Written in the Stars

by Jennifer Martinez

  I love the feel of riding at a full gallop. You are focused on your rhythm, the wind in your face and the freedom the speed brings all while getting closer and closer to nature. We get to the outpost and tie up the horses. She is enamored with the star filled sky and I can already feel her mood brightening. I grab our dinner and blankets and throw one her way. Its obvious she’s never been in the country and I want to ask her about why she decided, after years of being a city girl, to move to the middle of nowhere but I can’t figure out how. I have a strange pull to this lass, not in a romantic way but in a brother kind of way. She’s damaged, you can see the scars on her heart searing through her face in her expressions. Her smile never quite reaches her eyes and you can tell she doesn’t feel safe yet. She drove over twenty-five hundred miles to escape something and I vow, in that moment, not to ever let it catch her.

  We make small talk and take in the view for a while before its time to head back to the house. It’s been a long day for both of us and I could really use some shut eye.

  CHAPTER 9

  Mackinzie

  I wake up the next morning feeling refreshed. I laugh as I look down and see I still have my clothes on from last night. I guess I was a lot more exhausted than I thought. I begin my jaunt downstairs for some coffee before I begin unpacking everything. It isn’t much to unpack but heaven knows if I try to do it without coffee I may just end up putting my shoes in the shower. I walk into the kitchen and immediately double over laughing. Coll is wearing a pink apron singing Michael Jackson while making pancakes. I really do wonder about this guy but he seems friendly enough. He stops his karaoke session at the sound of my laughter and turns around with a befuddled look on his face.

  “I hope you like pancakes! You will learn out here breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.” He quips with a smile.

  “Who doesn’t like pancakes? Can I help with anything?”

  “Na, just grab some coffee and take a seat. Breakfast will be ready in no time.”

  I pour myself a cup of black coffee and sit down at the small table by the window. I love the views from this house. I have to remember to check the view from Google earth later to see just how close the next neighbor is. As I wait for Coll to finish cooking breakfast I run through everything I would like to accomplish today. I have to start working again in a few days but I still want to explore a little bit more.

  Coll finally walks up to the table with two heaping plates of food and no more apron. He’s wearing a white tee again but this time he has on black lounging pants instead of jeans. His hair is a mess but he still looks pretty good for having just rolled out of bed. We sit and enjoy our breakfast while he tells me more about Bonanza. When I take my first bite of the eggs I nearly die. They are the most deliciously fluffy eggs I have ever eaten. He tells me about the chicken coop and some of the other animals he has on the farm. He has two cows, five chickens, the six horses I have already met and two goats. He explains to me how the more he can produce here the less he has to go into town. We talk about all the other things he can produce on the land and that’s when we get into a discussion about my job and passion. He listens intently as I talk about my work with Greenpeace and about my views on the carbon footprint and everything green. He seems truly impressed.

  When we have both finished eating, he invites me for a walk around the grounds to meet all the animals. I agree, excited to see exactly what he does during the day and head up to my room to get ready. An hour later I am ready to go. I meet him downstairs and we head out to check on the goats first.

  We walked up to the goat pen and the two brown and white colored girls came running up. He introduced me to Sadie and Hawkins and went to grab their feed while I played with them. All the animals were amazing. It took about an hour to get them all fed and cleaned. While we took care of the animals we talked about the town and why Coll didn’t like to go to town. He did say he needed to go into town today and asked if I would like to accompany him. I needed to grab some essentials so I told him to knock on my door when he was ready. Then it was time for me to unpack.

  CHAPTER 10

  Coll

  I blame my years in the military for my love of mornings but I just can’t help it. I love being able to see the sun come up and watch the world being reborn. I roll out of bed at five thirty to the glorious noise of Michael Jacksons Man in the Mirror and brush my teeth before heading downstairs. I don my Aunts favorite apron and start making breakfast. I am always more productive after breakfast. I can’t get MJ’s lyrics out of my head and start singing “I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer” when Mack walks into the kitchen and hits the floor laughing. I look at her confused then realize that I was singing out loud, in a pink apron, cooking pancakes. I’m laughing at myself when I realize just how ridiculous I must look and ask her if she likes pancakes.

