B&B OF LOVE AND FUN-37
Hi everyone. Thank you very much for all the lovely reviews after last chapter...Obviously you liked the conversation between Charles and the guy from Elsie's village. Today we will stay in that wonderful world of Elsie's past and we will meet one mor ghost from her past ;-) Hope you will like it.
"So, I was here waiting for you and worrying, that you got lost and can't find the way back and you were having pints with Logan?"
"I'm so sorry Elsie...I didn't plan for that to happen this way, but we had such good conversation... You know me, I'm not very sociable and I usually don't trust strangers...But it was so nice talking to him..."
"Logan McGregor...I remember him so well..."
"Were you two friends?"
"Not really...I was friends with his younger sister- Ava...We were sitting in one school bench together. She was my age...They lived just few houses away from us..."
"Yes, he mentioned that.."
"What else did he say?"
"He said wonderful things about your family..."
"Do tell me Charlie..."
"He said, that your father was a hardworking and respected man. That if there was a problem to be solved, the whole village came for advice.."
"That's true...My dear father...He was a lynchpin of our community..."
"He also said, that your mother was an essence of kindness...That she helped everyone in need and everyone adored her..."
"Yes, mummy was like that..."
"And you my love, apparently took the best features of your parents characters...You were the wise one in the Abbey...They all came to solve problems with you, not me..."
"Charlie...You knew about it?"
"Of course I did...I may not be as intelligent as my wife, but I noticed this and that..."
"And here was me, trying to hide that fact from you for many years, so you wouldn't feel neglected.."
"I know you did Els...You are not only wise, but also very sweet...Always thinking about me and my needs..."
"Always...What else did Logan tell you?"
"About Becky, how your father and mother adored her, how you took great care of her and how everyone were fine with the idea of her being a little different..."
"It's true Charlie...People can be cruel, especially for someone like Becky...But she was such a sweet, dear child, that nobody in our village would even thought about making fun of her...I loved this village and all the people...Growing up here was wonderful..."
"I'm sure it was Elsie...Especially given the fact, that you were the beauty queen here and all the boys wanted to marry you!"
"How do you know that?"
"Guess my love..."
"I think that I need to speak to Logan..."
"Why is that? He only confirmed what I already suspected...That my wife is an object of desire to all men..."
"Rather was Charlie...Past tense..."
"I wouldn't say that...There are still men looking at you without any intentions of hiding their desire.."
"And you are very brave to bear it with dignity...So, Logan was also in the group of my admirers?"
"He certainly was...Apparently all the boys were, but he told me, that he always felt, that you wanted something more...That staying here and marrying some of the local farmers, was not something you were to keen on..."
"He was right...I already must have sensed that in the country of England, there was one very handsome man, who was my destiny..."
"Yes...And very silly one...He made you wait for himself for thirty years..."
"He did, but it was certainly worth to wait..."
"Do you really mean it Els?"
"Yes, I do...I love you my silly English gentelman..."
"And I love you my Scottish lass, beauty queen"
Sweet kisses and tight embraces filled the atmosphere and made the morning perfect...
Later, in the afternoon...
"I can't believe that we made it Elsie...I was so looking forward to have this walk just with you...How did you manage to get rid of Beryl and Bill for a moment?"
"Simple...They were going to the the same tea room we went yesterday and I said, that I do not want cake, as I have stomach problems, so they just understood and went themselves...And that's how we got afternoon to ourselves..."
"Brilliant...So what do you want to show me?"
"I wanted to see my old church...My parents got married there and me and Becky were christened there...Can we please visit it Charlie?"
"Of course we can love...Just lead the way..."
They soon got to the church...Elsie showed Charles the inside of it, telling him all the family stories connected to it...He saw how touched she was and he was squeezing her hand lovingly...The emotions were present all the time...They both felt it precisely...
When they went out and started to walk back towards the hotel, they suddenly heard a voice behind them...
"Elsie Hughes? Is that you? Is that really you, or am I having another vision?"
Charles didn't even looked surprised, seeing Elsie greeting a man that he didn't know...Another childhood friend, he thought...It will be nice to...Suddenly the name he heard, made him go back to reality at once...
