Hope's River

by McHeyzer , Margaret

  I retrace my steps, and thankfully find them upstairs when I leaned down to pull the carpet up. As I walk down the stairs, I hear someone calling, “Hello.”

  Who the hell can this be? “Hello?” Opening the door, my mouth falls open. What the fuck? “It’s you!” Again?

  His mouth falls open as he stares at me. He lifts his hand, pointing. “It’s you,” he echoes my words.

  “What the…”

  Past

  Someone taps me on the shoulder, and I turn to see who it is. “Hey, aren’t you the girl from the other day? The one who tripped that guy who was stealing at the coffee shop?”

  Oh, the cute guy from the café. The one with the dimpled chin and the mom who hugged and kissed him. “Yeah, that’s me. And you’re the one with the kissy mom.” My damn stomach flutters.

  His cheeks instantly redden as he looks down at his feet. He clears his throat, and follows it with a slight nod. “Yep, that’s me.” He lifts his chin and smiles. “That was super brave. I thought you were uber cool for standing up to that guy.”

  “I wish my parents had thought the same thing. I got into so much shit for ditching school.”

  “Why did you do it? You could’ve let him to steal that money, and bolted before the police got involved.”

  “I hate thieves,” I answer candidly. “Pet peeve of mine. Along with the spitting thing too. Did you see I slapped him?” I ask proudly.

  “I saw. You’re a definite badass,” he says with a grin “Anyway, my name’s River.”

  “Don’t your parents like you? That’s a strange name.”

  River’s eyes widen, shocked. “Um, okay then.” This has turned awkward. Damn my lack of a filter. “Do you have a name, or should I call you bruiser?”

  “I’m Hope.” My stupid heart flutters. “Are you new in school? I haven’t seen you around.” He’s so cute.

  “This school, yeah. I transferred over today. Hey, can you tell me where this classroom is?” He shows me his schedule.

  “Sure. It’s down this way.” I start walking in the direction of his class. “Are you from around here?”

  “Not really. It’s more like I’m from all over. Dad’s military.”

  “Oh right,” I say. “You move around a lot then?”

  “Nearly every two years. But we’ve been here for just over the usual two years, so, we’re probably going to move soon.”

  “That must suck. Moving around all the time.”

  He slows the walking pace, almost to a complete stop. “Not totally. There have been times I wish we’d moved faster, and other times I wish we could stay in one place for longer.”

  “But what about girlfriends?”

  “What about girlfriends?” he repeats. He adds in a shrug.

  “Or a boyfriend. Hey, your business what you do and who you do it with.” I hold up my hands in surrender.

  “If you’re asking me to go on a date with you, that’s all you have to do.”

  “I’m not asking you to go on a date!” I nearly shout.

  “Oh, now you’re saying you’re too good for me?” The mischievous glint in his eyes tells me he’s teasing.

  Slanting my head, I wink. “You need to work for something this hot.” I teasingly pluck at my t-shirt.

  “Then should I tell you…you’ve got something on your nose?” He flicks his nose discreetly.

  “What? No way.” Turning away, I quickly wipe my nose. I look at my hand, and there’s nothing there. He’s laughing as he’s slowly walking away from me. “You’re an ass,” I say. The bell sounds and I take off in the opposite direction. “Just for that, you can find your own way to class.”

  “See you at lunch,” he shouts.

  What? Now we’re having lunch together? “Not if you can’t find me.” Damn it, I like him.

  Sitting with my friends, I spot River walking into the cafeteria. He looks around, and spots me. He heads straight over, pulls out the seat next to me and sits. My friends stop talking, and look at him. “What do you think you’re doing?” Deanne asks.

  “I’m sitting here with Hope,” he replies.

  Deanne turns to look at me. Her eyes widen in horror. “Did you invite him?” she whispers in a loud enough way to make River feel uncomfortable.

  “Oh sorry, is this a ‘We Wear Pink on Wednesdays’ kind of clique?” He takes his lunch out of his bag and starts eating it casually.

