Broken Creek (The Creek #1)

by Abbie St. Claire

  From then on, keeping a roof over our head became her cross to bear, and she also became overly protective of me. I did of her, as well. Every time I thought about moving on with my own life, guilt consumed me.

  I heard the stairs of our old house creaking, giving away her pending arrival at my door.

  “If you forget something, I can mail it to you or you can pick it up when you come home in a couple of weeks, maybe?” Her face showed a fake smile.

  I knew she was happy for me and more than sad for herself.

  We both knew I would not be in home in a couple of weeks. I didn’t want to think about why she’d thrown that out there, but I could understand. I was leaving to make new friends and a new career for myself. She was going to be lonely. My gut surged with guilt, and my hands trembled as I inhaled deep breaths to calm myself.

  Neither of us had received a fair hand, but then, who does in life?

  “I think I got it. I’ve checked my list over and over.” I dug deep in my soul for a fake front of happiness; there was no room for sad emotions at that moment.

  “Let me see it?” she asked.

  I handed over my well-worn sheet of paper. She looked at the list and dragged her finger down each item as if mentally checking it from a mother’s point of view.

  “You forgot something,” she said, with a teasing smile, her eyes lighting up.

  “I did? What?” I grabbed the list and scanned it.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said as she disappeared from my room.

  When she returned, she had a small gift sack decorated with yellow and red three-dimensional flowers on the outside and lots of glitter that slowly descended to the floor as she touched it.

  The sack itself was a beautiful gift. When I removed the red tissue, I gasped. Wrapped inside was a shiny wooden box with a scene painted on the top. It was a rendering of the bench at the creek.

  I could hear Mom’s deep breathing as she took a seat beside me on my bed.

  “Mom, this is beautiful. But how did you…?”

  “Emily from the diner painted it. She’s been working on it for weeks.”

  “It’s indescribable. I don’t know what to say—thank you.”

  “Open it,” she said.

  I opened the box to find a gold bracelet with one charm hanging from it lying on the emerald green velvet lining.

  “It’s a Wren. Whenever you look at it, I hope you will think of home.” Her voice cracked, and she slowly took her left hand and dabbed at the tear escaping her eye.

  “Mom, you promised.” I paused to hug her. “I will never forget home. I don’t need a bracelet to remind me. You’re in my heart, this place is my heritage, and I’ll make us proud. As soon as I finish school, I’m coming back here to help those who’ve always helped me—us.”

  “You make me proud to be your mom.”

  We had our tear fest and shared our fondest stories, which mostly pertained to the happenings of our small town. Growing up in a place the size of Hatman was a blessing and a curse. While I knew everyone and they knew me, it was hard to escape, and it didn’t prepare me for the life of moving to a much larger city like Denton, when small town life was all I’d ever known.

  “Enough of this,” she said.

  With a quick burst of energy, she stood and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s get you on the road, so you can get there before dark. I have one more thing for you downstairs.”

  I followed her to the kitchen, thinking that her “last gift” was a big box of her delicious cookies made just to my liking—soft and chewy. To my surprise, she handed me yet another present.

  “A cell phone? Mom, I know we can’t afford this.”

  “I want you to always be able to call. It’s one of those pay-as-you-go kind, and there’re some air-time cards in there I bought with the money I made selling my cookies at Christmas. I’ll mail you some more cards as I can.”

  She couldn’t hold back her tears, so she just busied herself with packing up the cookies she’d made, while I put her gifts in the passenger seat of my old, and well used, 1975 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible.

  “Did you get your oil changed yesterday?”

  “Yes, Mom. We’ve had this conversation and we checked the list. I gotta go. Karina is waiting on me, and I told her I would be there about six o’clock.”

