Time pirate 3, p.8
Time Pirate 3, page 8
I made my way back to the car, and then I decided to swing by the townhouse and pack some more clothes for the women and me. I approached the townhouse slowly and scouted out the area, but I didn’t see any black SUVs or anything else that looked out of place, so that was a good sign.
I parked on the street, ran upstairs, and packed up some more things for us. Emily’s wardrobe had increased considerably in size, and I couldn’t help but grin as I packed up her new lacy lingerie sets that she seemed to love.
Once I was finished in the townhouse, I locked up and headed back to the car. On the way, I got a text, which turned out to be from Joe.
Dear Frankie, I am sorry to hear you are unwell. I have removed you from the schedule this weekend. Please recover soon. Signed, Joe Petrov.
I shook my head at the way my foreign boss texted so formally, but at least I was off the hook for the next few days.
I chucked the bag in the car and headed back toward the hotel, and I was surprised to return to an empty room. But there was a note on the table, so I picked it up to read it.
Hey babe,
We’re at the pool. Come find us in our bikinis.
Joan & Em xoxoxo
I smiled, and I immediately spun around on my heels, dropped the bag by the door, and then took the elevator to the bottom level. I followed the signs in the corridors until the air became thick with the pungent smell of chlorine. I pushed open the double doors that led to the pool, and I immediately spotted Emily and Joan, which wasn’t hard, considering they were the only ones here. They were splashing around in the shallow end of the large pool, and I stuck to the edges as I crossed the warm room.
Of course, they spotted me instantly.
“Hey!” Joan splashed water in my direction, but not far enough to actually splash me, and I could just make out her dark blue bikini under the water’s surface. “That’s not swimming attire.”
“I didn’t bring any,” I chuckled as I jumped out of the way of her next splash. “We were, like, running away from bad guys, sorry I didn’t think to pack my swimsuit.”
“Even Emily packed a swimsuit,” Joan said, and she gestured to Emily’s adorable white bikini covered in tiny pairs of cherries.
“Well, you did tell me to,” Emily pointed out.
“Shhh, he doesn’t need to know that,” Joan stage-whispered, and she splashed a bit of water in Emily’s direction.
“Oh, you.” Emily wrinkled her nose and splashed water right back at Joan.
“Ladies, ladies, no need to fight over me,” I interjected with a smirk.
“Don’t make us splash you,” Joan said in a playful warning tone, and she brought her hands back up in a ‘ready to splash’ position.
“Double the trouble,” Emily said as she posed to strike, too.
“Okay, okay, truce,” I said as I held my hands up. Then I lowered one hand and covered the pocket with the watch in it. “Plus, I’ve got the watch on me.”
“Oh,” the women chorused, and they dropped their hands back into the water.
“Definitely don’t want to risk messing that up,” Joan added.
“How was your meeting with your friend Lance?” Emily asked as she kicked back to half float in the chlorinated water.
“It was good,” I said as I crouched down near the edge of the pool. “He reckons we should get out of town for a couple days, just in case. I was thinking we could rent an Airbnb in Richmond? Maybe do some traveling back to the fifties?”
“Really?” Joan asked as her brown eyes lit up. “I was just drunk rambling the other day, we don’t actually have to do that.”
“I want to,” I reassured the pretty brunette. “And since we need to get out of town anyway, why not make it Richmond?”
“We’re going to time travel?” Emily asked curiously as she kicked her feet up.
“Maybe,” I said. “I’ll probably go on my own first and make sure it’s safe, then we’ll talk about taking one or both of you back with me. How does that sound?”
“Are you really sure?” Joan asked as she bit her lip. “Because we don’t have to do any of this, really. You have enough going on without worrying about some old family secret.”
“Babe, relax, I want to,” I said again. “You and your Aunt Rosemary deserve to know what happened to Uncle Harold.”
“Ahh, you’re the best.” Joan paddled over to me, and she craned her neck up to give me a kiss before she waded back away from the wall. “When do we leave?”