  She seems much happier today. I think the country air is already effecting her brain cells. I keep cooking using the fresh eggs I grabbed from the coop yesterday and cannot wait to see her reaction to eating them. She said she worked for Greenpeace and was all about being ecofriendly and green so I figure she will love these. I finish cooking and take off my apron before heading over to the table with breakfast. I was right; she almost died of happiness when she took a bite of the eggs.

  “I thought you might like those.” I say chuckling. “I grabbed them from the coop last night, it doesn’t get much fresher than that.”

  “The coop?” She asks.

  “Aye. I try to make what I can at the house to avoid going into town. I’ve never much been a fan of the small town life but I love being away from everyone so I have my own chickens, cows and goats for all the necessities.” The look in her eyes screams excitement so I invite her out to help me with the morning chores.

  She puts away the dishes and we both head upstairs to get ready. When we meet on the back porch she is wearing grey sneakers, AE jeans and a white tee. She’s thrown her hair into a sloppy bun and I am relieved that she is not wearing any makeup. This is a girl that practices what she preaches and that is something that I can respect. We walk over tae the goat pen in silence and when she sees them she nearly melts. I mean I know my goats are awesome but she can’t seem to get enough of them. I leave her to play while I go grab their food and clean their pen. Then it’s off to the cows. On the walk over to the cow pen she asks why I don’t like going into the city. I’m not ready to give her the full story yet but I decide that if I want her to be my friend then its best to start off honest.

  “They always ask me about the war.” I explain. “It was no secret I was a Navy Seal but what I did was always confidential. I naer told anyone, inclooding my family, about my missions. When I came back injured, all anyone could do was ask about how I was shot, if I killed anyone. War is hard and yer forced to make hard decisions. They can’t seem to understand that I don’t want to talk about it. It makes it really awkward in such a small town. That’s why I don’t like going. If I’m not around them they can’t ask about it.”

  I see the sadness creep back into her eyes but this time it isn’t her life she’s sad about, its mine. This girl has a heart of gold. I know she is probably excited to go see the small town of Bonanza and I do have to run to the hardware store today so I ask her if she would like to accompany me. She agrees and tells me to come knock when I’m ready. She heads up to her room and I keep working around the farm before heading up to take a shower and get ready.

  Living in a small town reminds me a lot of being in Iraq. Nobody trusts you and there are no secrets. Moving to a small town is the same too. You have to show yourself, tell them who you are, and go with someone they already trust. The people here may not like me but they do trust me. I know they will like her, they just have to get to know her first.

  Once the rest of the chores are done I head up to my room. I have never been able to move my aunt and uncles things out of their r
oom, so I sleep in one of the guest rooms. It’s well decorated, like the rest of the house, and filled with blues and greens. Unlike Mack’s room, my room is on the front of the house looking down the long dirt road to nowhere.

  We decide to take Mack’s truck into town. It’s nicer than mine plus, it will be good for the townsfolk to see it and get used to it. During the drive she tells me everything her friend Hazel told her about small towns. Hazel is pretty spot on with a couple differences. Hazel doesn’t live with a man. I explain to her that people may look at her strange until she explains that we are flat mates and not lovers.

  I can tell she loves the feel of our small town. I tell her we can walk around first then do all the errands last. First, I take her to my favorite spot, the diner. If I have to eat anyone else’s cooking it better be Burk’s. He makes the best French toast I have ever eaten. I order the French toast fae lunch and she gets the fried chicken. In between bites of food, we talk about our families and our pasts. The ladies at the diner pull me aside when I head to the bathroom and begin the interrogation.

  Maggie is a doll, but she’s definitely a snooper. She didn’t waste any time with the questions. After fully proving that Mack and I weren’t together she gave me a hug, mumbled something about not yet and went to start the gossip tree. I looked over Maggie’s shoulder during the barrage of questions to find Mack laughing hysterically in our booth. Apparently she thought it was funny that a nosy woman straight out of Laverne and Shirley cornered me. After the ten-cent tour it was time for shopping. We stopped at the drug store first for the essentials then off to our local Ace so I could get some new chicken wire for the coop.

