The Lavender Butterfly

Chapter 4

“Whew-wee!” Chloe yelled as we walked out of the airport into the blinding sunlight. Seeing as all of us were from Chicago, we weren’t well adapted to the heat and humidity of Florida in mid-June. We took the shuttle to the hotel and got out near the entrance. As I sniffed the fragrance of the nearby ocean, I looked up at the hotel, towering over the beach. I looked along the beach and saw several people enjoying the waves, and looked over to the left and observed a long pier with bars and restaurants, and a boardwalk with even more restaurants, as well as carnival rides and games. I looked over at Meredith as we exchanged smiles. “I’m so looking forward to this,” Meredith said. I nodded in reply. We checked in and carried our bags up the elevator to our conjoined rooms on the ninth floor. I lugged Chloe’s massive luggage bag she used for all her dance costumes into their room, set it down and gave a sigh of relief. “Mommy, can we go to the beach, can we, can we PLEASE, Mommy?” Chloe stammered out impatiently. “In a bit Chloe, we still haven’t even unpacked!” Stella retorted. “Whoa!” Evan exclaimed, his voice echoing from out on the balcony. “Look at this view! I can see miles out onto the ocean!” Stella sternly called out to her kids. “Kids, we can’t be out too late tonight, we need to be over at the convention center early tomorrow morning!” She turned over to Meredith and said, “Are you sure you don’t want to come to the beach with us?” as she turned her attention back to the kids. “No, I think Chris and I will just hang back here at the hotel tonight.” Meredith replied. “Are you sure?” Stella replied, visibly annoyed by her rambunctious children. Meredith replied, laughing, “No, I’m sure, Stella.” Meredith and I walked down to the elevator and made our way to the wine bar. We each ordered a glass of merlot as we settled into our chairs, finally able to relax for the first time since we got off the plane. “I love those kids, but I’m glad we were able to get some time to ourselves. The kids have been bouncing since we got off the plane!” I said to Meredith. “No kidding,” she replied. “I just…” she paused before she could finish her sentence. She took a sip of wine as she broke eye contact and looked down at the table, forlorn. By now, I knew exactly what she was feeling. As she has been in the past several years in our marriage, she is devastated over the chance that we will never be able to have children of our own. It pains me to see her so distraught, time and time again. A tear rolled down her cheek. I wiped the tear with my thumb, brushed her check and gently placed my hand on hers on the table. I gave her a reassuring look, as her eyes contacted mine, she gave a hint of a smile. “Hey,” she said, changing the subject, “We should get out of here, just you and I…. go somewhere.” “Yeah,” I replied, “it’s our anniversary, at least the day after tomorrow, let’s……make a second honeymoon of it!” She perked up, her solemn face giving way to a look of passion. “You know, it can’t be a honeymoon if the two of us can’t be alone…” she said, caressing my thigh under the table. I said nothing, put my hand in hers, and let my sly facial expression and body language speak for itself. She continued, “Okay, Chloe has three performances tomorrow. After she is done, let’s find somewhere we can get away…. just you and I,” she winked. I grinned in response. As we began to walk to our room, our attention turned to the rack of brochures next to the front desk. I began to peruse through the brochures for some ideas. Sea World, no……Universal, no……Budget Inn, absolutely not…….buy one meal get another free at the Lobster House…..no. As nothing was really striking me, Meredith pulled out a brochure. “Hmm, what’s this?” she said inquisitively.  The brochure read, “Cassadaga – The Psychic Capital of the World.” Meredith looked at me. “Oh, no, no, no. You know what I think of all that psychic…. medium…. paranormal…….stuff…..” I responded. She chuckled “I know, I don’t really believe that stuff either, but it might be kinda fun…and look at this hotel!” She pointed at a picture of an old hotel on the brochure. “That looks like a nice place for a romantic getaway.” She said to me with her eyes aglow. I couldn’t say no to those eyes. Besides, the hotel did look pretty intriguing. It looked like an old Spanish mission building, rich with history. The clerk behind the front desk muttered something under his breath. I glanced over at him. He looked at me and said, “I overheard you two talking. Do you know anything about that hotel?” I looked at the brochure once more. “It says here that it’s the Historic Hotel Cassadaga.” “Right, that’s all true,” the clerk replied, “but that hotel is known to be one of the most haunted buildings in the country.  If you are planning to stay there looking for a romantic getaway, keep in mind you probably won’t be alone. There might be some spooks that’ll interrupt your time alone together!” the man said, whilst making hand gestures meant to scare. Meredith looked at me with a daring, intense glance. “That sounds like a thrill. Let’s do it. Tomorrow night.” I could tell her mind was made up, and I was intrigued as well, but not sold on the idea of spirits or ghosts, either. Still, it looked like a nice place for a romantic getaway. “Okay,” I replied. “It’s a date.” I smiled at her as I held her hand as we walked up to our room to retire for the night.