by T. K. Chapin
“What?” I said, agitated.
“Look, can we talk?” she asked.
“Why?” I asked, glancing towards Chris and Roy.
“I know you were a little caught off guard about the inn, and I want to talk about it.”
“I’m not really in the talking mood right now; I came to visit my friends.”
“But, Dylan-”
“Please, just stop it,” I said in a loud whisper.
“Fine.” She walked away, forfeiting her attempts to talk with me. In my mind she had every opportunity to explain what was going on to me. We talked when I was in Lincoln City and even this morning before I went out to the Silverback. She could have talked then, not now, not after the fact.
Later in the evening after a delicious helping of baby back ribs and fries, little Sammy came over to my picnic table.
“Dylan,” he said.
“Yeah?” I asked, leaning down to him to meet him eye level. “What is it?” I asked, glancing over at Ally as she watched, and then back to Sammy.
“Could you show me how you did that coin trick?”
“Sure,” I replied. Turning back to my plate, I wiped my hands of the rib sauce that remained and then brought my feet over the bench to position myself towards Sammy. “So the trick, is just that… a trick. Magic’s not real, unless you’re in love.”
“What?”
“Never mind that,” I said. “The coin trick works if you have a jacket on. Do you have a jacket you could put on?”
“It’s too hot for a coat.”
“True, which is why this trick is nearly impossible in the summer.” I reached into my jean pocket and grabbed the wooden coin, bringing it out and placing it in his hand. “See, what you do is when you turn your wrist, you let the coin vanish down your sleeve. The way in which I position my jacket sleeve lets the coin travel down the sleeve and it gets caught in between my jacket and clothing, so I can shift my body and catch it a few moments later when you aren’t looking. Takes a little practice, but you’ll get it. It’s just an illusion.”
Sammy smiled as he grasped onto the coin. “Thanks,” he said darting away from the picnic table.
I smiled as I watched him take off and go play with the other children who were there. He was a cute kid; so was Olivia. Kids didn’t care about the drama of life, they just wanted to have fun and spend time with people that were kind and fun to play with. I went and threw my paper plate away when Ally approached me again.
“Thanks for doing that,” she said softly. Her voice flowed over me like honey to a bee. These feelings were so conflicting.
“Doing what?” I asked.
“Showing Sammy that trick… I know you are mad at me right now and you didn’t let that affect how you treated him. I appreciate that.”
“Why would it affect Sammy? He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know,” she said with a sad smile. “I’ll see you around, Dylan…” She added as she walked away.
The rest of the evening blew by without an issue. Catching up with everyone and having that hearty helping of ribs and fries, my stomach was full and my heart with it. Regardless of the tension between Ally and myself, I couldn’t keep my thoughts and eyes off her the entire night. I was beyond irritated with her and what she had done, but my heart didn’t seem to get the memo. Every time our eyes met that evening, I felt jolts of energy surge through me. I couldn’t explain why I still felt so strongly for her still, but I couldn’t ignore the fact it was there.
CHAPTER 15
June 15, 2011
Finishing up another rocking chair for the feed store to sell, I wiped the sweat from my brow. Another masterpiece crafted, I thought to myself as I stood back and admired my handiwork. Upon finding out about the inn’s new direction, I had put in a phone call to Ken down at the store about making more furniture. He said he would be thrilled if I started back up again since all the stock I had filled up the store with had been since depleted.
On my way to go drop off the rocking chair at the store, I noticed Roy’s work truck parked outside the hardware store. I bet that’s Levi, I thought as I turned into the parking lot to go find out. I had been avoiding Roy’s place because of all the Ally drama and I wanted to talk to Levi about it since I didn’t get a chance to do so at the barbeque.
Walking into the hardware store, I searched the aisles until I found the one Levi was in.
“Hey,” I said, approaching him.
Turning to me, he smiled, “What’s going on?”
“I saw Roy’s work truck outside and I thought you might be the one in here.”
“Yep, I have to buy a new o-ring for the toilet. It got clogged by one of Ally’s kids and I busted the o-ring trying to pull the toilet out.”
“That kinda stinks,” I replied with a laugh.
“HA-HA, very funny. What’s up? I’ve seen plenty of your brother, but not much of you… Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I just don’t want to see Ally right now.”
“Because of the inn?” he asked. I nodded. “Well, for what it’s worth I knew she was helping over there, but I had no idea she was changing so much or I would have told you something.”
“I know that,” I replied.
“She’s really just trying to help the inn thrive. I don’t suspect she had ill intentions in what she did.”
“Well, it’s upsetting. Chris and I grew up there, and for it all to get changed isn’t right. There is nothing left of my dad, and it was his inn. That’s how I feel about it, anyways.”
“Sounds like whatever she’s doing is bringing more foot traffic through the doors and that’s good. You heard she’s moving out, right? She’s going to rent out two of the rooms and just live there at the inn.”
“Oh yeah? I didn’t hear about it.”
“Yep. I guess Sammy’s been upset about how much the twins have been crying at night… That makes two of us,” he replied with a laugh. “I love those kids, but they don’t seem to sleep during the night very well. They take turns waking up practically all night long.”
