Our Journey

by Tey Holden

  Wally caught on and laughed. “Well, don’t forget the movie Dances with Wolves, in your case it would be bears, though.”

  Jo laughed out loud. One of the reasons why they got along so well was because Jo could see right through Wally’s kind heart and pure nature. And that was precisely the reason why Dannie loved Jo’s friendship and business association. Over the years, Jo had proven to be a good, loyal friend and partner, who always had Wally’s back. It was that basic unspoken detail that had strengthened their relationship.

  On the day of the bid, Wally and Jo flew to Denver for the presentation. They were one of three bidders. As the panel entered the room, Jo immediately noticed a familiar face. “I’ll be dammed.”

  “Isn’t that the Chief—?”

  Jo replied before Wally could even finish her statement. “Yes, it’s him,”

  “Maybe you won’t need the Cavalry, maybe all you need is ‘bear’ luck,” Wally said, and they both chuckled.

  Jo made her presentation and was ready to sit down when Chief Nager asked her a question. “Your bid is higher than the others. Why should we select your company for this project?”

  “Our proposal will cost more because it takes into account the preservation of the land and the water. We do not disturb that which does not need to be disturbed, and we only use what we need.”

  Wally sat at the edge of her seat delighted while Jo explained, to the smallest detail and almost with reverence, how everything would be done to preserve the sacred beauty of the land where the casino would be located. She took her seat after completing her presentation. The council members each offered concluding remarks before leaving the room. As he exited, Chief Nager gave Jo a subtle nod.

  “Man, you had me sweating in there!” Wally said. “Whatever happens, it’s okay. You did good, let’s go have a steak to celebrate a job well done.”

  A week later, when they received notice that their bid had won the proposal, another celebration took place at Wally’s house. “If this is going to be our last project, I’d like to say that Jo’s presentation was a masterpiece. Let’s toast to the woman who dances with bears!” The money they made on the casino project alone would have been enough to retire comfortably.

  ***

  At this time, Kate thought that it was time to do something she had promised Jo to do someday. She had once told Jo that someday she’d frame all her medals because she wanted their children to know that their mom was a hero.

  By now, Jo had already overcome her nightmares and had even talked to the girls about her military experience. She had gone as far as showing them her scars. This was prompted when Mellie expressed an interest in going to West Point. Jo would neither deter nor encourage her, but she wanted the girls to know the good and the bad of a military career. The girls were fifteen, thirteen, and eleven when that conversation took place.

  After getting Jo’s approval, Kate organized a wonderful party and invited all the people who had been meaningful in their lives. Not only all their local friends were present, but Mike, Todd, and Manny were in attendance. Several other soldiers, and their spouses, arrived in the company of General Thompson and his wife. The general had been retired for a few years already. Poppy’s wife and his grown children were there, as well as Mayor Smith and his wife, and members of the Native American Council, among which was Chief Nager.

  After dinner, Kate unveiled the medals encased in a beautiful Mahogany box, which was now on display over their fireplace. After several toasts, the soldiers talked about their experiences, and what they did after they came back home.

  All of them expressed their admiration and appreciation for Jo. General Thompson spoke with great pride of Jo’s distinguished military career and civilian service. Manny, once again, told everyone about his foot, but this time he was very specific and told everyone how Jo found him, carried him to safety, and how he was certain he wouldn’t have made it had it not been for her.

  The girls and their friends were amazed as they heard story, after story told. In the end, they all wanted a few words from Jo. As she got up to speak, she sniffled a few times. “Since I don’t want to start crying here and ruin my hero reputation,” everyone laughed, “I’ll try to sound as military as I was trained to be.” She was a bit shaken when upon a call to attention from Manny, all the men in the room, including General Thompson, got on their feet and gave her a full military salute.

  “Thank you,” she sniffled once, “it was my privilege to have served alongside each one of you, and I also thank you for your service, the many hours of training, your sacrifice, and your losses.” She paused for a moment and looked at Kate, who was smiling proudly at her. “As with many of you, it took me a long time to recover from my physical wounds after I came back home. It took me even longer to recover from the emotional ones left by the loss of those who were not as lucky as we were, and who were not able to return home with us.” There was an uncalled moment of silence in remembrance of the ones who hadn’t come home. Jo directed her eyes to Poppy’s wife and kids.

  “That they’re not here today is evidence that there are things in life that we cannot change or control. For years, I asked myself why I hadn’t died that day, and to be honest, I hated all those medals.” She pointed to the medals encased in the box over the fireplace. “They reminded me of the losses of that day, the guilt of having survived, and on top of that of the shame of having been honored for that dreadful event.” She paused to regain her composure.

