by Naomi Niles
I laughed. “Well, you have my complete approval.”
“I thought I might,” Haley winked. She paused for a moment. “Umm… Gavin called last night.”
I looked up with a start. “What did he say?”
“He wanted to know why he hadn’t heard from us in awhile.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said that… we wouldn’t be contacting him anymore,” Haley said. “I deleted his number too.”
I smiled. “Good for you.”
“And good for you,” she said. “So anyway… how are things with you and John? Have you discussed the upcoming move?”
“We have in passing, just not in detail,” I admitted. “Things have been so crazy around here. JJ’s been spending time with his mother and his brothers and when he’s with me…”
“You guys are busy getting it on?” Haley asked suggestively.
I rolled my eyes at her. “You are so immature.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
I laughed. “He mentioned that he was going to keep the apartment he’s currently renting, so I don’t see that there’s much else to discuss really.”
Haley nodded. Then she glanced at me as though she had something to say.
“What?” I asked pointedly.
“Well, I was just going to say that if you’re reluctant to move in with JJ because of me… don’t be,” Haley said. “I’ll be fine on my own.”
I tried to act as though I hadn’t even been thinking of that. “Please,” I said, waving my hand in her face. “That’s a non-issue.”
“Why?”
“Because… Because you and I are roommates,” I said. “And nothing can break us apart.”
Haley smiled, but there was a serious edge about her expression. She reached for my hand and held it for a moment. “We don’t have to be roommates, Kami,” she said softly.
“We’re sisters. That means so much more, and that also means that no matter where we live, nothing will ever break us apart. I know that, and I know that you know that too. If you’re worried that I’ll feel as though you’re abandoning me, then don’t, because that’s honestly not how I feel.”
I took a deep internal breath. “Like I said, JJ and I haven’t spoken about any of this.”
“Well, if you do and if by any chance he asks, let him know that you’re more than happy to move in with him.”
“Hales—”
“We can’t stay joined at the hip forever, Kami,” Haley said, cutting me off. “That’s not how this goes. Remember what Doctor Moira said. We need to stop being so co-dependent. We need to cultivate our own lives, separate from one another. One day, you’re going to be married, you’re going to have children of your own, and when that day comes, we shouldn’t still be living with each other. Because…that’s just weird.”
I laughed and Haley laughed with me. “Okay,” I said.
She gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s join everyone outside.”
The backyard was littered with an assortment of different fireworks that we were planning on unleashing in the last half hour before the New Year. I could feel the excited atmosphere in the air and gravitated instinctively towards JJ. He and Alan had set up a bunch of folding chairs in a loose circle, and he was lounging back in one of them with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a beer in his hand.
“Come join me,” he called, lifting up one hand for me to settle underneath.
The moment I was snuggled beside him, his hand came down around me, shielding me from the cold. He kissed me tenderly on the forehead before he placed a kiss on my lips.
“Another year gone,” he said. “So much has happened in such a short time.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s crazy. But I think this is the first time I’ve really enjoyed the holidays. I think this is the first time I’ve looked forward to New Years.”
“Because of me?”
I laughed. “Definitely because of you.”
“Are you sure you have to leave on the second?” he asked. “Can’t you postpone a little longer?”
“Haley and I are scheduled to open on the fifth, but we’ve set up a few meetings with a couple of different people,” I explained. “About expanding Natalie’s.”
“Of course,” JJ nodded. “You’re right, you shouldn’t cancel those. It doesn’t matter, anyway; I’ll be back in California on fifth. I just got greedy.”
“Greedy?”
“For more time with you,” JJ clarified.
I smiled. “Well, you are moving to California,” I reminded him. “You’ll have all the time you want with me.”
“I’m counting on that,” he nodded.
I hesitated for a second before I looked up at him. He smiled and gazed at me questioningly, waiting until I was ready to talk.
“You said you were keeping your current apartment, right?”
“I have another month on my lease,” JJ replied. “And then I can either renew it or look for an upgrade. Maybe someplace closer to you and Haley.”
I nodded. “Have you considered looking for a place on my street?”
“On your street?” JJ repeated.
“The house next to ours is up for rent, too,” I said shyly. “It’s a one story, two bedroom, but it looks pretty decent from the outside.”
“Would you like that?” JJ asked. “Having me on your street?”
“I think I would love that,” I admitted.
JJ smiled. “We’d be neighbors.”
“Actually,” I said hesitantly, “you and Haley would be neighbors.”
JJ raised his eyebrows. “And where would you be?”
“Next door,” I said. “With you.”
JJ frowned slightly and then it dawned on him what I was saying. “Wait… Does that mean…you want us to move in together?”
I nodded. “Yes, I think I would really like that,” I said, but his reaction made me take pause. “I thought that was what you wanted, too.”
