by Brent, Cora
Caris is in the mood for pizza and I would have taken her someplace nicer, especially since it’s a birthday celebration dinner, but she insists on pizza so twenty minutes later we’re sitting inside a back corner booth at Pesto’s, a little Italian place not far from the university.
Her mood has become more subdued since sitting down and I can tell she has something she wants to talk about. I wait until after the waiter has taken our order before I move over to her side of the booth and slide my arm around her shoulders.
Her hand moves to my leg. “I told them about you. Everything.”
I have no idea how Caris’s parents will feel about their daughter being in a relationship with a member of the Hempstead family. Whatever the answer is, I’m determined to win them over.
“How’d they handle that news?”
She smiles. “They’re happy that I’m happy.” Then her smile fades. “There’s a lot I need to tell you.”
I tighten my arm around her. “I’m listening.”
She now knows that Rafe was not her aunt’s attacker. She’s also learned something important about my father. He wasn’t such a bad guy after all. It’s true that her mother suffered terribly but not at the hands of my father. I’m relieved to hear this, that the man with the laughing blue eyes who lives only in my memory was not a monster.
Her last revelation almost knocks me out of my seat.
“Your grandparents weren’t killed by Billy Hempstead?”
“Not necessarily. I don’t know much about this man who supposedly confessed to their killing. The authorities don’t think much of his story. My mother has decided she’s going to sign whatever they need her to sign in order to access the evidence and run the necessary DNA tests if there’s anything they can test. The evidence was all circumstantial. It’s possible that Billy Hempstead was not the killer.”
I try to let this possibility sink in but I don’t really believe it.
Caris is toying with her butterfly necklace and watching me. “Are you okay with all of this?”
Of course I’m okay. Whatever the verdict, I’m okay. I’ve got her.
The waiter arrives with our food and Caris digs in.
“I’m starving.” She takes an impressively large bite of a folded slice.
I take a slice for myself. “Then eat up. You’ll need energy for everything I plan to do to you later.”
She swallows and takes a sip of soda. “I’ll eat fast.”
My hand strays to her thigh and sneaks beneath the hem of her dress. “You do that.”
She shuts her eyes. “You have no idea how much you turn me on.”
I stroke the inside of her thigh and move higher. “I’ll need some details.”
Now she’s really squirming. “Fuck. Don’t make me come at the table again.”
“Then don’t tempt me by talking dirty.”
Caris pulls back suddenly and gives me a serious look. “Are you my boyfriend?”
As if that’s a question even worth asking.
I plant a kiss on her lips. “I’m your forever.”
She reaches out and traces my lips with her fingertip. “I hope I’m never without you again, Jay.”
I pull her close. We both know this conversation is a long awaited conclusion to something that was begun long ago.
“You never will be, Caris.”
Caris
With the craziness of running the bakery and falling more in love every day, we don’t get around to fulfilling an important errand for a couple of weeks.
It’s Monday and with the bakery closed and nothing else requiring immediate attention, we’re able to leave early for the long drive to Arcana. Lana declined the invitation to come along. She thinks this is something the two of us need to do alone and she’s right.
Rainfall was lower than average this summer, the temperatures hotter. The sun scorched damage is in evidence along the highway. We begin seeing signs for Arcana when we’re fifty miles away.
We’re less than ten miles outside town when we come across the oil drill machinery. At the moment the drills are idle, resembling prehistoric metal monsters on the quiet horizon.
When we pass the shabby green and white ‘Welcome to Arcana’ sign I reach instinctively for Jay’s hand and find it waiting to accept mine. A familiar landscape looms ahead. I spent less than a single season of my life in this place and yet it’s burned into my memory like no other.
“It looks the same from here,” Jay says, echoing my thoughts.
The sun is high in the sky. It’s early afternoon. “Yes, it does.”
Jay drives slowly through the streets. We don’t stop in the town square yet. I want to see Dunstan Street first. Even though I already knew the house had been remodeled I’m still surprised when I need to check the number hung beside the front door to confirm it’s the same one.
The truck idles beside the curb but Jay doesn’t cut the engine.
“You want to go knock on the door?” he asks.
I don’t know what I’d say. Perhaps the home’s current owners know the whole history. Or maybe they don’t and don’t want to.
“No,” I tell him and squeeze his arm. “We can go.”
Jay has no desire to see the trailer park where he lived with his mother and brother. He’s glad he was able to get in touch with Rafe and yet their conversation unnerved him. I know that Rafe was proven to be not as deadly as I’d once thought. But I still shudder when I think of him.
We decide to return to the center of town and park in the nearly empty lot of what used to be the Arcana Market and is now a chain drugstore. Harold Keyser died six years ago and his brother was gone before that. I looked it up and was sad to know that the friendly old man who was a local icon would never know the fate of the two children who wandered through his store aisles and gladly accepted the snacks and kindnesses he generously offered them. I think the sight of us together today would please him.
Now that we’re in the heart of downtown I can see that the town has changed in other ways. The movie theater is shuttered. The ice cream parlor is a hair salon. The beautiful mountain laurels that used to bracket the town square have all been cut down and replaced with anemic flowerbeds.
We hold hands as we walk slowly up the street to the spot where we met. There aren’t many people around. It’s a weekday afternoon and it’s hot. The ones we do see don’t give us a second glance. They have their own missions to complete, their own histories to be preoccupied with.
The DNA tests that might exonerate Billy Hempstead will never happen. My mother signed the paperwork but when an attempt was made to access the evidence it was missing. The box where it was supposed to be was opened and was empty. The man who confessed was also linked to two other murders in this part of the state at around the same time. So it’s possible he told the truth as he lay dying. But we’ll never know. It will remain a question without an answer.
