Chapter 22

We woke early, feeling great! That being the case, and knowing that our meeting wasn't until ten o-clock, we decided to play around a bit. We made sweet languorous love then rose to clean up and pack up our bags. Once the bags were back on the trike, we went up to the restaurant. Despite all of our dalliances we still arrived an hour early.

"Kade? Can we eat now? I'm famished!" Adin asked.

"Of course Honey. I'm just as hungry, I feel as if I could eat a whole moose." <Chortle, chortle>

I guided Adin to a window table and helped her with her seat, as all gentlemen should, then sat across from her. It was between busy times at the restaurant so there was only one waitress on duty; therefore we needed to wait a few minutes for service.

"I'm going to miss all of this," said Adin as she gazed out at Rum Runner.

"I am too, but it won't be our last trip if we get involved with this project."

Oh that would be so nice! But isn't this going to need a whole lot more time and money than the diner?"

"Oh a great deal more and unless Mary has a degree in business there will be a steep learning curve. It will take a tremendous amount of dedication for an artist. After all their brains don't work the way business people's brains work—it is that whole right brain left brain thing."

"What do you mean? I've seen a lot of artists that work for themselves."

"Oh, I'm not saying that artists can't run a business. What I am saying that it takes dedication, a lot of it. So the question is; does Mary have what it takes to actually run a business and do her art too."

Just then Mable came to our table with two mugs and a pot of coffee along with the requisite menus. She asked, "How was your trip? I hope that you had a good time."

"Ohhh ... we had a wonderful time," gushed Adin while I simply nodded and smiled in agreement.

"Oh, good, then. Erik is such a good boy, and works so very hard on that boat. Well then, I'll let you alone for a few minutes to decide," she said, and then she was off to the next table to see to the people there.

In the end I had a large Swiss cheese omelet, pan fries and a medium rare steak while Adin had poached eggs on toast with a big pile of pan fries. We were just finishing our meal when Erik and Mary arrived. As the two young people made their way to us we experienced the seismic vibrations of an earthquake as Erik's Mama slammed open the swinging doors to the kitchen and pounded her way toward her son.

Before he could fend off his mother, she had him in a bear hug and was twirling him around as if he was a five year old child, all the while exclaiming, "My boy! My boy! Come I feed you and your little one."

The little one had moved out of the big woman's reach before being gathered up in those powerful arms too.

Mary was the exact opposite of her man. Where he was just less than seven feet tall, Mary was just five feet tall and a mere wisp of a woman, she was that thin, but there was about her the air of a powerful spirit. However, there was something that wasn't quite right about Mary, but I couldn't get a read on just what was wrong. I leaned over closer to Adin and thought to her, "There's something wrong with Mary that I can't quite read, Honey. Since you're more perceptive than I, would you please give her a deep scan before we get tangled up with something dark?"

Adin nodded and bowed her head slightly and closed her eyes as she concentrated. Suddenly she snapped her head up and a big tear gathered at the corner of her right eye and then ran down her cheek. Adin flicked the tear away with a quick angry motion. She then gathered herself, with difficulty, and thought to me, "It's nothing dark but it is serious. Kade, she has Young-Onset Parkinson's Disease!"

"Well let's talk to them and see what we see then. At any rate I will try to heal her after I do some research on Parkinson's."

Adin nodded but added softly, "If she loses her ability to paint I think she will become suicidal."

I looked with concern at Adin and asked, "Does she know, yet?"

Adin just nodded and said, "Right now her innate stubbornness is forcing her to carry on, without telling Erik ... or anyone else, for that matter."

Mamma finally let the couple free and they quickly made their way to our table.

Erik was as red as a beet. Erik said with the shake of his head, "I know that I'm deeply loved but still ... it's embarrassing to be treated as a small child."

Mary just nodded with a slight giggle as she covered her mouth with her hand.

We went through the introduction ritual and then the two sat down beside us just as Mable arrived with a huge platter of some sort of pastry and a little carrier of different syrups.

"Crème-puffs for breakfast?" I asked not a little incredulously.

"No, no these are ebelskiver. They are Danish, a sort of pancake in a ball," said Erik.

Mary chimed in with her agreement, as she selected several of the spherical treats and then poured what smelled like blueberry syrup on her meal.