  “Go. Have fun. Tell Karina I’m looking forward to meeting her. In fact, call her with your new phone, so she has your number, but do it while you’re getting gas, not driving.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  As I drove through town, I saw the façade of our community through different eyes that day. As the typical teenager, I’d grown up thinking I was a hostage, prisoner to the eyes and ears of the older generations, and I would never have an escape. However, leaving town to start my new journey, I saw opportunity. A chance to make something of myself and come back to help those who’d always been there to help me and my mom. I didn’t see myself as a big city girl, more like I was on loan from the country side, and I would return with interest.

  I did as Mom ordered and called Karina with my new phone.

  “Hello?” she answered with a questioning tone.

  “Hi.” I laughed at her confusion. “Mom got me a new phone and number, which I don’t even know what it is, but it just came up on your screen.”

  “That’s awesome. You on your way?”

  “Yes, getting gas and hitting the road.”

  “Be careful. Don’t play with that phone while you’re driving.”

  “Man, you’re a ball-buster and sound like my mom.”

  Karina just laughed and hung up on me.

  The drive was a long one, but the excitement of my newfound freedom and the road ahead of me made the time pass along with the miles. After driving five hours, I pulled into the dorms at TWU in Denton and found I had enormous amounts of energy and a new purpose in my life.

  I was meeting Karina Stillman face-to-face for the very first time; although with the amount of hours we’d spent on the phone, I felt like I had known her for years. The school was gracious enough to make our introduction weeks ago by email, and we’d been talking or emailing daily ever since.

  She was a year younger than me, and her background was more privileged, but she came from a broken home and knew what it was like to be raised with a missing father. She had two older brothers who’d fought to be the alpha of the family and caused more rifts than good, she told me.

  “You’re here,” a tall brunette squealed as she ran toward me. “I’ve been watching out of the window for a vintage bug to pull up and knew it had to be you. You look just like the picture they sent me.”

  “Hmm, they didn’t send me a photo of you.”

  “Oh no, that’s my fault. The file I submitted ended up being corrupt, and I never replaced it. I had no idea what it was for, so I didn’t put a rush on it, and they didn’t ask. My bad. Come, let me help you with your things because we’re on the fourth floor.”

  It took several trips back and forth to my car to get everything. I was grateful the school let me ship some things in, and I had gift cards from Dr. Palmer for any incidentals. Such a sweet man, he was too good to me and way better than the abusive father I was unfortunate to have had; although, Dr. P didn’t know about any of that.

  On my last day of work, he and Sara Beth surprised me with a laptop and monogrammed book bag, complete with a mini-course in how to hook it up to Wi-Fi.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. With almost a week before classes start, we have time to learn our way around. Someone’s already put a note under the door about a party on Saturday.”

  “A party? Already?”

  “It’s a school sponsored welcome party, so it won’t be wild,” she said, raising her palms up in a little dance.

  Grateful that the school had introduced us at the beginning of summer, we’d found many things in common. Both of us had long brown hair, mine a bit darker than hers, and we both were only daughters. We wer
e close to the same height, but I had her beat in the hips department. My ass gave new meaning to junk-in-the-trunk.

  “Let’s go eat. Do you like sushi?” she asked, while she flipped her head upside down and ran a brush through her hair.

  “No, I don’t think so,” I answered with a laugh.

  She flipped her hair back and looked at me with her brows scrunched together. “You don’t think so? Have you even tried it?”

  “No, I haven’t.” What was I going to tell her? Hatman, a town of five hundred had a five star Sushi restaurant?

  “Do you like fish?”

  “Love it, all kinds. My ex is a pro fisherman.”

  “Good, then you’re trying something new.”

  “Is it gross?” I wrinkled up my nose.

  “If it were, people wouldn’t flock to it like crazy. C’mon, there’s a place right down the street. It’s called I Love Sushi, and I think you’ll be in good hands.”

  The sun had begun to set, so the top down on my car was the best way to see the sights. Karina directed me as I drove the three blocks to the Japanese restaurant.

  To other people, the town probably wasn’t much to see, but to me, it was a big change from having nothing but an E-Z Mart and a grocery store.

