Stranded: A Mountain Man Romance

by Piper Sullivan

  He swallowed his food and let his cutlery down for a moment. “Let the boy make his own choices, Phyllis. Each to their own. He don’t wanna have kids? He shouldn’t have kids then. Maybe one day some pretty city girl will take a liking to him and he’ll buckle under the pressure of her goldilocks, but until then, we mind our own business.”

  “He’s over forty, Dean. You focus on your meatloaf instead of wishing on the stars like that.” Phyllis said. It was always amusing watching old couples squabble. No one ever won and no one ever lost, but they did it anyway. “You know the reason he’s going to be in town is for the reunion. I’m sure you’ll meet each other there.”

  The reunion. It had been weeks since the invitation popped up in my email, and I had completely forgotten about it. Attending my twenty-year high school reunion was not exactly on my to-do list. I must have pushed it to the back of my mind as soon as I had finished reading it because I had no interested whatsoever in attending it. Thinking about it in retrospect, it was a good call to discard it. Meeting all those people there, people like Gavin, was a whole load of unnecessary pressure. I couldn’t imagine finding any pleasure in spending an entire evening with people that had all grown up in this town, just like me, that eventually left this town, unlike me. I chose to stay in this town because I liked this town. If no one else felt the same way I did, I couldn’t bear having to explain myself and convincing twenty-three fellow graduates that I was happy here.

  Saying they all left might be a bit of an exaggeration on my part but the few people that did stay here still got involved with the corporate world, pursued big time white collar careers and spent their free time building families and creating legacies. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had sex, so the chance of having babies was pretty low. I had lived the single woman life for a while now, and I wouldn’t have anything in common with anyone at that reunion. I decided it was not worth my time at all.

  Chapter 2

  It was eight o’clock already. I was still at work, doing my part in the dinner rush, but the tempo was starting to slow down. Patricia, our other resident waitress, had it under control, so I decided I could call it a day. Brian, our number two cook, just behind Dad, was there to keep an eye on things with her. They were the most trustworthy employees you could ever hope for. They were both older than me, but not by much. Mom hired them some years ago, in a docile attempt to get the family more free time, but Dad still worked his daily shift, down to the last minute. What he did with the extra manpower was that he extended the restaurant’s working hours. It went from being open eight hours a day to fifteen hours a day. It was starting to make sense as the days rolled by why my Mom wanted me to have a change of scenery and see what else life had to offer, but I had the nagging fear that it was too late for me. I didn’t know what to fill my time with either, so I was working my full hours too. I must admit most of my effort was for my Dad, and his pay rates plus the tips made for a pretty decent income for an area like this, but he really was just an excuse for me. I couldn’t think of anything else I could spend my days doing, so I just worked until I was too tired to go on. I was grateful for Patricia and Brian, they took the liberty of closing the diner every night. I was more of a morning girl and by this time on most days, there was a good chance I was passed out on the couch watching reruns.

  At this point, all I wanted to do was have a nice little meal, fill myself up a nice bath and be over with my day. A flashback of my neglected fridge creeped through my mind and I realized it was much too late to stop by the grocery store. I wasn’t even sure I had the energy to make a decent meal if I had the ingredients in my fridge but my belly was definitely going to disturb my sleep. I called in a favor with Brian and he willingly went to work on preparing me something to go. I debated what I was going to watch while eating it and preparing to pass out.

  After a while Brian handed me my food. I grabbed my purse under the counter, and gave a wave to Patricia and some of the remaining punters on my way out. The jingle of the bell above the door announced my departure as I headed to my car parked out front. I couldn’t wait to get home and go to bed.

  The next morning, I woke up to the sound of phone ringing relentlessly. It took me a few seconds to register what was happening. I looked down at myself. I was still wearing my waitress uniform. I had done this a million times before and was adding to my ever growing list of lazy habits I needed to quit. I reached over to my phone on the nightstand, right next to my now empty plate of food from the night before.

  “Hello?” my voice was so raspy. Whoever was on the other line was definitely going to know that they woke me. I noticed a glass of water next to the phone. Score! High five to me for bringing a drink to bed, even though I should have remembered to take it before falling asleep.

  “Hey pumpkin. Did I wake you?” My Dad was on the other line. I took a quick gulp of my water before I responded.

  “Not really. What’s up?”

  “We’re running low on tomatoes, think you can do something about that before you get here?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll pick up some on my way there.”

  He thanked me, but not before he went on a long and droned out explanation of what type of tomatoes I had to pick up, the same long explanation he had given me a million times before. The moment he took a breath, I chimed in.

  “Okay, I’ve got it all handled. Don’t worry, see you later Dad.” I hang up and got to work preparing myself for the day.

  “Teresa? Teresa Baxter, is that you?”

  I was in the produce section of the local supermarket searching for my Dad’s perfect tomatoes when I heard my name. I turned around and found myself face to face with a middle aged woman and three young children hanging around her calves. I wasn’t sure who would be questioning my identity in the market. I was here every other day and everyone knew me. I stared at the woman’s face for a moment, but I couldn’t place her anywhere in my head so I looked down at her children hoping to see some trait to tag them to a family bloodline I was familiar with.