  “Did you just call us Mean Girls?” Deanne snaps.

  I chuckle. He’s funny. I really like that about him. “No, but if you’re not, why can’t I sit here?”

  “I’m going to get food.” Deanne stands in disgust. “You coming?” she asks me.

  “Nah, I think I’ll stay.”

  Deanne rolls her eyes, but Melissa and Simone stand and follow Deanne to get food, leaving River and me at the table. “You said if I could find you. You weren’t exactly hiding.”

  “I wasn’t trying.”

  “You wanted me to find you?”

  “I knew you weren’t really looking,” I snap.

  “Like I knew you weren’t really hiding,” he quickly retorts.

  “You know, you’re a pain in the ass.”

  I can see he’s thinking about something to say. But the beaming smile speaks loudly. “Want to go on a date tonight?”

  “Nah.”

  “How about tomorrow night?”

  I shrug. “Maybe, but I doubt it.”

  He takes a bite of his food, and grins. “Fine. Don’t then. Your loss, not mine.”

  “Oh, I see how this is. Now, I’m not good enough for you.”

  He chuckles as he looks down and shakes his head. “I prefer my own company anyway.”

  I chew on the inside of my cheek, stopping myself from retorting with some smart-ass remark. Screw it. “Don’t let me stop you from hanging out with yourself and your mirror. I bet you’re in a boyband too.”

  He rolls his eyes, but chuckles. “I’d prefer to hang with you, but hey, don’t do me any favors.”

  What an ass. “Where are we going tomorrow night?”

  “Nah, I don’t feel like it now. The offer has passed.”

  He baited me! I was played. I lift my finger, pointing at him. “Never again, Robert,” I say knowing his name is River.

  He arches a brow, and stares straight into my eyes with the sexiest smirk ever. Oh shit. I’m in trouble. Deep doo-doo. He’s so damn cute. That dimpled chin. Those dark irresistible eyes. The near jet-black slightly tousled hair. I’m in so much trouble. My stomach flutters as I watch, and wait for his reply. Instead, he looks at me and keeps chewing until he’s done.

  Once he’s finished, he places his lunch waste back in his bag, zips it up, then stands. He hasn’t said anything. Not a single word. He takes a step away, then turns and comes back to me. Leaning down, with his mouth so close I can feel the heat of his breath on my neck, he whispers, “Lucky I like you.”

  Closing my eyes, I swallow the lump pulsating in my throat. I wait for him to say more. Or kiss my neck. Or do something, anything.

  Heat rises quickly to my cheeks, and I want to grab him and kiss him. I wait.

  And wait.

  “What are you doing?” Deanne says startling me.

  “What?” I look around, and find River gone. Damn him. He’s already gotten under my skin.

  I can’t have a boy distract me now. Nope, no way.

  No, sir. You’re not gonna make me like ya. No, no, no.

  Then why is my stomach tumbling around with my heart beating like I’m an infatuated school girl? Maybe I am.

  Crap.

  “How… what…?” I keep pointing to River standing at my door.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks. He takes a step back, and looks around. “Wait, you bought Old Roger’s house?”

  “Ah…yeah.” We’re standing, staring at each other and wanting to say more, but not able to. I want to throw myself into his arms and hug him hard. But not after what he did to me. I straighten
my shoulders and tell my stomach to calm down, and my heart to shut the fuck up. He broke my heart once before, and I’m not prepared to let him do this again. “What are you doing here?” I ask, pulling every emotion back so he can’t see how he hurt me all those years ago.

  “I live here. Just on the other side of Hope River.”

  Ugh, great. “Really? That’s fantastic. But what are you doing here?” I lean against the door, and hope to God it doesn’t collapse beneath my weight. Not that I’m heavy, it’s just this house is so old and unsteady.

  “I saw your truck, and was coming to offer my services if you need it.”

  “I’m good,” I say shutting him down before he even has a chance to tell me what he’s doing now.