  When we walked in, the restaurant was crowded with people our age and whatever they were cooking smelled divine. Our wait was short, and we were seated in the bar area. Overwhelmed with an extensive menu, I had no clue and couldn’t make a decision. I looked from page to page and tried to comprehend it, but finally gave up.

  “Don’t let me embarrass myself. Help me with this menu.” I kept my voice to a whisper. I didn’t want people to know how much of a hick I happened to be.

  “You’re too cool. I’ll explain it,” she said with a giggle.

  After about thirty minutes, I pretty much understood the various rolls, and we moved on to the next lesson.

  Chopsticks.

  It took longer than thirty minutes for me to master the art of using chopsticks.

  “I think you like a little sushi with your wasabi,” Karina teased.

  “You noticed. I’m already hooked on this stuff and the more it burns my sinuses, the better. I think you’ll need a wheelbarrow to haul me outta here.”

  “You’ll learn to go easy on the soy sauce. It puffs me up like a balloon if I eat too much.”

  Our dinner was fabulous, but expensive. I decided sushi was going to be on-a-treat basis. My scholarship provided extra money, but I still had to be frugal until I could get a part-time job, and according to the nursing school policy, I could apply at the end of the semester for a nurse assistant position at the hospital, provided I passed all of my tests.

  The days passed quickly into weeks, and the weeks soon rolled into months. Before long, it was our last week of school before the Christmas holidays. Karina and I were both going home for the school break after we took our last final exam. I’d missed going home for Thanksgiving, but the weather had been bad that week, and Mom and I thought it was best to save the money and come home at Christmas break.

  Karina was helping me fold laundry. “I know your mom will be excited to see you.”

  I twisted my ponytail. “Yep, she’s emailed me every day now that they have created their version of Starbucks with an Internet cafe and free Wi-Fi at the diner. They let her use their computer any time she wants.”

  “You don’t have internet at home?”

  “No, but that’s what I’m getting her for Christmas now that I have the job on the fourth floor starting in January.”

  “She’ll be thrilled. You can Skype. Imagine what you can teach her.”

  I grabbed her arm to stop her from moving around the room for a moment. “Look, my mom and I are tight, but since I’ve come here and started my own life, I realize how much we were co-dependents emotionally, and it was dangerous. I don’t want to go back to that part of my life. The weaning process was painful for both of us, and I can’t do it again. I’m happy moving forward.”

  Was co-dependency just my excuse for not wanting to go back to the creek?

  “And does this newfound happiness have anything to do with Brad?”

  “Brad Crenshaw? My friend from anatomy class? Seriously, no. He’s only a friend, and he has a long-distance gal pal who he talks about constantly. If he isn’t in love with her, it’s because he just hasn’t realized it yet.”

  “Well, he sure comes around here a lot. I thought he was crushin’ on you.”

  “No, he’s crushing on some gal named Jennifer.”

  “Well then, we need to find you a guy. You say you hate being a third wheel to Aaron and me.”

  “When the time is right, he’ll walk into my life.”

  “Do you believe that?”

  “I do. I think fate brings people together. Fate brought Stephan and me together. While it was tragic, at least something good came out of it, as long as it lasted.”

  We grabbed out baskets and headed up the stairs to our dorm room.

  “What really happened with you and Stephan?”

  “I dated him from the time I was a freshman in high school. Slept with him for the first time after my senior prom. He’d started his own business by then as a fishing guide and soon became a pro fisherman. One night at a post-tournament fish fry, I was talking to one of the other fisherman. It started out completely innocent, but then he became flirty and took it a bit far. Stephan jerked me away from the guy, slinging me backwards, and I accidentally got tangled up in my lawn chair. I ended up with a concussion, two black eyes, and a broken arm from my fall. He didn’t mean to hurt me. He was just getting in the guy’s face and didn’t realize his strength.”

  “You’re making excuses for him.”