  “Yes, I’m Teresa.”

  “Teresa! It’s Janet. We were in the same class for like, twelve years!”

  Just then I remembered her. Time had taken a toll on her. The three young children that she seemed to be producing back to back, I mean they all looked under five, weren’t helping her retain her youth either. She was almost unrecognizable. The last mental picture I had of her before this day was a vibrant and full of life girl back in high school. What had happened to her? She looked seriously run down. The grey was settling into her hair, and it wasn’t just at her roots. Her weight gain made me feel comfortable in my own skin for the first time in a long time and the depression in her eyes far exceeded what I saw in Brian’s the night before.

  “Janet!” I said instinctively, trying to disguise my shock, or at least pass it off as a good type of shock, the happy to see her kind. “How are you? What are you doing here?” It was genuinely nice to see someone from back in the day, but not really exciting.

  “Teresa, it is so nice to see you after all this time. I’m back in town for a week. I’m staying with my parents. You should stop by. They would love to see you. I wouldn’t have stayed the entire week, but you know, the reunion and all. Perfect timing, don’t you think?” Teresa was enthusiastic. She gave off this vibe that made me wonder what she expected me to say her. At that particular moment my brain felt like it was shutting down. “Teresa? Aren’t you excited about the reunion?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear. “My parents will keep an eye on these little monsters for the evening, so I really plan to live it up!”

  “Well, I hope you have a good time. Tell everyone hello for me,” I said as I bagged up the two tomatoes I was holding. I gave her a sheepish smile as I prepared to bid her a good day, but the poor looked like I had just slapped her in the face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “You’re not going? You’re one of the only people I was excited about coming back to party with. I
don’t have to a mom for one night and I imagined the perfect night would have you and me going out and living like we’re in high school again, you know?” She was so excited it tugged at my heart a little that she thought my company would be so much pleasure. “You have to go! Pretty please? We need this. We need to go out and fun.” Her emphasis on the needing part made me suspect that her children were really tiring her out.

  “I’ll think about it. Okay? It was really good to see you though, Janet, but I have to get going. My Dad is waiting for me at the restaurant. He needs tomatoes real bad,” I said as I jiggled the plastic produce bag in my hand. “I’ll see you later.” I looked down and waved at the kids and headed in the other direction.

  “You will see me soon, Teresa. Next weekend to be exact, at the reunion. You can’t miss it!” She almost made it sound like a threat. As if something bad would happen to me if I didn’t show up.

  Chapter 3

  “Got any plans for next Saturday?” I was back at the restaurant, and I was serving Sam another piece of apple pie.

  “I never plan that far into the future. You know this. How can anyone make plans in Muleshoe, anyway?” Sam responded in his tender, loving voice.

  Sam was an attractive guy. I had to give credit where it was due. He worked as a farmer on his family’s land since graduating a few years before me. His father, Lonny Howard, was one of my favorite customers. That meant he was one of my best tippers. Sam and I had known each other for years, and occasionally we would hang out with each other from time to time as adults. Strictly platonic, but he was about the only male companionship I had even recognized existed in the last few years. Although our relationship never involved being romantic, I could tell that Sam cared for me, in a more than older loving brother kind of way. Of course there were sometimes when his male instincts would remind him that I was not his blood sister and therefore he wouldn’t be guilty of incestuous feelings, and my Dad, and even Patricia and Brian, would think we were romantically involved somehow, but that was just our friendly playfulness with each other. He and I had been very close friends all these years, and he was the one that was there for me during my Mom’s passing.

  “What would you say to going to my twenty year high school reunion with me next Saturday?” I was trying to say it in a take it or leave it kind of way. The only reason I had even considered going now was because after encountered Janet at the market I figured the shock value she gave me was well worth the entertainment of a full night. I could see how everyone else turned out, good or bad, and I couldn’t be that bad. I’d just changed in girth, nothing much else. “I mean, you don’t have to go or anything. I was just wondering you wanted to. It might be fun to see everyone. Even if you were a few years older than them, you still hung out with a couple of us back in the day.” I had to quit talking before I sounded too anxious.

  “Sure. I’ll go with you.” Sam muffled as he stuffed a big piece of pie in his mouth. He grabbed his perfectly folded napkin and wiped the corners of his mouth. “Is it like prom? Do I have to buy you a corsage?” He smiled and looked down to get another heaping spoonful.

  “Prom? No, why would you even say that? You’ve had reunions, it’ll be the same as yours. What was yours like?” I was a little confused as to why he would say such an awkward thing about something that I figured was utterly mundane and commonplace among people older than me.

  “Well,” Sam proceeded, “most classes have five-year, ten-year reunions and so on. Most classes I know never just have a twenty-five year class reunion, and as far as I can recall, your class has never had a single reunion until now. What’s that all about?” I couldn’t tell if he was being playful or sincere, but I did know he was picking on me.