“I’m sure it’s a bit crowded out there anyways,” I replied.
“Yeah, Jess and I sleep across from the babies upstairs; and Sammy and Olivia share a room off the porch of the kitchen with Ally. Somehow they still hear the babies, probably when we wake up in the night and go into the kitchen to feed them.”
“Well it sounds like a good change for everyone involved. I thought Sammy and Olivia were out of town with their Dad though?”
“He freaked out and left in the middle of the night… without the kids.”
“Oh?” I replied.
“Yeah, the kids were upset, but they are okay now. That was like a week ago.”
“I see. Well I better get going; I have a rocking chair to deliver over at the feed store.”
“Alrighty man, come by sometime, we miss ya out at Roy’s.”
“Okay, will do.”
Heading back towards the direction of the feed store, I thought about what Levi said. Ally was making a good impact on business for the Silverback, even if it wasn’t exactly how my father had wanted it. If I could get over that and focus on the business then it would be easy to forgive her. I don’t know why I feel like she took my dad away from me.
After unloading the rocking chair with Ken, he told me my check was in the back of the store on the desk in the manager’s office. He had to go work on stocking shelves before the doors opened in thirty minutes and said I could just go grab it. I went through the store and into the back area to the manager’s office. Walking inside the door, I saw the check lying on top of a bunch of papers. Picking it up, I was about to turn and leave when I saw an invoice that caught my eye. It was an invoice made out to the Silverback Inn. Checking the items that they purchased, I saw a bunch of orders for my furniture. What on earth? I thought. They were the ones buying my furniture? Finding Ken, I asked if I could have the invoice, he was reluctant at first, but caved and said
it was a duplicate he had made for book keeping. He insisted he just knew Silverback bought them, he didn’t know for what reason though. I told him thanks and hurried out to the parking lot.
Getting back into my truck, I went to investigate. I drove straight to the Silverback and knocked on Lenny’s door. He answered and smiled when he saw it was me.
“Good to see you back here, to what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked.
“What’s this?” I asked, holding out the invoice for him to read.
Shaking his head, he said, “Dylan. That’s what Allison was trying to tell you, we used all your furniture to help furnish the rooms.”
“What? Why? I thought it was all modern and all updated, like you said.”
“It is modern, but that didn’t keep us from being able to use your furniture. You should really just go take a look at a room. Unit forty two is vacant right now. The key is behind the counter hanging up in the office.”
“Is the office door open?”
“Well yeah dummy, I wouldn’t say go grab the key if it wasn’t.”
“Okay,” I replied.
Walking through the loose gravel towards the office, my mind was racing. They used my furniture? Maybe this was Ally’s attempt to take pity on me and toss me a few bucks thinking I’d be happy? Grabbing the key, I quickly made my way over to the unit and opened the door.
Walking into the room, I felt overwhelmed. Everything was different. The walls were a crème mocha color and the furniture was all black. I recognized the table as one that I made, but it had been painted. The nightstands and entertainment center were new, but matched perfectly with the table. It wasn’t rustic and western like my dad always had it, but it looked amazing. Walking through the room, I made my way to the back porch and out onto the deck that overlooked the lake. One of my rocking chairs I made was sitting out there and I took a seat in it. She really didn’t do a bad job, I thought to myself as I lowered my head into my palms.
“Hey, Dylan,” Ally said from behind me, startling me.
Jumping up from the chair, I turned to her. My heart was racing. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m going to live here. And then the next one over will be Sammy and Olivia’s since these two are the only ones that have a joining door between them.” Her words were soft and I could tell she was trying to be careful with how she spoke and it made me feel bad that I made her so uncomfortable.
I nodded. “I’m really sorry I got so upset the other day with you…”
“You had every reason to,” she replied, looking into my eyes. “I should have told you about the remodeling we were doing… I shouldn’t have hid it from you. I was just scared you would be upset, especially without seeing it.”
My own desires of making my father proud and seeing his vision live on with the Silverback melted away and all that was left was an unexplainable desire to make Ally happy in that moment. She had no ill intentions and was only trying to do the right thing, I understood that now. “I was upset... but I am over it.”
“What changed?” She asked.
Standing up, I grabbed onto her hands and looked into her eyes. “You were only trying to help… and my Dad wanted people to visit more than anything else. These rooms, they are beautifully designed. He would be proud of you and proud of the direction Lenny took the inn. I just wanted it to be me he was proud of and that’s what killed me the most I think.”
She glanced over at the invoice that was sitting on the rocking chair. “He would be so proud of you; this is all inspired by your work. Did you come here because you saw I bought your stuff?
“Initially yeah…”
“I hope you don’t think I only bought them out of some kind of guilt.”
“No I don’t think that,” I replied. Stepping closer to her, I brought my arms around her as I looked into her eyes. Waves of tingles surged through me as our bodies came together closer. The smell of her perfume and the softness of her skin made the world around us fade. I leaned in to kiss her, but she pulled back.
