Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire

by Shirley Penick

  Then they walked out to join their families and the real world. Part of his heart was left in that room.

  Chapter 30

  Lily was glad the ride to the airport was a little crazy. The hotel had ordered them a stretch limo that they could all fit in. A limo was pretty common on the streets of New York, but theirs was long enough to turn heads. They had a marvelous time trying to guess what people were thinking. A few people even stopped to check their phone, they joked about them searching to see what big star was in town, when in reality, it was just a bunch of cowboys from Colorado and Montana.

  When the limo pulled up to the airport they had red carpet treatment, but they could see the confusion on the faces of the airport employees when no one famous got out of the vehicle. They even had escorts through security where they didn’t have to remove their shoes and belts and take their laptops out of their bags. They all grinned at each other at the ease of passage, at a normally packed airport, with huge long lines at every station.

  They were taken to the airline lounge where there were free drinks and snacks. Lily’s mom whispered, “I had no idea any of this even existed.”

  Lily whispered back, “I didn’t either.”

  Since they’d planned on standing in all those lines, they had at least an hour to hang out in the lounge before they needed to go to their gates. By some cosmic coincidence their flights left at almost the same time, but from different ends of the concourse. So, when the time came there were hugs all around and promises to see each other again sometime in the future. Drew gave Lily a kiss on her forehead, and she knew it was because if they shared a real kiss, they might not ever stop.

  Lily walked next to her mom with her father leading the way. He could always manage to clear a path through any crowd, so they were happy to follow in his wake.

  Elaine said, “Drew is a fine man.”

  Lily sighed and tried not to start sobbing. “He is, but he lives so far away. We both have our jobs and families.”

  “It’s only a ten-hour drive. We could come visit any time.”

  “I would miss you and Rose’s babies. And my job.”

  “There is always facetime for the babies. And a job is just a job.”

  “Oh mama, I wish there was some way.”

  “There is always a way, if you want it bad enough.”

  Lily didn’t respond but continued to think it over as they walked through the busy airport. When they got to the gate her father looked for some empty chairs. But Lily couldn’t sit, she looked back the long way they had come and then down at her parents.

  “I can’t go. I can’t let him leave.”

  Her mom nodded. “I know, go.”

  She rushed over to kiss her dad on his forehead and her mom on the cheek. “I’ll call.” Then she grabbed her carry on, that held most of the clothes, and put her purse on crossbody, and turned to go.

  “Lily-bug?”

  Lily didn’t turn back. She heard her mom say, “Let her go, Howard. Drew’s the one.”

  “The one, one?”

  “Yes.”

  Her father bellowed, “Good luck, Lily-bug.”

  She raised a hand in acknowledgement and picked up speed. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Her thoughts chanted with each step. Don’t leave, Drew, I’m coming, wait for me. She sent that thought toward him.

  There was a clock, dammit he should be boarding now, and she wasn’t quite halfway. No, no, no, don’t leave me, Drew. She tried to run faster but her bag kept crashing into everything, she couldn’t leave it, airport security got very cranky about things like that.

  She skidded to a halt as an airport vehicle pulled in front of her, stopping to let some older people off at their gate. She looked back at the clock. It was too late, he had to be boarding. She sighed in defeat, her breath bellowing from her mad dash through the airport, she wanted to cry and scream and kick things. But instead she just stood there while the older people gathered their luggage and the cart moved off.

  She looked up and saw a mirage. Drew was standing on the other side of where the cart had been, looking down at the floor. Not believing her eyes she whispered, “Drew?”

  His head snapped up, and a slow smile slid across his previously distraught features.

  Drew couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Lily stood on the other side of where the cart had been, which had stopped his mad dash through the terminal toward her gate. He’d wanted to throw something when they’d blocked his path, but he’d already known he’d waited too long.

  He’d walked morosely to his gate, and had been waiting for them to call out preboarding, when Adam had sauntered up and said, “Are you really going to walk away from her?”

  “I have to, we live in different states.”

  “Didn’t stop me and Rachel.”

  “Lily has a job she loves and her family…”

  Adam shrugged, “So, you move to Montana.”

  “My job…”

  “Oh, I didn’t realize there wasn’t any sheriff departments in Montana.”

  Drew was not in the mood for Adam’s sarcasm. “Of course, there are, stop being an asshole.”

  “I’m certain Drake would give you a fine recommendation, to another department in Montana.”

  Was it really that easy? He tried to think over the pounding of his heart. He wasn’t licensed in another state. “I would have to take tests.”

  “So?”

  “Fuck, you’re right. It’s just a fricken job.” He slapped his brother on the back. “Tell mom and dad I’ll call.” And then he’d taken off running, like his ass was on fire. But it hadn’t been enough. He’d run out of time and then the cart had blocked his path.

  Except, there she was staring at him, like she’d seen a ghost. Her pony tail was falling out. He didn’t know if it was tears or sweat on her face. Her shirt had come untucked, and was rucked up around her purse strap. She was beautiful, so damn beautiful. He probably stunk like a mule, from his own run through the airport, but when he opened his arms she walked right into them.