  “But you don’t even know what I do.”

  Break my fucking heart! That’s what you do. “I’m good.” I strain to offer him a genuine smile. I’ve never been backward about being forward, but some things are best left in the past.

  “What are you going to be doing here? Tear this old girl down?”

  “No!” I snap. Calm down, Hope. “You might be able to get rid of things once they’re too hard to work on, but I believe everything deserves a second chance. Houses especially.”

  “Hope, can we talk, please? What happened…”

  Holding my hand up, I shut him down. I don’t need to relive that night. No thanks. “No need to explain. I don’t want to hear it. Honestly, it’s all good. It’s over with.”

  “Hope,” he begs.

  “River, leave it. It’s in the past, which is exactly where it needs to be.” He gives me a small smile. But his eyes tell an entirely different story. I have to move on and not let his presence here hinder me or the work on this house. “What services were you going to offer?” This is a small town, and I don’t want to be an ogre. I’m likely only going to be here for a few months. And who knows? Maybe River can help with suppliers.

  “I was going to offer whoever the new owners were, my electrical services. What are the plans here?” He looks around the house from the front door. “I’ve always wondered what it looked like inside.”

  Yeah, that was a subtle; can I come in? “Would you like to have a look around?” I offer as I step aside.

  “Only if that’s okay with you.”

  Play nice, Hope. “Sure.” Let it go. It’s in the past.

  He steps in, and looks up. “Wow, look at these ceilings. And these floors are just gorgeous.”

  “Nothing a good sanding won’t fix. The same hardwood floors are upstairs, under a ratty carpet.”

  “Are you going to change the footprint?”

  I inhale deeply. “To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet. I want to restore her, because I think she’s beautiful.

  “So you did it. You did what you wanted to,” River says as he moves away from me and leans against the wall.

  He really is so attractive. And tall. And sexy. My God, stop thinking about him like that. I can’t help but look to see there’s no ring on his finger. “It wasn’t easy. But since I last saw you, which is what… four years ago?”

  “Yeah, on your twenty-first birthday. At the club,” he says as he looks down at his feet.

  I hated how that night turned out. “I told you, I don’t want to talk about it” He nods his head, and purses his lips tightly together. “My life has taken a huge turn. I started my own business, and Charlie works for me.”

  “Are you married?” he asks without hesitation.

  “Are you?” I answer his question with a question.

  He lifts his hand to wiggles his fourth finger. I do the same. “I thought you would’ve been snapped up by now.”

  “Please,” I scoff.

  “Anyone serious?”

  “It’s none of your business,” I snap. Pushing off from the wall, I head to the front door. “You’re an electrician, eh?”

  He follows me to the door. “I am. And if you need one, I’m the only one here. I’m busy as hell, but I’d like to work on Old Roger’s beautiful house.” He takes a final look at it, and smiles. “I hope you restore her. She’s special.” His eyes meet with mine, and he gives me a small nod. “Anyway, I’ll give you my number, in case you need an electrician.”

  Maybe I’ll do to him what he did to me. Never call him. It doesn’t matter, that’s in the past. If I keep it strictly professional, and not get involved with him, this can work. “Sure, I’ll need an electrician.”

  He reaches into his back pocket, and takes out his wallet. I know I shouldn’t, but I glance in to see if there are any pictures of anyone, but I don’t manage to see anything. He pulls out a card and hands it to me. His fingers brush a lingering touch against mine, and all the sensations I once felt with him come flooding back. “I’d better go.” I pull my hand away from his. He doesn’t make any effort to leave. “I’ve got a job I’m late to.”

  “Better go then.”

  He hesitates, but finally makes his way to the front door. Before he leaves, he turns and smiles. “You look just as beautiful as you did the last time I saw you. Actually, probably even more.” His lips turn up into a strained smile. “I better get to my customer’s house.” He walks out the door, and I hear his footsteps make their way down the front stairs.