  “It took a wise old woman to explain to me why I had not died on that day. She told me that I survived that day because I was destined for something else. Still, I couldn’t understand what destiny she meant. You see in my grief for the losses of that day, I overlooked what someone in this room made me realize years later.” Her eyes went to Kate, and she smiled. “She made me realized that I did not get those medals for the soldiers I lost, but for those who survived and came home with me.” She paused again. “It was then that I understood that my reason for not dying then was because I was destined to bring home those that could. It was not until then that I finally accepted my medals.” A few sniffles were heard, and even the toughest was having trouble holding back their emotions. “Still, although, you might consider me a hero, I’ve never seen, and still don’t see my actions as heroic. I just did what I thought was the right thing to do.”

  Everyone applauded, and the ones closest to her in the room came forward to hug her. When Jo asked for silence with her hands, she continued. “I now would like to present to you the real hero in this room.” She took her glass of wine in her hand and raised it. “To the person who was there to nurse me through all the nightmares of the past, who helped me find my path in life, and to realize the reason for my medals. To Kate, my friend, my lover, my wife, my hero.” There was not a dry eye in the room when Jo finished speaking. Kate joined her in the center of the room, and after drying her tears, they kissed and held each other lovingly.

  ***

  A few weeks later, before the casino project began, Lara and Rachel formally announced their retirement and their move to Scottsdale, Arizona, in search of a warmer climate. Marge and Anne followed moving to Sedona in northern Arizona. Lisa moved to Austin, Texas, to be close to her son, who by now had kids of his own.

  Kalie and Jim made plans to move to Newport, California, after having gone on an extended vacation to the South Pacific Island. With the years, Mike retired from the FBI and joined Todd in his security company. They never fully retired because they loved to play with their electronic gizmos. Manny, who had been governor of Wyoming for two terms, later ran for his father’s seat in the U.S. Senate and became a senator.

  He tried to convince Jo to enter politics, but Jo consistently refused. Even when Kate tried to persuade her quoting Grams’ words that she was meant to lead, Jo said that she was not a politician and that if she was meant to lead anyone anywhere, it would be through good advice and help when needed.

  True to her word, Jo becam
e highly regarded for her advice and influence in local and state political circles, as well as with the local Native American tribes because she always protected their interests. She became so influential in the area that any politician who wanted votes in her neck of the woods wanted and needed Jo’s support.

  ***

  As the children grew, they began to develop their personalities. Of the three girls, Mellie was the one closest to Jo. Even though she was Kate’s biological daughter, Mellie identified and physically looked like Jo to some extent. It was no surprise that, when there was something important to discuss, she always went to Jo. When Mellie was fourteen years old, she came out to Jo, and as always, she received her best advice. In her senior year, having discarded a military career, Mellie also announced that she wanted to become a civil engineer like Jo.

  Lauren and Frances eventually went to college as well, and with the years became doctors, like Kate. Lauren became a radiologist, and Frances a pediatrician, and they both came back to Wyoming to practice medicine. After Mellie graduated from engineering, she went on to obtain a master’s degree at MIT. While in Boston, she met and lost her heart to a girl from Scotland named Emma Larsen.

  Epilogue

  Many years later

  It was not long after the youngest McCallister graduated and followed her sisters’ steps to college, that Jo and Kate were able to move permanently to the RV Ranch. From there, Kate had planned to continue her medical practice but with limited hours.

  However, that plan had to wait because it was at that time that they were finally able to make the trip to Alaska that they had never been able to complete. After they had moved to Wyoming, life had taken its course, and it had become complicated with work and the kids.

  Back then, Jo was finally able to convince Kate to sell the old RV. They didn’t have the time to travel, and the RV was too small for them and three kids. However, Jo promised that when they were ready to complete their trip to Alaska, they would buy a new one, just like the old one, but with all the bells and whistles of the moment.

  True to her word, when the day finally came, Jo ordered the new vehicle. “Are we ready to go?” Jo asked. “And most importantly, do we have a route?”

  “Baby, I had that route planed a zillion years ago!” Kate laughed as she extended her hand to Jo, who took it and kissed it. Right before entering the RV, Kate stopped to look at the ranch and then at Jo. “If I had to give it all back and was only allowed to keep one thing, I’d keep you, and only you,” Kate said, her eyes showing all the love in her heart.

  Jo smiled and remembered her words from years ago. “Mrs. McCallister, I recall once on this very same spot having said something like: you better stop saying that kind of thing and get in the passenger seat because if you don’t, we’ll need to go straight to the bed in this RV and make love like mad rabbits, and we might not be able to leave just yet.”