  “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let you go,” she sobbed.

  “I couldn’t either, you’re my life.”

  “I’ll move to Colorado.”

  “I’ll move to Montana.”

  He laughed and squeezed her tight. “We could live in Casper and split the difference.”

  She grinned up at him. “That would make it a five-plus-hour drive in either direction to see everyone.”

  “We could trade off major holidays, between the two families.”

  “But, your pretty land.”

  He shrugged, “We’ll build us a getaway house on it. For vacations and stuff.”

  “We could build another on daddy’s land. For vacations and stuff.”

  “We could.”

  Lily asked, “Do you really think it would work?”

  “We’ll make it work. I’m not living without you, Lily. I meant what I said, you’re my life, my heart, my one and only. I love you and I’m not letting you go. I don’t give a flying fuck that we’ve only known each other a couple of weeks.”

  “Oh good. I’m not living without you either. I love you too, and I don’t care if it’s only been a dozen days either. You’re already in my heart.”

  They stood in the middle of the airport holding each other, not moving. His chin rested on the top of her head and her head was on his chest.

  Finally, after a long time, Lily pulled back. “We missed our flights.”

  Drew grimaced, “We sure did. Want to go back to the pageant hotel?”

  Lily shook her head, “No. I’m kind of over that place.”

  Drew let out the breath he was holding. “Good, I feel the same way. Want to escape somewhere for a few days?”

  Lily looked at him through her eyelashes. “We could go check out Casper, see if we really want to live there.”

  He nodded. “I’ve not been to your ranch, either. Or met your siblings.”

  “No, you haven’t and that
would be fun, but let’s take a few days for ourselves first, and really talk about what we want to do. Where we want to live.”

  “I can do that. What about your job?”

  “I took a leave of absence for the pageant and don’t have a firm return date. I wasn’t going to go back this week, anyway. Will Drake be okay with you taking a few more days?”

  “I’ve been on the clock all week. I can easily take a few more days.”

  “So, Casper?”

  He wondered if the airline had a flight into Casper, it wasn’t a super busy destination. With probably only one or two flights a day. “Let’s go see what they have available.”

  They walked back to the ticket counter, hand in hand, not really caring where they went, as long as it was together.

  Chapter 31

  Lily was excited when the airline did have a flight into Casper, with only one stop, so they went there to explore the city. It was a larger city than either of them had ever lived in. She wasn’t sure she would want to live somewhere that populated.

  She said, “Casper is so big compared to my town and yours, do you think we could be happy here?”

  “I will be happy wherever you are, but I agree it isn’t the small town we’re used to. But there are plenty of smaller towns around it. We wouldn’t have to live in Casper proper. In fact, when we’re ready to leave let’s rent a car and drive up to your area, we can look at the little towns on the way north.”

  Lily felt a lot better about that idea, the idea of living in a city even as large as Casper did not appeal. “That sounds like fun.”

  “Great. I’ll call the rental car people and see where we can drop the car in Montana. Then we can use yours after that.”

  “All right, then can we just take some days to chill before we head north. Since it doesn’t look like either of us is that excited to live here?”

  “Absolutely.”

  They spent several days holed up in their hotel room, enjoying each other and talking about their hopes and dreams, and what they really cared about. When they were ready to move on and do more exploring they left the hotel. They had looked around some in Casper for jobs, but neither one of them had been too excited about that, so they hadn’t wasted a lot of time. The only thing they did look into was the sheriff’s department since that was a county wide operation.

  They stopped and looked around all the small towns on the drive north, and as they entered each new county they stopped to make inquiries at the sheriff’s department. Some of the areas looked nice, but no lightning struck.

  Lily was careful to keep a record of each town, what kinds of businesses they had and notes on the law enforcement. She thought maybe they simply needed to look over all the options and then one of them would feel right.

  When they got to Montana they didn’t stop any longer but drove straight through to her parent’s house. Her mom had Lily’s childhood room prepared for them to stay in. Howard on the other hand didn’t look too pleased at that idea.

  Drew asked her father if he could have a private word with him, so they went off to her dad’s office.

  Lily asked her mom, “Should Drew and I stay in Livingston, in my apartment?”

  Elaine shook her head. “I don’t think that will be necessary. I think Drew will let your father know he has nothing to fear from the two of you being together.”

  Her mother’s prediction was correct. When the two men came back from the talk—that had obviously included some whiskey—her father was much more relaxed and happy about Drew visiting them.

  That night Lily asked Drew what had happened during the talk.

  “Nothing really,” Drew said, “First I poured him a drink and took one for myself, then I asked him if I could marry you. He consented to that idea and we drank to a successful marriage.”

  Drew sent her an uneasy look. “I explained that my siblings had snatched up the next two months with their weddings, so you and I would have to wait until at least February. Apparently, my dad had mentioned that to him, so he wasn’t at all surprised. So when would you like to get married?”

  Lily wasn’t quite ready to commit to a date yet. She wanted to decide on a place to live before she went down that path. “I want to think about that a little longer, if that’s all right with you.”

