Adam Blake - 27. Chapter 27

We are creatures of habit. I didn’t need an alarm to wake me at 5 am. I got up, went to the bathroom, and woke Billy as I dressed for our run. Billy got up, without a moan or groan, he got dressed to run and we started our warm-up exercise. Mom came in to stay with Scotty in case he woke up before we were back.

We started from the Motel and followed the road to town that Billy took last night. I saw what was a tip of the lake and we ran toward that, I’m not sure how far we ran but we finished up back at the motel doing our cool down, 1 1/2 hours after starting. “That was a good run.”

When we walked into the room, Scotty was sitting on the bed watching cartoons. “Billy, take your shower and then I’ll take mine. I want to check on the folks and then I’ll come back and take my shower." Didn’t quite work out that way. Mom and Dad were up and already had their showers. Mom had brought my clothes over so I could take a shower there. Worked out perfectly.

“How was the run?”

“Good, I’m not sure I could have gone another mile but Billy, Dad he’s going to be in the Olympics. The kid is fast, he has good techniques and his breathing is damn near perfect. Watch you’ll see.”

I walked back into my room and Billy was helping Scotty getting dressed. While he did that, I packed up our dirty clothes and put them in the trunk of the car. Mom and Dad came out with their bags, I added them to the trunk and we were ready to go for breakfast. I stopped at the desk, turned in our keys, and settled the bill.

“Maybe we should try another place for breakfast or start to drive home and stop on the way.” As I said this I was watching Billy. He didn’t say anything, he just looked at me with deer eyes.

“Adam, I’d like to go back to that place where we had dinner. I noticed they had buckwheat pancakes and I haven’t had those for years.”

“Ok Mum, for you” I paused “and for Billy.”

He rushed at me and grabbed me around the middle for a hug. I may not have found myself a girlfriend but Billy has. The only problem is a long-distance romances never works out.

Pulling into the parking lot, I looked at the restaurant and saw a young lady looking back. Then a smile and she was gone. I don’t know if Billy saw her or not but I wasn’t going to say anything.

When we walked into the restaurant Ann was there to show us to our seats. I noticed another girl also working as a waitress. She must be the regular waitress and Ann was going to be someone’s special waitress.

Dad, Scotty, and I sat on one side of the table leaving Mom and Billy on the other side. Ann came and took our order, brought us our drinks, and then sat down next to Billy. “I haven’t eaten yet so if you don’t mind, I’d like to share your table.”

I knew Billy wouldn’t mind, “Is that you regular waitress?”

“Yes, normally I wouldn’t be working today. I always have my breakfast here and so I waited for you.”

“She got up and brought us our breakfast, her mother stopped by to say hello. I noticed Billy only eating with one hand and then I noticed Ann was also eating with one hand. I just smiled, young love and I was happy for them. I just hope Billy wouldn’t get hurt nor Ann for that matter.

“Adam, do you have any cards with you?”

At first, I wondered why he wanted cards and then it dawned on me he wanted calling cards. “Yes, I have some in the glove compartment in the car. Here are the keys, you can go and get them.”

I chuckled, they both had to go and get the cards, holding hands no less. Dad paid the bill, I left a tip and we ready to go home. As we were walking to the door, I saw Billy give Ann a kiss and a hug.

When Ann met us as we were leaving, she hugged us goodbye and ask us to make sure we stopped again. Approaching Billy, he looked sad, “I’m coming back in a few days.”

He ran back to the restaurant and then was back with a smile on his face. Young people fall in love fast, sometimes it lasts and sometimes it doesn’t. Bill and Jennifer dated in high school, went to college together, and are now married. Could it happen again? Possibly

We did stop for lunch and then we were home. I dropped Mom and Dad off, then took the boys home. Scotty ran into the house and jumped on his dad as he came out of the front door. Jennifer followed but before they got to the car, I got a hug from Billy. “Thanks, Adam, I think I may have found my first and only girlfriend. You’re good luck for me.”

“I’m glad for you Billy. I think she’s a very nice young lady. I hope distance won’t make it a problem for you but I’ll try and see that you spend as much time as possible together. This is your junior year at high school, so you two might follow in your dad and mom’s footsteps.”

By then, Jennifer was at the car followed by Bill and his new appendage. “Mom, Dad guess what?” I thought he was going to say something about Ann, I was wrong. “Uncle Adam has found a girlfriend.”

“Don’t you have that wrong? I think you meant that you have found a girlfriend.”

Bill grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the kitchen. Jennifer put on the coffee and both of them sat down across from me and just looked. “What? You should be questioning Billy about his girlfriend.”

Bill and Jennifer just sat there looking at me. “Ok, the daughter of the owner of the cabin came over with the papers and the keys. She’s a doctor and runs the local clinic. She’s attractive and your sons have me married.”

Both of them together, “And?”

“There is no ‘and’. She's attractive and smart but we just chatted for a few minutes about the cabin.”

“Then how do you know what she does.”

“She asked about what I did, I asked about the community and the schools. Typical questions, nothing odd.”

“Are you going to see her again?”

“We’re neighbors and her dad is a good friend of my dad so probably we’ll run into each other. Don’t worry if something gets serious with any girl you’ll be the first to know. You should ask your oldest son about his new love.”

Then I heard, “Hey Dad, can you come here a moment?”

I watched Bill pick up Scotty and take him to Billy’s room. Jennifer and I talked about the cabin and I told her she’s going to lose her sons for the summer. “I want to take some furniture up as well as kitchen items, linens, etc. So I’ll be making a lot of trips and the boys asked to go along. I told them it was up to you and Bill. I don’t mind, they’re great kids.”

“Maybe Bill and I can go up with you on one of these trips.”

“That’d be a great idea. You’ll love the place.”

“You and Bill are like brothers.”

“Yes, both of us were the only child and so we always did things together. I think running every morning sort of cemented our brotherly relationships. We always had each other’s back.”

“When Bill and I started to date, did that bother you?”

“No, I was glad for Bill. I was tutoring at the time so except for the running I didn’t see Bill as much. If we stopped running maybe it would’ve bothered me, I don’t know because we never stopped running. We solved a lot of problems on those runs and now I have another Billy to run with. Jennifer, you have to get him to the Olympic trials. I’ll even pay for it. The kid is good and this would be so good for him. You must’ve seen the pride he has now as compared before.”

“You’re right he isn’t the same boy he was two years ago. He has confidence and he has knuckled down. I’m not sure what you did when he was with you at your school. But it has turned him around.”

“I didn’t do anything that Bill couldn't do if he had time. He works hard to provide for his family with the best he can afford. In my opinion, he’s a great guy dedicated to his family. I’m glad he’s my friend cause I get to spoil his kids.”

“Jen, come here for a second.”

“Jen, I got to go. I’ll catch you all later.”

Arriving back home, “Mom, Dad, we need to make a list of things we need for the cabin. We can start putting things together and then I can rent a truck and take them up.”

And that is what we did. Mom started with the kitchen items, Dad and I put together a list of tools we’d need. When mom had the kitchen list finished, she started on the linen list, including towels, sheets, etc. The lists were getting pretty long. Dad called George to make arrangements for a load of propane.

“Monday morning I took Mom and Dad to have the cabin registered in their name. Turned out it was put in my name. “Look son, it’ll be yours eventually this will just save time.” I gave them both a hug.

Over the next three weeks, I made an average of two trips to the cabin. On one trip I rented a UHAUL to carry furniture for the great room. I added a desk and chair as well. On one trip I went into the village, they called it a town and found a used furniture store, they called it a recycle shop. I picked up some lamps, nightstands, some additional items for the kitchen. The boys helped and it was fun.