Hope's River

by McHeyzer , Margaret

  “Right, because even with the extension, it’s a tiny house,” Charlie says in a sarcastic voice, and a deadpan face.

  “Think about it, though. Once someone comes in through the front door, this is going to look impressive, and practical. The kitchen stays the same, but we change the island direction. It’ll flow nicer, and be spectacular. Because we were going to have the sliding door here.” I point where it was supposed to be. “And four windows here.” I point to where they were supposed to go too. “This way, it’s all open. What do you think?”

  Charlie walks around, and looks at what I want. “There’s no walk-in pantry on the plans.”

  “I didn’t think we needed it, considering the size of the kitchen.”

  “You know what we can do?” he says, getting into the spirit of this.

  “What?”

  “We’ll have the glass doors like you want, but instead of them folding out, we have them slide in on each other. I can build it out here, so they can slide back and are out of the way. And, instead of this part of the wall jutting out and looking odd, we can build it in, and create a walk-in pantry.”

  “I like that,” I say. “I’ll get the doors priced and ordered once you send me the exact measurements. I’ll have a look at the kitchen and see what we can do to make it more functional. But I like that idea a lot.”

  “I’m not just a pretty face,” Charlie says as he flexes his tattooed arm.

  “I never said you were.” I punch him playfully. “I’ll finish my coffee, then put me on the tools, wherever you need.”

  “Upstairs. We need the man power to finish the build out before we can continue with the roof. It’s nearly done, but we need ya.”

  “I’m on it.” I finish my coffee, go out to my truck and grab my tool belt. I love this shit so much. This is what I consider fun.

  “Oh, look at you,” Elle says as I open the door.

  “What, this ole’ thing?” I playfully say as I twirl. “I went looking at doors today, and passed a goodwill store. I saw this in the window.”

  “No, way. You rock a mini dress so nicely. But I like how it’s a bit flared at the hips. And I love this color on you, too.”

  “How’s this? Ted Baker, and it still had the tags on it. And guess how much I paid for it?”

  “Ted Baker? Those dresses are at least a couple of hundred. And it still had the tag?” I nod. “I don’t know, maybe eighty dollars?”

  “Twenty dollars.”

  “All I can say is, you look so damn good in it. I love the cute little heels too.”

  “You’re looking quite cute too. I love the way you have your hair.” She’s flat ironed it, and it’s quite severe, framing her beautiful face. “You know, I love how you have two full sleeves of tattoos, and you wear them so well.”

  “I love them. At first people were a bit skeptical, but once they got to know me, they didn’t even notice the tattoos anymore.”

  Meow.

  “I’ve got to feed the Cat. Hang on.” I grab his kibble, and his bowl. “Here you go.” I scoop out the kibble, and place it on the floor for The Cat.

  He looks at the kibble, then me. Meow.

  “I haven’t let him come to the house, and he’s being an asshole. More so than when I got him back from the vet after he was neutered.”

  “No man likes his family jewels taken away,” Elle says with a laugh.

  “Let’s go. He’s just going to be angry at me for leaving him. I think Charlie will be home soon, so he can pester Charlie.”

  “What did you end up naming him?” she asks as we walk out to her car.

  I chuckle. “The Cat.”

  “Yeah, what did you call the cat?”

  “The Cat.”

  “Yeah, the cat!” she says with more emphasis. “What did you call the cat?” she asks, slower.

  I laugh and try again. “The Cat.”

  “Yes, the fucking cat. What did you call him?” she nearly shouts as she gets in the car and waits til I’m in before starting and leaving May’s.

  “I called the cat, The Cat. As in the cat’s name is: The. Cat.”

  She drives out of the driveway, with a screwed-up nose, and an open mouth. “Wait, you called your cat, The Cat?”

  “I did.”

  “The Cat?”

  I bring my hand up to cover my smiling mouth, and laugh into my palm. “Yep.”

  “Poor fucking cat. You may as well had called him Dog.”

  “But he’s a cat, I can’t call him Dog. If it’s any consolation, sometimes I just call him Cat, and not The Cat.”

