The sentiment appeared to be they should dine at the fancy hotel. Certainly Wyatt was eager for it. Clara, ever the grimly realistic one might be the lone vote against, she was thinking no doubt of the financial situation her father and now wife were currently in. All eyes went to Lucinda then for her take on it.
"Hm...I think I have some burned cornbread I could heat up for us."
"Huh?" Wyatt scrunched up his face as if he'd been stabbed. What kind of celebration meal was that? Fortunately, it got better real quick.
"Or...I suppose we could eat at the hotel just this once."
She grinned at Wyatt. "How does that sound?"
"Yes! Yes! That sounds great!" Wyatt nodded furiously.
"Your money, Father..." Clara remained calm and stoic, typically Clara in other words. "Oh and yours too, Lucinda."
Lucinda was correct in her assessment, Clara was not going to call her Mother. But she did like the woman and she was truly happy for her father being married once again. He deserved it.
"Very well, let's head on over there. A table for four awaits," Aurelian declared then crooked his arm for his new bride to take on the stroll over.
They weren't gone ten steps when Wyatt asked, "Can I loosen this tie or take it off maybe?"
"No, you may not," Clara answered immediately.
Lucinda gladly took Aurelian's arm as they headed to the hotel. She, being slightly less...particular...about social mores than Clara, might have allowed Wyatt to undo his tie, but since Clara had already answered, she said mildly, "Wait until we're in the wagon on the way home. Then we can all relax."
And then it occurred to her that she hadn't thought to ask Aurelian if he had plans for later. She'd been so focused on the getting married part that she hadn't thought about what they would do after. If they had eloped, they could just have gotten a hotel room in some other town. But they had Wyatt with them, and money was tight.
Oh, well. She waved the thought away, content to enjoy the meal at the hotel with her new family and not worry about anything else for the moment.
Wyler looked first to his Pa and then his brand new step mother for hopeful relief from Clara's stern decision but no luck. If he'd learned anything about adults it was they stuck together. The tie would remain where it was, practically choking him to death. But the boy was not one to argue once a decision was made. Besides, he never won those anyhow.
The walk was short and quite pleasant. A few townsfolk took note of course of the couple strolling arm in arm not that Aurelian cared a whit. They were a married couple now. Clara and Wyatt followed behind them.
The hotel was considered quite fancy, a large step above a boarding house for certain. It had a reputation for fine dining too, assuming you could afford it. The clientele obviously could. They entered thru the wide front door and waited then for an employee to seat them, as was done in proper society.
Aurelian leaned in toward Lucinda to whisper in her ear, "Nice place to visit but wouldn't want to live here. We'd go broke fast."
The two younger Redmonds took in all the sights, Wyatt was getting antsy in mere seconds.
"Why can't we just go sit down, there are a bunch of open tables?" he asked his know it all sister.
"That is not how it is done. They seat us," Clara softly replied.
"Seems dumb to me, we know how to sit down," mumbled Wyatt. The adult world had way too many stupid rules in his opinion.
Everybody should have a place to remember and feel they belong to.
Even though he was the assistant manager at the Belle, Kurt felt that he had to learn more about the people and the business that he oversaw. Part of that was taking on various jobs in the hotel including doing the occasional shift as a waiter in the hotel's restaurant. This afternoon was one of those days and so far, it was relatively quiet since the usual lunch time crowd had already gone back to work or whatever else they were doing in town that day.
Kurt was busy talking with a guest when he saw a small group of people walk in. They were all in their Sunday best and considering it wasn't Sunday, the reason for dressing up must be an important one.
Approaching the group, he smiled, "Good afternoon and welcome to the Belle-St. Regis. If you would like to follow me, I will show you to your table."
@ [Wayfarer
Aurelian escorted his new bride into the dining room followed closely by his children. Not that Clara would want to be called a 'child'. She used to bristle at the very notion even when she was as young as fourteen. It was certainly a nice looking place. So this was probably what fine restaurants would look like in the big cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, New York. The tables even had clean bright white table cloths. He was duly impressed.
Wyatt didn't care about such things, he just was searching all four walls to find the chalkboard menu. They didn't even have one! How were they supposed to know what was served in this place? He was a bit concerned now.
A man approached with a greeting, "Good afternoon and welcome to the Belle-St. Regis. If you would like to follow me, I will show you to your table."
"Why thank you," Aurelian nodded and the group followed the fellow. Frankly he didn't care about the expense, this was a special day and they deserved a special meal. Expense be damned.
