by T. K. Chapin
“Sure,” Jess replied. Going into the kitchen, Jess pulled down the coffee can and put on a pot. The crisp and refreshing air of the morning was flowing in through the kitchen windows. She hadn’t been waking up very early, so it was a nice change of pace. The sound of the creek could be heard through the stillness of the morning. She thought about Levi and her time in the creek and it brought a smile to her face.
As Jess brought her dad a cup of black coffee, Brandon sat up on the couch. “Thank you, dear,” he said grabbing the cup from her. “I met that Levi fellow last night by the barn.”
“You didn’t mention that last night.”
“I was debating on talking to you about him. Are you interested in him?” He set his cup of coffee down on the coffee table.
“It doesn’t matter, he’s leaving… However, I do like this guy named Clint though.”
“Clint? Who’s that? Why’s your Grandpa letting you run around with all these boys?” Brandon glared towards the hallway leading back to Roy’s room.
“Stop it, Dad,” Jess replied. “Clint is a guy I met when I went to go hang out with some people. He took me on a date.”
Brandon stood up. “You went on a date? Where’s this guy? I need to meet him.”
“Dad…” Jess said putting her hand on his arm. “Calm down. You weren’t around… you didn’t even call…”
“That’s true. I’m sorry about not calling. My cell phone was on roaming and I couldn’t call.”
“They didn’t have pay phones or calling cards?”
Brandon looked narrowly at Jess; he almost looked like he was glaring at her. “I don’t know… it just didn’t happen. Regardless, you shouldn’t be dating. Especially over here. You live back in Seattle. You don’t want to get wrapped up in a summer fling.”
“I’m being careful. I just like the guy Dad, plus with the internet and unlimited calling, long distance isn’t even a problem anymore.”
“Keep being careful. And I want to meet this Clint guy. It sounds like you’re having an okay time here. I was worried you were miserable being out here in the middle of nowhere. I knew I always was.”
“It’s been okay. I wasn’t looking forward to it one bit, but it’s been surprisingly well so far.”
“Good.” Brandon took another sip of his coffee. “Let’s go get those animals taken care of.” Brandon and Jess put coats and boots on before heading out to feed the animals.
As they were feeding Rose, Henry came out into the barn. “How come you didn’t wake me up?”
Jess looked over at the stall at him. “Dude, I’m sorry… I just thought you wanted to sleep in.”
“Well I didn’t! Make sure to wake me up tomorrow when you guys head out…” Henry said. “What’s left to do?”
“Still need to gather the eggs,” Brandon replied.
“I thought Grandpa did that?” Henry asked.
“He wasn’t feeling too good last night, so he said we could do it,” Brandon replied.
“I’ll go get the eggs.” Henry left the barn and headed towards the chicken coop on the other side of the garage.
“He’s sure growing up,” Brandon said.
“You should have seen him at the house in Seattle… he was trying to take over your role hardcore.”
“Oh yeah?” Brandon said, adjusting the bottle back into the calf’s mouth. “How so?”
“Just random stuff. He’d come into my room and tell me to pick up clothes or stop using such a harsh tone with mom.”
Brandon shook his head as he let out a small laugh.
“It’s not funny Dad… you not being around left a big hole.”
“I know. I’m so sorry for what this whole thing has done to you and Henry. Your mother and I never wanted you two to get in the middle of all this.”
“You mean Mom. It’s all her fault for leaving you and taking us. That was stupid of her.”
Her dad let out a sigh and his lips tightened. “About that…”
“What?”
“Well, your mom didn’t exactly leave, Jess.”
“I was there Dad. She totally left.” Jess shook her head. “Even now, you still defend that woman. Whatever you saw in her, I won’t know.”
“Jess. Go easy on her, okay?”
“Why? She ruined our life.” Jess stood up from the bale. “She destroyed everything and made it a mess. She broke your heart and she screwed everything up.” Jess’s blood boiled with anger as she spoke.