  CHAPTER 11

  Mackinzie

  The only thing I hate more than packing, is unpacking. It’s a tedious and monotonous process that must be accomplished. At least I don’t have to unpack an entire house. I turn on Pandora and get to work. Thankfully my closet is close to the size of my bathroom so I have no problem hanging all my clothes. I jam out to Alkaline Trio and begin hanging and color organizing everything. About two hours later I am finally finished. I put away all my bags and sit to enjoy my room. Now that everything is in its place it feels like home. Even the plush white comforter is starting to grow on me. It’s almost time for lunch so I hop in the shower to get ready to go into town. After everything Hazel told me about small towns I am really glad Coll offered to go with me. It will make it a lot easier. I take a long hot shower and throw my hair in the “Katniss” braid before heading to my closet to pick out clothes. Sometimes I hate being a girl. I shouldn’t have to spend thirty minutes staring at everything I own. I finally decide on a plaid button up and jeans paired with my favorite sandals. With nothing else to do but wait, I hop on Facebook to see what the rest of the world has been doing while I’ve been moving across the country. Hazel is happy as ever relaxing at the beach with her sister and the folks from work are still bickering about solar versus wind power as a viable source of sustainable energy. I go to check on some of my other friends and realize that a lot of them have un-friended me. I guess Steve got to more people than I thought he would. I tell myself not to let it get me down and that I have an entire town I get to become friends with now when I hear a knock on the door just in time to save me from the pit of self doubt I was about to fall into.

  I offer to drive into town and Coll thinks it’s a good idea. He explains that the town’s people are going to have to get used to my car and having someone they already trust in it will be good for them to see. We head down the long dirt road back towards town and I tell him about Hazel and her tips for surviving a small town. He listens intently and agrees with most of what she said but brings up one valid point, I am a woman who just moved in with a guy. Everyone is going to think we are together. He explains that as long as we tell everyone I am just a roommate and we are not together I should be fine but in the meantime I should not be surprised if I get some sideways glances.

  The town is just as cute and quaint as I remember and I am very excited about getting to explore a little bit. We park the car and start to walk down the road while Coll explains the town to me. We get stopped a few times to introduce me to people and continue towards our first stop, the diner.

  I swear, I just walked into a time warp. The diner reminds me of the one in Happy Days. It has black and white checkered floors with red booths and bar seats. There is an old-fashioned milkshake machine behind the bar and all the servers are wearing pale pink skirts with little white aprons. I can’t hide the smile on my face and the satisfaction that I really did find the town that time forgot. We sit down at a booth with a view of the town and look through the menu. Coll surprises me when he orders French toast for lunch. He says Burke, who I assume is the cook, makes the best French toast ever. Being a southern girl I can’t take my eyes off the fried chicken. The meal is delicious. The fried chicken is almost as good as it was in South Carolina and the French toast does look amazing. Coll gets up to use the restroom and a young waitress wearing the name tag Bonnie, hops into our booth. She is filled with questions like: where did you move from, why Bonanza, why do I live with Coll. I answer all of her questions truthfully and she leaves just in time for me to see Coll getting the same questions from our server, Maggie. I can’t help but laugh. Hazel was right, they really are nosy.

  We finish our lunch and head to the drugstore. I am pleasantly surprised when I find out that it is actually a CVS. I leave Coll to grab what I need and am once again stopped by someone, this time it’s the Sheriff. Sheriff Perkins is a nice man, he is very cordial and welcomes me to the town. I tell him that I moved here after my divorce to start a new life and Coll is letting me stay at his house while I figure everything out. He gives me his card and wishes me a good day before heading to the counter to pay for the sweet tea in his hand. Our last stop is the Ace Hardware. Coll grabs the new chicken wire and we are headed back home.

  The drive back is way more entertaining than the drive to town. We joke about the waitresses both grilling us with questions and all the other people we met. We’ve had a fun day so far, and its only early afternoon. We decide to not ruin a good thing and have a movie night after he finishes fixing the coop.

