“Henry has waited his whole life for someone to call him that! Especially with an American accent!” the man chuckled and hugged his partner who blushed but still looked very satisfied.
Marie returned with her groceries and said hello to the two men. Then she took in the doctor’s bag and the bowl and blood stained towels. She finally saw Ben sitting shirtless at the table with the stitched gash on his scalp. She squeaked in surprise and began to speak in very rapid French. Henry responded and afterwards she rushed over and gave Ben a kiss on his forehead. He grinned and thanked her.
“Where is my t-shirt?” he asked Stephanie.
“It is in my room,” she said with a blush. “I’m afraid I may have gotten it wet with my tears as I was crying a bit.”
“Oh, that’s ok. I’ll go upstairs and get a new t-shirt. I want to clean up that broken glass and maybe patch that door. You wouldn’t happen to know of any good local glaziers would you?” he said to Richard and Henry.
“I’ll make a call,” Richard said with a smile.
“Thanks! Are you sticking around for a while?”
“No, we have to get back to our business. New guests are arriving this afternoon. It was very nice to meet you!” Richard said.
Ben shook his hand and Henry’s.
“Thanks again Doc!” Ben said with a smile and Henry’s face blossomed into a wide grin.
Richard rolled his eyes and ushered his partner outside.
With a nod at Marie, Ben headed up stairs and got himself a new shirt then went back to ask Stephanie where they kept the brooms, dustpans, mops and buckets.
He took some pictures of the damage before he began then he cleaned up the mess. The carpet would need to be washed as there was a significant amount of blood on it.
He was outside in the gravel parking lot hosing down the carpet when a small pickup rolled into the lot. A tiny, old gentleman stepped out of the car and walked over to Ben and started to speak to him in French. Ben held up his hand and shook his head then walked over to the back door and called for Marie. She came and spoke to the man then looked at Ben.
“He is here to fix the glass?” she said to Ben.
“Ah! Could you show him the front door? That’s where the damage is,” Ben replied.
She nodded and spoke to the man who smiled and waved at Ben. They walked away and Ben went back to the carpet.
Moments later Alexis and Béatrice drove in the parking lot and brought their van close to the back door. They got out and walked over to Ben who shut off the hose.
Béatrice looked down at the pink water and grinned at Ben. “That better not be my favorite wine you’re washing out of our carpet.”
“No, that’s blood.”
“WHAT!?!” both women yelped.
“Arsene’s blood,” he clarified taking his phone out of his pocket. He queued the video and played it for them.
They watched with shock as Ben confronted the big man and screamed when he hit Ben with his walking stick and again when Ben knocked him down. Once it was over they both tugged at his shoulders so he would bend down to show them where he’d been hit. They saw the four stitches and cried out again.
“Wait! Who was shooting the video? Not Stephanie!” Alexis barked.
“No, it was Richard. Stephanie was safe in her room calling the police. They’ve been here, saw the video and got the walking stick. Then they went to pick up Arsene,” Ben explained.
“Oh my god Ben! I never thought you’d get hurt! I never would have agreed to go out today otherwise!” Alexis said.
“Hey! It’s no big deal if it gets that creep out of your hair. Besides I’ve had bigger injuries than this little scratch. Let’s see what you’ve brought me!” he said with a smile rubbing his hands together.
“You’re still planning on doing the renovations?” Alexis gasped.
Ben blinked at her completely puzzled. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Alexis blinked back at him and looked at Béatrice incredulously. The two women grabbed Ben in a tight hug which he returned as best he could from inside their grip. When they were slow in releasing him he pretended to try to escape their arms. “Must… get… to… renovation… supplies…” he gasped. They giggled and released him.
Alexis turned to go into the house. “I’m going to call the police to see if they have Arsene in custody. I’m going to insist they charge him with everything they can.”
Ben and Béatrice nodded and she opened the back of the van for him. He started gathering up the bags and began moving everything into the house and up to a room on the second floor he was using as his staging area. Soon he had the van empty except for four large rectangular boxes.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Stephanie’s clay. Would you carry it in for her?” Béatrice asked.
“Sure.”
They were surprisingly heavy so Ben could only carry two at a time. He knocked on Stephanie’s door and she opened it.
“Clay delivery for a Stephanie Murino?” he said in his best delivery person impression.
She clapped her hands together in delight and stepped back. “Please place it on the floor by the desk.”
“There are two more to come,” he continued in his silly voice as he set them down. He hustled outside and returned with the packages. “That’s the last of them!”
“Thank you so much!” she cheered.
“What? No tip?” he sounded playfully outraged.
She reached up and touched his face. Then she pulled it down and gave him a peck on the lips.
“Wow! Wait ’til the boys back in the shop here about this delivery!” he gushed and she giggled. Stephanie immediately turned to her clay and began carefully opening one of the packages.
Having been dismissed Ben left and went upstairs. He began organizing the purchases based on the rooms he was to complete. He saw he had everything he needed to get started and smiled at Béatrice who stood in the doorway watching him get organized. His stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly. She giggled and walked over to tug him to his feet and down into the kitchen. She pushed him into a chair and turned to the cook.
“Marie, we have a hungry man who needs to be refueled,” she said with a smile.