“Jess…” Brandon set down the bottle from the calf and grabbed her hand. “It wasn’t your mom that left; I left that relationship a long time before.”
“What do you mean?” Jess asked worriedly.
“I don’t want to get into all the details of it, Jess. Just know your Mom isn’t to blame… at all. There was another woman.”
Jess was overtaken with a sick feeling deep in her stomach. Her mother hadn’t been the one to blame; it was her dad. The one person she trusted more than anyone or anything, betrayed her and her family. “How could you do this?” Jess asked as tears welled up in her eyes. “How could you let us think it was she that left?”
“It wasn’t-”
“No…” Jess stood up and pulled her hand away from his grasp. “Don’t try to justify yourself to me.” Looking towards the barn doors, Jess thought of her mom. She just kept silent… all this time, and let me just hate her? Jess jumped the stall and headed out of the barn.
“Where are you going?” her dad asked.
“I’m going to call Mom.”
Chapter 31 ~ Roy
Opening his eyes, Roy found his sticky note reminder he left sitting on his night stand. It read: Call doctor. He became nervous as he saw it was after eight already and the doctor’s office was open and ready for his call.
Picking up his little black book of phone numbers and the phone, he sat at the edge of his bed and called the offices of Dr. Murtle. He thought to himself, maybe they don’t have any openings for a while.
“Dr. Murtle’s office, how can I help you?”
They just so happened to have a cancellation call in before Roy had phoned them; they were able to pencil him in for that same day at eleven o’clock, just a few hours from then. Hanging up with the doctor’s office, Roy went and showered to get ready for his trip to town.
Going into the kitchen, Roy poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat. Jess came barreling through the door off the kitchen from the porch and picked up the phone as she proceeded into the living room. Roy wondered if Brandon had told her. Listening quietly from his seat, he could hear Jess in the other room.
“I’m so sorry…” The sounds of Jess sniffling followed her words. “I just don’t get how he could do this to our family… to you…” Roy’s heart twisted as his throat clenched. No child should have to go through something like this; it just wasn’t right. Hearing the beep of the phone shut off, Roy continued eating his cereal.
“Grandpa,” Jess said, coming into the kitchen.
“Yes?” He asked looking up at her.
“Did you know… about my Dad being the one at fault?” She asked taking a seat at the kitchen table.
“I did,” he said softly as he took another bite. Roy felt nervous, as he didn’t know how she was going to react. He figured she could be angry and mad at him or thankful.
“Why didn’t you say anything to me?”
Roy set his spoon down in his cereal. “I didn’t feel it was my place. And you and Henry are just kids… you shouldn’t have to hear these kind of things.”
“But you let me just think my mom, your daughter was the one that ruined my life and family… why? Why wouldn’t you want me to know the truth?”
“Your mother didn’t want me saying anything, and I wanted to honor that. Your dad…” Roy looked out the window of the kitchen to see him on his way from the barn into the garage. “Your dad messed up… but he’s still your dad. And you need him.”
“I don’t need a dad who treats my mom l
ike that, who broke wedding vows; he can’t even be trusted! What he did was wrong!” More tears followed from Jess’s eyes.
“Yes it was wrong, but people make mistakes. I’m not saying it’ll all get figured out, but sometimes it can be fixed.”
Jess laughed sarcastically. “Yeah right, like that’s going to happen…”
“God can make the impossible possible. I’d go easy on your Dad… he knows what he did was wrong and you just gotta love him through it. I’m not saying be his best friend or pretend everything is okay… but give God a chance to grow you; that’s what I’m doing.”
“I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises,” Jess replied.
Roy picked up his spoon and finished his bowl of cereal. Putting his bowl into the sink, he looked at Jess at the table. “I’m going into town, I’ll be back later.”
“Can I go?” Jess asked.
“Nah, it’s just a boring doctor’s visit.”
“Okay.” Jess got up and headed outside.