  He took her hand and squeezed. “That’s fine with me. It’s all been rather sudden. But let’s not wait too long.”

  Her heart warmed at his desire to commit to spending his life with her. Her face must have shown how she felt because he rolled her onto the bed and kissed her for long minutes. The kisses turned hotter and they ended up naked and breathless.

  As they drifted off to sleep wrapped up in each other’s arms, she reveled in having Drew in her childhood room. He looked good among her memories and mementos. It made her happy to add him into her life.

  Lily’s mom arranged for a dinner the next day, where Drew could meet her family. She wasn’t apprehensive about him meeting them. Her sister would be polite, her brother friendly, but her family did not have the same dynamic his did.

  When Rose charged in the door and grabbed Lily into a bear hug and squeezed her so hard she thought a rib might crack, Lily was so surprised she could have been knocked over with a feather.

  Rose finally released her and put her hands on her hips. Then she shook one finger at Lily. “Don’t you ever scare the crap out of me like that again, Lily. My heart can’t take it. I’m sorry if this hurts your feelings, but I prayed really hard that you wouldn’t win that stupid pageant and have to go on to the international competition. I just couldn’t imagine going through that fear again.”

  Rose’s eyes filled with tears and she hugged Lily again in another bone crushing embrace. Lily was surprised at the vehemence of Rose’s words and actions. She’d always been so cool headed and relaxed.

  Lily patted her sister’s back. “It’s okay, big sis. I’m fine, and perfectly happy not to go on to the next pageant level.”

  Rose pulled back and released her stranglehold on Lily. “Good, because I love you and can’t lose you.”

  “I love you too, Rose. Where are John and the kids?”

  “Oh, I left him to bring in the munchkins. I needed to see you immediately, he wasn’t even parked when I jumped out of the car.” She shrugged as if she always jumped out of a moving vehicle. “So where is this new man of yours? I swear Lily, engaged to two different men within a month, what are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking Drew is amazing. Now he’s right over there waiting to meet you.”

  Rose turned the direction she’d indicated and took a long look at Drew. She turned back and whispered, “Rancher?”

  Lily grinned and nodded. “Cattle, and he’s also a sheriff’s deputy.”

  “A cop? Well good, he’ll keep you safe then.”

  “He already has.”

  “Well he’s a damn sight better than Ronald the weasel.”

  “I like Ronald the rat, and I couldn’t agree more, now come meet my man.”

  To Lily’s surprise Rose was nearly as enthusiastic to meet Drew as she had been to see Lily. Then John came in with the kids and there was the normal family chaos that involves small children. Drew got down on the floor to meet and then play with her niece and nephew. Something Ronald wouldn’t have been caught dead doing.

  Her brother came in a little while later, he’d been on a road trip with the football team, and had just gotten back in town in time for dinner.

  William grabbed her and swung her around. “Glad you’re home, sis. So, introduce me to the big bad roper who saved you from that Pamper guy. If it was me, I would have changed my name, who wants to be named the same as a diaper company?”

  Lily laughed and introduced her brother to Drew.

  William looked Drew in the eye and shook his hand. “Thanks for taking care of my sister. You’re going to keep doing that, right?”

  Drew nodded. “Yes, I am, from now on she’s my first priority.”

&
nbsp; “Good, then welcome to the family.”

  The meal was pleasant and delicious. They all hashed over the idea of where Drew and Lily might settle. They talked about the pros and cons for each state. In the end no one thought a ten-hour drive was a big deal, which helped both Lily and Drew to relax.

  They looked around town there, too, and visited Lily’s job. Where her coworkers congratulated her on completing the pageant. She told her boss she wasn’t ready to come back. Her boss took one long look at Drew and told her to take her time. She also said that they would miss her if she decided not to return, but maybe she could start up another branch of the sanctuary wherever she landed. Lily hugged everyone and said her goodbyes. Next, they went to her little apartment.

  Drew and Lily both knew that even if they decided to live in Montana, there was no way they would want to live in her tiny apartment, so they packed up her belongings and put them in storage. Cleaned the apartment and turned in the keys. The manager said she’d just had someone looking for a place just like it, so they would let Lily out of her lease, with only a two hundred dollar turn-over fee.

  The last stop was the cemetery. Drew went with her to visit Olivia’s grave, Lily laid her pageant sash on it, along with a bouquet of her friend’s favorite flowers. Drew gave her time alone, while he waited on a nearby bench.

  When she was finished talking to the best friend of her past, she went to go join her best friend of the future. Drew pulled her into his arms where he held her tight.

  Lily gasped. “Do you smell that?”

  “Sure do.” He looked around. “Not sure where it’s coming from.”

  “It’s Olivia’s favorite scent.”

  “I don’t remember it being that strong in the car, when we had the flowers in there.”

  “It’s not from the flowers. That’s the smell of lilacs.”

  Drew frowned. “But they only bloom in the spring.”

  Lily had tears on her cheeks and she could barely whisper, “Exactly. I think it’s Olivia, blessing us and our love. Maybe saying farewell.”