The Roses Wilted at Dusk Chapter 07
On the third day at my new job, I received a call from an unfamiliar number.
“Is this Ms. Ellison? This is Mr. Mercer from Willow Creek Estate. You used to ask us about availability every year.”
My hand paused around my coffee cup.
“Hello, Mr. Mercer.”
“Here’s the thing. A gentleman came to the estate today. He said you had referred him. He walked around the garden for a long time and asked many questions.”
“What questions?”
“He asked when you first came, what you said each time, and what year you last visited.”
Dashiell Lockwood had gone to Willow Creek Estate.
That was the wedding venue I had chosen for four
years.
The first year I went to look at it, I excitedly took photos all around and sent them to him. He said we should go in the off-season because peak season was too expensive.
The second year I went again. He said the company had just started and we should wait.
The third year, I did not tell him. I went by myself. I wrote one sentence in the guestbook and left.
The fourth year, I did not go back.
“What else did he ask?”
“He asked whether our guestbook was still here. I said. yes, and he flipped through it. When he reached the page you wrote on, he stood there for a long time.”
I knew what that page said.
If he still hasn’t come in the fourth year, I’ll stop waiting.
“What happened after that?”
“He wrote something underneath your line. After writing it, he sat on the lawn and stayed there until we closed.”
“What did he write?”
Mr. Mercer hesitated.
“He wrote: In the fourth year, I came. You were already
gone.”
I set the coffee cup on the desk and said nothing.
“Ms. Ellison, before that guest left, he asked whether you would come again. I said I didn’t know.”
“He said, if she comes, please tell her I booked the lawn, and I’ll keep it reserved.”
I thanked him and hung up.
That afternoon, Marlowe sent a photo.
