"James Pleadies Hawkins, what have you and Delbert been hiding from me?"
"Nothing!" The teen was quick to defend himself as he rushed into the kitchen.
"I will not have things being kept from me! Out with it!" Delbert's footsteps were quiet, and no one in the kitchen had noticed his presence until he cleared his throat.
"Perhaps this is a discussion best had in the lounge?" Delbert's thumb pointed behind him to a well cleaned settee set and coffee table.
Minutes later when everyone had made themselves comfortable, Delbert tugged at his shirt collar, unsure of how to begin.
"I ah, Sarah. I hired a crew. Well, that's not the right place to start." Delbert scratched his head, looking to Jim and Amelia for any kind of offered words or support. "We found that map in the sphere, and someone heard us talking an-"
"Oh for God's sake, Delbert hired a band of pirates who mutinied on us as soon as we closed in on the planet."
Sarah's mouth hung open as Amelia divulged the information, apparently not skimping on any of the details.
"Captain! Yo- you can't just drop it on her like that. Be gentle, please."
"Not bloody likely. You were dithering about, it's high time she knew."
"I don't think being delicate with this was taking my sweet time."
"Oh really? And I suppose you didn't think being late every morning was 'taking your sweet time' either?" Amelia placed emphasis on his previously used turn of phrase, her emerald eyes smoldering into ember colored slits.
"Well maybe I was late a couple of times, but that doesn't mean that I didn't intend to be there on time. Besides, you could do to be a bit lenient." The pair of bickering adults stood nose to nose, neither one showing any signs of backing off.
"Leniency is precisely why Silver and his band of incompetent mongrels mutinied on us, and very nearly got us killed. Or have you forgotten already? You seemed to shrug it off pretty quickly."
"Whoa!" Sarah pulled the two apart, her face contorting partly in shock, and anger. "Mutiny, pirates?"
"It wasn't nearly that bad."
"Oh, codswallop!" Amelia stormed outside, her face contorting in anger.
The wake left behind her sudden departure left ripples. Jim's mouth hung open as he stared after her. "Seriously? You two fight like an old married couple."
"No kidding. Delbert could you clear some of this up for me?"
While Delbert was inside bringing Sarah up to speed, Amelia's long strides took her on top of a hill overlooking a quarry. Taking deep breaths, her arms wrapped around her aching ribs. Trying to make sense of her feelings was something entirely foreign to her. Amelia had always been quite sure of herself, up until she had met Delbert Doppler.
Up until she met Delbert Doppler, her life was pretty routine. She had Arrow, she had the Legacy, and she had a life of excitement and constant movement.
She was a fool to think she would come out of this unchanged.
It was only then, as the pain dulled in her side that she realized she had been a bit brash with Delbert.
Like she had said earlier, he was a perfect gentleman. It was only natural that at some point that would come to clash with her brash personality and dry wit.
'You've gone soft, haven't you?' She spoke in low tones, and to no one but herself. Giving the dirt a push with the toe of her shoe, she pivoted on her heel and returned to the house.
"-And well, that's when everything got out of hand. I was completely terrified, running down the corridor underneath her stateroom. She saved us all."
Amelia snuck in the door to find Delbert seated in a wing backed chair, Sarah and Jim perched on the edges of the red couch.
"To be entirely fair, you saved me too." Amelia's voice was quiet as she walked into the room.
Delbert's eyes shone with happiness, a smile appearing on his face. "It was my pleasure." Delbert's face turned scarlet as he realized the implications of what he had just said.
"The whole thing turned pear shaped rather quickly. I can't believe you were so daft as to hire that crew." Amelia chuckled, taking a seat in the opposing chair.
"A lapse of judgment I suppose." Delbert seemed dismissive of his mistake, waving it off with a flick of his wrist.
"Doctor you can't be so easy to dismiss everything."
"Captain, please. Delbert, she is right."
"I'm not dismissive, am I?"
"Do you remember how you reacted when I ruined the carpet runner on the stairs?" Jim pointed out, laughing a bit.
"Why worry? I had the funds to replace it. Besides, I needed a new one."
"How exactly does one go about ruining carpet runners, James?"
"Solar surfing down the stairs. The tail pipe snagged and ripped the thing to shreds." Jim laughed, his hands demonstrating.
"I see." Amelia was quiet for a minute as she looked around. "This place is all sixes and sevens," Amelia muttered to herself, her eyes roaming from one dust covered bookshelf to the next. "Well then, you all shall be lucky for my company here. I'm going to whip this place back into shape." Amelia stood, taking long strides across the room. "Missus Hawkins can't possibly do all of this alone, and you Doctor Doppler are solely responsible for this estates upkeep. I refuse to let squalor like this continue under my watch. Am I understood?"
"You can't possibly be serious? This is my house, I will dictate it's rules." Delbert stood to face her again, seemingly willing to stand his ground.
"Then you will have noticed the sad state of your roof?" Amelia's slender finger pointed upward into the drafty timbers that comprised his roof.
"That's hardly the point and you know it." Delbert deadpanned, bravely looking her square in the face.
"Then pray tell, Doctor. What precisely is the point?"
Delbert sputtered for a few seconds before smashing his lips against hers in a surprise move that neither party had expected.
After thoroughly kissing her, he released her lips and in a defiant manner declared: "And that my dear Captain Amelia is exactly the point." Leaving Sarah, Jim and Amelia completely confused, Delbert strode into the attached observatory with his telescope, the door slamming shut behind him.