  “Oh yes, we don’t want to confuse anyone,” she mockingly bites.

  I laugh a little more. “So, where are we going for dinner?” I watch as she leaves Hope River and drives toward the town where I bought the counter top for the kitchen. She continues past, and enters another neighboring town. She drives through a very run-down area. “Man, look at some of these houses. Are they in the same county as Hope River?”

  “Yeah, but this area is called Faith Haven. It’s like the ugly step-sister out here. There’s a lot of homelessness out this way. It’s almost as if it’s been forgotten, except we drive through here to get to some really nice restaurants and a great mall. It’s slightly further inland but still only about a fifteen-minute drive from the ocean.”

  I wonder what the real estate is like here?

  What? Nope, get that stupid idea out of your head Hope. Once Old Roger’s house is done, I’m back to my normal life.

  “Where are you taking us?”

  “There’s a cool place that opened about two months ago, it’s a vegan restaurant.”

  I grumble loudly. “Vegan? Really? I need meat, Elle. I need the protein. I do a lot of physical work.”

  “Listen to you whine. All I ask is you give it a chance. If you don’t like it, we’ll leave. But I promise you, the food is so good. My favorite is the mac and cheese, and the mushroom with some stuff.”

  “Oh yeah, sounds appetizing. It’s got stuff in it,” I tease.

  “Trust me, it’s fantastic.”

  “Fine, I will. But if I don’t like it, I’m saying so.”

  Elle smirks. “How are those kids working out for you at the house? Thomas and Matt?”

  “They’re both terrified I’m going to send them to jail.” I chuckle. “They both needed someone to kick them in the ass, but mostly, someone to believe in them. They’re doing really well. Thomas’s father…” I shake my head and groan. “I’m not liking him.”

  “I don’t know much about him. I’ve only ever seen his wife in town a handful of times. They never come to any of the festivals.”

  “Speaking of Jake.” We weren’t, but I have to bring him up somehow.

  “Nice transition there, Hope. No, nothing happening. It’s best nothing does happen.”

  “Why not? He’s hot, you’re hot. He’s single, you’re single, you should both just screw and get that tension over and done with.” Elle shoots me a quick glance.

  “What? It’s not gonna happen.”

  She presses her lips together, and takes her right hand off the steering wheel to rub the back of her neck, before placing it on the wheel again. Elle’s hiding something. Maybe she’s not ready to share, but she can’t go from hot and heavy for the sheriff to completely uninterested in such a short time frame. “Anyway, you and River…”

  “Not gonna happen either.”

  “Oh, I know. He came by yesterday I think it was, and he had a woman with him.”

  A what? A woman? “As in a date?” My chest suddenly constricts as my mind races. I shouldn’t feel like this, I should be happy for him. How can he move on so quickly? He told me he loved me.

  “No idea. But I will say they looked fairly happy, I guess.”

  “What do you mean? Did they look happy or not?” I ask in rapid fire. Shit, why is this news making me angry? “Wait, stop. Don’t tell me. It’s not my business.”

  Elle smacks her lips together ma
king a loud, audible pop. “Wow. Sounds like you’re jealous.”

  “No!” my voice is tight. I take a second to gather my thoughts. River’s dating. Great. He deserves to be happy, and I shouldn’t stand in the way of that. “I’m sorry. I’m being stupid. Periods…you know? That time of the month makes me hormonal.” I’m not really hormonal, but at least I can use it as an excuse.

  “Huh, and here I thought you were acting a bit like a jealous ex-girlfriend.’

  “We’ve never officially dated, so I can’t be a crazy ex. Anyway, can we forget about River, please?”

  “Sure.” She finds a spot on the street and parks her car. “Come on.” She gets out of the car all happy and shit. I get out, moody and seething. River has a girlfriend. I can’t get that out of my mind. How can he move on so fast? Maybe I never meant anything to him to begin with. I can’t believe it. “Hey,” Elle snaps.

  “Sorry, what were you saying?” I ask, as I stop my pity party and pay attention to Elle.

  “Unless you’re willing to do something about it, stop thinking about him.”

