Chapter 3: Settling In

Errol and the Barkleys quickly and easily settled into a routine. He'd usually leave his car parked and ride to work with Lulu at about a quarter to six in the morning, then she'd either bring him back to the house after his shift, or he'd walk if she was tied up at the restaurant. It was less than a mile, and that was something else he liked about small towns.

School was out for the summer, so Gretchen was pretty much on her own. Of course, girls that age always have a thousand things on their calendars, so they generally didn't see each other until dinnertime. That was probably a good thing, because he'd caught her checking him out as he was checking her out on more than one occasion. As appealing as she was, he didn't doubt for a minute that getting involved with her spelled trouble with a capital T.

Errol's first few free afternoons were spent walking or driving around town, learning where everything was located. He was tempted to buy a western shirt and some boots and join in on the community spirit, but it was a pretty sure bet that the local shopkeepers had boosted all their prices for the duration of the festivities.

He spent an afternoon at the fair, and the Friday night after he arrived in town, Lulu took him to the rodeo. He enjoyed the spectacle, but as he watched the bull riding and bronco competition, he wondered why anyone would intentionally sit his ass on an angry animal that size. No doubt for the same reason skydivers jumped out of perfectly good airplanes.

He continued to cook dinner for them. Lulu fussed about it, but Errol insisted, at least for as long as she was putting in so many hours at the restaurant. Gretchen told him in confidence that as far as she was concerned, he could just keep right on cooking dinner because he was so much better at it than her mom.

Of course, a house with a teenager is a house with Internet and WiFi. It was the way he kept himself informed about the world on his MacBook, but he also used it to keep in touch with his friend, Margie. Once he'd taught her to use a computer, her appetite for the Internet was insatiable. But lately, he could tell by the tone of her ramblings, that she wasn't doing so well. He wondered if anyone was checking to make sure she was taking her insulin like she was supposed to.

So far, he hadn't heard a word from Luke Marquette. That was a little disappointing because he thought they'd connected in some way. He knew the kid was smarter than the average bear, and that he had a future if he could get out of the hustler rut. But then Luke had his own life to live. Errol just hoped it wouldn't be the same one he'd been living.

When the county fair wrapped up and the rodeo performers had packed up their horse trailers and pickups and headed for the next big event, Errol began looking around for a room he could rent by the week. Marty was back home, but he still didn't have any idea how long he would be off work, so Errol had no idea how much longer he'd be filling in for him.

In the mean time, he was building up some cash reserves because Lulu wouldn't accept any rent for the room. On top of that, he was allowed one free meal at the restaurant while he was working, and unless he stopped at the store to buy something special to cook for dinner, he cooked what was in Lulu's pantry and fridge. His expenses were practically nothing.

He'd done his best to be the perfect houseguest. He showered late at night so he wouldn't be competing for the single bathroom in the morning. He not only kept his room clean, he kept the whole house clean, except for the ladies' bedrooms, of course. He scoured the bathroom, vacuumed the carpets about every other day, took out the trash, and he never left a mess in the kitchen when he was cooking. He hoped his efforts made his presence less burdensome, that he wasn't wearing out his welcome.

A couple of days after the fair ended, they were sitting at the dinner table making a pretty good dent in a pot of his excellent chicken and dumplings. He mentioned that he'd seen an ad in the local paper for a room at a boardinghouse on the other side of town. He mentioned it because he was surprised that boardinghouses even existed anymore, at least ones that weren't now calling themselves B&Bs and charging hotel rates. Anyhow, he thought he'd go by the next afternoon and see how much they wanted for a room.

That idea was immediately attacked from both sides of the table. Lulu looked at him like he'd slapped her. "But Errol, why? Have we done something to make you feel like you're not welcome here?"

Gretchen jumped right in. "Hey, I've heard that place has cockroaches! And I'm pretty sure most of the boarders are, you know, like riffraff. I bet our house is a lot nicer. Why would you want to go somewhere else?"

Errol was a little surprised at their reaction. "Yes, your house is very nice and I like it here. And no, Lulu, neither of you have done anything to make me feel unwelcome. It's just that I was under the impression when you offered the room that it was supposed to be temporary. Now that the fair is over, I don't see any reason why you two should have to put up with a stranger living in your personal space."

Lulu laughed, "A stranger? Jeez, who's a stranger? You've live here for two weeks now! Look here, Errol Hansen, if you move out on us, I'm gonna take it as a personal insult. Now you get that idea right out of your head!"

He shook his head grinning, and feigning a subdued whine, he said, "Yes, Mother. Whatever you say, Mother."

"And another thing," Lulu said, getting into the just kidding mood, "Now that I'm working normal hours again, I'll be cooking dinner at least every other day."

"Oh Mom," Gretchen sighed, rolling her eyes in classic, melodramatic teenage fashion, "Couldn't you just leave well enough alone?"

In the short time that he'd been there, the waitresses at the hotel restaurant grew to really like Errol. Unlike Marty, he was even-tempered and pleasant to work with. Marty was a good cook, but he tended to be grouchy, especially when they got busy. If an order got messed up, he was inclined to fly off the handle and start throwing things. The only reason he got away with it was because there was no real competition for his job, and decent cooks were hard to come by.

Errol, on the other hand, worked at a steady pace, he never confused orders, and he always turned out a good product. He enjoyed joking and kidding with all the help, and he was quick with a compliment. Some of the hotel cleaning staff as well as the waitresses had their eye on him as a possible ... well, as a possible.