HIDDEN CREEK NOW: a hidden creek high novel

by Kidman, Jaxson

  “I have some idea,” she said. “And if you talk, then I’ll have more of an idea.”

  I swallowed hard. “Fine. Jett and I broke up and I ended up with Kinney. Now, rewind time before that and Kinney was… I guess he was my first love. Okay?”

  “Jett stole you from him,” Whitney said. “And then you ran back to Kinney. Oh, that’s wild.”

  “It’s not,” I said. “Everything was marred by tragedy. People in our lives dying. There was a span of time, Whitney, where my Aunt Bea lost the man she loved. Then I lost Aunt Bea. And then Jett’s best friend died. And even though it was a little while later, Jett’s nephew died. A little kid. In the ocean…”

  “Oh, no,” Whitney said.

  “It hurts even thinking about it. It was just a crazy time in my life.”

  “Is there any time that isn’t crazy?”

  “Actually, yes. The last year or so. When it was just me here. I lived by myself. Sure, Jett was in town, but it was never a worry. I don’t know if that makes sense or not. I mean, to be fair, there was always a sense of emptiness in me. Knowing the way I was living couldn’t last forever.” I sighed. “Then Aira showed up. There was no way I couldn’t take her in. I always knew Kinney’s sister was a train wreck.”

  “So your ex’s sister is Aira’s mother.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So you’re Aira’s aunt.”

  “In a way. I’m not sure I was ever included in that family though. My bank account wasn’t big enough.”

  “But I’m sure you got your piece when you divorced Kinney, right?”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t want anything, Whitney. I didn’t marry Kinney to get money. I didn’t divorce him for money either. I honestly…” I laughed. “All I wanted was my bakery back.”

  “Back?”

  “This place shut down after I got married,” I said. “I let everything just slip away. I shut it down. I still owed on the lease and paid it out of what savings I had. I tried to force myself to live a life that wasn’t real. And when it was time to change things up, all I wanted was this place back.”

  “I guess you’re lucky you got it back then,” Whitney said.

  “Yeah. I mean, I was still sort of owner. It was just a matter of opening it back up. Picking myself back up.”

  Whitney reached across the table and touched my hand. “You did a hell of a job, Julia. I can’t imagine what you went through. I don’t even have an actual boyfriend right now. I can’t imagine getting married. Or feeling that I’m ready for that kind of thing.”

  “Who said I was ready?” I asked.

  Whitney frowned. “Damn.”

  I nodded. “Damn.”

  “So does Jett know that Kinney is sniffing around here?”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Nope.”

  “That’s a problem, Julia.”

  “I know it is,” I said. I opened my eyes and my vision was blurry from the tears. “I’m going to end up fucking things up and losing Jett again.”

  Chapter 8

  NOW

  Jett

  I shook hands with Principal Henders and did my best to hide my smile. Call me whatever, but the whole high school fucking around with pranks thing was amazing.

  “We’ll get it back in shape for you,” I said. “Clean up the outside and even the inside. I’ll check everything else too, just to be safe. But I promise you that Walker and Ryker don’t have the brains to do something to the car.”

  “Other than the damage they’ve caused?” Principal Henders asked.

  I walked around to the passenger side of the car.

  And there it was.

  A purple dick.

  I covered my mouth and blinked fast.

  I reminded myself that I was an adult.

  Bursting into laughter wasn’t going to help the situation.

  I cleared my throat. “Well, I’m just glad Wes had nothing to do with this.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he did,” Principal Henders said. “Sure, his hands weren’t covered in purple paint, but I’m sure he had something to do with it.”

  “Not much I can say to that,” I said. “Anything you decide to do next is up to you.”

  “It’s not in my wishes to have two young men like Walker and Ryker end up in the legal system. But I will not tolerate anything else like this.”

  “I agree,” I said. “They need to keep themselves in Tech and finish up.”

  “Something else we agree on then,” Principal Henders said.

  I offered him a car but he had already made arrangements for a rental.

  When he left, I got into his car and turned it around and backed into the first open garage bay.

  Pop stood in the open doorway to the office, shaking his head.

  “Nice dick, huh?” I asked.

  “Purple,” he said. “They can’t even get a good color.”

  “What’s wrong with purple?” I asked.

  “They could have picked a manly color,” Pop growled. “Green. Blue.”

  “There’s a large dick painted on the side of a car,” I said, “and you’re worried about the color?”

  Pop let out a growling noise and went back into the office and slammed the door.

  I folded my arms and nodded in agreement.

  Maybe Pop was right.

  A green dick would have looked better.

  * * *

  I called it a day after I made sure Walker and Ryker were at the shop and Henders’s car was being taken care of. Chances were whatever those two morons did I would have to redo, but I wanted them to at least learn a lesson.

  They were looking at serious trouble if the situation moved forward.

  But that wasn’t my problem.

  What was my problem was the way Julia had been acting.

  Burnt cookies?

  I wasn’t born yesterday.

  I knew how much that pissed her off because she never burned anything at the bakery. At home, that was a different story. She always told me she kept her crappy cooking at home to make sure the bakery was run perfect.