  “Harsh much?” But she’s right. I can’t let this consume me. “You know what?”

  “What?” Elle leads me to a restaurant that looks way too fancy for it to be vegan. “I’m glad I didn’t start anything with him, for this very reason. We’d never work.”

  Elle smiles, and nods. “You keep telling yourself that.”

  “Says the chick who doesn’t want to try it on with the sheriff,” I say with a snappy head wobble and a click of my fingers.

  “Look, we’re both fucked up. You and me. Let’s forget boys even exist, and just have a nice night out, okay?” She holds her hand out so I can shake it. Like we’re making a pact.

  “Yes.” I take her hand and shake it firmly.

  “Hi, we have a reservation, under the name of Elle.” Elle tells the guy at the counter with a smile.

  “Your table’s ready. Right this way.”

  Looking around, this isn’t what I thought it was going to be. “I thought this was fancy from the outside, but it’s more upscale hipster,” I whisper to Elle as the guy shows us to our table.

  We sit, and I wait for him to hand us menus. But he doesn’t. “Your waiter will be with you shortly.” He smiles and happily wanders off back to where he was.

  A young girl comes over to our table, and places two glasses and a carafe of cold water on the table. “Hi, I’m Bethany, and I’ll be your waitress tonight. Have you dined here before?”

  “I have, but my friend here hasn’t,” Elle says as she points to me.

  “Yay. A newbie.” The girl claps. She is way too enthusiastic. But, hey, whatever gets her through her workday. “We don’t have menus. What we do have are several light boards that rotate slowly with what we offer. We are fully vegan, and we also have nut free, lactose free and gluten free options.”

  “What, cardboard?”

  “No, not cardboard. But it’s amazing how many people think that until they try us.” The chirpy girl smiles. “People have also said, ‘you don’t make friends with salad,’ and ‘what is this, rabbit food?’”

  Holy shit! Did I say that out loud? I close my eyes, and can feel my cheeks burning. “I’m sorry. I have no filter,” I say as I try to bury my face in my hands. Thank God I didn’t say anything worse.

  Elle’s laughing. “Don’t worry, you know what I said the first time I came here?” I shake my head. “I asked, ‘is it like chewing on an old sock?’”

  “Elle!” I shriek. Lowering my hands, I’m now more mortified at Elle’s first reaction than mine. I look up at the girl, and offer her a pleading look. “I’m sorry,” I say again.

  “That’s okay. But our menus are on the light boards; there’s one on every wall. If you need anything, I’m here to help.” She walks away, leaving us to look at the menu.

  “Oh my God, Elle. I can’t believe I said that. Why didn’t you kick me or something?”

  “Honestly, I said worse. And you know what? I try to come at least once every two or three weeks, the food is so good. Usually I get it to go, but I thought it would be nice to eat in today.”

  I look over at the light boxes, and notice there’s not much to choose from. There’s a total of eight main courses, and two desserts. “There’s not much variety.’

  “The menu is changing constantly.” She looks at the menu too. “Do you like mushrooms?” I nod. “The pan roasted Portobello mushroom steaks with gravy. I kid you not, nearly the best thing I’ve ever eaten. I’m getting that.”

  “Have you tried the wild mushrooms, avocado and red peppers?” Elle nods, her eyes light up. “I take it that’s good too?”

  “So good.”

  “Alright, I’ll give it a go. What’s the worst that can happen? We’ll have to stop by your diner on the way home, right?”

  “You won’t have to. And let me tell you, I’m getting the pumpkin meringue pie for dessert. It’s so good. If you want to get the dark chocolate mousse so we can share, I won’t stop you.”

  “That dark chocolate mousse has my name all over it.”

  Elle calls the young girl over, and she types our order on a tablet before leaving us again. That girl is super chirpy and happy. I’ve gotta leave her a substantial tip. “You know what I was thinking about today?”

  “What?” I ask.

  “You’ve never really said anything about where you came from. Do you have lots of friends? Do you go out a lot?”

  “Nah, not really. I’m more of a workhorse than a socialite. I’m not introverted or anything, but I like my own company. I’ve had girlfriends but no one really close. And I had Grady for a while, but…” I shrug. “You know. What about you?”