Grabbing his coat and shoes, Roy put them on and headed out to his suburban by the garage. He was worried about his doctor’s visit, what if he had something major wrong? What if he needed to go to a home and give up the farm? Both ideas scared him. He loved God and trusted Him, but he feared the process of dying. He knew what was on the other side, which was glory, but witnessing his wife go through the pains of cancer towards the end of her life scared him. The pain, the heart-wrenching emotional carnage that was inflicted on the family, it was all so sad and he didn’t want to do that to his family all over again.
As Roy began to pull out of his parking spot in front of the garage, Brandon came out from the barn. “Where ya going?”
“Just into town, have some stuff to do.”
“Okay. Can you get a twelve pack? I don’t have any more beer.”
Roy stuck his head out his window and looked back towards the chicken coop. “How about you just take care of your kids and be there for them? You just drank last night.”
“You’re not my dad,” Brandon snapped at him.
“You’re not acting like a father, Brandon. Spend some time sober with your kids. You aren’t just going to be drunk the entire time you are here. If that’s your plan, you can leave.”
“Fine, I won’t drink.” Brandon walked off towards the chicken coop. Roy shook his head in disappointment; putting the suburban into drive, Roy drove off to Spokane.
Chapter 32 ~ Levi
Sitting on the edge of his bed the next morning in the Motel Six just a few blocks up from where he was about to go audition, Levi bowed his head in prayer. He wasn’t sure what to do. His nerves were shot, he missed his friends, and his heart was still back in Chattaroy.
Dear God… Hi. I don’t know what to really say or how to go about this whole prayer thing, but I feel like I need to talk to You. I’m scared and I’m lonely… The other night, Roy told me that I can pray to You and You’ll listen… I guess I’m just looking for that. I do want to thank You for Your Son coming to earth to die for me, I really appreciate that. I think Roy touched on that a bit when we prayed, but I just wanted to let You know personally. Also… I want to thank You for bringing me to Nashville safely. I don’t know what’s going to happen today at that audition, but I hope whatever happens, You are happy with it… Oh, and please help Jess with everything going on with her. Please take care of Emmie, I know she’s up there. Amen.
Opening his eyes, he looked up out the window at the building across the street. It was a red-bricked building with a little Chinese Take-Out shop down below. Peering down at the sidewalk, Levi noticed a man walking with a guitar on his back and a cowboy hat on. It felt weird to be in a city and see people that reminded him of Chattaroy. He never saw anything like it in Spokane when went into town.
The grumbling of his stomach alerted Levi; after going to bed hungry the night before, he was dying for a meal. He only had about twenty bucks in his pocket until his mom made the transfer from her savings to his bank later in the day. He had drained his own savings to help his mom and dad pay for a new tractor. They were finally paying him back, but they had to wait until the refinancing on their house finalized.
Hitting the streets, Levi walked the sidewalk heading north, where he’d spotted a diner on his cab ride to the hotel last night. Pushing open the door to CJ’s Diner, he took a seat up on a barstool.
“What’ll it be?” a brunette woman with curly hair in her twenties asked, walking up to him at the bar.
“Coffee and a breakfast.”
“Well, we have a variety of breakfasts…” she said, handing him a menu from between the flower vase and the napkin holder. Flipping his coffee cup over, she poured him a cup. “I’ll be back in a minute to take your order.”
“The Mega Breakfast,” Levi said tapping his fingers to the front of the menu before she had a chance to walk away. Coming back, she spun the menu around and looked up at him.
“You don’t even want to browse the other items we have?”
“Nope. I know what I want. Do you question customer’s orders often?” Levi smiled.
“Not usually,” she laughed. “It’s just odd… What’s your name?” she asked.
“I’m Levi. You?”
“I’m Chelsea… I’ll put that order in for you.” She smiled as she grabbed the menu from the bar and put it back next to the napkin dispenser.