“We can go today,” I said with a shrug. “I called in sick to work all weekend, so I say we just head out now.”
“And leave the fancy hotel?” Emily asked with a crestfallen expression.
“We can find another one in Richmond,” I said. “Or an Airbnb.”
“An Airbnb is like when someone’s house is a hotel,” Joan explained to the blonde. “They’re super nice most of the time, especially in Richmond. Lots of cool older buildings and things.”
“Can we find one with a pool?” Emily asked.
“I’ll do my best,” I said with a smile, and I pushed myself up to standing. “Why don’t you ladies wrap it up in the pool, and I’ll get us squared away with the front desk. Then I’ll meet you back at the room, and we can head out from there.”
“Okay, we’ll see you soon,” Joan said, and she blew me a kiss.
Emily mimicked Joan’s movement, and I blew them both a kiss each before I retraced my steps and returned to the front desk. The perks of having money now and being able to afford nice places was that people were a lot nicer to you. I managed to cancel the rest of my reservation with no argument and only a very small fee. If this had been some trashy motel off the interstate, I probably would’ve had to put up a fight and ended up paying full price for the remainder of the reservation anyway.
I could definitely get used to this better treatment.
When I was done at the front desk, I headed back up to the room and packed everything up. The women weren’t back yet, so I sat down and kicked my feet up while I scrolled through the Airbnb listings in Richmond. They were pretty expensive for last minute, same-day reservations, but luckily that wasn’t an issue anymore.
I booked one of the nicer, more expensive ones, which was in a sleek, modern condo in the city. I booked it for one night and let the owner know I may want to extend. It was hard to know for sure with this ever-changing situation I was in. Another black SUV could throw a wrench in our plans, or maybe my new boss would turn up looking for the pocket watch. There was just no way to know.
As soon as I’d booked the Airbnb, the door swung open, and Emily and Joan tumbled into the room in a fit of giggles. I was surprised to see they were showered and dressed, and Joan had a bag slung over her shoulder.
“You two look lovely,” I said as I stood and crossed the room.
Joan was wearing her signature sundress, and Emily wore denim cutoffs and a slightly oversized Nirvana t-shirt, even though I was sure she had no idea who they were. They both looked adorable, though. Their hair was swept back into damp ponytails, and their eyes were red from the chlorine, but they looked so happy and relaxed that I couldn’t help but draw them both in for a big group hug.
“Looks like we’re ready to go,” Joan said with a nod at the bags by the door once we broke away from the hug.
“Yup, already got the Airbnb booked,” I said. “Ready to head out when you two are.”
“Bye-bye, nice hotel room,” Emily sighed as she waved at the suite.
“We can come back, I promise,” I reassured the blonde woman.
“Really?” Emily perked up at the promise.
“Definitely.” I nodded as I held the door open for the women. “In fact, now that I know how much you like hotels, I’ll make sure to plan plenty of fancy dates at nice hotels.”
“Heavens, that would be amazing,” Emily breathed as she smiled up at me with shining blue eyes.
“That can totally be your thing,” Joan said as she gestured to Emily and me. “Fancy hotel dates.”
“You don’t want to join?” Emily asked with a frown as we waited for the elevator.
“Obviously I love fancy hotel rooms with you two,” Joan said as she wiggled her eyebrows slyly, but then she shrugged and reached out to squeeze my bicep. “But I think it’s a good idea if we both get some one-on-one time with this handsome boy here. And I like the idea of us having our own ‘thing’ with him, you know?”
“So, what will ‘your thing’ be with him?” Emily asked as she grabbed my other arm and pressed into my side.
“I don’t know,” Joan said thoughtfully as the elevator opened up in front of us. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“Do I get a say in any of our things?” I asked as we stepped into the small metal box.
Joan and Emily exchanged a glance.
“No,” they said at the same time, and then they burst into laughter as the elevator took us down to the lobby.
“Fine by me,” I said with a grin and a half shrug. “You ladies just tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
“As soon as I figure out our thing, I’ll tell you,” Joan said, and she reached up on her tiptoes to give me a kiss on the cheek.
