Alderson Boarding House

Mr. Wolf?

The morning of Aug 26, 2023

Patrick, or Pat as he told me to call him, was a man of his word. He emailed me the flight information and made sure I had all of Madra's paperwork for him to fly with me. The flight was arranged for that Friday at 9 PM and was set to land at 9 AM due to a lay over halfway. Which worked for me, that allowed me to walk Mad and to get some breathing room as well.

The movers had made it there first thing Wednesday and had everything gone by Thursday. Madra and I stayed in a hotel, also arranged by Pat, that night and we spent most of Friday at the dog park and walking around until it was a few hours until we needed to board our plane.

Overall, everything went smoothly from start to finish. I had no issues with Madra’s check-in and due to his size, they allowed him to sit with me on the condition I paid for the seat beside him. Which I happily did. Madra was a big 135 IBS all-black dog that had a lot of hair as well. I wasn't sure about the breed, so I always just said mixed on any paperwork. But despite his size, he was super well-behaved and very nice. The flight attendants loved him and passed him a few treats.

When our second flight was done and they allowed us to exit the plane I saw Pat standing next to a big black SUV. He walked over to me and we grabbed my bags off the outdoor belt and walked back to the SUV, during that time we made basic small talk, most of it was him making sure everything went fine. He held the front passenger door open for me and then helped Madra get into the back passenger before making his way to the driver's side door.

There were a few things I knew for sure about Pat O'Beron.

The man was to the point and liked to make sure his i’s were dotted, and t’s were crossed.

He had connections to god knows where with how quickly he arranged things.

He had a good reputation among the community (Thank you google reviews for that information.)

He had to work out with easy it was for him too pick Madra up and placed him in the car.

Lastly, despite his slightly d**k-like manner, he was a gentleman.

All in all, he was an interesting person.

He wasn’t too bad to look at either, I thought lastly to myself. He still had the same brown hair and blue eyes, but now I noticed he had a slight tan as well. He also stood around 6FT compared to my own 5’10. I wondered how many of the townswomen would be wanting my head on a plate for just being in a car with this man.

The thought caused me to let out a laugh.

“Is there something funny?” He asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Oh nothing, just wondering if I should be worried about any of the locals hunting me down for riding in the car with the town's handsome young lawyer,” I smirked trying to hold back a laugh.

He sighed as his hands gripped the wheel a little tighter for a moment. “You read my reviews on Google, didn’t you?”

I grinned, “Of course, how else would I find out about the town's most handsome and well-to-do lawyer? Who happens to also helps the local shelter in town when they need some extra hands? Oh, and he has also loved the town's strawberries since he was a little kid?” By this point, I couldn't hold back the laugh.

“That damned Mrs. Miller... “ He muttered under his breath, “I helped her one time, one time! And she had to leave my life story for a review.”

Bless you, Mrs. Miller, I thought as I continued to laugh. My eyes were filled with tears from how much I was laughing. It was a good laugh, one I hadn’t had in years. I spent the rest of the drive grinning and making small remarks about strawberries to Pat. While it may have been amusing for me, I could tell he was having fun by the way he sat more comfortably with one hand on the wheel and the other occasionally petting Madra when he stuck his head in between me and pat.

When we got to the heavy iron gate that sat in front of a long driveway, I knew we had arrived. I looked at the tall wall that surrounded part of the property to discourage poachers from accessing the property. I even recalled when it happened once and the beating my grandmother had given the poacher when he was discovered.

Pat pulled out a small clicker and pushed the button causing the gate to open. That was a new update since I had been here. I took a mental note but said nothing.

The style of the gate and house always reminded me of an old Victorian-style mansion.

“Do you happen to know why my family built this style of a home in the middle of nowhere Alaska?” if anyone around knew it the answer it’d be the lawyer, right?

“Your family came to Alaska in the 1860s after being forced from Salem, MA. They then later moved to this area in 1920 and had the boarding house built. The reason and history behind the move can be found in the study.” He explained as we neared the house.

I was right, the lawyer knew. I was then caught on a piece of that information. “Boarding house?” I repeated in the same way he repeated dog to me a few days ago.

“Yes, your grandmother had continued that tradition and kept the boarding home running. For that, I am grateful as 2 residents outside of myself currently live here. The task now falls to you to take over as the caretaker of the Alderson Boarding House.” He had stopped in front of the house and was waiting for me to respond.

“You live here?” I asked slowly.

“Yes.” He replied just as slowly.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you live here?” he looked at me in confusion. “You’re a lawyer, you could easily afford a better place. So why live in an old boarding house?”

He sat for a moment, a few emotions going through his eyes until finally, he answer with a shocking statement. “My parents kicked me out while I was still finishing my law degree because they caught me kissing a guy. Your grandmother offered a room here, I’ve never wanted to look anywhere else so I stayed.”

I sat there feeling like an i***t. A big giant ass. I should write dumbass on my forehead for being so incentive earlier. “I am so sorry your family did that. You’re, ah, welcome to stay.. and, um sorry for teasing you earlier.” I was word vomiting by this point. My face felt like I was also blushing from embarrassment.

He let out a chuckle as he got out of the car not saying a word. He grabbed my bag and lead me through the large front doors. The inside was still the same as 10 years ago. The door opened into a large area that to the right had a doorway going to the main living room that was used when guests were there, and on the left to the sitting area that held a grand piano and had a wall of books to learn songs from, and right in front of us was a staircase that leads to the rooms on the other to floors along with a hall on the main floor that leads to the dining room and Kitchen. Due to the age of the home, there had also been a butler's pantry. I wondered if it was still there.

