The day they started preparing the site for a foundation was Saturday. Jessie was there, and ready to do anything she could, but had no clue how exactly to begin the home’s foundation. She was shocked when an SUV pulled into the yard. Shading her eyes from the sun, she walked closer and started grinning and squealing when she realized who was inside: Finn and Bella. She started crying with joy when Bella exited the rented SUV and started hugging her. Finn and Will shook hands. Will was grinning at her, and her heart swelled: he must have known they were coming to visit her. Finn said he planned to help Will for the first week so Bella and Jessie could spend time together.
An hour later, Noah, his two brothers and his dad showed up, along with the Clapsmiths. They easily joined Will and Finn in leveling up the site. Each one knew ten times more than Will about what the hell to do. Unlike what Jessie felt sure Will was used to, he allowed the others to tell him what to do.
She thought her heart might roll out of her chest. All these people, their friends, came there to be with them, and help them, and welcome them to the community. It was a feeling she never dreamed she’d know. She finally belonged somewhere. Will caught her eye across the dusty, crowded clearing, and tipped his head towards her. She rolled her eyes with a shy smile and wiped some tears that fell. A small smile lifted the side of his mouth. His eyes glowed with something deep and burning as he held her gaze. He knew exactly what she felt, and how surreal and incredible and unbelievable it all was to her. He just knew everything.
He mouthed, “I love you,” and she mouthed it back, ready to finally embrace her happiness. Life. Belonging. She was finally living and not just surviving. She finally attained the lifestyle she never, ever thought she’d survive long enough to enjoy.
****
The house took nine months to build. Will did as much work on it as he could; and hired subcontractors for the things he couldn’t do or figure out. He spent a lot of time learning how to do things before tackling them. He often stayed up late into the night, studying whatever he needed to learn, and getting up early to go to the house. Jessie still worked for Noah, and attended classes in between. She usually went to the house every weekend and did any odd jobs Will could find for her.
They had a few setbacks. One of the bathrooms was designed wrong and the toilet hit the door, which had to be completely reframed. They also had trouble getting the electric work to pass code inspection. Will threatened to bomb the house a few times in a rage. His eyes grew so inflamed, Jessie stepped back, and remembered that he really did know how to blow stuff up.
They fought about things. He worked too much. The obsessive/compulsive Will often reared his head. His focus for Army missions, was now his focus on the house; and with no less concentration than he had on his mission of saving her. He was, she knew, like a heat-seeking missile when he set his mind to something. Almost to the point of becoming ridiculous. She often had to put him back in touch with normality and real life. He had other things to do besides his single-minded obsession. He was living life now, and not reporting to the Army.
They also started to have more fun with new things. They got to pick out everything they put in the house. Weekends were often spent browsing the home improvement stores and choosing interiors and fixtures. They fought about money, and how much to spend. Will always wanted the best, and Jessie preferred the most economical. They learned how to compromise.
All the while, she continued taking community college classes. To her surprise, she didn’t suck at school. She could sit in class, quietly learning, reading and taking notes before successfully regurgitating the information on the tests. It really wasn’t rocket science; and just required a bit of dedication and tenacity. Things she never excelled at before, but now did.
Sometimes, they left it all behind to drive around the area and hang out by the river, or hike up in the mountains, exploring. They had picnics during the fall, and tried snow skiing in the winter. When spring came, Will decided to find a hobby. To her dismay, he re-discovered dirt bike riding. She learned he used to do it with Tony and Lewis when he was younger, but hadn’t done it in years. As was typical for Will, he embraced it one hundred percent.
Jessie couldn’t watch him ride at first. He bought a bike and made a track around their acreage. He, of course, was very skilled at it and looked like he’d done it all his life. He often begged her to come with him, and eventually, she started going. Perched on the back of his bike, and squeezing his middle as she hung on for dear life, together, they explored remote mountain trails. Their destinations took them all around the state, through the most beautiful scenes and breathtaking vistas. Mad Lake. Foggy Dew. The names were colorful and many. They were gone entire weekends and sometimes, even skipped out on Jessie’s work and school.
In no time, they accumulated hundreds of pictures of them doing various things together and enjoying other people. There were picnics and barbecues with neighbors, Noah’s family and the Clapsmiths. There were pictures of them at favorite bike riding spots as well as the numerous places they discovered. Finally, they had evidence of their shared history and the life they lived and loved each other in. Their wedding picture, now framed, always hung directly above their couch. It was and would always be Jessie’s most prized possession.
A year after they returned to Washington state, their house was ready for occupancy.
Jessie and Will stood before it after the final inspection passed. It was done and they could move in. Will grinned at her like they’d just won the lottery. She filed it away, along with the many other big moments of their past. Only nowadays, it was smaller events, and calmer occasions than taking down rapists or watching Will leave.
Will held his hand out to her. “Well, Mrs. Hendricks, shall we enter our new home?”
She slipped her hands into his. “It feels like we should cut a ribbon or christen it with a champagne bottle.”
“That’s for boats, Jess.”
