Another vacation in Zeborough, like the one in Very Good Year, except this time its told by Charley from Unplanned. It takes place over 14 days, which should be roughly equal to 14 parts.
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Day 1:
Ward's vacation home smelled like polished wood and leather. When he unlocked the door and pushed it open, I noticed several things right away. The stairs were right there when we walked in, straight ahead of the open door. The floor was beautiful white tiles with a flower motif. The living room was a wide open place with clean white carpet. The house was constructed mostly from wood, but one wall with the fireplace was brick and rock. We went back outside to bring in our packed bags. The Panther was parked in the shade of a big tree, the breed of which totally escaped me. A bigger tree a few feet away was a maple. I helped Ward take in his stuff, bags full of clothes, cooking equipment, and alcohol. He brought only the bare minimum since the house already had its own stuff. He took these things only for the comfort of home. I had only one bag. It contained clothes and toiletries. Ward promised if I needed anything else, we'd just go to a local store. I tried to make that as less of a problem as possible.
We put our stuff down on the living room floor. Stuff for the kitchen was put away in the cabinets. Ward's alcohol bottles were put away in what used to be a china cabinet. I took a moment to appreciate what was going on with the furniture and decor. It reminded me a lot of my grandma Nancy's house. All the tables were dark wood. Pictures of his family were all over the fireplace mantel and a bookshelf in the corner. I took a closer look at the books. It was an eclectic mix of children's books, stuff about wars, home decor, painting, and cars. The pictures of his family were from all eras. I had rarely seen pictures of Ward or his brothers when they were kids. There were a few scattered through the mix. The others were his cousins and aunts and uncles. The Stainthorpe Fletcher family had plenty of those. Photos of Ward's own children almost completely covered the fireplace, from on top of a wooden ledge above it, to all around it on the brick hearth. I assumed Ward didn't use the fireplace much. He usually came to Zeborough in the summer. It was dusty and the metal grate in front of it was being pinned to the wall by picture frames. There was even more stuff around the brick platform. Frogs made of stone, a vase of fake flowers, candles, marble bookends. In the corner was a massive ceramic pot with more fake flowers in it. Behind that were guns. Real ones, potentially loaded. I'd heard from Ward already that these existed and that there were many throughout the house. Other people were bothered. I trusted Ward not to go on a rampage. I felt safe, certain that Ward wasn't a threat. If anyone suspicious came to the door, we had protection.
Ward finished in the kitchen and came to see what I was looking at. I had left the corner and noticed the table next to the recliner nearest to me. Yet again more family photos. There was a cool lamp with an extendable arm, and a glass jar full of candy too. The recliners were dark brown leather. They were old but looked very comfortable. The couch on the other side of the room was made of the same stuff.
"I suppose its time for the tour," Ward gestured to the rest of the house.
I followed him across the white carpet to a dark hallway. He turned the light on, showing that the light for the hallway and kitchen were in the same place, right outside the kitchen doorway. I wondered just how many family photos were possible to have in one place. There was a long table that ran along the length of the hallway. The tabletop was loaded with more framed photos. Underneath it was a box with magazines stacked neatly from edge to edge. There was a metal rack on the floor with newspapers in it. A pair of slippers was sticking out of the top of it. I liked that it wasn't just a plain metal rack. It was shaped like a lattice covered in grapes and vines. Perhaps at one point it was for wine, but Ward's wine consumption went beyond this small rack. It probably only held a couple bottles at a time. It held plenty of newspapers though.