“I’ll take you to your room so you can settle in for a bit, I’ll meet you in the kitchen so we can sign the paperwork and you can eat.” He said as he took me up to the 3rd floor. I’d only been there once as this was my grandmother's area.

We barely got to the top of the stairs when I had the urge to run back down them, grab Madra and run. Being on the 3rd floor was what made the death of my grandmother suddenly very real. The woman I spent most of my childhood with wasn’t here to scold me. To tell me that this floor wasn't meant for little girls. Because she was gone.

Not ignoring me gone, but gone gone, I’d never have the chance to talk to her, to find out why she kicked me out, why she cut me off from her life as if I didn't mean anything. The necklace I hadn’t taken off since the day Pat left it there now felt warm on my neck.

I must have made a sound because Pat stopped in front of me a few feet away from where I still stood at the top stair. He looked at my face and let out a breath before walking back to the stairs and waving for me to follow him.

We ended up going to the second floor and made our way to a closed door I was very familiar with. It was the room I had used when my parents were away, and they spent more time away than present in my life due to their jobs. I touched the knob and just left my hand there before looking at the man standing beside me petting my dog.

He looked up and let out a small smile. “I kind of assumed that you wouldn't be ready to be in that part of the house yet. To be honest, it's hard for any of us to go up there knowing she isn't there to grab us by the ears and more or less toss us back down. So I had this room prepared for you.”

He walked over and placed his hand on mine and twisted the knob, when it opened the first thing I saw was MY bed. Somehow my things were already here and he had had them set up. My bed was made and my desk was sitting next to it. The bookshelves on one side of the room had my battered 2nd, 3rd, and some 5th-hand books that I had found in thrift shops and used bookstores.

The thing that caught my attention the most was the rug that under my bed. It took up most of the middle of the room, it was the same one from my childhood. I stepped farther inside and looked toward the window seat. The same pillows that I used to prop myself up on to read or star gaze still laid there, and on the corner were the wooden play swords my father had bought me. My mother had a fit over how she had a daughter that was always covered in dirt. All around the room were things from my crappy apartment mixed with things I thought my grandmother would have thrown out.

A throat being cleared could be heard behind me, embarrassed I turned and looked at him.

“Thank you..” thank you for everything I wanted to say. But the words were caught in my throat.

He smiled and ran a hair through his hair, “We, uh, did what we could about setting up your room. The only box we didn't touch was your clothes. Figured you’d like to do that on your own instead of 3 guys…” He trailed off looking past me, it was now his turn to blush.

The comment hit me like a ton of breaks and caused me to laugh. “Thank you, I do appreciate that.”

He grinned and took Madra's leash from me, “I’ll take him out back so he can run while you get settled in. We'll meet you downstairs in a few hours.”

“Ya know, if you had put my clothes away I guess it wouldn't have bothered you much at least.” I said teasing him just a bit before he closed the door.

He looked me in the eye for a moment and I could see the amusement dancing there, he let out a deep laugh that matched his gruff tone. “I’m Bi, not gay.” He said with a wink as he and Madra disappeared behind the now-closed door.

I sat down at the window seat and smirked “Well damn, he got me on that one”

– Back to the present

I sat there for about 30 more minutes thinking about the crazy path my life had taken over the last 10 years. Sighing I figured I might as well take advantage of the time given to me and opened the closest that had 2 boxes of clothes. The towels and blankets had been neatly put away on the many shelves of the large closet. Grabbing a pair of shorts, a hoodie, and other needed items I walked to the only other door which led to a shared bathroom.

Just to be safe I knocked to make sure no one was in the room. I walked in and almost let out a sound in wonder at the clawfoot tub sitting against the wall that had a window covered in lacy curtains. I saw the double sinks and noticed my bathroom things had been placed in a basket by the sink close to my door.

I thanked the man that had the forethought to do that and grabbed the basket and spent the next hour soaking in the tub and just relaxing. I also let the news of my grandmother's death finally hit me. Being back in this home made it even more real.

After running a hand through my hair to rinse the soap out, I took one strand and twirled it around my fingers. My wild black hair and my green eyes were traits I got from my grandmother. They were Alderon/Doyle traits and were special, that was what she told me when I would complain about how the local girls would meow at me and tease me for my cat-like eyes. I closed those eyes and breathed through my nose as I let myself fall into the tub. Letting the water just wash over me.

I knew I could stay like this for 5 minutes on a bad day. My ability to hold my breath earned me a few medals on a swim team I was on during my team with “the family member.”

What felt like a few minutes later I felt large hands on my shoulders pulling me up as someone called my name.

“Cor-!” I heard over the water and turned into “Cordelia!!” from a loud booming but rough voice.

I tried rubbing the water away from my eyes as the person's hand now went from holding my shoulders to picking me up from the tub and placing me on a towel. They pushed my hands away with another towel. I blinked when the water was finally out of my eyes and my head was spinning from whoever had yanked me from the peacefulness of the tub.

“Are you ok?” the voice beside me asked, it was no longer as loud but still held a roughness that was different from the gruffiness of pats.

If I had to compare, Pats was more like what you’d expect if a bear was to talk, it wasn't very deep, but kind of gruff. This man's voice was like a wolf, it was deep and held a tone of authority to it. Even when laced with worry. I let out a laugh. I used to be scolded for comparing people to animals, but here I was doing it again.

“Cordelia?” he asked again, I looked at the man beside me that had effectively made me into a burrito with all the towels he somehow found in his haste. I focused on his face and was drawn to his gray eyes.

I smiled, “Your eyes match your voice, kinda like a wol..” at that point, my whole world went black as the burrito attacker quickly caught me.

I’m not sure how long I was out, but it was nice. I had a dream about running through the forest around Alderon Boarding House with Madra, a gray wolf, a black bear, and a large hawk.