This Too Shall Pass

by Jettie Woodruff

  “Yeah, we do, but when I bought that one, I wasn’t this busy. I didn’t mind spending hours riding around on the rider.”

  “I mind. It’s after six. I think we should go into Canterville this weekend and look at them.”

  “We can do that. I’ll clean this up when I get back. I want to head over there so I can get back.”

  And that was the routine for the next few weeks. The yard was a never ending battle and Cory loved it. He took great pride in the way his yard looked. He did buy some new fancy tractor with a lawn stripper. It took half the time to mow and made decorative wide lines throughout the yard. Alexis loved that Cory took such great care of their yard. He and Riki even built a bench down by the pond from a fallen tree. Jim helped of course, but Cory was a natural. He may have been a city boy, but he could handle power tools like a pro. There was nothing sexier than Cory being a country boy. He was very good at it.

  The surprise party for Walt was anticipated for weeks. The kids all went in on a new gator for him. It was Alexis’s idea. She didn’t like the way he got on his quad anymore. His seventy-five year old bones wobbled when he tried to swing his leg over. She was terrified of him falling and breaking something. He was going to love it, and he didn’t have to climb on. He could slide right across the seat and even take Lola with him too.

  “Are you sure you can’t come with me?” Alexis pouted with puppy dog eyes, sliding to Cory’s lap.

  “I’ve been scheduled for this for two months. Is he coming?”

  “Who?”

  Cory replied with a nod and tilted eyebrows. Mitch’s name hadn’t been mentioned in weeks.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. I don’t care if he is. Did you mail the save the date cards to your family yet?”

  “They’re not going to come.”

  “Lexis, Kinley has dog food.”

  Alexis grumbled and stood from Cory’s lap. “See what happens when you make me stop nursing?”

  “She’s been eating Kibbles and Bits for six months. You can’t blame that one on me. Besides, isn’t it nice not having to pump or get home to feed her?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Alexis replied. She went after Kinley and locked the gate, keeping her from the kitchen.

  “I’ve got to go,” Cory announced around two.

  “Try to come,” Alexis pleaded again. Kinley leaped from her to Cory, and once again, Cory caught her midair.

  “I’ll go over tomorrow. Send me a pic of his face when he sees the gator.”

  “I will, but I still hate it. I want you there. Who’s going to take care of me when I get drunk?”

  Cory kissed her and handed Kinley back. Alexis set her to the floor and wrapped her arms around Cory’s neck. “I love you.”

  “I love you too. I’ll call you later.” Cory kissed both girls and he was off. Alexis sighed and went after Kinley going for the candles on the stand.

  “Can we go now?” Riki wanted to know.

  “In a little bit. We need to lay Kinley down for a nap first.”

  “Well, she can sleep at the farm.”

  “We’ll just let her take a little nap. Come on, jump up here on the couch and we’ll watch cartoons while she falls asleep.”

  “I’m not tired.”

  “You don’t have to sleep. We just need to be quiet until Kinley falls asleep,” Alexis lied. She could tell when Riki was tired and Riki was tired. She’d be lucky to make it as long as Kinley did. Twenty minutes later, she was moving Riki off her arm and carried sleeping Kinley up to her bed.

  Alexis got ready while the girls napped and waited, and waited, and waited. If she wanted them to sleep that long they wouldn’t have. It was nearly four in the afternoon before they got to the farm. She was starving. Riki barely touched her food. There was too much going on, she wanted to go play. Sam fed Kinley while Alexis devoured a burger.

  “I can’t believe neither one of our men are here,” she complained around the food in her mouth. “What?” she asked with a tilted head and a frown.

  Bernie burst her bubble with a sigh. “Travis is here. Well, he just parked the truck. He’ll be here soon.”

  “You suck. You can put her in her walker, Sam,” Alexis suggested when Kinley arched her back, wanting down.

  “She still won’t walk yet?” Bernie asked.

  “No, she’s fine as long as you hold onto her hands, but as soon as you let her go she plops right to the floor…You have got to be freaking kidding me,” Alexis said forgetting about their conversation. Mitch strolled in, carrying a wrapped present for her dad. Lola hugged him and took the gift.

