Cady swallowed, lifting her chin. Her blue eyes focused on him. “This Friday.”
Why did the woman of his dreams have to be married with a child and living only two land parcels down from him? The injustice didn’t make sense. Sure, he’d made the choice to fall for her and put himself in her life during the absence of her husband, but the painful torture of the situation he found himself in was beginning to drain him. He had to do something about it.
Too bad he couldn’t do what he really wanted, especially when Zach made Cady cry. The woman should never feel less than she was. She should be smiling and happy all the time. If she was Scott’s, he’d make sure she never wanted for anything and that she was protected on a fundamental level – everyone should know how to fire a gun and stay safe. Zach was failing as the provider by keeping the women at his home untrained from proper gun safety while he left them alone for such long time periods.
Scott didn’t stay long after, returning home with a small bag of treats Cady thoughtfully packed for him.
With a soft whistle, he opened the door to his large rancher located on the curve of the road they lived on. His house was on the south side of the street along with Cady’s. She had to drive west to pass him and if he knew she was leaving, he would watch for her. For safety’s sake of course.
Cady’s home was hidden back by a collection of trees and a winding driveway. At night, drivers on the road could glimpse the lights but only between specific trees. Scott’s place had one small spruce in front of it and then the rest of the front of the property was open to view from anyone from the road. He wouldn’t have chosen that option, if he’d been thinking with the mindset of a prepper. He wouldn’t have been happy with just the two-and-a-half miles from the main road, the dirt road, the ten-acre parcels filled with trees, or even the HOA which had CC&Rs in place to prevent splicing lots into smaller subsections. No, he would’ve stayed in that area, just fine, but he would’ve looked for a place more like Cady’s, more secluded feeling, even if it did still have neighbors.
If he hadn’t moved in there, though, he never would have met Cady or started down the prepper path he’d taken.
Kicking of his boots in the mudroom, Scott padded softly into the living room and added two more logs to the embers glowing red in the fireplace. He rubbed his hands together, holding them up close to the warmth. After a moment, he reached over and flipped on the light switch beside him on the wall.
His home was modestly decorated. Every time his mother visited, she pointed out the painfully obvious fact that his home lacked a feminine touch. Scott liked to say it wasn’t for lack of trying and his mother would put up a needlepoint or some pictures of cats. Scott wasn’t a cat person. His mother knew that, but she also liked to torment him when she could.
Scott’s family was fun and he missed them.
Even if he had access to a more feminine hand to decorate his house, he wasn’t sure he would rush into IKEA and get started on the transformation. He’d keep it simple for now. He liked simple. He could handle simple.
Speaking of his mother, he had planned on finding out where she was at with her food storage goals. He’d been counseling his parents and the rest of his family in southern Idaho on how to prepare themselves for anything that might come up.
Moving to his living room, Scott picked up his landline. His home was right in the curve and didn’t get good reception with cell phones. He and his neighbors – Cady included – often used walky talkies to get messages out. He dialed his parents’ number and waited through three rings before his mom answered.
“Hi, Mom. It’s Scott.” He smiled at the cheery tone to her voice.
“Scott, I have caller ID and I recognize my own children’s voices. Don’t get strappy with me.” She retorted playfully. There was nothing like the sound of his mother’s voice to make him feel like everything would always be just fine.
He chuckled, twisting the curly cord around his finger. “Sorry, Mom. You know, you might forget, you’re getting old.” Claiming a seat in his favorite chair, he leaned back, waiting for her reply to come.
“Oh, if I’m old, your father is older.” She quipped back. “Okay, smart mouth, what’s the call for?” She laughed, setting Scott at ease.
“Well, other than to say hello to my lovely mom, I wanted to see if you got the delivery I sent you?” His parents heated their home with pellets and he wanted to make sure they had enough stored up for a few years. He’d sent fifteen pallets to them after asking his brother to clear out space in his dad’s oversized shop. His brother had balked but done it willingly, stating he’d rather do that than pay for the pallets.
With a gasp, his mom replied, “We did! That was too kind of you. Thank you. Probably a bad time to tell you we put in a wood stove last week.”
“Wait, what?” Had they really? Scott would have to return the pellets. He wasn’t sure what the return policy was, but the cost for shipping it back would be horrendous. Why hadn’t his brother said anything?
“I’m just kidding. You’re so easy to get!” She laughed, the tinkle welcome after the sadness at Cady’s.
He sighed, relieved at the joke’s end. “Well, I would know everything that was going on, if you lived up here.” He’d been hounding his family for years to get to a more rural place. By him was the best, as far as he could figure. It wouldn’t take much to buy the land adjacent to his and get a stick-home put in. They wouldn’t need anything fancy.
“Tell you what, your father said just last night at dinner that he’s had enough of his family being separated. We’re all going to move up by next year. Your brother and sister are already looking for jobs and we’re going to try to get some places near you. Do you have room for us to stay with you until we’re all settled?” His mother didn’t waste time when she decided something. The next year couldn’t come soon enough.
