Hope's River

by McHeyzer , Margaret

  “Why are you spinning?” I ask him.

  Elle holds her hands out, joining at the wrists. “You can handcuff me if you want?” She bats her eyelashes at him. “I’ve been a very bad girl.”

  “Get in the car. The both of you.” He walks over and opens the back door for us.

  “You can arrest me for being runk and ‘sordily. Will you frisk me?” Elle asks. “Please?”

  “Get in the damned car.”

  “Shhh. You gotta be quiet, Elle. ‘Member it’s a secret.” I hold my finger up to my lips.

  “What’s a secret?” the Sheriff asks.

  “Shhh. Don’t tell him,” I say.

  Elle leans over and whispers, “Don’t tell him what?”

  “You like him. Shhh.” Elle and I begin laughing.

  The sheriff starts driving, and before I know it, the car stops. I open my eyes and I’m home. The door opens, and I’m being moved out of the back seat. I feel weightless.

  “Dear Lord, how much did those two drink?” I hear May asking.

  “The bartender said they put away quite a lot. They’ll be in pain tomorrow. Don’t let this one off too easily.” He chuckles.

  “I have no intentions of that.” May laughs too.

  Opening my eyes, I find myself being carried to bed. “Thank you,” I say.

  “I’ll leave her to you. I’ve got to get Elle home.”

  “You think it’s a good idea you leave her on her own tonight?” May asks.

  The Sheriff blows out a long sigh. “You’re probably right. I’ll take her home with me and keep an eye on her.”

  “You’re a good man, Jacob. A good man. I’m glad I took a chance on you.”

  “Have a good rest of the night, Gran.”

  I turn over in my bed, drag the covers up over my shoulders, and wait for the room to stop spinning.

  Waking, I instantly sit up in bed. My head pounds, and my stomach is gurgling. Looking around, I try and figure out how I got here. There’s a large glass of water next to the bed, and a packet of Tylenol too.

  I blink several times, and try to get the dry, furry feeling out of my mouth. Light is coming through the window, and I can’t help but feel the nausea quickly rising through my stomach, to the back of my throat.

  Crap, I’m going to be sick.

  Pushing the covers back, I grab my phone and I run into the bathroom, only just making it to the toilet bowl.

  “Oh my God, am I dying?” I slide down against the wall, its coolness instantly making me feel better.

  I look at my phone and see I have a message from Elle. What happened last night?

  Chuckling, I reply, I think we drank too much. I don’t remember how I got home.

  All I know is I’m in the Sheriff’s guest room.

  Oh my God, did you two have sex? Wait…how did you get there?

  No idea how I got here. And no, I don’t think we had sex. I’m still in my clothes, except for my shoes. I gotta go, Sheriff just knocked on the door. Fill you in when I know more.

  My God, what a night!

  From outside the bathroom window, I hear the tractor starting. My head responds with increased thumping. “Shit.”

  It takes me a good minute to lift myself off the tiled floor, and make my way out of the bathroom. I grab the huge glass on my nightstand and drink all the water. Heading outside, I blink several times, trying to adjust to the bright light and the roar of the tractor. The very tractor May is riding on. She sees me, and pulls up beside me without turning the noisy machine off. She’s wearing a straw hat that shades her face from the sun. But I can still see her smile. “Morning, girly,” she yells to be heard over the tractor’s roar.

  I hold up a hand, and offer a small wave.

  “Had a good night, did ya?”

  “I can’t recall a lot of it. I have no idea how I got back here.”

  “You can thank Jake for that.”

  Jake? The sheriff? What does he have to do with getting me home? “The sheriff?” I ask.

  “Yes, ma’am. You best call him and thank him. Oh, and I need help with some yard work. Breakfast is waiting for you, then you better get your ass out here to help.” May doesn’t wait for me to say anything. The tractor roars even louder, and she takes off down the back of the yard. I swear she’s doing it on purpose.

  Shit, I better get myself ready to help May. I don’t remember agreeing to doing this, but I have no idea what happened last night. Considering May’s kind enough to let me live here, the least I can do is help her do some yard work, even if I am hungover.

