Cottage Country

by JL Edwards

  She walked out to her car where her parents were waiting for her to say good-bye. Her dad checked the air in her tires and looked under the hood as if he knew what he was looking at. Stacey was pretty sure that look of a vehicle under the hood had changed significantly over the years and her dad wouldn’t even know where to put the oil let alone how to fix something in her BMW.

  “Thanks Daddy.” She said giving him a small peck on the cheek to show her gratitude. It was his way of showing her that he cared.

  “I made you a care package and put it on the front seat for you.” Her mom said starting to tear up.

  “Aw Mom, you didn’t have to do that.” Stacey said hugging her mother tight. It was always the same when she left. Tears flowed between all of them.

  “Please drive safe Stacey. Call us every once in a while and let us know when you get home.” Her mother instructed.

  “I will be careful and I will call.” She said crawling into her car and fastening her seat belt. She waved to her parents as she pulled out of the driveway with tear filled eyes. She was going to miss them so much and it would probably be another year before she made it back.

  Stacey made her way to the highway and put her foot to the floor. She was Portland bound and wasn’t going to stop until she got there…well except for gas and pee breaks.

  CHAPTER 5

  Stacey got home safely and packed her things into her condo. Nothing had changed really. Her plants were still alive thanks to her wonderful neighbor Mrs. Clarke who came over every couple of days to water them and check up on things. Her clothes still were hung in the closet and her bed was made just like the day that she left.

  She went to the grocery store to replenish her cupboards. She bought lunch stuff and a few frozen meals for her dinners. It was difficult to cook a big meal for just one person so she ended up eating a lot of salad and baked chicken breasts.

  She needed to return to work the next day and she was dreading the pile of paperwork that she was going to be buried under. Stacey went to bed early and was up early to shower and dress in her business attire. She made a pot of strong tea and poured her metal to-go cup full to the brim with her caffeinated beverage. It was time to get back into the swing of her normal life.

  Stacey stepped off of the elevator and walked past the reception desk at work. The receptionist Carol who was busy on the phone, gave her a small smile and a wave as Stacey passed. Nobody else even bothered to look her way. She was such a small fish in this big pond and nobody even knew who she was except for a select few.

  Her office was exactly as she had left it, only her mailbox was jammed full of envelopes and memos. She sighed and dropped her brief case on the top of her small desk. “Here we go.”

  Her days were spent catching up on all of the work that she had gotten behind on. She had to prioritize everything in order to not feel completely overwhelmed and she had a couple of trial dates approaching so she thought she would start with that stuff.

  Week by week went by and she diligently cleared through all of her work taking time to attend the courthouse now and again to plead cases for the criminal losers that she was being paid to represent. Drunk drivers, Assault cases, small time drug dealers. They were all the same and it sickened her more and more each day to help these jerks walk free.

  One evening while she was looking up some comparable assault cases to the one that she was working on right now, she decided to pop into Google and type in a search.

  ‘Lawyers near Chester Lake Montana’

  A handful of sites resulted from her search and she clicked on a few of them to see who they were and what they were all about. She found a few tax attorneys, some real estate attorneys and just a couple of family law offices in the town of Chesterville, which was about twenty minutes from Chester Lake and about forty minutes from her parents home town of Cedar Meadows.

  She clicked on the link that took her to the site for Sanders, Parry and Murray Law Office. Their website home page displayed a photo of a group of people all dressed in black suits and skirts. They were all smiling and looked like a very happy bunch. Stacey clicked on the link that said ‘careers’ and a page opened with a small write up about the firm and a list of their current openings. The paragraph boasted about the family atmosphere in their office and the benefits of working for their firm. It looked pretty impressive. Stacey scrolled down the page and her eyes stopped on a posting.

  ‘Family Law Lawyer (1 year renewable contract)’

  She clicked on the posting and opened up the description. It was a job working in family law under a one year contract that would be renewable on the anniversary. She smiled thinking about how great it would be to work so close to home. She would most likely take a pay cut but her cost of living would go way down not living in the big city.

  She decided to take a chance and apply. What would it hurt to inquire about the job? She probably would not have enough years under her belt for them anyway but it was worth a shot. She pulled up an old resume that she saved in her emails from when she was applying for positions after graduation. She updated a few points and added her new job to the bottom and attached it to the application link online. She filled in all the necessary information, attached her resume and cover letter and clicked send. She made sure to refer to her personal email address for all correspondence. She didn’t want anyone to know she was looking at other jobs.

  Stacey didn’t hear back from Sanders, Parry and Murray in over a week and she had pretty much given up on the idea of moving back to Montana. She knew that everything happens for a reason and she if it was for her, it wouldn’t go by her. She didn’t tell her parents or Brandon that she had applied for the job. She didn’t want any of them to get their hopes up.

