Mr. Always & Forever

by Ashlee Price

  The horse that he rode on, he was still getting used to him after several months and he figured it had something to do with his size. He was almost a foot taller than everyone that he had met there so far and must have weighed more as well. The horses were shorter than the ones he was used to in America, but they were sturdy enough to carry him around.

  “Carlos, how much longer are we going to be here?”

  The man watched the group of cows and looked back to see the few that were falling behind. They only got to move as fast as the cows moved and that seemed to be a problem. It was like a football game that his brother Scott used to watch all the time. Five minutes in a game was an hour and a mile with the cows was about the same. Trying to hurry them along, he moved his way in behind them and started to whoop and holler until they picked up their speed.

  Carlos just looked at him and shook his head. “You have no patience.”

  Henri ignored him. Carlos was used to the climate and his skin was made for it. Henri on the other hand had always been on the pale side and his first week there, he had been as red as a lobster. His skin would burn, peel and then he would still be just as white. This process finally gave him a little color, but his body was not used to the heat. He was melting and all he wanted to do was get back to the small ranch and get something to drink.

  “You have too much patience. Get these beasts moving and we can get some tea.”

  Carlos nodded, but he moved no faster and quickly Henri left him behind. The man was as slow as a sloth and Henri had long since run out of patience in the hot sun. By the time he got back to the small ranch where he was staying, the small man was out of sight when he looked back. True to his word, after he got the horse free to roam, he beelined it for the kitchen and made some tea. He was sitting down on the porch when Carlos finally came back, shaking his head at his journal.

  “Always writing. What is there to write today?”

  “That my teacher is as slow as Christmas.”

  Carlos didn’t get a lot of his saying from America, but he would nod his head like he had. “You write and I am going to the village for a drink.”

  He nodded and put his head back down to put in his entry. Henri was religious with it. He didn’t want to forget something later, a technique he’d learn or an adaption made to a machine. The culture of the people fascinated him, but the place itself is not what had brought him there. Henri was a traveler and Venezuela had always been on his list. When he heard about a program to help and learn, Henri saw it as a way to get out of Texas and back out to places a little more free with less people.

  Growing up on a ranch had been perfect for the solitary man, but as he got older things changed. Not only did the town around him get bigger, but it seemed like there was just more and more people as the city started to overflow and make way for suburbs. Henri wanted out and if he hadn’t found the program to stay there and work with Carlos and his brother, Henri would just be off somewhere else in his wanderlust. One day he would find where he was supposed to be.

  “Why don’t you come with me? It’s not good to be out here by yourself all of the time.”

  Henri was going to say no, but then he thought against it. People like Carlos wouldn’t understand the need to be away from people. As far out as the farm was, it was a treat to see people more than once a week. Henri agreed and whistled to the horse to come to him. Finishing off his tea, he set the glass down on the porch and followed Carlos the several miles to the small village nearby.

  The drinks were some sort of liquor, and like the food, Henri had learned not to ask about the ingredients. It was something that he didn’t want to know. The bar was a small square place with chairs and tables set up out front. There was music playing and Henri’s eyes were much like his companion, on the dancing women.

  It reminded Henri how long it had been for him and though he was not ready to lose his mind, he was getting there. The women there were so different though and he was afraid of making a misstep. There was one thing that he missed about America and that was the women. They were less complicated or just his knowledge of how things were supposed to work, made it a lot easier to court someone in Texas.

  “Did you get the letter that was there for you on the table?”

  Henri shook his head, not looking away from the hips moving back and forth a few yards in front of him. The drink was strong and running through his veins. It was impossible for him to stop looking and Henri realized that he very well may be going mad. “No, what?”

  Carlos just shook his head. “You have been alone on the farm too much.”

  Henri nodded that he had been out there too long and turned his attention back to the dark-skinned man next to him. “What letter?”

  “It came in yesterday and I thought you would see it. It was a woman’s name, Gemma on the return side. Made me think of it when I saw those girls dancing.”

  “That was the last thing I would be thinking about is a letter.”

  Carlos grinned. “It was not all I was thinking about.”

  It would appear that both men were finding the farming life hard in the isolation. Carlos was more used to the long stretches that would happen because of the lifestyle, but Henri was not coping as well. He also started to wonder what Gemma wanted. Their mother had been ill only months before and he hoped that it wasn’t any more bad news. His sister didn’t usually go so long without contacting him and never in letter form. It had him wondering what was going on and what the letter would say. Henri was torn between wanting to find out and the lovely ladies in front of him. After a couple more drinks, the women won and he stayed until late in the night, though he was no closer to taking one back with him.

  ***

  Henri didn’t remember about the letter on the table until the next morning when he was drinking coffee. Opening it, he was more than a little surprised to see that it was an invitation to her wedding. Henri hadn’t even known that she was with someone. It seemed like all of his siblings were getting married. There was also a small note in with the invitation for the wedding that was only a week away.