  “Don’t let him bother you, Lex, besides, you are like five weeks away from becoming Mrs. Dr. Cory Baker.”

  “I would still rather he just stayed away.”

  Taylor ran up to his kid, Nathan and the two boys were off.

  “He sure has a cute kid,” Bernie said and Alexis had to agree.

  “Ladies,” Mitch said as he walked right past them, eyes right on Alexis’s. Her eyes rolled and she shook her head. Great. Just what she wanted to deal with.

  At seven o’clock, John made an announcement. “Can we please have Grandpa McKinley to the center of the floor?”

  Walt walked to the center with a big grin, standing in the middle with all his family and friends circling him and waited for his present.

  “Grandpa, turn around and look at the door,” John said through the microphone. The room filled with happy birthday when Tom and Jim came in on a brand-new 4x4 John Deere Gator. It had a roof, two seats so that Grandma Lola could ride with him, headlights, a dump bed, and it came with plastic covers to enclose it during the winter. Tom and Jim were happily explaining the features and Walt grinned from ear to ear. Alexis was framing this smile, no doubt. The Gator was a success.

  Walt sat behind the wheel and Lola moved in beside him. The entire room clapped and yelled when Walt drove them through the double doors. The kids ran after him, excited for a ride.

  “Can I hold her?”

  Alexis turned to Mitch right beside her. “She won’t let you.”

  “Can I hold you?” Mitch spoke in some sort of Mickey Mouse voice. Kinley turned away from him, grasping Alexis’s shirt in her hands. No way. She wasn’t going to Mitch.

  “Told ya,” Alexis smiled smartly and walked away.

  Walt took turns taking the grandkids for a ride, including Kinley, who sat in the middle of him with Riki buckled in with her. She loved it and threw a fit when Alexis took her off so that someone else could have a turn.

  “Alexis. Telephone,” Mitch yelled from across the room, holding up the corded phone in the kitchen area.

  “Hello?”

  “Please tell me that was not who I think it was.”

  “Yes, unfortunately it was,” she told Cory honestly.

  “Why is he there?”

  “I don’t know, Cory. Are you coming?” she asked, not wanting to get into it with him.

  “It doesn’t look like it. This place is a mad house and I still haven’t gotten a hold of Dr. Goth. I’ve left him two messages, but he hasn’t returned my calls. How are the girls?”

  “They’re fine. Grandpa just took them for a ride on his new toy and Kinley threw a fit when her turn was over. She’s starting to have such an attitude,” Alexis explained with a thumb to the red M&M stain around her mouth. Kinley grunted and moved away.

  “Did he like it?”

  “Oh my God. He loved it. I wish you could have seen his face.”

  “Me too, promise me you won’t dance with puke face.”

  Alexis laughed and shifted Kinley on her hip. “You’re so mature.”

  “I love you, Lex.”

  “I love you too, Cory. Try to make it.”

  “I will. I’ll see you later.”

  “Goodbye.”

  Bernie handed Alexis a red cup with a nod. “Drink this.”

  “What is it?”

  “Jungle juice. I don’t know. Travis brought it.”

&nbs
p; “Mmm, that’s good.”

  “I know, but go easy on it. It’ll kick your ass pretty quick. I’ve only had one and I can feel it.”

  “Hey, Lexi, Come on.”

  “Oh, my God. I’m going to freak out on him,” Alexis assured Bernie while shooting Mitch a dirty look.

  Kinley did the whole leaping thing right from Alexis’s arms when Aunt Sam walked by. “Jesus, Kinney,” Sam said as she grabbed her without warning.

  “Come on, dance with me.” Mitch really didn’t give her a choice. He pulled her by the wrist, joining her parents in an Elton John, happy birthday.

  Alexis snorted and shook her head when Mitch pulled her closer. He wouldn’t have done that had Cory been there. Unbelievable.

  “This is the way it should be, Lexi,” he said with is body swaying into hers, trying to look into her eyes. Alexis refused to look up at him. No way. What an idiot.

  “What, Lexi, you don’t think we made a good couple?”