“Thanks.” Levi glanced over his shoulder and scoped out the rest of the people in the restaurant. It was a blended group. Most looked a bit touristy with how happy they were acting. Glancing out the big windows out front of the diner, Levi noticed a couple getting a picture taken in front of an iron acoustic guitar monument that sat next to the diner.
Levi smiled, and watched as he sipped on his coffee. The waitress Chelsea came back over to him and leaned over the bar.
“Pretty entertaining isn’t it?” she said.
Levi turned back around and set his cup of coffee down. “It really is.”
“Usually the locals are the ones who find entertainment in the tourists. Aren’t you new around here?”
“Fairly new… just got in last night.”
“I called it,” she said. Smiling, she continued, “You plan on making it big in Nashville?”
“Ha… You could tell that easily?”
“Well you have your shirt tucked into your jeans, cowboy boots and a country twang to your voice slightly… I just guessed.” Chelsea refilled Levi’s coffee.
“Nice guess, but I’m sure you probably see a bunch of people coming through trying to make it big in Nashville.”
“It’s pretty typical, yes, in fact, it was why I came here in the first place.”
“You were going to sing?”
“Yep, I ended up staying to waitress here at CJ’s Diner.”
“That’s good; sometimes we have to work a normal job while we work on our dreams. That’s courageous of you to stick it out,” Levi replied. Looking at his watch, he saw he had to be at his audition in about twenty minutes, which was about a thirty minute walk back the way he came. “I best get going.” Pulling out his twenty, he set it down on the counter.
“You’re going already? You haven’t got your food.”
“I’ll be back to pick it up. I gotta run.”
“Okay, I’ll give it to a different table and remake your food when you come back. I had a table just order the same thing.”
“Great, I’ll be back!” Levi darted out the door without even getting his change for the meal.
Getting to the audition, Levi was a little sweatier than he wanted. The lack of planning on time was his own fault, and resulted in him almost being late. He had to make it back to the hotel, grab his guitar and then go up three more blocks; he made it just two minutes before ten o’clock, the time of his audition.
“Hello,” Levi said walking into the recording booth.
“Levi?” a woman said from the other side of the glass.
“What? I mean yes… That
’s me. I’m Levi.” He turned beat red as his words jumped. The sweat on his brow beaded and his back was already drenched from running down the sidewalk to make it in time.
“Is this a bad time for you?” she asked.
“No, not at all… I’m sorry; I just had to hurry to get over here.”
“Ok, well, show me what you got.” Releasing the button to speak to Levi, she sat back and waited.
Levi pulled his guitar to his front side and nodded. Doing a quick test to make sure it was tuned with a few strums of the strings; he smiled up at her as beads of sweat ran down the sides of his face.
Chapter 33 ~ Roy
Sitting near the phone was no stranger to Roy, but waiting alone was. He hadn’t waited near the phone for the good or bad news from a doctor in over five years, since back when Lucille had been alive. They’d wait anxiously to find out if the cancer had been completely removed; those were the longest days of his life.
Tears, pacing and the mind playing tricks thinking the phone was ringing was a major part of those days. Now, Roy was alone in his anxiety and anticipation in finding out what the prognosis was. He worried dearly what might be wrong with him.
The phone rang, and picking it up quickly, he greeted the silence with a sharp hello, as he waited for a response on the other end of the phone.
“This is Doctor Murtle’s Office, is Mr. Hinley available?”
“This is he… What are the results?”
“One moment while I put you on hold and connect you with a nurse.”
“Good or bad, that’s all I need to know.”
“One moment Mr. Hinley. Thank you.” A chirpy and happy woman came on over the phone for an advertising for hair growth. When did the doctors get into treating hair loss? He wondered.
Suddenly, the line began to ring.
“Hello?” a woman answered.
“Yes, this is Mr. Hinley, you guys called me to give me the test results?”
“Yes, just one moment.”
If time had the ability to freeze against the will of a person, it was in moments such as these. It was if time stood still, He could hear the sound of his heart beat through as he anticipated the results.