  The entire day I’ve been feeling green. I’ve helped May with yard work. The suffering eased down, but only just. Thankfully, May’s cooked dinner.

  “Girly, set the table,” she calls.

  Getting up from the porch swing, I head in and set the dining table. I walk back into the kitchen, and watch as May effortlessly flows in the kitchen. “You’ve been in the yard most of the day, and you still have energy to cook?”

  “Yes, but you’re cleaning though. And I need help flipping the mattress in Tabitha’s room.”

  “Of course.”

  She continues cutting ingredients into a bowl. “May,” I say in a small voice.

  “Yes.”

  “If I did or said anything last night that offended you, I’m genuinely sorry.”

  Her hand stills for a second, before she keeps chopping a cucumber. “The only thing I’m offended about is I told both you and Elle to call me when you were ready to come home. Instead, Jake shows up here, near four in the morning, with two very drunk young women. I know almost everyone in Hope River, and I know you’d be safe here. But in the neighboring towns, I don’t know even half of the people.”

  Aww, how beautiful. She’s concerned for us.

  “And before you go telling me you’re both old enough to look after yourselves, this is only about safety. Neither of you could even stand up last night.” May is so lovely. I know she means well, and she did ask me to call her when we wanted to come home. “Anything could’ve happened to either or both of you.”

  I walk around to her, and give her a hug. “I’m sorry, May. I should’ve called. Next time, I promise to call you.”

  “Next time? Next time, I’m coming with you both. You guys looked like you had fun.”

  Oh yeah. May getting drunk with us. Now, that would be crazy fun. “Which is Tabitha’s room? I can flip the mattress while you finish up in here. Oh, and where are the bed sheets?”

  “Tabitha’s room is last door on the right down the hallway, and there are clean sheets on the bed. Flip the mattress and turn it top to bottom,” she commands.

  I walk down the hallway, and stop to look at some of the framed photos on the pale green walls. “Who’s this?” I ask as I point to a family photo. I smile, loving the old fashioned family photos. It’s so different now, everything’s instant and digital.

  In this particular photo, the parents are standing a good foot apart with serious looks, no smiles, and squinted eyes. Then there’s an older girl standing to one side, and a younger one standing in the front. No one is smiling. How bizarre that they don’t look happy.

  “Which one are you looking at?” May calls from the kitchen. She cranes her neck, and smiles when she sees me staring at the photo. “Oh, that one.” She wipes her hands, and I hear her walking toward me. “Well, that’s Mama and Papa.” She points to the obvious parents. “That’s me. I was about sixteen I think there. And that’s my younger sister. She would’ve been six. There’s ten years’ difference between us. She’s Tabitha’s mother. And that house.” She points to the tiny shack in the background. “Is this house.”

  “Really? Wow, this is so different.” I tap on the photo.

  “Yes ma’am, it is. My sister couldn’t wait to get away, and she did. I couldn’t have thought of anything worse. So, I stayed.”

  “I don’t mean to sound horrible, but in those days, large families were fairly normal.”

  May smi
les as she stands staring at the photo. “My mother had a lot of problems carrying children.” She lowers her head slightly, before turning and walking back to the kitchen.

  “I’m sorry.” I’ve unearthed some pain for May. “I’ll get to the bed.” Opening the last door on the right, I’m greeted with a bright room that has shutters on the windows, an unmade bed pushed up under the window, a large chest of drawers and a door leading to what I think is a walk-in. I get to flipping the mattress, and making the bed. And when I leave the freshly made bedroom, May’s already sitting at the dining table, waiting for me so we can have our early dinner.

  “How’s the head?” May asks. I sit, and May starts serving herself. “That boy was asking about you,” she says casually.

  “Who? River?” I ask eagerly. Shit, calm it down. I can’t go back there again. “I mean, River?” I ask with a more subdued tone.

  “Huh.” May huffs, and props up an eyebrow. “Yes, that boy.” She places a generous helping of salad on her plate.