  “Mitch, that was ten years ago, we were kids. I’m getting married in a few weeks, so no, this is not the way it should be.”

  “And there’s nothing I could do to stop you? We could still be Mitch and Lexi.”

  “Please tell me you’re joking. Surely you’re not that stupid.”

  “Do I look like I’m joking? I can’t get you out of my mind, Lexi. You don’t know how much I hate what happened. I think about you all the time. I dream about kissing you and holding you in my arms.”

  “Okay we’re done here,” Alexis assured him. She pulled away and took, leaping Kinley from Travis’s arms. Her blood boiled, calming while she watched her parents happily dance.

  “What was that all about?” Bernie asked. Alexis explained the whole conversation, downing the red drink in her hand. “Does he not understand that Cory would break him in half?”

  “I don’t think he cares. Come on, let’s go sit by the fire.”

  Alexis chugged the rest of her drink when Mitch joined them, googly eyes and all. Travis traded her cups and she took a big gulp of that one, too.

  “Jesus, Travis,” she scowled. That wasn’t the same fruity drink. Travis laughed.

  “Lexis, I’m hungry,” Riki decided. Of course she was, the food was just cleaned up.

  “That’s because you wouldn’t eat your dinner. Come on, I’ll warm you up a hamburger.”

  “I want a hotdog.”

  “I don’t know if there are anymore. You’re dirty. What have you been doing?”

  “Looking for worms in the dirt.”

  Alexis snarled her nose, “Yuck, go wash your hands.”

  When she returned, Alexis held Riki on her lap while she ate, happy that Mitch was no longer around the fire. She looked up, hoping that he’d left when she noticed him unloading his four-wheeler. Ugh.

  “Do you see him? He hasn’t stopped staring at me since he got here,” Alexis complained to Bernie.

  “I saw. You’re just going to have to tell him, Lex.”

  “I have, Bernie. He’s stupid. He doesn’t get it.”

  A few minutes later Mitch pulled up on his four-wheeler.

  “Come on, Lexi. Go for a ride with me.”

  “No thanks, Mitch.”

  “Come on, Lexi, just one ride. I want to show you something.”

  “Mitch, she said no,” Travis said with a stern tone, coming to her defense.

  “No… you know what? I think I will go for a ride,” Alexis decided. She moved Riki to her seat and got up.

  “Alexis, don’t go. Stay here,” Bernie begged. This was a bad idea.

  “I’ll be right back. We need to have a talk.” Alexis downed the strong drink from Travis and traded Bernie for her full one.

  “Remember this route?”

  “What the hell are you doing, Mitch?”

  Mitch ignored her, gunning the gas. Alexis had no choice but to hold onto him, trying not to spill her drink. He drove them along the river trail and then took another path through the woods. By the time they stopped, Alexis had finished every drop in her cup. She could feel the alcohol when she stepped off the quad with a stumble. Alcohol fueled her nerves and she was ready to tell him off, set him straight, and tell him to back the hell off.

  “Remember this place, Lexi?” Mitch asked. He sat on the huge rock and let his feet dangle.

  “Mitch, I don’t know what you thought when you came back here, but I’m not going to be a part of your life.”

  Mitch took a step closer to her. “Sit down.”

  “No, I need to get back to my girls.”

  He moved closer again. “No you don’t, your sisters and Bernie have them all under control, and you know it. Sit.”

  Again, he didn’t give her a choice. It was either sit or fall over. His grasp around her wrist, pulling her to the ground was no match for her alcohol induced state.

  “No thanks,” she said when he nudged her arm with a bottle hidden beneath a brown sack.

  “Come on, Lexi, lighten up,” he pressed.

  Alexis took a swig, frowning as it burned all the way down. Ugh, she hated Tequila.

  “I took your virginity on this rock, Lexi, but I am sure you already knew that.”

  Alexis took another swig. She needed that one. It caused the same burning reaction as the last one.

  “Mitch, what the hell are you doing? Did you bring me here to walk down memory lane? None of that matters to me. I am getting married. What part of that don’t you understand?”