We made it to the lobby and retrieved the Volvo from the valet, and then I plugged in the address to the Airbnb and began the two-hour journey.
On the drive, we had a lot of fun explaining the things we saw along the way to Emily. She got excited every time she spotted an airplane, and she had a lot of questions about the large billboards and logos plastered everywhere. Then I insisted we play some Nirvana so Emily could learn about the band she was wearing on her t-shirt. I wasn’t sure if she would like it, but to my surprise, she got pretty into it and was singing along by the end of it. We had about half an hour left of the drive, and we were listening to Nevermind for the second time when Joan suddenly snapped her fingers.
“We need a name,” the brunette said.
“Well, mine is Frankie,” I teased. “Yours is Joan, and that’s Emily in the back.”
“Stop it, you,” Joan said as she gave me a playful slap on the shoulder. “I mean for Flora. A business name.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, and I couldn’t help but conjure up an image of the beautiful, older foreign woman. I pictured her blue strands of hair and her gorgeous smile, and I felt a warmth in my belly.
“Maybe something with all of our names in it?” Emily suggested, and it pulled me from my thoughts of the beautiful Flora.
“Hmm, I’m not sure,” Joan said as she tilted her head thoughtfully. “Three is a lot of names to combine.”
“True,” I said. “We don’t want a Renesmee-Twilight situation going on.”
“What?” Emily asked with a confused expression.
“Yeah, what?” Joan asked, and her eyebrows were raised as high as they could go. “How do you know Twilight references?”
“Everything I’ve learned about Twilight was against my will,” I snorted. “My college roommate’s girlfriend was obsessed with the series, so I’ve been forced to watch it before. I forgot how embarrassing that was, can we please forget I said that?”
“Absolutely not,” Joan said with a devilish grin. “So, tell me, are you Team Jacob or Team Edward?”
“Who are these people?” Emily chimed in from the back seat.
“See? Emily doesn’t know who they are, let’s talk about something else,” I said quickly.
“Oh, we’ll be coming back to this for sure,” Joan teased. “But fine, let’s land on a name.”
“Hmm, how about something watch related?” I suggested.
“Pocket watch emporium?” Emily offered.
“That sounds like we’re selling pocket watches,” Joan pointed out.
“It does,” I said. “What else? Watch, sundial, clock. I’m just spitballing here. Time?”
“Ohh, time!” Joan sat forward excitedly. “I like that. Time what?”
“Time… less?” Emily recommended.
“Timeless Artifacts,” Joan declared with a triumphant smile.
“I love that.” I grinned.
“Me, too,” Joan said as she pulled her phone out of her bag. “I’m going to email Flora right now and let her know.”
“Good idea, babe,” I said, and I reached over to lay a hand on her thigh as we made it to the last leg of the trip.
Joan spent some time with her nose in her phone, and she hummed along to the music as she typed out an email to Flora. After a few minutes, I heard the whooshing sound of an email being sent off. Then Joan looked up, and she gasped loudly.
“What?” I asked in surprise.
“Oh, my god,” she said in a small voice, and I noticed her face was very pale.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“There,” Joan said in a strained voice as she lifted a shaking finger and pointed it at a large, sprawling manor house we were about to pass. She gulped, and her face paled even more. “That’s my family’s home.”
Chapter 6
If you’d like to see a map of Frankie’s time traveling adventures, you can find it on my Patreon (search Google for ‘Patreon Eric Vall’), or you can find it in my Facebook group (Search for ‘Eric Vall’ in Facebook Groups). It’s also linked on my website at www.ericvall.com
“Really?” Emily asked, and she scooted to the edge of the seat to get a better look at the manor through the windshield.
“Do you want to stop and say hello?” I asked as I slowed down a little.
“No!” Joan replied, and she shook both of her hands out nervously. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where we were, I didn’t realize how close we were. I haven’t seen them since I yelled at them all last Christmas.”