  Stacey worked long hours each day normally getting home around nine or ten at night. She had just enough time to eat something and then climb into bed so that she could do it all again the next day. She would lie in her bed and think about what Brandon was doing. She wondered if he had met anyone else yet. The thought caused a stabbing pain in her chest, but she couldn’t expect the guy to stay single with her so far away.

  One day on her lunch break, Stacey pulled out her phone to see if Brandon had sent her any texts. There were no texts, but her email had a few messages waiting. She clicked it open and her heart jumped when she saw an email from Eleanor Sanders the lead partner at Sanders, Parry and Murray. She quickly opened the email and speed read it’s content.

  Ms. Miller,

  I would like to take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Eleanor Sanders and I am the major partner at our firm Sanders, Parry and Murray.

  I would like to thank you for taking the time to send your resume our way. Your credentials and education are impressive and we would like to conduct a phone interview with you at your earliest convenience.

  I will have my secretary contact you to set up the phone interview.

  Kind regards,

  Eleanor Sanders

  Stacey almost spit out her diet coke. She actually got a phone interview and she had thought that nobody would

  even call. Some of the other people in the lunchroom could see her excitement and looked over at her annoyed. She didn’t care though. She stood up and skipped out of the room and back to her desk. She was on cloud nine.

  A few days later she had her phone interview with all the partners. She was a little bit nervous but it wasn’t like she didn’t have a job already. This was just something that she was taking a shot at and if it didn’t work out she was no further behind.

  Her interview went very well. She explained that she had grown up in the area and then moved to pursue her education. She didn’t speak badly of her current employer, she just emphasized that she would rather spend her days in a bit smaller of an environment helping to make a change in the lives of people in her community.

  The three partners seemed to like her but it was hard to tell over the phone. When they had asked all the questions that they wanted to
know, they thanked Stacey and told her that someone would get back to her. Stacey hung up the phone and smiled a big smile. She knew that she did well.

  A couple of days later she got the email that she was hoping for. Eleanor Sanders had invited her to fly there and meet them in person. She had her secretary book Stacey a flight, a rental car and a room near the small office. She was going to have to leave on Friday at noon so she would need to cut out of work a bit early that day. It was no big deal because she stayed so late every evening anyway.

  When Friday came, you couldn’t wipe the smile off of Stacey’s face. She worked for a little while and then grabbed a cab to the airport. She flew on a small passenger jet and when she landed in Montana she made her way to the rental car agency to pick up her sedan. She drove for about twenty minutes to Chesterville and found her way to the office in the down town core. She was amazed when she was able to park right out front and she didn’t need to pay eight dollars to leave her car there. The big city had really changed her perspective of how life is lived and she really appreciated some of the smaller things when she was there.

  Stacey entered the front door of the small office building and a receptionist greeted her with a smile.

  “How may I help you today?” The cheerful lady asked.

  “My name is Stacey Miller. I have an interview today.” Stacey said.

  “Oh yes Ms. Miller. The partners are expecting you. Please take the elevator to the third floor and Cindy will be there to greet you.”

  The third floor? She was used to riding up fourteen floors to get to her office. Stacey smoothed down her navy blue skirt and straightened her matching jacket as she rode in the elevator. She chose to dress as business as she could even though the firm was small. When the elevator doors opened, sure enough, there was Cindy all ready for her arrival.

  “Hello Ms. Miller. I am Cindy.” A pretty middle aged lady extended her hand to shake Stacey’s.

  “Hello.” She responded.

  “Please follow me. We have everything all ready for you in the board room.” Cindy said smiling and directing Stacey to a large room in the corner of the third floor. Inside was a large cherry colored wooden table with lots of comfortable black leather chairs lined around its perimeter. At one end was a few glasses of water on one side and a single glass on the other side.

  “Please take a seat here and the partners will be with you shortly.” Cindy pointed to the seat behind the single glass of water. “Would you like a coffee?”

  “No thank you.” Stacey smiled at the offer.

  Stacey sat down and took out a pad of paper and a pen. She waited nervously for the trio of partners to enter the room. She dragged her finger up and down the side of the water glass making shapes in the condensation. And then the door opened and three people entered the room. Stacey jumped to her feet to greet them. She shot out her hand that was still a little moist from the water glass.

  “Pleased to meet you. I am Eleanor Sanders.” A tall thin woman with red hair and a strong grip shook her hand and then took a seat.

  “John Murray.” A small stout man nodded as he introduced himself.