“Wait,” she said, disengaging our embrace. She turned and went back into the room. Following her, I watched as she went and sat on the bed as tears started rolling down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I sat down next to her. She scooted farther away on the bed as she shook her head.
Looking me in the eyes, she said, “Nothing is wrong right now… but everything is wrong.”
“What’s that mean?”
Shaking her head, she said, “You were gone for what felt like a long time, Dylan…”
“Yeah?”
“When Adam got here, the kids were so happy, and I was to.”
“Okay? What are you saying?”
“I tried to make things work with Adam again.”
“Work how?”
She started fully crying. “I stayed with him in the city one night. But after spending time with him again, I realized I didn’t want to be with him. I didn’t want to go back to that life.”
My head hung low as she spoke. I was disappointed in her, even though I had no claim over Ally, I felt like, in a way, she cheated on me. I appreciated her honesty but this hurt deeply. My heart literally broke at her words, but I didn’t want her to know that because looking at her I saw she was hurting even more. Trying to make sense of it I said, “We weren’t together, so…”
“I know we weren’t, but it felt like we were connecting that night at the movies… and I thought it was going somewhere and..,” She paused as she cried more. “I don’t want to lose what we had that night and when we looked for Chris… and our talks when you were in Lincoln City. I’m so scared of losing you, Dylan.”
Nodding, I said, “So, is it done with you and Adam?”
Nodding, she replied, “Yes… He freaked out and left after I wouldn’t go again with him to the city or kiss him or anything. I feel so bad for Olivia and Sammy; I think they hoped we’d get back together. I thought I did too, it would’ve made it easier…”
“It’s only natural, Ally, to want your mom and dad together. I am a grown man and still wished for it while I was going in search of my Mom. And for you to want to make it work with the father of your children… no one can blame you for that. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“You don’t seem mad at all…” she said.
“I’m not mad. Sure, I don’t like what happened… but I understand.” I chose my words carefully.
She smiled and leaned in to kiss me, but I pulled back. “Too soon?
“Yeah, too soon, I’m not ready for us to be something more than friends right now. I need to process this.”
She nodded. “I understand, I just wanted to kiss you since the moment I saw you’d returned. It killed me to see you so mad at me for the inn renovations. But I want you to know I’ll wait for you, Dylan. I’ll wait for us, to see where this can go, because I think this could be something magical.”
Nodding, I replied, changing the subject, “When are you guys moving in here?”
“We’re waiting for the people in the next one to vacate, so probably in a few days after they leave.”
“Need a hand with moving?” I asked. Why was I volunteering? I needed time to sort this out.
She smiled as she dried her eyes and nodded. “I’d love an extra hand.”
“I saw Levi at the hardware store earlier; he said you guys were growing weary of the babies up at night.”
“Well, that, and Jess was getting cranky at Sammy and Olivia. Every little sound they’d make while the baby was napping was the end of the world. Really, it was just time to move on.”
“Yeah, families living together gets pretty tough, I’d imagine.”
“It does. How’s Chris doing? Jess said something about him not drinking anymore?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t drink now and is a born-again Christian.”
“Awesome! Has he been baptized yet?” she asked.
“Not yet… He and I really need to get back to church. Wel
l, I back into church and him to church.”
“You should come on Sunday. Then you can help me move my stuff over afterwards.”
I laughed. “Oh yeah?”
She smiled as she nodded.
“I’ll plan on it. Oh, I forgot to tell you I noticed you have Lenny call you Allison…”
She began laughing. “Yes… Ha! You remember that!”
“I do,” I smiled.
“He’s smart, but kind of a jerk when it comes to working for him. Very demanding and bossy.”
“That’s uncle Lenny for ya.”
“Yeah, Mitch said it’s just the type of person he is when it comes to business. Everything else he’s pretty relaxed.”
“Yep. Mitch? I heard Elly was dating a Mitch, is that the same guy?” I asked.
“Yeah, he lives in Boise, but is here helping Lenny with all the marketing and whatnot.”
“I see,” I replied. “Wonder why she’d date someone who is here temporarily?”
Ally shrugged. “Maybe she didn’t want anything serious, since she just got out of a relationship with Chris. I don’t know.”
“Yeah,” I replied.
I felt relieved that Ally and I managed to patch things up. It was uncomfortable knowing that she spent intimate time with her ex-husband while I was out of town. Was Ally just another woman like my mother and would one day go back? I would hope not, but I had no way of knowing. Part of me wanted Ally more than anything in this world; the other part of me was terrified of her hurting me again. She dealt with the inn situation incorrectly in my mind, and then let herself get close with a man she swore she was done with. My heart yearned for her, but my head made me take a step back and really look at the situation. Was Ally really the one for me? Only God knew the answer to that, and I’d be spending my time trying to find it out.
CHAPTER 16
June 19, 2011
As I got ready for church that morning, I felt an overwhelming conviction of my lack of attendance at God’s house. My faith never wavered in my absence of attending church, but I knew within my heart I was forsaking the assembly.
Chris came barreling into the bathroom about twenty minutes before we had to be at church. “Hey, do you know where Dad’s cufflinks are?” He asked.