Chapter 592 All This Way For A Skillet Lilly said, âGrandma, weâre on vacation! Look at all the flowers!â
She turned the phone around.
Above the viaduct, Spring City was in full bloom. There were flowers everywhere you looked.
It was the middle of spring, and things were a lot less busy than in Alfornada. Some people pushed their strollers along the streets, strolling under the flowering trees.
A few children ran over from the garden, playing with a piece of grass in their hands.
âIsnât it pretty? Lilly asked. âDo you see it, Grandma?â
Bettany nodded. âYes, I see it.â
Lilly said, âGrandma, when are you coming here to play too? Spring Cityâs so, so pretty. Uncle Cloud says thereâs a beautiful lake a hundred miles away from here, you can boat on it!â
âItâs a lake and not the ocean, butâs itâs huge just like the ocean!â
Bettany listened with a neutral expression. âAhhâ¦â
Lilly said, âYeah! Grandma, Iâve got to tell you thisâ Sean and Cathy solved their misunderstanding!
Sean was actually really happy about it, he just looked sour.â
Bettany listened to Lilly quietly, and before long both of them had chatted for an hour.
Blake and Cloud led the way for Lilly, and they eventually ended up at their hotel.
âGrandma, weâre here! Dad says we should eat, letâs talk at night?â
Bettany nodded. âOf course.â
The call ended. Blake and Cloud heaved a sigh of relief at once.
God, they had been so afraid that Bettany would say out of nowhereâ
Lilly, whereâs your Dad?
Lilly, whereâs your Uncle Cloud?
Theyâd avoided yelling at today, this was worth celebrating!
Blake hauled Lilly onto his shoulder. âLetâs go, weâll have something good today!â
âYes, yes! I wanna drink flower wine!â
Flower wine, like its name suggested, was wine fermented from flowers. Blake had brought it up two days ago without much thought, only for Lilly to have remembered itâ¦
Over on another end.
Bettany hung up the call, her eyes flashing with yearning.
Her little darling had been away from home for five days, and she was missing her dearly!
âHey, Hugh, book us a flight,â Bettany said all of a sudden. âWeâre going to Spring City!â
They were just going to go like that?
Bettany said, âWhy not! Weâre old, what if we donât have that long to leave! We should just go wherever we want to!
Hugh said, âYou just came out of the hospital! Iâve truly never seen anyone have the itch to be jetting around less than half a month after an open surgery.â
Bettany said, âWhat about an open surgery!â
Hugh then said, âThereâs a spike in air pressure when youâre flying in the air! Itâll tear your stitches!â
Yet when it came down to it, Hugh could not bear to see Bettany upset for long. He paused, before finally saying, âWe can take the train.â
Bettany smiled at once. âYeah, we can take the train!â
It was just a ten-hour ride, after all!
They could just book an entire carriage to themselves.
They could even bring a fold-up bed there.
Then theyâd be able to sleep all the way to Spring City!
Bettany got to work at once, urging Hugh to book the tickets then having Margaret prepare for the trip.
Hugh blinked. âAre we just going now? Weâll reach at two or three in the morning if we go now. We can leave tomorrow, or at night. Weâll be there in the morning right after a night of sleep if we leave at night.â
Bettany said, âNo! I want to go now.â
Hugh lasted all of two seconds. ââ¦Fine.â
âBring a skillet.â Bettany piped up, all of a sudden.
Bettany said, âWeâll stay by the lake for a while. Book a hotel with a stove⦠I want to cook for Lilly!â
This wasnât just a matter of cooking for Lilly, was it? All this way for a skillet!
**
Blake brought Lilly to the Antipolo Tavern.
It was full of people, especially crowded at night.
The owner of the tavern sat by the door. There was a table in front of him, filled with the flower wine heâd brewed along with some snacks.
He tapped on his drum leisurely, the whimsical rhythm adding a layer of fun to the city.
Cloud said, âItâs time to go home.â
Blake hadnât felt this relaxed in a long time. He leaned back in his seat leisurely. âWhatâs the rush? Letâs sit for a while longer.â
Cloud glanced at the time. âItâs almost eleven.â
Antipolo was at its most lively at eleven!
Despite not going to any bars, they sat on the second floor on their wooden stools leaning against the window. Theyâd take a sip of flower wine every now and then, the night making them feel even lazier to move.
Lilly took a sip of her barley milk, feeling a little drunk just from it alone.
âYummy!â She raised her glass. âCheers!â
The sounds of the shop ownerâs drum got quicker by the second. A few tourists linked hands, forming a circle out of nowhere and beginning to dance.
More and more people joined, the air ringing with laughs and chatter.
Blake hoisted Lilly up. âLetâs go!â
Cloud got to his feet.
Blake said, âYou stay put, or they might think weâve left and clear our table.â
Blake was tall and broad, and the sight of him with Lilly on his shoulder drew the attention of the crowd at once.
Antipolo was called the land of fate. It was easy to fall in love at first glance with the dizzying, intoxicating atmosphere.
Several women flocked over to flirt.
âHey, handsome! Letâs be friends!â
Blake said, âNo, thanks. My daughterâs almost five.â
The women left, disappointed.novelxo.com fast update Another girl came over. âHey, you. Wanna chat over some drinks?â
Blake was emotionless. âIâll pass. My daughterâs almost five.â
The girl walked away, disappointed as well.
âHey, Mister. Like what you see?â
Blake said, âGo away. My daughterâs almost five.â
Bulletproof-shield-Lilly asked curiously, âDad, why canât you make new friends or have a drink just because Iâm five.â
Blake raised his eyebrows. âIâd act the same even if you werenât five.â
He had never considered getting Lilly a stepmother, ever. He had never thought of it, and would never as well.
Lilly had enough family. She wasnât lacking any maternal love at all.
Blake and Lilly played downstairs for a long, long time. Cloud was going to go crazy from being hit on.
He leaned against the window, yelling, âCome upstairs!â
Whooshâ¦
A flock of girls ran up.
Blake brought Lilly upstairs, finally squeezing over to their table with great effort.
Cloud gritted his teeth. âItâll be half past one if you keep going!â
Blake glanced at Lilly, who was clearly still rearing to go. âWho knows when weâll be back here? Lillyâs never experienced Antipolo before, whatâs the harm in going back a little later?â
Cloud did not know what to say. âAre you really going to stay the night?â
Blake asked, âWhatâs wrong with that?â
The old lady was thousands of miles away, anyways.
Sheâd just had surgery, and couldnât get on a flight.
There was no way she could somehow get here and give him a skillet to the face.
Cloud did not know what to say.
Blake sat down with Lilly, and slowly less and lesser girls came over to hit on them.
On the other handâ¦
There were more and more men who came over to flirt.
Cloud and Blake had not noticed at first, but slowly started realizing something was off.
In the end, both of them ended up in a bad mood.
Lilly was thoroughly spent, dozing off in Blakeâs arms.
It was past three already. Blake carried Lilly in his arms, Cloud walking next to him as the three of them headed back to their hotel.
Just as they got to the hotel entrance, a familiar looking figure walked past them.
Cloud stopped short. âI think Iâm seeing things. Why do I feel like Mom just walked past us?â
Blake said, âHa, no way. Itâs the middle of the night, the old ladyâs still in Alfornado! Even if she left at night sheâd only get here in the morning.â
There was no way the old man would let the old lady have her way to this extent.
Just as he was thinking to himself, a cold voice rang through the air. âBlake MacNeil!