“Well, it feels that important, doesn’t it? Like it deserves some kind of ceremony. I mean, we built a house, Will! We’ve made it long enough to build a house.”
He swung her around and suddenly lifted her up in his arms. “Okay, will you settle for me carrying you over the threshold?”
Grasping his neck, she threw her head back with a laugh. “I’ll settle for that. I’d have settled for you and a tent out in a field, soldier.”
He smiled down at her with a tenderness that inflated her heart. “I’d have settled for that too. Everything else is just pretty wrapping. It’s you who makes wherever we are my home.”
She squeezed herself against his chest as tears glistened over her eyelids. “Oh, Will Hendricks, sometimes you could melt a rock with that tongue of yours.”
“There’re better things my tongue can do…”
She hit him when his cocky, teasing grin ruined the moment. However, the laugh that came out of her mouth would never have been heard six years ago. Will gave her back her sense of humor along with everything else that was important.
On June twenty-first of 2010, Jessie and Will Hendricks crossed the threshold of their house, and for the first time in either of their lives, they were finally at home.
Chapter Twenty
~ Year Four~
Will wasn’t kidding about spending a year not working. He didn’t start looking until after first spending a summer at their house. He claimed to have too much to do. There were fences to build, and new animals to house. They adopted another shelter dog within a week after moving into the house. The second month brought them a goat; and the chickens were just a given. Who doesn’t like chickens? Jessie was working on buying a couple of horses before summer’s end.
Will did odd jobs for the Clapsmiths to earn extra cash. The house and land were owned free and clear, thanks to her mother. Jessie was always adamant about whose cash made their dream possible. Will started seriously looking for work that fall when Jessie started her second year at the college. This time, she was enrolled at Centra
l Washington University with the status of a sophomore. All summer long, she took courses to build up the extra credits she needed to go there. She was the antithesis of what Fuck-face always said and called her: stupid, lazy and useless.
The one ripple in her otherwise lovely life was her sister. Lindsey seemed to be pulling further and further away from her. She visited Lindsey twice in the last year for a few days while Elliot was on travel for his hotel construction business. Jessie thought it was a weird-ass thing to start as a company, but when she saw Lindsey, a strange awkwardness existed that Jessie hadn’t experienced for five years. She didn’t like seeing the frozen smile Lindsey always wore, as if her face didn’t possess a neutral, or even natural expression. It was like she Botoxed her face into perfection. And annoying as fuck.
“I don’t like Elliot,” Jessie said to Will over the phone from Lindsey’s house. “He has her set up here like a fucking Barbie doll. It’s weird. She does nothing all day, but smile and look pretty.”
“I’m sorry. I hoped what we first thought of him was just from nerves or something. But be careful what you say to her. I get the distinct feeling she does not want our opinions. Be careful. You don’t need her being mad at you.”
She sighed. “I know. I wish things weren’t like this. Anyway, I can’t wait to get home. I hate being here. I hate being on the east coast. I hate being away from you. And I hate how strange my sister seems. So I really want to come home.”
Will was silent on the end of the phone. “Will?”
He sighed. “I really hate you being gone too. I finally, kinda get it.”
“Get what?”
“How boring and awful it is when you’re the one left behind. When I left you, I was always the one leaving to do shit that was stimulating and busy, and, you know, different than my normal life. So it always sucked, but I was busy, so it went fast. But shit. Now you’re gone and I’m here. There’s nothing to do. It’s so fucking quiet, I talk to the cats. The dogs. The goat even. I really don’t like it here without you.”
She sat down on the bed. After all these years and all their days together and all the I love yous, big and small, he still made her stomach flip and her heart swell. “That’s what it felt like for me all the time I was without you. Just two more days. I’m seeing Bella tomorrow and the next day, and then I’ll fly home.”
She was too close not to visit her friend and Finn. It was only a few hours’ drive.
“I should have just come.”
“You’d have been bored. Hell, I’m bored with Lindsey. But your just bored in general, Will. ”
He sighed. “I am. I’m finally getting bored.”
She bit her lip to avoid laughing at his despondent-sounding voice. Lucky for him, he never really had to wait for her like she did for him. The mighty soldier wasn’t very good at it. “I’ll be home.”
“Not soon enough,” he grumbled.
****
Finally, Will found a job. In December, he got hired as a manager at a newly developed industrial park that recently opened. A chain manufacturer for heating, ventilation and air conditioners moved into one of the big office warehouse suites. The owner was a former vet from the Gulf War, and seemed partial to Will when he heard about the Army connection.
Will came home; making a face that he had, indeed, gotten the job. He flopped down on the couch and sighed while staring out at the darkening day. It wasn’t even five and almost completely black outside. Jessie crawled into his lap and hugged him. “You don’t like it?”
He shrugged. “What do I know about HVAC manufacturing? Plus, it just reminds me of…”
“The fucking spot?”
“Yes. It’s been awhile since we’ve even mentioned it. And then, bam! I’m thinking of it as soon as I glimpse the giant parts they have stored in their warehouse. It looked like the one I hid on.”