  “Oh, really?” Damn my squeaky voice. “Not that I care or anything, but what were you talking about?” I push my food around on my plate, pretending I don’t care. May doesn’t reply. When I look up at May, she lifts her chin, takes a deep breath, then crosses her arms in front of her chest. “What?”

  “Really?” is all she says.

  “What?”

  “You obviously still care for him, and judging by what he was saying and asking, he still cares for you. Go out there, and talk to him.”

  “You have to tell me what you both talked about.”

  “What is this, Hope? Are we back in school where we’re passing notes to each other?” She waggles her finger at me. “I’m not interfering.” She kinda already has. “If you two are meant to be, you’ll figure it out.”

  Reality takes over, and I shake my head. “We’ve tried that, and it didn’t work. Anyway, you’re right, you’d better not tell me. I don’t need to know, because it’ll just complicate something that doesn’t need complicating. He works for me, that’s it. Nothing more.” May smiles as her head slowly nods. “What?”

  “Good luck to you, girly. You’re gonna need it.”

  What’s that supposed to mean? And why the hell are the butterflies going crazy at the mere mention of his name?

  I recognize the sound of Charlie’s truck the moment I hear it.

  Jumping up from my bed, I run outside to see his truck pulling up next to mine. “Charlie!” I yell. The moment he’s out of his truck, I hug him tight. I don’t know why, but I burst into tears. I’ve never felt so happy to see Charlie.

  “Hey, are you okay?” he asks as he cradles me tight to his body.

  “I’m just so happy to see you.” I step back and wipe at my eyes. “Oh my God.”

  “It’s my devilish charm you missed, isn’t it?” he asks sarcastically.

  “You’re an idiot.” I smack him on the arm. “Come, you have to meet May. She’s so much fun. Did you find it okay? Did you come straight here?”

  “One question at a time.” I hook my arm through his, as we walk toward May’s home. I’m so happy to see Charlie. I didn’t think I’d have a reaction like this one. “I found Hope River okay, it’s actually a really pretty drive out. And I found this place okay too, obviously.”

  We walk up the front steps of May’s house and I knock on the door.

  May appears, wiping her hands on a tea-towel. “May, this is my brother Charlie.”

  May opens the door and casts an eye over Charlie. “You two are related?”

  “Yes, ma’am, we are,” Charlie replies with a smile.

  “Hmmm. Thankfully, your parents have good genes. Both of you are attractive.”

  “Thank you,” Charlie says in a deeper, manlier voice. He’s all cocky at being called attractive.

  I roll my eyes at Charlie’s bravado. “Yeah, yeah, Whatever.” I pinch him on the arm. “I just wanted to introduce you to May.”

  “Come in, I’ve made a pitcher of lemon iced tea, and there’s a glass for each of you.” May leaves the door open, and starts walking toward the kitchen.

  “Be good,” I whisper to Charlie.

  He winks at me, and instantly I know he’s going to charm May. He’s been loved by every older person we’ve ever encountered. “What a beautiful home you have,” Charlie says to May as he looks around.

  “Your sister said the same thing.”

  “May, do you mind if I show him the picture?”

  “Not at all.” May takes out three tall glasses from her cabinet, and then heads to the fridge to retrieve the pitcher.

  “Have a look at this.” Charlie and I walk down the hallway. I stop in front of the family photo I was admiring yesterday. “See this house?” I point to the background. Charlie nods. “That’s this house.”

  “Wow, I love it.” Charlie does what I do. When we enter a home, we look at how straight a wall is, if the ceiling is caving in anywhere, or if the floors are even. “This is beautiful.”

  “Wait ’til you see the house I bought.”

  Charlie’s shoulders drop. “I brought gasoline, a rag and a lighter. It’s not too late.”

  The butterflies are stirring in my stomach, I’m super excited about this house. “Nope, no way.”

  “Ugh,” Charlie huffs. “Fine. Just so you know though, I’m going to love this demo.”

  “You haven’t even seen it yet.”

  We walk back toward the dining room where May’s waiting for us. “Have you drawn up plans yet?”