  “Richard Parry.” The final man shook her hand. He was very tall and thin with brown hair and black square glasses. He sort of looked like Denis the Menace’s father. The thought made her giggle inside easing her nerves.

  “Thank you so much for coming all this way to meet with us Ms. Miller. I got a good feeling from you on the phone but we really do like an in person meeting to get a feel for someone.” Eleanor explained.

  “Certainly. That’s completely understandable.” Stacey smiled.

  The three partners asked questions of Stacey for the better part of two hours. They had her explain where she had come from, what experience she had, why she felt she would fit in and what her future goals were. The answers came easily to Stacey because she knew very well where she came from, she worked hard to gain the experience that she has and she knows where she wants to be going forward.

  They liked her answers and they indicated so by nodding and smiling. She was an easy person to get along with and she had a very level head on her shoulders, which they could see. After they were finished questioning her, the three took a small break exiting the room for a while. Stacey sighed and sat back in her chair. She thinks that she did quite well but she had no idea who she was up against for the position.

  She pulled out her phone and fired off a quick text to Brandon.

  ‘Hi there. I hope you are doing well today. What are you up to?”

  She tucked her phone back in her brief case and awaited whatever was going to happen next. The door opened again and only Eleanor returned. Stacey’s heart started to pound in her chest and she suddenly felt the most nervous that she has during the entire process. Why didn’t they all come back? Did they not want to be there when Eleanor let her down? Stacey swallowed hard as Eleanor sat in the seat across from her.

  “Ms. Miller we have spoken and we have made our decision.” Eleanor said clasping her hands in front of her. Her face was extremely difficult to read. “We really like you however we feel your experience is a little bit lacking.”

  Stacey’s heart dropped into her stomach. A rush of disappointment consumed her.

  “But sometimes things just have the right feeling, and we feel that you would be a really good fit here within our firm.” Eleanor continued.

  All the blood rushed back into Stacey’s face when she heard Eleanor say they wanted her. She sighed in relief and a huge smile grew on her face.

  “Oh my goodness. Thank you.” Stacey said. Eleanor reached out and shook Stacey’s hand again to seal the deal.

  “We will need to work out a start date and all the other details with you, but if you are willing to accept, we would love to have you on board.” Eleanor’s eyes sparkled and she smiled seeing the same drive and determination in Stacey that she had when she was a new graduate. “I’ll have Cindy take you down to our human resources department where your offer letter is being drafted as we speak. You can review it and make any changes required with them.”

  “Thank you so much Ms. Sanders. You won’t be disappointed with your decision.” Stacey beamed.

  “Please…it’s Eleanor.” The older woman smiled and led the way to the reception area back by the elevator.

  Stacey stayed in the office for another two hours completing all the necessary paperwork for her to become employed with her new firm. A start date was set for five weeks from that day. That would be just enough time for Stacey to give her notice, get all of her files transferred, pack up her condo and make her way to Chesterville. She was overwhelmed with everything that she had to do, but she was ecstatic and she knew that she could handle it all.

  When she got to her car Stacey pulled her cell phone out of her bag. There was a text on there from Brandon.

  ‘I am just at the cabin. Got lots of work to do this weekend. Wish you were here.’

  Stacey text him back.

  ‘You just want me there to help you out.’

  She started her rental car and dialed up her parents’ number on her cell phone setting it on speakerphone. As the phone rang, she pulled out of her parking space and made her way towards the lake.

  “Hello?” Her mother’s voice answered.

  “Hi Mom.”

  “Oh hello sweetheart! How are you?” Her mom’s voice rose up an octave when she realized it was Stacey.

  “Mom, I am beyond good…I am great…is there a word better than great?” Stacey was so excited.

  “What is happening my girl? You sound very happy.”

  “Mom, I just accepted a position at a family practice office in Chesterville practicing family law.” The phone went silent for a few seconds. “Hello… Mom are you there?”

  “I...yes I am still here.” Stacey could hear the tears in her mom’s voice.

  “Mom?”

  “Yes?” she sobbed.

  “I am moving home Mom!” Stacey exclaimed.


  Her mother took a few minutes to regain her composure from the shocking information that she was having to absorb. She yelled for Stacey’s father to pick up the other phone and Stacey was able to share the good news with him as well. They were so happy to hear that their daughter was going to be back with them again, or at least near them. Stacey explained her timeline and everything she had to go through to get the job and they listened attentively.

  “Well we are sure glad to hear that kiddo.” Her dad said. “We’ve missed ya around here.”

  “I’ve missed you too Daddy. But I need to get going. I am going to stay at my hotel this evening and I have a very early flight home tomorrow. I will be back in five weeks for good.”

  “Okay sweetheart. Take care. Be safe and call us when you get home.” Her mom said.