“That’s because our entire life is no longer about my rapes. It’s nice, Will. It’s really nice we don’t have to talk about it every time we have sex. Or when and if I have an orgasm. Or not. It doesn’t have to be our sole focus in everything we do or don’t do. It’s progress, soldier.”
He made a face. “I know. It’s just weird. I have a job. Nine to five. Seriously. Monday to Friday. Nine to freaking five.”
She laid her head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“Getting a Monday-to-Friday-nine-to-five-job managing a warehouse.”
He kissed the top of her head and laid his cheek on her hair. “Well, then, you’re welcome.”
“Will you be okay? Is it enough?”
His chest expanded and fell as he breathed deeply, but he finally nodded and his chin moved up and down on her head. “It’s enough. And coming home to you? Best thing in the fucking world.”
She lifted her head and held his gaze. “If that ever changes, you have to tell me, and not let it fester until you grow to hate me. Promise me.”
He held her gaze. “I promise.”
She let out a breath and cuddled into him. “Okay, then, HVAC manager, wanna have some dinner?”
“No, I want to sit right here, with you.”
“Oh. Well. Then, I think we could do that.”
****
“Hey, babe.”
Jessie turned when Will walked through their front door. He strolled past her only pausing to kiss her cheek absentmindedly because she was in his way. Grabbing the pile of mail, he started thumbing through it. She stared at him for a prolonged moment.
It happened.
The thought filtered in her brain. They were finally, totally and completely taking each other for granted. He simply came home from work and wasn’t shocked to find her starting dinner. He didn’t always need to wrap her in long, passionate embraces, so grateful to have her there, up and moving, accomplishing things. There was a time they had no idea what normal, ordinary and having the same day and routine for multiple days in a row looked like. Let alone, lived it.
She started to laugh. It wasn’t a soft chuckle, but an outright laugh. Will glanced up at her, frowning. “What’s so funny?”
“You. Me. Us. Do you realize how normally we interact? We don’t fall all over each other anymore in ecstasy. It isn’t such a grand achievement that you made it through your day at work, and I’m not locked in the bathroom.”
His face finally broke into a lopsided grin. “You’re saying we’re… ordinary?”
She threw down the lettuce she was shredding. “I think we’re so ordinary and boring, we might possibly need couples therapy to get the spark back.”
“Holy fuck, Jessie Bains, have you met yourself? There is not one day with you that could be classified as ‘boring’ or ‘normal.’”
She took the bowl of salad and threw it at him. He stood there with lettuce and tomatoes falling off his head. His mouth opened in shock, but he closed it quickly and scowled at her. “I can’t believe you just did that. Real mature.”
“Don’t call me ‘Jessie Bains.’ I hate that name.”
He shook his head and the salad pieces dropped to his shoulders and floor. He slowly started to grin. “Well, throwing random shit at me is exactly what Jessie Bains would do.”
He took a step forward, and she took a step back. The grin that split her face in half was eclipsed by the shriek she screamed as he lunged after her. He managed to tackle her on the floor, and held himself back, being careful not to hurt her. Still, he had her pinned under him so he started tickling her everywhere.
“Stop! Stop it!” she gasped between spasms of laughter. “I’m going to pee my pants.”
“Go ahead. Doesn’t bother me. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
He suddenly stopped and froze. “Ah, shit, Jess. I’m sorry, that was a shitty thing to say.”
The roof. Mexico. Her fear and worry she was about to die made her pee on herself, and him. She picked off some cheese still clinging in his hair and smiled at him. “Well, at least your guilt managed to make you stop tort
uring me. You know I hate to be tickled.”
He finally released a smile. “I know. It makes it so much fun. He settled her under him and kissed her nose. “So, not too normal, right?”
Her heart softened like butter. “Do you remember our first morning at the apartment, right after our reunion?”
“I don’t forget much about anything with us. Of course, I remember.”
“We never thought we’d get here. We were so… so scared of us. Being together. We were ready for it all to combust at any moment.”
“But it didn’t.”
She feathered his hair. “That’s what I’m trying to say. It’s so much better now. We know we’re not going to combust. We know normal, Will. It’s a lot easier to believe in us, and forever, when we can just be normal. We’re not fighting everything, not even fighting to just be normal. Do you know what I mean?”
His look of understanding warmed her heart. “I know exactly what you mean.”
She sighed and looped her arms around his neck. They were sprawled on the floor between the kitchen and the living room. The cathedral ceiling overhead was highlighted by the spring sun, which streamed in, revealing dust particles that floated lazily around. It seemed to Jessie the perfect moment to tell him.
“Will, I’m pregnant.”
His entire body went tight and taut under her fingers. He suddenly released her and sat up. “What did you just say?”
She sat up too when he looked stressed. Almost like he was about to pass out. She touched his arm and rested her head against his side. “We’re going to have a baby.”
He let out a long, wheezy breath as if he had asthma. “Holy fuck,” he whispered as he ran his hands through his hair. “I thought that’s what you said.”
“We wanted this, remember?”
The Years Between (Sister Series, 1.5) Page 24