  “I’m trying but I’m not sure what I want to do with it yet. Definitely add square footage.”

  “Up or out, or both?” Charlie asks.

  “I’m thinking both. But wait ’til I take you out there. You may have some ideas.”

  “If I can interrupt. You know you’ll need permits?” May asks.

  “Yeah. I haven’t researched what I need for them yet. I do know that it’s never the same in any two towns or counties.”

  “I can help there. Just let me know when you submit them, and I’ll come with you. I can get them through for you faster,” May offers.

  “Really? Thank you,” I reply.

  “Yes, thank you, May,” Charlie echoes. He takes a sip, and licks his lips. “This is really good.”

  “Of course, it is,” May scoffs. “I made it.”

  I smile from behind my glass. Finishing my drink, I stand and indicate to Charlie to hurry up. “I’m sorry, May, but we have to go. I’m going to take Charlie over to Old Roger’s house so we can walk it.”

  Charlie quickly finishes his drink, and takes our glasses over to the sink. “Thank you for the tea.”

  May follows holding the half empty pitcher. “You can stay with your sister. The sofa folds out, and it’s comfortable.” She’s always so direct when she speaks. I dig that about May.

  “Thank you,” I say.

  She flicks her hand. “Thank you, May,” Charlie says. We walk out, and go to my truck. “I like her.”

  “Yeah, she’s awesome. She’s quite direct though. If she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t have let you stay with me.”

  “Let’s head over and look at this house. Once we get some water and electricity in there, I’ll stay there. Don’t want to cramp your style.”

  “Cramp my style? Really?” I start my truck, and head down the long dirt driveway. “This is a tiny town, Charlie. Keep it in your pants, okay.”

  “Pfft. I’ll behave myself, don’t worry. Anyway, it’s Hicksville, and I ain’t putting anything of mine in anyone here.” Sure.

  We head through the town, and Charlie chuckles. “What?”

  “This is it? The main street?”

  “Yeah, it’s not huge. The hardware store is okay, they can order stuff if we need it. About twenty minutes that way, there’s a lumber yard, and a really good tile store. There’s also a place that does custom kitchens, and the marble they have is gorgeous. But I’ll keep looking.”

  “So, there’
s no way I can convince you to torch it?” I smack Charlie on the leg. “That’s a definite no, eh?”

  “No.” We get to the house in no time, and I pull the truck up along the curbside. “Here she is.” Getting out of the truck, I’m super excited to get in there.

  “Ugh.” He screws his nose up, and his lips turn down.

  “Wow,” I say the moment Charlie groans.

  “It’s a jungle out here.”

  “I’ve bought worse, Charlie. Remember…the first one we did.” I tap my finger to my mouth trying to remember the street name. “Stony Crescent.”

  The second I say the street name, Charlie moans. “Shit, yeah. That was so bad.”

  “You wanted to knock that one down too. And what happened?”

  “We made a shit ton of cash on it.”

  “Yep. Trust me. This old girl, she’s something special.”

  “You’ve only ever lost money on one flip we did. And that was because the market tanked just as we finished. You do have a knack.” We walk toward the front door. “The roof is shit and needs replacing.”

  “Yep.”

  “And there’s a damned ivy vine growing up the side of the house, and likely inside the walls.”

  “Yep.”

  “The yard is like one massive jungle.” He keeps pointing out all the negatives.

  “Yep. Careful of those; you’ll fall through the porch.” I point to the rotting deck. Unlocking the front door, I step through and smile.

  “Oh man.” Charlie looks straight up and sees the coffer ceiling. “Shit, look at that. I haven’t seen something like that in years.”

  “Yep. And I want to maintain it.”

  “There are a few different styles going on in here.”

  “There are.” I lean against the wall, taking in every moment of this beautiful old house. “I’m thinking.”

  Charlie interrupts, “Shit, here we go.”

  “Move the staircase to the side. And open this entire area up.” I use my hands to describe to Charlie what I want.

  “Moving the staircase? Alright. What’s over there?”

  “Go have a look. It’s a weird ass layout. A room in a room that opens up here, and over there.”