  “You better come to see me brother.”

  Smiling at her handwriting, he could hear her say it in his ear. It made sense as to why it was a letter, but he wasn’t sure if he would go or not. The idea of not going reminded him on how forceful Gemma could be and when he thought about it, Henri knew that it was time to go home to Texas for a while. When Carlos got up a bit later, he told him about his plans.

  “Good. Maybe you will come back in a better mood. I will miss you around here. Ralph is not much to talk to.”

  Henri was going to miss the small farm set off in such a barren landscape. He was going to miss his early mornings on the porch with a cup of coffee while the sun came up. There were several things that he would miss, but Henri reminded himself that he would be back soon. It didn’t feel that way though. It felt like he was never going to come back and it was like a goodbye in a way.

  It would take all day to get to the airport and Henri only did a few things at the ranch before he waved to Carlos and made his way back home. Only temporary, he reminded himself.

  Chapter 2

  Mary was in her own rush to make it to the airport so that she didn’t miss her flight. She was in Venezuela as a photographer and after a couple of weeks without air conditioning, she couldn’t get home quick enough to Houston. Even the cool air in the small airport made her feel better, a precursor to what was to come. All Mary could think about was a hot shower with good water pressure and then the moment of freeze as the air conditioning hit her body. It was the little things that she missed so much.

  She heard what she thought was her name and she stopped to turn around. Instead it was someone else named Mary and when she turned back, Mary ran right into a tall man with a cowboy hat. Her body was stopped by his hard chest and she would have fallen if he hadn’t grabbed her arm to steady her. “Are you okay, Miss?”

  Mary could only see the soft blue eye
s looking down on her as she nodded her head. She hadn’t seen blue eyes like his in weeks or ever. There was something about the way she felt in his arms, looking up at him, that made her just look at him with a blank stare on her face.

  “Miss?”

  She realized the error of her ways and stood back up. He let go of her and she wished that he hadn’t. Her body was cold from where he had touched her and she missed the touch terribly. “Sorry about that. I don’t want to miss my flight. I have got to get out of this godforsaken place.”

  He chuckled at her and nodded like he understood. “Where are you going?”

  “Home. Back to America where there is air conditioning and hot showers.”

  Henri too was looking forward to a nice hot shower. There was only bath tubs at the ranch and it didn’t matter how hot it was outside, in the mornings when there was still a bit of a chill in the air, there were several times that he would have paid well for a hot, steamy shower.

  He noticed her green eyes first and the smile that had crossed her face since they bumped into each other. She was tall and though she had a bit of a tan, her blonde hair and eyes told him that she was not from there, even if she hadn’t told him. They started to walk towards the ticket booth. There was only a few flights leaving in any given afternoon and Henri wondered where home was for her.

  “So where are you headed?”

  “Houston.”

  “Me too. I live a bit out of the city, but it will be good to go home for a bit. My sister is getting married.”

  She nodded, while Henri tried to figure out why in the world he was just going on and on like he was. It became clear that he wanted to talk to her, get to know her and Henri wondered if it was the woman herself or the dancing ones from the night before that made him feel so friendly all of a sudden.

  “That’s nice. I live in the city. I was just here getting some photographs for a new book coming out on the area. I love the place, it’s beautiful, people are great, but I am just ready to go home.”

  He was feeling the opposite way, but he didn’t say anything. Waiting for her to get checked in, he gave his ticket to the man behind the counter and found her waiting for him when he was done. “So what are you here for?”

  “I have been working on a ranch, learning old techniques.”

  She had no idea what he was talking about. Mary may have been from Texas, but she had never even stepped foot on a ranch. The animals were huge and freaked her out. “Is that what you do back home?”

  “Yeah. My family owns a ranch and our business is in Houston, but I try to stay out of the city. Too many people.”

  “Well you must love it here then. There are a lot less people than Houston or most of the towns in Texas. I miss the buzz of movement and people all running around. It has been hard to sleep without all the background noise.”

  “I do like it here. I plan to come back in a week or two. My family is big and there is never any peace and quiet.”

  “I come from a small family, only child and I think I have always craved the big groups.”

  “It’s not all it is cracked up to be, trust me. My name is Henri by the way, Henri Callahan.”

  “Callahan? As in Callahan’s Meat?”

  He nodded and felt the strange feel of being recognized. It had been months since anyone had said his last name like that. “What are you doing here again?”

  Henri smiled. “Running away from responsibility I suppose.”

  She smiled at him and found a seat towards the gate they would be leaving out of. “Well I am Mary Walts. Don’t worry, you have never heard of me.”

  “So you do photography for a publisher or?”

  “I freelance, so I have many clients. At the moment when I get back, I have a few assignments with the Herald and then after that, who knows.”