“You bet!” His family coming would be a salve on his aching loneliness. As much as he loved Ranger, the dog was outside only and Scott needed someone to talk to at night or have dinner with. He missed his family and never so obviously as when he had his mom or dad on the phone.
He ended the call with his mom, swallowing back the sadness the calls always left him with. He pushed himself out of the recliner and strode to the back slider door. A jog with Ranger through the hills along the south line of his place would be perfect to exhaust the both of them. If he didn’t do that, Scott would never sleep.
As he slipped on his running shoes, Scott couldn’t keep the traitorous thoughts from bulldozing through his mind. Too bad Zach wouldn’t just disappear for good. Scott needed him to be gone permanently. So did Cady. She’d be so much happier without her oppressing husband. Not that Scott wanted their marriage to have problems or for her to be unhappy, he just didn’t want to see her like she was. Scott certainly didn’t want Cady to feel like Scott wanted her unhappy. Her husband was succeeding at that venture all on his own.
Exhaustion was the only thing that would help him fall to face his empty room at night. If he wasn’t tired enough, then he’d never stop thinking about the what-ifs and why-nots.
Something had been off with Cady and he definitely didn’t want to think about that tonight, either.
He’d rather think about the end of the world. Death and destruction would be easier on his heart.
Chapter 5
Cady
Leaving home that afternoon with Zach in the car, Cady longed to go back in her house and hide in the closet. Dinner at the Starks’ place was usually something she looked forward to with long-awaited giddiness. But not that night.
Cady had gotten a text from Beth, one of Cady's closest girlfriends, and the woman she was going to visit and the message hadn’t been promising.
“Steve’s in a mood. Just sayin’.”
Since Cady hadn’t spoken more than two words to Zach since he’d been home, the night promised to be tension filled and more fun than a barrel of piranhas. The ride passed with painful silence betwee
n her and her husband, and dinner wasn’t going too well, either.
Beth leaned across the solid oak table. She poured a refill of ice water into Cady's glass and smiled, pushing her blonde wavy hair back behind her shoulders. “What did you think of the edamame noodles? They’re a little different, right?” She relaxed back into her seat, reaching to take her husband Steve's hand, but he pulled away. Beth self-consciously tucked her hand back into her lap and smiled, her expression tightening all evening.
Trying not to roll her eyes Beth’s way for support, Cady nodded her thanks and sipped her water, trying to swallow past the mounting panic the presence of such acute discomfort was bringing on. Nothing had been right since Zach had gotten home a few hours before. Dinner had been a welcomed distraction, but opting to go and deal with the Starks’ issues instead of facing their own, probably wasn’t the best idea. Cady lowered her glass and addressed her friend, trying to get her message of comfort across with a widening of her eyes. “It was delicious. I can't believe they didn't taste more…” Cady paused, searching for the word to describe the green rubber-band-like noodles.
“Rubbery?” Steve rolled his green eyes. His unkempt hair stood in spikes in some spots and laid flat against his scalp in others. He obviously didn’t want Cady and Zach there as he glared openly at Beth over his dinner. “I'm getting sick of the vegetarian things we’re always trying out.” He laughed as if to take the edge off. Yet, he had barely touched his eggplant Parmesan and edamame noodles while everyone else had cleaned up their plates. His disdain was rich as he raised his fourth glass of wine and didn’t even bother sipping it. He swallowed half the glass in quick succession.
Still avoiding Cady’s gaze, Zack shrugged. “It wasn't bad. Your sauce made it delicious. I'm excited to have dessert.” He rubbed his hands together and looked toward Cady, not really focusing on her face, but more along the lines of a blurry gaze he’d affected with his own glasses of wine. How many had he had? Two? Three? Cady had lost count. She’d most likely be the one driving home.
That was really the first time he'd actually looked directly at her since he’d gotten home.
And Cady didn't care.
She’d rather he wasn’t even back. As long as he was gone, she could pretend things were fine. Plus, if he hadn’t been home to come to the dinner that night, Cady and Beth could’ve gone out – just the two of them – and talked about how they could fix things at home or the best way to become widows. Joking about inappropriate topics was something they had in common. If nothing else, maybe they could commiserate that marriage was hard. Instead, they all had to try to save face with friends they’d had for years and sit through a couple hours of extreme discomfort.
Cady looked around the table, trying not to grind her teeth too hard at the three older kids sitting at the table. The 16-year-old boy, 18-year-old girl, as well as the youngest 13-year-old boy were all on their phones. They hadn’t looked up from their plates or their phones the whole dinner. Thankfully, Cady had left Bailey at a friend’s house because whenever Bailey got around the Stark children, she decided it was okay to act like a brat – just like them.
“We'll have dessert in a little bit. It's still setting up.” Beth forced a smile and glanced at Cady. She was uncomfortable and Cady didn't know what to offer her. Cady couldn't believe the whole evening and how absolutely dreadful it was turning out.
Steve leaned back, lifting his glass and draining the last. “Can you believe what's going on right now? Toppling the statues. I just… People are ridiculous. There’s a lot going on that no one understands.” He shook his head, his police job showing in the angle of his shoulders and the smirk on his face.
