“Oh my God! Sweet Mary, Moses, and Joseph! I cannot believe it!” She jumped up, screaming and dancing awkwardly around the room.
“What?” I stared at her, startled and slightly worried by her strange outburst.
“Bri! Come and look at this. I’m so tired, I wouldn’t put it past myself to be imagining it. Quick. Come and see!”
“Everything all right in there?” Gwendolyn’s voice called to us from the other side of the doorway, concern clear in her voice.
Mom ran to the door and swinging it open, threw her arms around the innkeeper. “Oh, yes. Everything is fantastic!”
“Okay, then. Good. Umm…there’s some lunch for you both on the stove. But, please, take your time. It will be there when you’re ready.” Gwendolyn slowly backed out of the room, shutting the door behind her, obviously confused.
“Mom. What’s the matter with you? You scared her to death!” I chuckled as I reached for the thick, yellowed piece of parchment she was extending in my direction.
“I don’t know how I never noticed it before. It must’ve fallen out of one of Alasdair’s journals. I’m certain it’s in his hand.”
I scanned the crumbling paper, struggling to make out some of the faded lettering. “Do you think it’s true? Could there really be another room, a secret room in the basement that was never found in a previous dig? I thought you all had cleaned everything out of that basement.”
“I don’t know. I would be surprised, simply because we spent so much time excavating the basement, but it’s the most promising thing we’ve found so far. We have to go and check it out.”
“Absolutely, we do. Let’s get cleaned up, go eat lunch, and hit the road.”
“Yes. Let’s! You take the shower. I’ll take one when we get back here tonight. I’m just going to splash some water on my face.”
I turned on the shower and stepped away to grab a towel and a change of clothes while I allowed the water to heat up. As I turned from the tub, I caught a glimpse of Mom’s smiling reflection in the mirror and thought for a moment it was myself. All my life, people had told me how much we resembled one another, but I’d never been able to see it until that very moment.
Her eyes were glowing with excitement and, with her grinning broadly, I could see the young woman my mother once was, and the resemblance between us was undeniable.
I hurried in the shower, knowing my mother was anxious to get to the site, but I still felt warm and refreshed when I turned off the steamy spray. I reached around the curtain to grab a towel and saw my mother sitting on the edge of the bed twiddling her thumbs and tapping her feet.
She’s always been good at subtlety, I thought to myself as I rushed to get ready as quickly as possible. Her jittering reminded me of my kindergarteners when they’ve waited too long to go to the restroom.
I pulled out my favorite pair of jeans and a v-cut blue t-shirt that matched the color of my eyes, donning them as I went back into the bathroom to throw on some makeup.
Quickly glancing at myself in the mirror, I pulled the hair away from my eyes with a clip, and walked back to the suitcase to retrieve my tennis shoes. I hadn’t even bothered to pack any other pair. I knew that for the work we’d be doing, practicality was key.
I motioned in Mom’s direction, waving her to the door so she would know I was ready. Together we made our way down the stairs. As we entered the kitchen, I saw my mother’s eyes widen as she noticed the steaming pan of lasagna on the stove and Jerry and Gwendolyn sitting at the table.
“I decided to pull out one of my mother’s recipes from the States for our American guests. Hope you enjoy. Come and sit down with us.” Gwendolyn scooted over next to her husband and motioned to the two seats on the other side of the table. “I also packed you both a bag of sandwiches. From the commotion earlier, I figured you ladies might be out the rest of the day.”
“Thank you.” I filled my own plate and sat down across from Jerry. “You really don’t have to cook for us every meal.”
“Oh, doona worry, lass. We’re charging ye for every bit of it.” Jerry chuckled as Gwendolyn smacked his arm.
“Oh, you hush. It’s really no problem. You wouldn’t be able to find any other food anyhow. We’re pretty much in the middle of nowhere.”
“Well, thank you. This lasagna is delicious.” I shoveled the steamy goodness into my mouth, grateful it hadn’t been haggis awaiting us.
“Well, good. I’m glad you like it. I haven’t made it in a very long time. Not Jerry’s favorite, but it sure brings back a lot of memories of my mother’s home cooking.”
“Bri doesn’t have very many memories of that, I’m afraid. Not much of a cook myself. Bri’s very good though. Guess she learned to fend for herself once she got tired of boxed macaroni and cheese every night.” Mom laughed as she got up to get her second serving of lasagna.