Clara sighed, she had an almost bored reserved look on her solemn features. After all she was in enemy territory, the hotel restaurant and the Lick Skillet were business competitors. Granted on the whole they served a different clientele. But she was intrigued to taste just how good this so called fancy food was going to be.
Lucinda almost outpaced Aurelian as the newly-expanded Redmond family followed the waiter into the dining room. She’d been in many restaurants in her time back east, and felt at home in places like these.
But as they were led to a table and Aurelian pulled out a chair for her, she noticed that her new family didn’t seem quite so comfortable. Aurelian, of course, would never let on if he felt out of place – unless he confided to her privately or was goaded into it by his children – but surely he must be considering the expense of such a meal. And as far as her new stepchildren? This restaurant probably kept wealthier customers from Clara’s diner, and Wyatt – well, what young boy wouldn’t feel out of place in a fancy restaurant?
She unfolded her napkin carefully, in full view of everyone in case for some reason they didn’t know how to use fancy napkins, and draped it over her lap, then looked up at the nice young man who’d showed them to their table.
“What would you recommend from your menu?”
Everybody should have a place to remember and feel they belong to.
Kurt smiled, "It's hard just to recommend one meal as all of our meals are made to high quality. However, I am partial to the mutton."
Maybe it was because his family were sheep farmers that he liked mutton more than beef. Then again, it could be the fact that all of the years he had been travelling the country working for the Secret Service he had eaten mainly beef and mutton was a welcome relief now that he had settled down into the job of manager. Even though both he and Matt were still part of the Service, it was more as observers and points of contact for those still out in the field. The Belle-St. Regis was considered a safe house for the Service where federal witnesses or those under protection could have somewhere to stay.
Looking over the group, there was one face he recognised and that was Mrs. Lutz, who ran the Lick Skillet. Even though he hadn't met her, he knew who she was as Matt had pointed her out to him as part of getting him familiar with who was who in town. To have what some might term as a competitor (even though they had completely different clientele) in the hotel it had be some sort of special occasion and there was only one way to find out.
"May I ask what brings you to our establishment today?"
@ [Wayfarer
@ [Bongo
ooc: I was waiting for Bailey since Kurt had answered Lucinda about the menu choices. But OK, I will post to keep this moving.
IC: Well one thing was for certain, Aurelian would not be ordering mutton. He'd had it once during the war, tough as leather. But he was a gentleman and wanted the others to order first, he would go last. Even Wyatt knew better than to jump the line in front of the womenfolk.
"Go ahead, ladies," he smiled.
"May I ask what brings you to our establishment today?" the man now asked.
"We are celebrating a wedding. Ours!" Aurelian grinned at his brand new wife.
Clara glanced to Lucinda, "Go ahead, it is your day, you order first."
Wyatt fidgeted, he was hungry and he already knew what he wanted.
Lucinda waited a moment to see if the waiter's advice had helped her new family make up their minds about what they wanted to eat. But Clara wanted her to order first, so she nodded at her new stepdaughter and cleared her throat. "Thank you, Clara."
She glanced up at Kurt. "I believe I'll have the mutton, then. Done medium-well. And...some mashed potatoes and green beans, please." Satisfied, she sat back in her chair, then reached out to touch Aurelian's arm. "How about some wine? Since it is a special occasion."
She realized they'd never really discussed alcohol, and didn't know his views on the subject. Personally, she saw nothing wrong with a little alcohol, maybe with even getting a bit tipsy every once in a while. But her new husband might feel differently about it than she did.
@[JulieS] Wayfarer
Clara was surprised Lucinda ordered the mutton. That was most often almost inedible it was so tough unless one cooked the hell out of it in a stew or something. Maybe the woman had never had it and wanted to try it. As for Clara, that would be her last choice. She exchanged a look with her father.
Aurelian was surprised too but was not as judgemental as his opinionated daughter, though he knew exactly what Clara was thinking. Still, no mutton for him either.
"Go ahead, offspring of mine," he smiled to both of them.
"I will take the ...." Clara paused to look over the menu, she wanted the cheapest thing there so as not to add on to her father's bill.
"Oh the beef stew, just that, no side dishes, thank you," he decided and gave Aurelian a look like 'don't say anything'. He wisely did not.
Wyatt was stunned at both women's orders. Gosh, he would never understand girls.
"Gimme the beefsteak, with mashed potatoes and gravy...and corn...and a biscuit if you got any," the boy decided. Green beans were yuck! Clara used to make him eat them back home but they weren't back home now.
Aurelian nodded then added his own, "Beefsteak for me too. Mashed potatoes and beans will be fine for me also."
"Oh yes, as my wife requested, a bottle of wine. Something nice but not too expensive. Thank you!"