"Charles...Let me introduce my old friend Joe Burns...Joe-this is my husband Charles Carson..."
Both men stiffened a bit, hearing Elsie's words...Joe, because he would never expected to find out, that Elsie got married after all, when she refused him twice...Charles felt like he froze inside...So this was the man, that he was once so afraid of, the man who wanted to take away the love of his life...So what that he knew her longer? Elsie belonged to him...
"Nice to meet you Mr Burns..."-Charles said it through clenched teeth...He would be ready to knock this man out in a moment, but he knew, that he had to stop himself...
"Same here Mr Carson...I didn't know, that you got married after all Elsie...Who would have thought?"
"Yes, you see I..."
"Yes Mr Burns...Elsie got married, it took her some time, but at least this time she had absolutely no doubts, that she wanted to do it...It usually enough find a right man..."
Elsie looked at Charles with surprise and a little bit of anger...He interrupted her, he was clearly rude towards Joe and she felt uncomfortable in this situation...
"How have you been Joe? What is new with you?"-Elsie decided not to notice Charles's behavior...
"Well..That would take a long time to tell you...Perhaps, you and your...Husband would like to join me for a pint of lager in the pub?"
"Well Joe we would love to..."-Elsie started, but once again she was interrupted by Charles...
"I'm really sorry Mr Burns, but I'm afraid that we can't do that...We already have dinner plans with our friends in the hotel and we are already running late...It was nice meeting you..."
"Bye Joe...I will see you soon...We will be here for few more days..."
"All right Elsie...Hopefully we can see each other soon..."
Elsie took Charles's hand and she let him guide her back to the hotel, but she was boiling inside...
Back at the hotel...
"I can't believe that Charlie! How could you be so rude to Joe?!"
"Rude? I was being rude? Maybe you were too friendly Elsie..."
"I was just being polite, we haven't seen each other for many years, we grew up together, what's wrong with that?!"
"I will tell you what is wrong with that-you seemed so flirtatious when you..."
"Charles, can you just listen to yourself? I just said hello and you..."
"No Elsie, you didn't just say hello, you were ready to go to the pub with him.."
"Not just with him, he also invited you there..."
"Like I would have come to the pub with him..."
"Why do you hate Joe so much? What is that about?"
"It's because...He wanted to steal me from you...Back then, in 1913..."
"Steal me? I wasn't your wife back then..."
"Yes, but I was in love with you and you were hesitating...You were thinking about marrying him..."
"I was considering it, but only for a short while...Back then, I didn't know if you are ever going to propose...I just turned 50 and I wanted to change something..."
"So why didn't you?"
"You know why...You just said, that you were in love with me, just as I was in love with you...Charles, we belong to each other, we always have..."
Elsie nestled herself into Charles...
"I'm sorry Elsie...I didn't want to be that way..."
"Meaning jealous and possessive?"
"Yes...Exactly...It's just that this man...I was always jealous of him..."
"I don't know why...If I wanted to marry him I would...He has given me two chances for that...I could also be jealous about Alice Neal..."
"But Alice is dead...And he is still alive and he is still a threat..."
"He isn't Charles and he never will be...I have the love of my life in my arms and nothing is going to change that...Ever..."
"Oh Elsie...I love you so much...Don't you dare to ever leave me for another man..."
"I won't, I promise...But on one condition...That you will behave nicer towards Beryl and Bill and you will at least try to pretend, that you are having fun on this trip with them..."
"That I can't promise..."
"All right...In that case, I will go and have a lager with Joe..."
Elsie started to walk towards the door, but she was stopped by Charles immediately...He drew her closer to him and held her very tightly...
"Oh no, you will not...Joe Burns has to accept the fact, that Elsie Hughes Carson belongs to me..."
Before Elsie had a chance to reply, Charles closed her mouth with a heated kiss...
That's all for today my loves...Hope that you liked this chapter too...Maybe it wasn't too original, but I felt that the trip to Scotland would be incomplete without meeting Joe Burns and jealous Charles...Thank you for reading and have a very good week.