  Kate laughed. “And I remember having said something like: although your alternate proposal sounds very tempting, we do want to get started on this trip, don’t we? So, driver, go to your seat!”

  “Yes, ma’am! Let’s see if we can make it to Alaska at last!”

  This time there were no deviations. They took I-25 to I-90, and five hours later, they camped near Billings, Montana. They continued with their established old practice not to drive more than five to six hours per day. The next day, they took I-190 towards Missoula, where they stayed a second night before making it to Glacier National Park, where they planned to stay for a few days.

  Five days later, they crossed over to Canada with plans to camp for another few days in Banff National Park to later continue the northbound trek to Jasper National Park. They spent over two weeks visiting the different sites within the parks, and all the parks north of Jasper. Later they crossed over from the Province of Alberta to British Columbia. Stopping at several provincial parks, they finally reached the town of Prince Rupert. At that port town, they boarded a week-long small-boat tour that took them to Ketchikan and Juneau through Alaska’s inner passage.

  Upon returning to Prince Rupert, they routed their trip again, heading north towards the Yukon Territory to cross over to Alaska and continue north to Fairbanks. They took their time and camped and marveled at the wonders of nature in the northern territories. After reaching Fairbanks, they made arrangements with a local tour company to take them as far north as possible by plane to see the Northern Lights.

  They were fascinated with the wonders of their trip. As they watched the Northern Lights, Kate turned to Jo and said, “Let’s not stop.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Let’s continue to travel. I don’t want to go back to work. I think we’ve worked enough and done all we had to do.”

  “But what about your practice at the ranch?”

  “I’ll leave it for the others. Jo, this is our time. There’s so much to see! I don’t want to miss a thing. You left everything for me once in Washington. I want to leave everything for us now.”

  Jo smiled, delighted. “If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.” Jo agreed, and reached for Kate’s hand, bringing it to her lips and then resting it on her chest over her heart.

  The trip had been wonderful. They had taken their time everywhere and done everything there was to do and see. Kate was overjoyed with the trip, but she loved her medical practice, and Jo thought she might change her mind and want to go back to it when they arrived home.

  Looking at the expanse of the Alaska wilderness with its majestic mountains and rivers, Jo put her arm over Kate’s shoulder. “It took us a lifetime to get here, but we made it! Alaska waited for us.”

  “Just like you said,” Kate replied, snuggling to her. “You know? If we had made it here years ago, I don’t think we would have felt the same satisfaction that we feel today,” Kate said, wrapping her arms around Jo’s waist.

  “You’re right. This trip was never about the destination, but about the road and the journey that brought us here.” Jo said, wrapping her arms around Kate’s body. “I would have gone anywhere, as long as you were there with me.”

  “Me too,” Kate replied, lovingly.

  “I’ll tell you something I’ve never told you before.” Kate looked at her curiously. “When we left the RV Ranch years ago, I had doubts. Mainly about me.” Kate looked at her, smiling. “I wondered if I would be able to snap out of my dread and make you happy. All I knew for certain was that I loved you, and I hoped that my love would be enough to make you happy.” She looked into the smiling green eyes. “What do you say to that Mad Rabbit?”

  “I have a lot to say to that.” Jo raised her eyebrows and smiled, waiting for Kate’s response. “First, didn’t you ever think that I knew that?” Jo remained smiling silently. “I’ve always read you well, babe, and, if that wasn’t enough, you were always asking me if I was happy.” Kate combed Jo’s hair back. “Your love was always more than enough, Jo. Everything else came from that love. Our journey has been a great one, and it has been so from the day we got in the old RV and left the ranch to this day. I wouldn’t trade a minute of it for anything in the world.”

  Jo smiled and looked deep into Kate’s eyes. “Neither would I, and I would do it all over again.”

  “So would I,” Kate replied. They snuggled into each other and swayed blissfully.

  “I think somewhere up there, Grams is happy,” Jo added.

  “I think she’s having a blast, baby. We’ve fulfilled all her dreams.”

  “And ours too,” Jo said, tightening her arms around Kate, and taking her lips with a searing kiss while the Aurora Borealis bathed the sky around them.

  The very happy end!

  If you enjoyed reading this book, or any of my other books, I’d appreciate a review, even if it’s just a few words. Good reviews are very important to independent authors such as myself. If, on the other hand, you found errors or anything offensive, an email from you would not only help me fix it, but also help me become a better writer
. Thank you for your support.

  You can communicate with me by email

  teyholden@gmail.com

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  Tey’s other books

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