  It always made me laugh.

  And, hell, every time she wanted to cook, we always ended up ordering out.

  That worked for me. Even though I’d shovel down two pounds of burnt carrots if it made her happy.

  Whatever was going on now though was beyond carrots. Or cookies. Or whatever else she was throwing at me for the moment.

  I knew how Julia worked.

  She needed to hide for a minute to catch her breath. She needed to look for a sign on what to do.

  And what we had been going through.

  Life was suddenly moving fast for us again.

  The only thing that could chase away the racing thoughts was a phone call from Carolyn.

  Seeing her name pop up on my screen made my heart sink.

  All I could picture was Wes in trouble yet again. Maybe he had purple paint on his hands from the dick seen all around town.

  “Tell me it’s good news,” I said.

  “Decent news,” Carolyn said. “Hi to you too.”

  “Hey.”

  “Cherry wants us to come over,” she said. “Dinner.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Right now,” Carolyn said.

  “Who’s going to be there?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, Jett,” Carolyn said. “Cherry calls, I listen. If I had to guess? Us. Pop. And… Gary.”

  “Gary?” I asked.

  “I think Cherry wants us to meet her new man.”

  “At her age?”

  “Excuse me?” Carolyn asked.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I just can’t picture Cherry and… Gary. Oh, fuck, it even rhymes.”

  “Jett, she’s a person. She’s entitled to feelings. You know who it is, right?”

  “I know,” I said.

  Gary was a cop or detective or whatever and helped with the whole Elijah situation.

  I sighed. “I’m bringing Julia.”

  �
�Of course,” Carolyn said. “I don’t think any of the kids will be there.”

  “They’re not kids, Carolyn.”

  “To me, they are,” she said. “They’ll always be kids. The more everyone grows up, the crazier things get.”

  “That’s the truth,” I said. “I guess I’ll see you in a little bit.”

  I drove to my house to shower and get changed.

  Then I called Julia.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” I said with a grin when I heard her voice say hello.

  One word from her voice and I felt calm.

  “Cherry wants us to come over,” I said. “Dinner thing. She’s got a boyfriend.”

  “Cherry?” Julia asked.

  I laughed. “Yeah. She wants us to meet him.”

  “What time?”

  “Right now.”

  “Now? Jett… I’m still here.”

  Here meant the bakery.

  “I figured,” I said. “If Whitney’s there…”

  “I can’t,” she said.

  And then she just stopped talking.

  I slowly nodded. “You can’t.”

  “I’m here,” she said. “I have to… I don’t want to keep dumping everything on Whitney.”

  “Of course,” I said.

  Now I was lying to her.

  She was lying to me.

  I wanted her to feel comfortable enough to talk to me.

  “Jett… I’m sorry.”

  “Nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart,” I said. I touched my jaw. “I’m always here. Always here.”

  “Send my love to Cherry.”

  “That I can do.”

  We sort of just ended the call with a strange silence.

  There was one thing though.

  Time had put a lot of distance between the then and now. And we were definitely different people from the crazy teenagers sneaking cigarettes and kisses.

  But in my heart, Jett was Jett.

  I could wait. For a little bit.

  Except that little bit was up.

  I knew what answers could cost me.

  And I also knew what silence could cost me.

  * * *

  I was sure at some point during the entire ordeal with Elijah I had met Gary. But just to play it safe, I shook his hand as though we hadn’t met. He gave me a grin and wink and did the same with Carolyn and Pop.

  Cherry danced around the kitchen, moving like she was twenty years younger. I could never tell her that though because that would imply she was old now and that being younger was better than older. And that would get a smack to the mouth which I would have rightfully deserved.

  When Pop showed up, he and Gary stared each other down like two old gunslingers in a western movie. Of course Gary was the good guy sheriff and Pop was the outlaw. They fit the parts too. Gary was clean cut and smelled like aftershave. Pop was rugged, his lip curled, and smelled like whiskey, smoke, and grease.

  They did shake hands.

  And they did forcefully make small talk.

  I casually slipped into the kitchen.

  I bumped into Cherry and winked at her.

  “You could offer to help,” she said.

  “If I did would you let me help?”

  “Nope,” she said.

  “Damn, I love you, Cherry.”

  “Language,” she said.

  “Sorry.” I grinned. “So… Gary…”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m happy for you.”

  “Carolyn said you thought it was gross.”

  “She ratted me out,” I said. “And I never said gross. I just kind of see you as… Cherry. Alone. But not alone. Kind of… I don’t know. My Cherry.”

  She smiled and gently patted my face. “I won’t let myself get hurt. And it’s sweet you think of me that way.”

  “You and Pop were the only two family I had,” I said.

  “I know. Now why don’t you-”

  Noelle breezed in the kitchen, a phone in one hand, an empty plate in the other.

  She looked at me, Cherry, at the table, and hurried to get out of the kitchen.

  “Ohmygod, Rory, that’s exactly what I said too,” she said as she faded across the house.

  “Good to see you, Noelle,” I said.

  “She’s in her own world,” Cherry said. “She seems happier though. Haven’t figure that out yet.”