“Joan, my dear,” Emily said as she reached up into the front seat and took hold of Joan’s hand. “I am truly sorry for your family situation. But that manor looks exquisite. I think you should forgive them.”
“Ha!” Joan let out a bark of laughter as she patted Emily’s hand. “Nice try.”
“One must cast the net to catch the fish,” Emily sighed as she sat back and peered out the window. “Truly, though. What a stunning estate. Did you grow up there?”
“Not entirely, but I spent a lot of time there. It’s my grandfather’s residence, but we visited often. See that tire swing? My mother used to have to drag me off that thing kicking and screaming.” A nostalgic look crossed Joan’s face as she eyed the sprawling manor behind the large stone and wrought-iron gates, but suddenly, a determined look crossed her face. “Frankie, pull up to the gate. I’ve changed my mind. I want to go in.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, but I clicked my blinker on anyway.
“Yes.” Joan nodded forcefully. “If we’re going to find out what happened to Uncle Harold, we’re going to have to talk to them eventually. Just drive right up to the speaker.”
“Alright,” I said, and I followed the brunette’s instructions.
The driveway leading up to the gate was short and smooth, and I rolled down my window as I pulled up to the speaker box embedded in the stone.
“Good afternoon,” a female voice crackled through the speaker, and she spoke in a very business-like tone. “May I ask what your business at the Giles Manor is?”
I turned to Emily, and we exchanged a look that said ‘wow, how fancy,’ but Joan just rolled her eyes and leaned across my lap.
“Hey, Shawnna, it’s Joan!” she called out through the window. “Me and some friends. Can you let us in, please?”
“Joany, sweetheart, it’s been too long,” the woman on the other end of the speaker replied, and her tone totally changed when she spoke to Joan. “Come on in and don’t forget to come give me a big squeeze.”
“I will, thanks, Shawnna,” Joan said loudly before she sat back in the seat, and the gates started to slide open.
“They don’t seem so bad, your family,” Emily commented.
“Shawnna’s not family, she’s ‘hired help,’” Joan said with air quotes. “The rest of my family barely acknowledge her existence.”
“Ah, they’re that kind of rich, snooty people,” I said with a knowing nod. “So, how did you turn out so good?”
“Innate empathy, I guess?” Joan shrugged and then motioned down the long, circular driveway. “You can just pull up to the front door.”
“Is that Shawnna?” Emily asked as we passed a small guard house, where a middle-aged black woman was smiling and waving at us through a small window.
“Yup,” Joan said as she smiled and waved back. “Actually, stop here for a second, babe, I’ll run in and say hi to her now, before my family puts me in a sour mood.”
“Do you want us to come with you?” I asked as I slowed the car to a stop.
“Nope, I’ll just be a second,” Joan said, and she already had one foot out the door.
Emily and I watched from the car as Joan jogged to the guard house with her sundress bouncing around her knees. Shawnna met her at the door, and the two embraced warmly. They chatted animatedly for a short moment, and then Joan waved, jogged back to the car, and pulled the door shut behind her.
“She seems nice,” Emily remarked.
“Super nice,” Joan confirmed as she motioned out the windshield. “Okay, we can go now.”
I kicked the Volvo back into drive and headed up the long driveway past the large tree with the tire swing that swung gently in the breeze. The lawn was perfectly manicured, and the manor was lined with bright, healthy flowers. It really was a beautiful residence, but clearly Joan’s family issues cast a dark shadow across the place for her. I’d have to make sure I played the role of supportive boyfriend and not let myself be drawn in by their flashy wealth.
I finally pulled up to the front of the big, white mansion and parked where Joan indicated. Then we all stepped out of the Volvo and looked up at the large building.
“How many bedrooms are in there?” Emily asked.
“Um, sixteen, I’m pretty sure,” Joan replied.
“Jeez.” I chuckled and shook my head. “Please tell me your grandad didn’t have fifteen kids.”
“Nah, just three,” Joan said as she rounded the hood of the car and headed toward the front door.