  Elle’s shoulders tense, and she sucks in a deep breath. “Same,” she says, but I know that’s a total lie. She doesn’t want to tell me about her past. She must be ashamed of it. She looks over my shoulder, and closes her eyes. “I’m sorry, Hope. I had no idea.”

  “No idea about what?” I turn to see what she’s looking at. Great. River walks in with his date. My mood drastically collapses, and I don’t want to be here. I turn quickly before he sees me, but I know it’s inevitable.

  Of all the places for him to be. A vegan restaurant. With his date. Ugh. Shoot me now.

  “We can leave,” Elle offers as she begins to stand.

  “What?” We really should, but no. I’m not going to leave just because River’s here with his date. “No, nothing happened with us. It’s fine. I want to try this food, so please, sit down and don’t worry about it.”

  Elle slowly sits, but with a remorseful glimmer to her eyes. “We can go.”

  “Hey, he works for me. I have to see him. We’re not fighting or anything, we’re just…over.” Although, my stomach is in knots, and my hands are trembling in my lap.

  Elle sighs, then musters a smile. “Okay.”

  “Just give me a second. I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” I say as I search for the sign to the bathroom. Standing, I head straight there without looking behind me, and find three doors, all with a unisex sign on them.

  Even though none of them are occupied, I still knock before I open the door to one of the bathrooms. Someone pushes in behind me, taking me by complete surprise. “Why aren’t you returning my calls, Hope?” River asks as he pushes me up against the wall.

  His body hovers over mine, destroying every coherent thought. “We’re over.”

  “We never started.” He leans down, kissing me on my mouth. His kiss is filled with fever, need…want.

  “Stop. You’ve brought a date.” I try to push him away, but his size and strength are impossible to budge. Thank God.

  “She’s my mom’s best friend’s daughter. I don’t want her, I want you.” He trails his hand up my bare leg, snaking its way up my thigh, and teases me above my panties. The other hand is groping my boob, squeezing, and dominating me. Hell yeah, I’m liking this.

  “Jesus, River,” I squeal and look around
in case anyone can see us. Stupid, because we’re locked in a damn bathroom. “What are you trying to do?”

  “I’m sick of you pushing me away. Get out of the way of our happiness, Hope. We need each other.” His fingers find their way inside of me, and I suck in a breath as he plays and brings me to the brink of having an orgasm. Right here in a fucking vegan restaurant.

  Wait, is it really hot in here? Has someone turned the heat on?

  His mouth takes mine, muffling my sighs and moans as I concentrate on increasing this ecstatic explosion quickly rising.

  “Oh shit.” I grab on to him, and try to grind against his hand. Shit, shit, shit. “I’m nearly there.” I keep moving my hips, wanting him to bring me undone. Suddenly, he pulls away and slowly brings his fingers up to his mouth. “What are you doing?” I nearly leap on him to finish what he started.

  He sucks on his fingers, and winks. “You want me to finish?” I’m nodding furiously. “Then come to my house tonight.” He opens the door, and walks out.

  What the actual fuckity fuck, fuck, just happened?

  Straightening my dress, I try and not think about the agony in my pussy. I try to fix myself before I leave the restroom. Shit, I think my lady parts will explode if I just look at River as I walk back to the table.

  Eyes down, don’t look over at him.

  I look around the restaurant, and no one seems to notice anything, but my trembling hands and quickened breath is a dead giveaway that I nearly came.

  My mouth is completely parched, and I’m surprised to find our dinner sitting on the table waiting for me. “What took you so long?”

  “River and I didn’t nearly have sex!” I blurt.

  Elle stills as she reaches for her fork. She looks up at me, confused. “What?”

  I’m shaking my head. “I didn’t say anything.”

  She leans over, her eyes widening, as a huge smile erupts on her pretty face. “Did you two have sex in the bathroom? First…ewww. But second…hot. But ewww. More hot than ewww, I think.”

  “No, we didn’t. He cornered me in there, and just kinda attacked me. His hands were like everywhere.” I make a gesture around my breasts.