  I love the chickens and miss being able to build stuff so I offer to help. We make our way to the coop and he shows me how to take off the old wire with pliers. With the chickens safe in their coop, we get to work. Its fun being able to get dirty and the job gets done twice as fast. After admiring our job well done we head back to the house for movie night.

  I dart upstairs to put on my PJs and head back downstairs. When I enter the movie room I see Coll is already looking through his collection. We decide on the classic, Edward Scissorhands, and I get the popcorn. The movie starts and we are getting comfy in our recliners when Coll turns to me and cocks his head.

  “What? Do I have food on my face?” I ask jokingly.

  “Na,” he replies, “I was just trying to figure out how anyone could be stupid enough to divorce you.”

  I take a deep breath and weigh my options before responding. This is hard to talk about but Coll is my roommate and he deserves to know. Finally I sigh and respond, “He didn’t want the divorce, I did.” Now it’s his turn to look confused. “He was abusive. Not at first, but after we got married, he got very possessive. Told me what I could and could not wear, who I was allowed to hang out with. I always blamed it on his past until the first time he punched me. I started saving money that day. He’s a horrifying person. I served him the papers and he refused to sign them. He started stalking me at the museum I worked at and threatening my friends. Finally, I was able to get him into court. I couldn’t live there anymore. It’s too scary. That’s why I moved out here. If he ever finds me, I’m afraid he will kill me.”

  “I’m sorry Mack. No one deserves that. I’m proud of you for getting out of there, that took a lot of courage. Nothing like that will ever happen here, I promise.”

  We watch the rest of the movie without conv
ersation. After the movie we put away our popcorn and go to bed the next day we are having target practice.

  CHAPTER 12

  Coll

  This little city girl is very impressive. We get back to the house, and she offers to help with the coop. I show her how to take the old wire off, and we get the job done in no time. We don’t want to waste the rest of an amazing day so, we decide to have a movie night. I run upstairs and throw on some lounging pants and a hoodie then go down to the movie room to pick a movie. I really hope she has a good taste in movies and doesn’t make me watch some crappy movie and well I kinda want to know what type of movie she’ll pick. She comes into the room in black pants and a Harry Potter tee and I can’t help but think again, what fool would let this girl go. She offers to go grab some popcorn while I get the movie set up and I vow to ask her exactly what happened. There’s something in her eyes that doesn’t seem right and I want to fix that. No one should live in pain and fear. She walks back in with two bowls of popcorn and we park our butts in the recliners. Right when the opening credits start to roll I can’t help it anymore.

  I look at her and finally say, “I was just trying to figure out how anyone could be stupid enough to divorce you.”

  That’s when she tells me a story that nearly sets my skin on fire. He beat her. Punched her and made her feel like nothing. Her gun makes sense now. I vow in that moment that if I ever see his face I will beat him within an inch of his life. This girl is amazing, she deserves a man who will treat her like the queen she is not some slave to do his bidding. Once I finally control my anger I tell her she deserves better and suggest some target practice the next day. We watch the rest of the movie in silence. After the movie, we clean up and head to bed. I’m sure she will be sleeping but I can’t. I’m still too angry. Mack is like the sister I never had and I can’t imagine anyone laying a hand on her. I fall into a short fitful sleep and eventually get out of bed. Blaze and I haven’t been on a run in a while and I don’t like having all this anger simmering in my veins. Blaze is right on point and waiting by the back door for me before I am even there. We run about eight miles through the woods before finally coming back to the house. I am finally calm, I’ve thought about a lot and I feel much more centered now. I lean back on the stairs with Blaze resting on my legs and we watch the sun rise. We eat breakfast and go our separate ways until lunch. I have a lot more work to do on the west fence and she does have a job she has to do. I decided during my run that we would shoot a few different guns today. I know she has her Glock but I wanted to give her a taste of a big gun. I keep plenty on the property and she should know how to use them if the need ever arises. I grab the M70AB2, Benelli M2 Tactical and my own Smith and Wesson M&P 45 and pack up the Raptor. I want to see how she shoots and what her purpose will be. She needs to be well protected, and I will not always be around to do it. I make a quick sandwich and wait for her to come downstairs.