“They're bored and don’t have any focus. Most of the problems come back to a lack of respect.” Zach took another bite of his dinner. He had only salad left on his plate which he would probably pick at. He wasn't a fan of fresh food. If Zach had his way, they would eat TV dinners all day. It was a surprise he didn’t like the MREs Cady stocked in closets and under beds.
Steve laughed and shrugged. He tilted the wine bottle in his grasp toward Zach and then poured more into his glass. “Well, if you ask me, it's a reliance on technology that is turning the world into such a despicable place. If we didn’t have internet and phones that could wipe our butts, well—”
“No, it's too many people.” Cady's frustration with her husband and with the whole situation mounted and she bit her consonants with a clipped tightening to her words. Her fork scratched across the ceramic of her plate as she set it down, sitting back herself.
Zach rolled his eyes toward Steve. He shook his head and scoffed. “Leave it to Cady. She always has to give a science-y reason that has no real evidence. It always comes back to too many people.” He thrust his jaw to the side while turning the full force of his disdainful gaze her way. “What would you have us do? Sterilize the world?” He tapped the table and glanced back at Steve with a smirk. “Listen to her answer. She actually believes it’s possible.” He rolled his eyes back to Cady and raised his eyebrows as if in challenge. “You don't think population eradication and population control is the answer, do you? Do you honestly think that technology isn’t the reason the world is going down the drain?”
Leaning toward her, Steve jumped in, cutting off Cady’s retort. “Do you really believe the existence of people caused the destruction of the world? How can you believe that? People are the only reason this world is here.” Steve propped his feet on the table stabilizer on the base, leaning back with a self-satisfied smirk that he’d outwitted the scientist.
Cady smiled overly sweet at them both, placing her napkin in her lap. “You’re showing your ignorance, Steve. There’s no reason for the earth to be here. At least not just for humans. I'm all for The Big Bang Theory and even Creationism. I can even make them compromise in correlation with the understanding that I don’t know exactly what happened. But I refuse to believe that everything is happening because of the sudden existence of technology. Actually, if we did want to blame it on the techno-world, who created technology?” The more she talked about it, the more Cady could see that she was never going to get through to them. Steve and Zach were the type of men that believed throwing your gum wrapper on the freeway was not littering, but a napkin on the sidewalk was.
“What's your basis for proof? There's no evidence that humans caused any of this. They've said for many years that the world has naturally warmed up over the years. Climate change wasn't caused by humans.” Zach turned on his chair, folding his arms across his chest as he joined in the debate-fast-becoming-argument. He didn’t take his wife’s side and instead ganged up with his friend against her.
So be it. He wanted to come out looking stupid or macho, she was fine with it. The more time she spent with him home, the more she realized there was no going back to how they’d been – or how they had hoped to be. They were too different. She would recommend he leave the next morning. Maybe she could convince him it was his idea.
Cady lifted her chin, narrowing her eyes, but keeping her cool. “The extinctions that have happened the last two years alone because of hunting, climate control, all types of warmings, and other types of misuse of the environments are proof humans have destroyed what nature has given us. Look at the rhinoceros. That should not have happened. That was so recent, I can actually say I remember seeing the last one alive.” Cady's passion was wrapped up in understanding the sciences around microbiology and evolution. “There's the evolution of disease and overuse of antibiotics. You don’t see the elephants getting MRSA, right? You can’t blame all of these things with technology. I bet they could cure cancer or diabetes with the technology they have, but instead people are coming up with more dangerous biowarfare and an erectile dysfunction drug. As if a man's hardon was more important than a woman diagnosed with breast cancer.”
Steve cleared his throat as he looked disapprovingly toward his children. The teenagers hadn’t even shifted at the words she’d used, they were so usurp
ed in their devices. The tightening of his jaw was partially hidden beneath the jowly flesh he’d collected from drinking too much. His skin was puffy and he had bags under his eyes which showed the stress of his job.
Beth shifted uncomfortably. She had survived breast cancer a few years before and her husband had never been the same. He had acted as if it was her fault that she carried the gene and her altered chest had become repugnant to him enough he’d nicknamed her Wall. Even through that pain and humiliation, Beth didn’t talk bad about Steve. The only reason Cady even agreed to spending time with the Starks was because of Beth. You didn’t abandon someone you loved just because they had horrible people in their lives. If anything, you stuck with them even tighter.
“Sounds like you have your mind made up that the world is falling apart because of people. That sounds like a pretty narrow view to take.” That condescending comment came from Cady’s own husband. In theory he should be able to support her, but in a similar theory, Cady should want to stay with him. Maybe Cady was finally going to have to admit that she hadn’t changed inside. Instead, she’d changed her beliefs to match what he wanted. When was she going to learn to put herself first?
No one else was going to do it for her.
“Actually, I know it. And if you’re not careful, the end of the world is going to come and you’re going to still be sitting there with your beer, watching as it falls down around you.” She turned to Beth and nodded toward the plates. “I’ll help you clear.”
180 Days and Counting... Series Box Set books 1 - 3 Page 4