  “Did I hear the name I thought I did there?” I asked.

  Cherry just stared at me.

  “I mean…” I looked around and leaned closer to her. “Rory? As in the Elijah situation Rory?”

  “Yes,” Cherry said.

  “Shit,” I said.

  Cherry shot her hand out and grabbed the black pepper. “I warned you once.”

  I stepped back. “I have good reason…”

  “Nope,” Cherry said. “It’s time.”

  “Jett’s getting the pepper!” Carolyn called out.

  Now I had everyone at the table looking at me.

  I towered over Cherry by a good foot, if not more.

  She held the pepper shaker out like a deadly sword.

  I sighed. “Fine.”

  I walked to the table like a prisoner and sat down.

  And I literally put my head back and opened my mouth so Cherry could pour black pepper into my mouth.

  It didn’t have the same effect as when I was younger.

  But Cherry was just as scary.

  She wiggled a finger to everyone. “No foul language in my house and at my table.”

  I licked my mouth and lips.

  It wasn’t pleasant.

  “Need a drink?” Carolyn asked.

  I shook my head. “Thanks for telling her what I said.”

  “Sorry. It just slipped out.”

  “Jett, have some whiskey like a man,” Pop said.

  “I’m not going to drink and drive,” I said to Pop.

  “Ah, stop that,” Pop said. “You have these roads memorized.”

  “What did you just say?” Gary asked.

  Pop pointed at Gary and started to laugh.

  “He’s messing around,” Carolyn said to Gary.

  “Don’t think I won’t make a phone call,” Gary said.

  “You make a call on me and I’ll make a call on you,” Pop said.

  “I’m going to separate you two,” I said. “You’re acting like Wes and Elijah.”

  “Oh shit, they are,” Carolyn said.

  I stood up and pointed to Carolyn. “Cherry, get the pepper for her now!”

  * * *

  I leaned against the pillar on Cherry’s porch and watched the last few minutes of the day flicker somewhere in the sky.

  It symbolized something and I wasn’t sure what. Other than making me smile as I told myself I was starting to sound like Julia. Looking to a fucking sunset for a sign. The only thing a sunset could represent was that another day had come and gone. And eventually one of the sunsets was going to be the last one I ever saw.

  Morbid?

  You bet, man.

  “Are you hiding out here?” Carolyn asked as she shut the front door to Cherry’s house behind her.

  “Came out for a smoke.”

  “You’re not smoking.”

  “You caught me then,” I said.

  “Are you avoiding watching Cherry and Gary?”

  “What? No. What the hell do I care? I think it’s great. Good for Cherry.”

  “I don’t know, Jett. The thought that she has a sex life and I don’t…”

  I cringed. “Yeah, that part I don’t want to think about. And you could take care of that part of your life.”

  “Oh yeah? That easy?”

  “Kind of is,” I said.

  “Maybe you can take me out one night and be my wing man.”

  “That’d be more like me pimping you out,” I said.

  “Is that bad?”

  I laughed. “Then I could mess with Wes. Tell him I whored out his mother.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Carolyn
said, punching my arm. “Seriously. What are you doing out here?”

  “Enjoying the sunset.”

  “Bullshit. You’re out here all sad. And Julia isn’t here. Two and two make…”

  “Four words,” I said. “Mind. Your. Own. Business.”

  “What happened now with her?” Carolyn asked.

  “Nothing. We’re still figuring it all out. Hard to not go in full steam ahead, you know? Sometimes you have pull back for a second.”

  Carolyn laughed. “What do you think I deal with? Every time I see that asshole West I just… I lose myself.”

  “He’s not a good person though, Carolyn. He never was.”

  “What does that say about me?”

  “I don’t know. I’m more worried about myself right now.”

  “Douche.”

  “Aren’t you a little too old to be using those cool kid terms?”

  “If Cherry doesn’t kill you tonight, I will,” she said. “For the record, Cherry sent me out to tell you dessert is ready.” Carolyn got to the door and paused. “And for the other record, you and Julia need to figure your shit out for good. Of all the people in this town, you two are the ones meant to be together.”

  “Thanks for the talk, sis,” I said with a wink.

  “Screw you, bro,” she said.

  I hadn’t called her that in a long time.

  I followed Carolyn, knowing there was no escaping Cherry’s dessert.

  A pumpkin pie that was far too good to be wasted on a guy like me.

  She insisted on serving everyone a slice before sitting down.

  And even then, she refused to eat.

  It was weird but she liked watching us eat.

  And that damn pie was the best she had ever made.

  When Gary was done he sat back and rubbed his stomach. “Well, break out the black pepper again… that was the best damn pie I ever had.”

  “I’ll give you a pass on that one,” Cherry said.

  “Oh, come on,” I said. “Rules are rules.”

  “I make the rules,” Cherry said. “And Gary can break every single one.”

  “Not sure what that means,” I said.

  “Probably sexual,” Carolyn said.

  “Stop that!” Cherry yelled.

  Pop cackled and slid his whiskey over to Gary. “Have at it, pal. Congrats.”