  “I don’t know, Lexi. I guess I was hoping we would get close to each other and you would see how much you mean to me.”

  “You sound like an idiot, Mitch. I have not been around you for ten years. What do you think could possibly be there?” Alexis’s kicked her dangling feet, hanging from the rock, feeling the effects of too much to drink.

  “I don’t know. You’re not supposed to be with Cory. You’re supposed to be here waiting for me.”

  “You really expected me to just put my life on hold and wait for you to come home?”

  “You did for a good many years, until your doctor friend had to move into town anyway.”

  “First of all, he is not my friend, Mitch. He is my fiancé, and second, I was not sitting around waiting for you. I was engaged in other things in my life. Things that had absolutely nothing to do with you.”

  “I’m so sorry I left you, Lexi. I should have married you like I had planned.”

  “Yeah well, I’m sure that was a tough call, having two girls pregnant at the same time and all.”

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen that way. I didn’t even love her, I just did what I thought was expected of me.”

  “I still don’t get what you want from me now, Cory.”

  “My name is Mitch.”

  Alexis laughed a full blown gut laugh, feeling the effects of alcohol.

  Mitch was talking about dumb things they did in school and Alexis laughed, remembering them too.

  “Remember that time Bernie got caught with Jimmy Nixon in the backseat of his car by the cops, and she gave them your name and address?”

  Alexis laughed, “My dad was so mad when he yelled for me to come downstairs. I got down there and the cop says, ‘sorry sir, this is not the girl that I caught’. I knew it was Bernie.”

  “I’m glad Cory couldn’t make it,” Mitch quietly spoke. Before she knew what was happening he was on top of her, kissing her. Alexis felt like she was going to be sick. Her head was spinning out of control while she squirmed, trying to get away from him.

  “Mitch, stop it. Get the hell off me.”

  “I miss you so much, Lexi,” he confessed right before his tongue dove in her mouth again. Alexis really didn’t know what the hell was happening. It all seemed surreal, like an out of body experience or something. She didn’t even remember him getting her shorts off, not until she felt him enter her anyway. She was going to be sick. What the hell was going on?

  ****

  “What’d you do with Mitch?” Bernie questioned w
ith a confused look.

  “Where is Kinley?” Alexis asked while she tried like hell to keep her balance.

  “Cory took them home.”

  “Oh God, Bernie, please tell me you’re joking.” She looked around at the somber faces of her family, knowing she was dead serious. Great.

  “I wish I was.”

  “When did he get here?”

  “Right after you left”

  “How long was I gone?”

  “Over an hour.”

  Alexis looked up to see the disappointed look on her dad’s face. “I’ve got to go.”

  Travis protested when Alexis grabbed her keys. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not driving anywhere.

  “Give me my keys, Travis. I’m serious.”

  “No, Bernie will drive you. I’ll follow you.”

  “Alexis, what the hell were you thinking?” Bernie scolded.

  “Bernie, I’m going to be sick.” Bernie stopped right in the middle of the dirt road. Alexis dove out of the car just in time. This sucked. This sucked so badly, and she sure as hell didn’t need the judgmental stares she was getting from Bernie and Travis. What the hell?

  “Oh, God. I’m dying. I can’t deal with Cory yet,” Alexis moaned. Bernie pulled baby wipes from the console of her car and handed them to her.

  “You have to. We’re here.”

  Alexis looked up to see Cory sitting on the bottom step of the porch, bouncing a tennis ball off of the sidewalk. He didn’t even look up to the headlights. The ball bounced off the walk with quick, angry thumps.

  “Call me if you need me, Lex,” Bernie said in a sad tone, getting out of her car and walking back to meet Travis in his truck.

  “Thanks, Bernie.”

  Alexis walked cautiously up to Cory, still bouncing the ball. He looked up, catching the ball in the air and glared at her.

  “Too drunk to drive yourself home?” he asked.

  “Cory,” was all she could say. She didn’t know what to say. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute, her mouth was dry, and she felt like she was going to be sick again. She sat beside him on the step and he jumped up, like he didn’t want to be near her.

  “Where were you?”

  “We just went for a ride.”

  “For an hour?”