Mable then arrived with a platter of scrambled eggs and sausage, and asked with a huge grin, "Your Mamma wants to know if you want anything else."

"This is fine, Mable, except that I'd like some coffee and Mary would like some of her special tea. You know where it is, right?"

"Yes, I know where Miss Mary's tea is. I'll get your drinks right away Mr. Erik."

"Mary looked at our questioning glances and said, "My Mum sends me a blend from our local tea shop at home."

Things settled down for a bit and then I asked, "Would you mind if we tried some of your ... what did you call these things?"

"Ebelskiver. Sure, the ones on this end are stuffed with cinnamon, the rest are just plain."

We took a couple of each and then took a bite at the same time.

"These are wonderful," we each exclaimed!

Finally we were all finished eating and relaxing over our drinks with amiable chit chat. Mary talked of her home in Scotland and her painting while Erik smiled indulgently at her, without her knowing it, though. His demeanor changed when she looked up at him. Eventually Mary worked her way around to why we were so interested in her and Erik. At that point she became extremely blunt.

"Okay now, what is it that you two really want?"

I smiled while Adin's feathers got a little ruffled because someone was being more than a little rude to her Master. I could feel her tense up in preparation to giving Mary a new rectal orifice. Adin was just opening her mouth for the first salvo when I placed my hand on hers and squeezed. My action caught Adin by surprise and when she looked up at me I just shook my head slightly. My wife blushed a bit and she lowered her head and sat submissively. I put my arm around her shoulder and kept it there for awhile. This was one of those confusing moments for Adin and she would now need a bit of reassurance.

This all took no more than a second or two but Mary somehow caught the interplay between Adin and myself and frowned.

"Mary the reason that we are interested in you both is that I represent a very wealthy man that likes to do good works for deserving people. Erik here told me about your dream of an artist colony out on Gray Rock Iles. Now I need to know as much as there is to know about the two of you as it seems that both projects, the colony and Rum Runner, could be rolled into one and made viable. So what do you think about that Mary?" I said as I raised my eyebrows.

My statement, and my bold manner, totally took the wind out of her sails and she just stuttered.

"W ... ww ... well ... I..." then she just stopped trying to talk and looked up at her man in a pleading way.

Erik was stunned, "Wow ... I've never seen this girl stymied for words, before!"

Tears began to flow as Mary sort of melted, "You best be serious and not putting me on, Mr. Mohr."

"Look, Mary, nothing is written in stone yet. This is a feeler meeting, but if you're really willing to work hard at learning what is needed then we just might make both your dreams a reality."

"What do I ... er ... we have to learn?"

"Well, proper business procedures, like how to make a good business plan, a bit of accounting. Things like that, but not limited to just those."

"Oh..." Mary said weakly. The disappointment was clearly written all over her face.

"I need you to understand that what you are dreaming about is going to cost at least a million dollars if not twice that. Though the colony will be out on those islands it will still be in the state of Maine. Since people will be renting those cottages there will be taxes and then there will be the building codes to meet and oh so many other things to learn about. Need I go on?

"I get it! You're just like everyone else! You don't think that I can do this!" Mary said angrily as she started to get up to leave pulling Erik along with her."

Using my angry Master voice I said loudly and firmly, "Stop behaving like a spoiled child and sit down now, or it IS over!"

Mary looked shocked! Apparently no one had ever talked to her in such a manner before. The poor woman looked shell shocked and simply stood there with a confused look on her face.

"If you ever want your dream to come true, you'd best not miss this opportunity! Now sit down and behave like an adult," I said more softly.

"Mary turned toward Adin and asked, "Does he talk to you like that?"

I'm sure that she was thinking that I abused my wife and would be able to gain the high ground by getting Adin to be an ally, but what she got back shocked her even more.

"Trust me when I say that this man doesn't have to use such a voice on me! I know that he knows what he is doing and I behave appropriately. However, if Kade ever did use such a voice on me I would deserve it. That's all that I will say on this matter. So SIT DOWN AND BEHAVE, or go away and play with your dollies!"

Mary turned toward Erik and opened her mouth, about to ask the question that would bring death to their relationship! There was no way that the man would remain unscathed by the question of what he thought of her behavior, no matter what he answered.