  “I see you are a free spirit like me.”

  “Yeah, well I suspect is a lot easier when your family is loaded.”

  That made him laugh. It was the type of thing that an American would say. It was never mentioned in the place he had been. South America the conversation of money was taboo, but he had never been used to it that way. Being around Mary was refreshing in general and she started to make him miss being home.

  When the two got on the plane, there weren’t very many other passengers and Mary popped down next to him to finish their conversation. The flight attendant didn’t seem to care and Henri found himself enraptured with the bubbly woman. She was far more sociable than he was, but she didn’t seem to notice or mind by the way she acted towards him.

  He asked to see her pictures and true to her trade, she had a few books full of them. She also told him that she had to have a picture of him, which he posed for in his seat next to the window. It wasn’t awkward, nothing about her was. She reminded him of several people that he knew in his own family. She made him feel warm and fuzzy. It was clear that she was used to different people and even an old solitary man like him couldn’t help but be caught up in her open minded conversation. It was clear to him that she was the type that was interested in learning about everything.

  “You should come to the city with me and I will show you a good time.”

  “Is that an offer?”

  “Of a good time, yes. But slow down cowboy, I see the look in your eyes.”

  Henri felt himself blushing, something he was sure he hadn’t done since he was in secondary school. “Have I made you blush, Henri? You must have some really naughty thoughts for that to happen.”

  “You have no idea.”

  Mary was going to say something back, but there was a need that caught her off guard and it didn’t seem like such a laughing matter anymore. “Are you going to tell me that you are single?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, what about you?”

  She kind of shrugged and it threw him off. It was not a reaction that he was expecting and he had a feeling that she wasn’t near as single as he was.

  “Pretty much, I mean I think we all have that ex that we call up from time to time. Don’t you?”

  He shook his head. “No. I figure once they are an ex, they are that for a reason, so why go back?”

  She had this faraway look. “I suppose. I am weaker than you are I guess. Sometimes I just need to feel something and at least with an ex, they know what it is that you need.”

  The conversation had turned suddenly and he was sure that it was getting hot in there. Did she not realize that it had been months for him? Henri was ready to make a move in flight, but his control was held together by a string. The woman undoubtedly didn’t even know how she affected him. She was one of those souls that were open and thought everyone else was too. Mary had no qualms to have a taboo conversation and it appeared that he was having a little trouble with it.

  “I have those moments for sure, but still don’t think I would go back to an ex.”

  “Yeah, I guess guys would rather something new huh?”

  His eyes were on her crossed legs and he had to willfully pull his gaze away from her. “Something new does sound pretty good.”

  “Well calm down, Henri. I am not that kind of girl.”

  Henri’s smile tightened a little. She was the type of woman that could drive a man crazy and then just smile at them as she was now, knowing full well what she was doing. She was one of those minxes.

  Leaning in, he held his breath as she got closer to him. “But if I was, Henri, you would be the one I took in the bathroom.”

  She moved back and giggled a little as he swallowed hard. Mary was worse than a minx; Henri was starting to wonder if she was the devil.

  Chapter 3

  The pair talked the whole trip, which was several hours long, but it was the quickest flight that Mary had ever had. Henri was not what she had expected to meet on her travels but he was also so different than what she would have expected from a man of his standing. His family was beyond rich, more or less a household name, but Henri didn’t seem to have any of the trappings that came with
it.

  She couldn’t understand why a man like him would be talking to her, wearing cowboy clothes and sitting in economy. It didn’t make sense, but his way of seeing things had her relaxing in his present. She wasn’t worried about him judging her. She was more worried about coming onto him too strong. He was really cute and when his blue eyes were on her, it was hard to breathe. More than once he had made her blush and just look away, unable to meet his gaze.

  It was invigorating and as the announcements went up that they would soon be at their destination, she was sad to hear it. She wanted to spend more time with him and gave him her number before they landed.

  “Are you going to answer when I call, or is this a number to some bar somewhere?”

  “I definitely will answer.” Again Mary felt like she had said too much. Being too into a guy could make him leery and she really did want him to call her. It was hard to hold any emotions in as a whole, but with Henri it seemed almost impossible. He was the type of man that looked into a woman’s eyes when he talked to her. It was nice and she wanted to see him again.

  “Good, though I don’t know when I will be in the city again.”

  “Well let’s have a drink before you go back home. Next time, I will come to you if you want. Show me around the ranch.” Mary was forgetting that he would be going back south soon, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to think about leaving all of a sudden.

  “I could definitely use a drink.”

  Mary flashed him that smile that made him melt a little and he followed her to the small bar out by the gate. She didn’t want to leave, but eventually had to get home. Henri too was finding it harder to make an excuse to stay, but when she finally got up, he hugged her to him and kissed her on her cheek. “Thanks for making the flight so easy, Mary.”