  “If you must know, it was something we all agreed on, well, the majority agreed on it. Everyone senior year thought that we would all be successful in our careers and family, leaving us in a position that was far too busy for us to be bothered about meeting each other every five years or so, so we all decided we’d only have a twenty year reunion and maybe a fiftieth too. Everyone thought it was the best way to head into the future without looking back. At the time it seemed like a good idea, but it does seem weird now that you’ve brought it up. What if we’ve grown too distant?” I spun up a dish towel I had in hand and snapped it playfully in Sam’s direction. He smiled, but didn’t really take his attention of his pie. I turned to check the kitchen window for orders, and just happened to catch my Dad staring in our direction with a smile.

  “The order for table two will be ready in a minute. You can keep chatting.” My Dad grinned as he looked at me and then around me to Sam, who had in the minute decided to look up from his plate, now clean of pie.

  “I knew you would come!” Janet squealed as she saw me walk in the gymnasium doors. “You said you weren’t going to come, but you came!” She was past the free-throw line on the gym floor, and came racing my way.

  Sam and I stood there, scanning our surroundings, as Janet made her way over to us. The gym was packed with middle-aged folks, all with a drink in hand. There were a few even dancing around the half court line to the REO Speedwagon ballad playing over the loudspeakers. So far it seemed like a pretty lively bunch. Maybe we’d actually have a good time.

  “Oh, and who are you?” Janet said in a flirtatious voice, as she held her hand out in front of Sam for him to shake it. “Aren’t you a brisk drink of water?” She eyed Sam up and down a few times. One may have been embarrassed by her forwardness, but her pick up line was way more embarrassing, so either Sam didn’t know what to aim at, or he just didn’t care, because he looked perfectly unscathed. In fact, he seemed to be glowing under the sudden attention. He was eating it up. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye for his reaction, and his smile was taking up the majority of his face. I don’t remember him having so many teeth. Was his smile always this big? I thought to myself.

  “Janet, you remember Sam. He graduated a few years before us. He works for his Dad out on the Howard family land. Don’t you remember him? I’m going to give you guys a few to catch up. I’m going to go get a drink, do either of you want anything?” My voice fell onto deaf ears as they were both already in deep conversation and did not take notice to my departure.

  I figured I’d use this opportunity to scoot away and let those two chat. Yes, I knew Janet was married, but she was the one that said she wanted to party like we were in high school again. Well, from what I can remember, she was a slut in high school, and maybe that’s exactly what Sam needed for a night. After all of Sam and I’s flirting, I never felt like we had a sexual tension between us. However, there were times that I thought maybe he wanted more. Maybe Janet was just what he needed to take the edge off, and in the end, take the pressure off of me in thinking he may want something more with me some day. He’d never put the moves on me, but guys just put off a vibe when they are horny, and I have definitely felt his vibes on more than one occasion. I know it’s nothing emotional coming from him. He just needs a release, and I’m a woman. If I’m in his company, it’s only understandable that he may think he wants me, but he’s always been a smart enough gentleman to not cross the line with me. Janet was someone I can see him taking over that line. I’d be more than happy to help him, which was why I was walking away from them just then.

  I headed over to the cash bar. I can’t even remember the last time I drank. I figured I better play it cool and just go with a glass of white wine. I was never one to be able to hold my liquor very well, and I definitely didn’t want to get out of control in front of a bunch of people I haven’t seen since my prime. The bartender took my order and poured me a house wine. I fumbled in my pocket book for a few extra dollars to include for the time. In my profession, I know to take care of the servers, regardless if I plan on ordering anymore through the course of the evening. I turned around and looked towards the direction I had left Sam with Janet. I didn’t see them. Oh well.

  I leaned casually against the bar and drank in m
y surroundings. I felt like I was at a school dance with the faculty, and I was one of the teachers. We were all so much older. I saw a group at one table that looked like ladies from the old volleyball team. They were laughing it up as a group of men stood close to their table. My guess was it was the husbands, as none of them looked like aged people I knew. Everyone had changed. I felt out of place. I had brought Sam to keep me company, but I couldn’t stand in the way of the sparks I saw between him and Janet. I’m sure they would catch up with me later on. After all, Janet was so excited for her and me to live it up tonight.

  Chapter 4

  “I see you still hate crowds,” a voice as alarmingly pleasant as a seasoned sports commentator suddenly took me off my train of thought. I looked up, not prepared to see this absolutely gorgeous man standing right beside me. I felt my knees get weak a little. I stared into his eyes and felt like I was losing my sense of self in a black abyss. The intensity with which he looked at me didn’t help me restrain myself at all and it was the soft touch of his arm holding my shoulder that made me realize I seemed to need actual help to stand up in his presence. “Are you okay?” he asked, the sound of his vocals trailed in my ear drum like an echo.

  “I’m fine,” I finally managed to say, after a pause.

  “You look confused, don’t you remember?” he asked. So I did know this fine specimen of a man. How did I know this fine specimen of a man? He obviously wasn’t from around town. “Teresa, it’s me, Gavin.” He seemed a little disappointed in my poor memory, and the sight of his face muscles expressing any sort of discontent made me want to kill myself for causing it, but how could I know? This wasn’t the Gavin I remembered.