“It is,” he said breathlessly. “But I just thought…”
“Yes?”
“What with Haley’s recent…situation… you might not want to leave her,” he said, stumbling over his words a little. “I mean… I did mention a move once before and—”
“I know,” I said quickly. “I freaked out a little. But that was different. Everything was fresh and that was a completely different move we were talking about.”
“True,” he agreed.
I pulled him closer to me and kissed his neck. “I love you, JJ,” I said emphatically. “And I think… this is the right thing for me. I’m thirty years old, and I finally know what’s best for me. I finally know what’s right for me. And, I believe you’re it. I can finally look towards the future and make plans and not be scared of all the changes that are going to come.”
JJ smiled. “I can finally see my future, too,” he said. “I mean I could, but it was never much of one. I figured I’d grow old in this house, retire when I was sixty, and die in Colorado in my comfy bed with some Mozart playing in the background.”
“That’s sad,” I said.
JJ smiled. “It is,” he nodded. “But that’s the future I saw for myself.”
“And now?”
“Now I see myself in sunny California, walking by Venice Beach every other day, and concocting alternate realities for all the people I see there. I see myself getting married to you, maybe moving into a nice big house at some point. I see our children running around in the backyard with the dogs.”
“We have children?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“Of course,” JJ nodded, without hesitation.
I smiled. “Good,” I said. “I think I would really love to have kids soon. How many kids do you see in our future?”
“Two,” JJ replied. “Maybe even three… I’ll leave that up to you. Hopefully, we’ll have one of each, but I’m equally happy to have girls. And if we have a girl, we could call her Natalie.”<
br />
I felt emotion prick at the corner of my eyes. “That would be nice,” I said, forcing back the lump in my throat. “You mentioned dogs.”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“A Labrador, and two cocker spaniels,” JJ replied.
“Three dogs?”
“Why not?” JJ said. “The more chaos, the better.”
I laughed. “I suppose chaos is going to mean something different in our lives from now on.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” he nodded.
“Me, too!” I said decidedly.
I grabbed JJ’s face and started kissing him passionately. The only thing that made me break away was the sound of Sam’s voice, raised in impatience.
“For God’s sake, break it up you two,” he said. “We’re about to start lighting fireworks.”
JJ and I broke apart laughing. We got to our feet and headed over to the loose circle where everyone was standing. I could feel it in the air. Change was coming and I, for one, couldn’t wait.
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BONUS CONTENT BELOW
CHISELED
By Naomi Niles
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Naomi Niles
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Chapter One: Bethany
"Where the hell am I?"
I looked around at the endless acres of green pastures with herds of cattle lowing in the distance and sighed. There wasn't a street sign or a building in sight, and I was feeling more than frustrated.
Maybe I should just turn around and go back to the town I'd just passed through, I thought. Riverbend was small and quaint, with a population of just under 1,800 people. It was the kind of place where everybody probably knew everyone else, and I was sure they could tell me how to find the Hutchinson Ranch.
When I'd stopped to buy gas for my Prius, the owner of the gas station had seemed friendly enough and had insisted on pumping my gas himself. He was an elderly gentleman with grease stains all over his apron. When he took it off, he revealed a denim shirt with the name Earl embroidered on the pocket.
"Chicago? You've come a long way," Earl commented as I watched the numbers on the gas pump scroll upwards.
"Yeah," I said, not used to chatting with strangers. The people who ran the Quick Mart where I lived would never have taken the time to pump my gas, let alone chitchat, but Earl obviously had all day.
"Your bumper sticker says SAIC. What's that?"
"It's the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I just graduated from there last week;" The pride came through in my voice. I tried to stay humble, but I was the first member of my family to go to college, and I'd worked damn hard, too.
My mother made no secret that she thought art was a waste of time, and getting a degree in it was an even bigger waste of money. Apparently, my blonde hair and blue eyes were the only things I had inherited from her.
My creativity must have come from my father, but I had no way of knowing for sure since he'd left when I was still just a baby. Mother told me all the time that I would be a loser just like him, but art was my passion and I was determined to prove to her that I could make something of myself with it. Now that I'd gotten my degree, I was one step closer to that ultimate goal.
"What brings you to Riverbend? Ain't no museums or galleries here," Earl drawled.
"I'm doing some artwork for a local rancher." I tucked my shoulder-length hair behind one ear and wished he would hurry up.
I handed him my debit card, but he just stared at it. "You'll have to take that inside," he said.
Reluctantly, I followed him into the station where he had an ATM and drew out the cash. I was dressed in a flowing skirt, white tank top, and sandals, accented with beaded jewelry around my neck and wrists. It was a simple summer outfit designed for comfort, but here in the sticks, I felt like an out-of-place hipster.