  “No, I’m not. But, I did realize his jealousy was more than I could handle, and he had anger issues when he drank a lot. I called it quits.”

  “Not all guys beat the shit outta ya. I about peed my pants when Aaron opened doors for me and has continued to every time. Mason would’ve let the door hit me and laughed about it.”

  “The men in my life have managed a continual record of making me a victim. I’d prefer to break the chain. We’ll see.” I dismissed the conversation with my hand in the air, or Karina would’ve gone through her entire memory bank, trying to find a guy to fix me up with.

  The thought of trying to start a new relationship left me unsettled. Single life was something I could control, an angry man throwing me around, not so much. I’d wholeheartedly believed in the laws of attraction when I met Stephan and that didn’t work out so well. When we were good, we were awesome. But when we were bad, it was dangerous. No matter how much you love someone, some things aren’t meant to be. I was broken in a million pieces emotionally when I said goodbye to him and our relationship.

  I went to dinner with Karina before saying our goodbyes for the three weeks we would be away from each other. I was surprised how comfortable I’d become with complete strangers in a four month period of time and felt as though a few weeks away would seem like forever. The life I’d come to know over the last few months was something I would never take for granted, more than grateful for the opportunity Dr. Palmer made sure came my way.

  That night, I waved as Karina hit the road for her family home in Oklahoma. She wasn’t looking forward to the visit and part of me wanted to take her to Arkansas. I knew Mom would welcome her with open arms, but I was careful not to offer because I don’t think it would’ve taken much for Karina to change her mind. It pained me to see her dreading a visit with her family. Something I hoped I’d never experience.

  The next morning I put my bags in my car and buckled myself in for the five-hour drive. Cold weather had come in overnight, and my car was covered in a thin veil of ice. I put the key in the ignition, and the car started with reluctance, which did not sound the least bit okay. I tried to remember the last time the battery had been replaced and couldn’t put a finger on it, so I added that to my mental to-do list w
hile I was home.

  When I pulled into the convenience store to get fuel and coffee, I had to wait my turn. The place was buzzing. Finally, a car pulled away and cleared a spot for me to pull in to. Good thing I was driving something small because a larger vehicle wouldn’t have been able to squirm into the space, since some idiot in a large truck and trailer full of hay was parked behind me and taking up two pumps.

  I filled up my car and went inside to pay and grab a large cup of coffee. When I returned to my car, the same idiot was still parked there, only this time he was leaning against his truck while talking on his phone—still taking up two pumps and oblivious to the rest of the world.

  I shook my head at his complete unawareness and got in my car.

  I turned the key—and nothing. I turned the key again and zippo. My battery was toast. I got out and walked to the rear of the car and opened the engine compartment. I couldn’t read the date on the battery for the large amount of corrosion that had built up over an unknown amount of time.

  “What seems to be the problem, little lady?” a deep voice asked behind me.

  When I turned around, I ran smack into a rock-solid chest. He steadied me with a soft grip of his right hand on my elbow.

  “It won’t start,” I said, while turning back toward the car engine.

  “So I heard. When was the last time you changed the battery?” He moved to stand to my left at the back corner of the car.

  “I haven’t, and I don’t know if they did when the engine was reborn, so I can only assume.”

  “How long ago was that?” he asked, while adjusting the battery connections.

  “Over six years.”

  He chuckled under his breath. “My diagnosis is a new battery.” He returned to an upright position, and I got my first real glimpse of cowboy heaven.

  There stood blue eyes, dark hair in desperate need of a trim, and a face covered in rugged scruff, towering over me. “Let me try to start it once more.” His voice was polished like a smooth silk robe sliding off the end of the bed and didn’t match his rugged exterior.

  He took his place in my driver’s seat, and I heard the clicking of the starter, but no luck on firing up. It was fun to watch a guy of his size trying to peel himself out of my small car. When he got out, he pointed over the roof to a parking area on the south side of the convenience store.