For once I wish for ghosts. Or at least for the possibility of brief visits from those whose time here on earth is finished. I would love to think that Richard and Nancy are watching, that they can see their granddaughter’s happiness. I hope they are proud of their legacy.
“What’s your name? I’m Caris.”
“Jonathan.”
“And you live here?”
The shiver I feel across the back of my neck is not unpleasant. Jay might have felt it too because he draws me closer into the protection of his arms and props his chin atop my head while I rest my cheek against his chest. It’s hard to believe that I was once taller than him. A lot of things are hard to believe. But that doesn’t mean they are unbelievable.
The Hempsteads. The Chapels.
We are neither. And we are both.
We are the long lost remnants.
We are the conclusion to their story.
“I love you,” I tell him. I close my eyes and draw strength from his warmth. He holds me tighter.
“I love you too.”
“I’m ready to le
ave now, Jay.”
Before leading me away he takes my hand, lacing our fingers together.
And that simple gesture makes me just as happy as it did the first time he ever made it.
Epilogue
Jay
The following spring
“What time’s the graduation?” Shane asks from where he sits beside the pool as he tests the chlorine level.
“Not until six but we’re supposed to meet her parents for dinner first.”
“Maybe Lana and I will stop by and watch you squirm under the glare of Caris’s dad.”
“No need. He’s reached the stage of acceptance where I’m concerned.”
It’s true that Caris’s father kind of eyeballed me in the beginning but we’ve visited them in Dallas a few times now and he’s decided to relax after seeing how happy his daughter is. The man has no need to worry. I’ll treat his daughter like a queen every day of my life.
Her mother never seemed to harbor similar reservations. She was delighted to meet me for the first time and her enthusiasm never wavered. Once she pulled me aside just to tell me that I’m as handsome as my father was. I didn’t really know how to answer that properly so I just mumbled something and nodded. She beams every time she sees me put my arm around Caris and I understand why her daughter has such a generous heart.
Lana pokes her head through the sliding glass door. She zeroes in on her boyfriend and grins.
“Oh, lover boy. Are you planning on feeding me before we crash Caris’s graduation?”
He answers with a wicked smile. “I’ve got something you can put in your mouth if you can’t wait.”
“Guys,” I complain. “Seriously.”
Shane hops to his feet. “Oh, like you’re not twenty times more oversexed. Remember how you told me the walls are thin? You were right.”
Lana smirks at me. “Like rabbits, the two of you.”
“Do me a favor. Don’t make those kind of jokes in front of her folks when we’re all together later.”
Shane reaches his girlfriend’s side and slips an arm around her waist. Lana kisses his cheek and then issues a warning.
“I know better than that. He might not.”
“I might not,” Shane agrees. “But it’s possible to muzzle me if someone tempts me with a reward.”
“Tempt him,” I say to Lana, rolling my eyes. “Please.”
She laughs and drags her boyfriend into the house. It’s nice to see Shane on solid ground. He’s worked hard to stay clean after his relapse last summer. And with some help he’s turned the bakery into a profitable venture and become a regular upstanding local businessman. A member of the Hutton Chamber of Commerce. Enthusiastic sponsor of a little league team. Ruby would be glad to know that her gift to her godson was not wasted.
As for me, once Shane learned the ropes at the bakery I decided that mixing batter in a kitchen all day was not to my liking. I was going stir crazy. I need to work with my hands more. So with Caris’s assistance I crafted a business proposal, obtained a small loan from the bank and started my own carpentry business. Thanks to everyone watching all those home improvement shows and wanting built-in this and custom made that I’ve had no problems getting more business than I can handle. At some point I expect I’ll be employing a crew of my own.
Carris will be starting her new job in the accounting department at the university in a few weeks. Between the two of us we’ll be able to afford a nice place here in Hutton real soon.
We agree that living with close friends is nice. But what would be nicer? Being able to fuck our ever loving brains out in the room of our choice without anyone complaining that we’re making too much noise.
“Hey,” I call through an open bedroom window. “We’ve gotta go or we’ll be late to meet your folks.”
“I’ll be right there,” she calls back.
Five minutes pass and finally she emerges with a small bundle in her arms. “Say goodbye to Daddy,” she croons to the blanket.
A pair of furry heads pop up and four little eyes blink at me. Two days ago I visited the local animal shelter and adopted two gray kittens, both female and from the same litter. Caris fell in love the instant they were placed in her arms. If they weren’t so cute and fluffy I might be a little jealous of all the attention she lavishes on them.
I reach out and scratch the nearest kitten behind the ears. “Did you decide what to name them yet?”
She kisses the head of the second kitten and gives me one of her heart melting smiles. “I’m working on it.”
“Now you have your cat sanctuary.”
She laughs.
This girl.
I’m going to marry her.
Discreetly I pat the lump in my back pocket to ensure the ring is still there. I’ve been doing that all day. I already spoke to Caris’s parents. Not because their permission is needed. But because I wanted their blessing. I know Caris would too. They did not hesitate to give it.
Well, her mother didn’t hesitate. Her father looked a little forlorn for a moment before he reached out and shook my hand. He squeezed harder than he needed to. That’s okay. If I ever have a daughter I’m sure I’ll be the same way.
I’m asking Caris tonight, after her graduation ceremony.
She uses a lot of baby talk as she carries the kittens back indoors. When she returns a moment later she’s got her cap and gown in hand.
“Are you ready?” she asks me.
To answer her question I reach for her hand.
I’m going to do that every chance I get for as long as I’m breathing.
THANK YOU for reading LONG LOST!
During the writing process, this story became my obsession. I was actually saddened to write the last chapter and bid this beloved world farewell. I hope to revisit it again and I dearly hope you’ve enjoyed the story that was written with every bit of my heart.
Reviews, as always, are so very appreciated.
All the love,
Cora
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