  I can’t fall for him again. We’ve never worked in the past, I can’t see how we’d work now. I have to focus to fight any feelings I have for him.

  Locking up the house, I get to my truck, start it, and drive straight to May’s.

  Of all the towns in this country, and of all the people to show up at my door, why did it have to be River? “You’re cruel, universe. Here I thought you were showing me the house, and instead you bring River to my doorstep,” I say aloud to no one.

  Pulling up outside the stable, I lay my head on the steering wheel, wondering why on earth the universe would play such a cruel prank on me.

  River Lockwood is the perfect man. From the first moment, I saw him all those years ago in the café, to right now I’ve wanted him. My head and heart are still aching from seeing him today.

  Tap, tap, tap.

  Lifting my head, I see May’s standing next to my truck. I open the door, and get out. “You okay, May?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing. I came out to see if you were alive. Now I see you’re perfectly fine. You look like you’ve seen a ghost though,” she says dramatically. “All flushed in the face, and a bit sweaty around the collar.” She stops talking, and her eyes widen. “Unless you were pleasuring yourself in your truck.”

  “What? No!” I nearly screech.

  “Not my business if you go flicking your bean, finger painting…” She moves away as she starts walking back to her house. “Auditioning the finger puppets.” She brings two fingers up and wiggles them.

  “You don’t have to keep going, May. I get the idea of where you’re going with this,” I say as I follow her.

  “Girl’s night in,” she says over her shoulder. “Buttering your muffin.”

  Holy shit, will she stop? “Alright, alright. I get it already.”

  “Well, you better come in and make me a coffee and we can talk about what’s eating away at you. We know there was no man between your legs, so it’s not that.” I can’t believe she said that. I think my face is bright red. I walk in behind May, and I’m glad she hasn’t turned around to see my horrified expression. Of course, she turns around. “Oh hush, girly. You never had sex before?”

  “Oh, I have. I just never talk about it with anyone.”

  “Make us a coffee. I’m too tired and too old to make my own.” She sits on one of the stools at her island counter. “Black, and one sugar for me.” I’m not even sure how I got roped into making her a coffee, but I set about making one for her, and one for me. “Tell me about why you looked so…” Please don’t say any more masturbation slangs. “Flustered,” she says after carefully thinking.

  “No reason.”

  “My built-in bullshit-o-meter is in t
he red. Let’s try this again. What’s wrong?”

  I may as well tell her. “Um, I saw someone I thought I’d never see again.”

  “Do I need my gun? Is it the guy you’re running from?”

  “I’m not running from anyone, May. I left a guy, but I’m not running from him.”

  “So I need my gun?” She pushes her stool away from the counter.

  “No need for guns. Honestly, Grady is normally a good guy who did something completely stupid. Actually, he did two stupid things.”

  May readjusts her seat. “Once is stupid, twice is intentional. What happened?” she pushes.

  I bring over her coffee, and stand leaning against the island. She takes a sip and makes a face. “Don’t like it?” I look at the coffee.

  “You’re certainly not a barista. But it’ll do.” May is as straightforward as anyone can be. I like knowing where I stand with her. “Don’t think you’re going to get away with not telling me.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Tell me all about this Grady character. He was the one who gave you the bruise?”

  “Yeah. He was.” I don’t know what to say without breaking down and crying. “He came home drunk, accusing me of sleeping with someone else and hit me.”

  “And?”

  “I packed my shit and left.”

  “Excellent. Some people can fall into the cycle of abuse. Now, tell me why he’s a good guy who did some dumb shit? Good guys don’t raise their hands to anyone, especially women. And if I recall, he raised his hand to you.”

  “You saw it.” I point to my face, where the bruise has now faded to almost nothing. “He called me and said he was sorry, and that it was him who cheated on me.”

  “Ahhh, I see,” May says. Her grimace says it all. “He tried to blame you for his guilt.”

  “Basically.”

  “And now he wants you back?”

  I shrug. “I have no idea. I told him to get out of my house.”