"Tell me which one, and I'll tell you how to find it. The roads can get kind of confusing once you get out town. Mostly dirt roads carved by repetitive use.”
"No need. I've got a map app on my phone. I'll be fine." I snatched my change from the counter, turned on my heel, and headed for the door.
If I'd known then what I know now, I would have taken him up on his offer, but at the time, I'd spent enough time chatting with that curious old man, and I was anxious to get going.
There was someone I needed to find. Someone I'd been searching for a long time and was supposed to be living in this small town somewhere. Working out at the Hutchinson Ranch was the perfect excuse to look for him, but not if he found out.
So, I had jumped in my car and took off on the highway, feeling nervous and excited about my first real job as an artist, not to mention being one step closer to finding Frank Hill.
The scenery soon turned to green pastures and the smell of cow manure filled the air. I passed the occasional dirt road running between the fields, but none of them had any road signs, and there was no way to know if I was heading in the right direction or lost completely. It was a far cry from the streets of Chicago, and my app was useless. Still, I kept going forward.
I’d been told I couldn't miss it, but I was beginning to think that was all just a load of cow manure. Maybe my mother was right: I wasn't capable of making it on my own. Look at me, if I couldn't even find the location of my first job on a road with no side streets, how would I ever find a missing man in a strange town? I was a failure before I even began. At the next dirt road I came to, I was going to turn around and head back home.
Then, suddenly, there it was. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I saw the big wooden sign with lettering burned into the oak with a branding iron. "Hutchinson Ranch." It was held high in the air by two gigantic logs and looked worn by weather and time.
I drove through the wooden entranceway and down the dusty dirt road, which ended at a sprawling ranch house, surrounded by smaller structures. There was a small office, an old red barn, and right next to it, a stable for horses. An array of beat-up trucks and farming equipment was scattered about, with men walking to and fro between them. A shepherd collie napped on the porch, and I felt like I'd been transported into an old episode of Bonanza or The Waltons.
The house was beautiful, painted red with white shutters that matched the wrap-around porch. It was obvious that this was a home built with love and maintained for generations. A home with history and heart – just like the kind I'd always longed for as a child, living in a single room apartment in Chicago with my mother.
As I sat in my car, staring at the magnificent ranch house, a young man approached me with a swagger in his step. He looked to be about my age, twenty-two, with light brown hair, a dazzling smile, and golden eyes that flashed with mischief.
"Hello, miss. What can I do for you?" He leaned against the open window of my car and flashed his grin at me. His bicep flexed as he tipped his cowboy hat back, and his left eyebrow rose appreciatively as he took in the sight of me. He was quite handsome, but entirely too aware of it, and I found his cocky flirtation more amusing than seductive.
"I'm looking for Margie Hutchinson," I stated, trying to sound like I'd done this before and not like this was my first job.
"No, you don't want her. You're looking for a much younger member of the Hutchinson family," he winked at me. "I'm Brett. Happy to be at your service."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Bethany Foster
." I shook his hand awkwardly through the car door, thankful for the metal body of my hybrid protecting me from being in too close of contact with this randy young man.
"Get out of the way and stop pestering her. Let the poor thing at least get out of her car," a gutsy female voice called out. Suddenly, a pair of careworn hands grabbed Brett from behind and yanked him back by the arm.
"I was just seeing who had pulled up the driveway, Mama, and welcoming Miss Foster to the ranch." Brett took off his cowboy hat and cast his eye down towards his boots sheepishly as the woman glared at him with her hands on her hips.
She had gray hair peppered with strands of ebony and her warm, chocolate-brown eyes were dancing with merriment. She turned to me with a smile and said, "Don't mind Brett. He has an eye for the ladies, but he knows to mind me or I'll still take a switch to him. He won't bother you again. You must be Bethany. I'm Margie. Welcome to the Hutchinson Ranch."
I stepped out of the car as she introduced herself, but instead of shaking my hand, she embraced me in a motherly hug. I liked her instantly and guessed correctly that she'd never taken a switch to any of her children even once.
"Come inside and let me show you around," Margie insisted, and I followed up the steps of the porch and into the grand ranch house. It was even more beautiful inside than out, with hardwood floors, hand-carved furnishings, and stained glass decor. High ceilings and an open floor plan made the place feel spacious and airy, while hand-stitched quilts and the smell of food cooking made it feel homey and warm.
She chatted amicably during the entire tour, showing me knick-knacks and telling me tales.
"That's my bedroom through there. You just knock on my door any time of the night if you ever need anything: another blanket, you hear a coyote howling, or even if you just want girl talk. Anything."
"Thank you, Mrs. Hutchinson." I stifled a smile. My own mother had yelled at me to leave her alone when I asked to climb in her bed after a nightmare or during a thunderstorm, and this sweet stranger was inviting to knock on her door even I was just lonely.