I offered her a seat. “Look, Karen, it wasn’t my intention to deceive or lie to anybody. I had to protect myself because when I first arrived here, I didn’t know how the local population would react if they knew who I was.”
“Well, you didn’t have to carry on the charade for all these months now, did you?”
“I’m sorry, Karen, please forgive me.”
“Apology accepted. But what happens now?”
“Well, I guess I continue to run the shop until the first anniversary of arriving here is upon me.”
“And then you write your final report about Texas to your boss and go back to Boston as planned.”
I rose from my seat. “I don’t know, Karen. Everything has changed so much since I’ve been here.”
Karen also rose. “In what way has it changed?”
I came closer to her. She looked pretty, even when she dressed as a nerdy girl.
“You and me. We’ve changed. We’ve gone through so much together.”
“Daniel, you know how I feel about all this. You haven’t forgotten what I said to you on the hill, before I was bitten?”
“I remember you said that it was important that I like Texas, and how crucial it is to have roots and all, before rekindling a relationship, right?”
Her eyes brightened. “Yes?”
“Texas is still a crazy place to live in,” I came right up to her and held her hands. “But as long as you live here, I can’t think of living anywhere else in the world.”
I thought I saw a tear in her eye. “Really?”
“Yes.”
She placed her hand on my cheek. I was about to bend close and kiss her, but Thomas knocked and opened the door partially, to poke his head through. We separated and took a step back.
“Boss, we have an irate customer at the desk with a problem, and the truck driver just arrived with the Christmas inventory. I need you to come down. It’s urgent.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Maybe it was better this way; I’d always heard that office romances never work out. Although they do make great stories.
Unfortunately, the magic disappeared after that event. Work got in the way for days on end. Then Mrs. Owens came down with a bad cold, so Karen had to nurse her for a whole week. Then Bronsworth sent me off to another interview with a tour guide at the Alamo – how lame could this get? It was followed by a stop at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to visit some of the NASA engineers. I even got a surprise visit from one of the Space Shuttle astronauts. I gave an autographed copy of the photo to Karen but she didn’t seem impressed.
“This is tacky, Daniel,” she said when I gave her the photo. “This only feeds your stereotypes of Texas. Our world here is so different. Haven’t you been here long enough to see that?”
I tried to answer but only a bunch of “Ahs” and “Ohs” came out. She was stressed out from work and irate that I was gone for so long. It would be a while before she would simmer down to a friendly level and at least stop by my office for coffee and a chat.
Most of the time she was chatting about how unhealthy her mother was, or how immature her brother Kenny was, but what irritated her, and me, was that Willi had stopped by at the book store while I was on assignment, pleading with her to come back to him. She had obviously said no to him and I asked if there was anyone else she had her eye on.
“I have my eye on my family and on my work, Daniel, if that’s what you wanted to hear.”
Actually, no it wasn’t I was hoping she’d say that she was madly in love with me, strip off her blouse, and we would make mad, passionate love on my desk. Instead she placed the coffee cup back on my desk and said, “Time to get back to the customers.” She rose and left.
It was approaching Christmas now in Texas. The shops in Hamilton were covered with gaudy lights and Santas in cowboy costumes with captions of ‘Merry Christmas, y’all’. It was as tacky as one could imagine. The weather wasn’t as cold as it could be in Boston – in fact they were still having heat spells on occasion. I was told that this was normal; it was not some Global Warming thing. Writing my blog was difficult to do during this time, since we had a lot to do at the shop. Of course I just had to write the following entry:
Dear Santa,
I'm writing to you to tell you I've been naughty and it was worth it. You fat, judgmental bastard.
I got almost a thousand positive comments on that one, including an up in sales and a happy face from Evil Boss Bronsworth.
We were also extremely busy. The sales were jumping – I guess the locals would say ‘jumping like catfish’ – the sales were skyrocketing. If sales were like this all through the year, I could pay off the bank loan in no time.
The busiest day was indeed Christmas Eve. The entire crew stayed the all day until closing at 5:00 PM and we were exhausted as we counted the registers and cleaned up. Christmas Day would be a day off, but the shop would open again on the 26th for the ‘After Christmas Special’ and we expected stampedes of customers coming back to return unwanted gifts for exchange or refunds.
Karen invited me to join her family as they went to a service at the local Baptist church. I hadn’t gone to a Catholic mass in years and this was my first protestant service. I thought it would be all fire and brimstone preaching that would turn me off, but the pastor was gentle and kind – he must have been, as some Southerners would say, one of them ‘liberals’. Whatever it was, I was impressed and was glad just to get off my feet and relax.
We went to the ranch for dinner and to enjoy a fire in the fireplace with an egg nog. They even had a stocking for me with goodies inside. Kenny invited me to look at a family album, which I was curious to see. The three of us sat on the rug and went through the old pictures. It was so cute to see Karen and Kenny as little red-headed twins riding ponies. I focused more on shots of Karen in other activities: playing Bobby Sox, shooting rifles, winning prizes for best the filly at the 4-H Club, being a cheerleader in high school, her college sorority pics – right up to her graduation from college.
“No high school prom pictures?” I asked, curious that there were no shots of her with a boyfriend.
She laughed and said, “Baptists don’t dance.”
I was shaking my head when the doorbell rang. Mrs. Owens left to answer it. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Owens. Is Karen there?”
We all heard the voice of Willi.
I wanted to get up from the carpet but Karen signaled for me to stay right there. She rose and went to the door. Mr. Owens also went to the door, perhaps as support if needed.
“Why is he here?” I asked Kenny.
“Willi used to work with us, as a ranch hand. He and Karen were engaged for a while. But he’s nuts. He was mean to Karen. That’s why she broke it off.”
“You think he’s trying to make up?”
We heard that answer from a distance when Karen bellowed, “No!”
Kenny and I got up from the carpet to give backup. We entered the other room and saw Karen shouting at Willi. “It’s over, Willi. Start a new life elsewhere. I don’t want to see you at my parents’ ranch ever again. Now leave before I get others to get you off our land.”
“You’re making a mistake, Karen.”
“Get out of here!” She slammed the door. We stood there wondering what to do next. Kenny went to the back door to double check that Willi was leaving and wasn’t going to do something destructive, like harm the horses or steal something. Mrs. Owens embraced Karen, who was now crying.
“How could this creep ruin my Christmas?” Karen left her mother’s embrace and headed upstairs.
I went outside to see what the situation was. Kenny and his father were just coming back from the darkness.
“It looks like Willi left,” said Kenny. “He didn’t do anything stupid. The horses are fine.”
Mr. Owens placed a hand on my shoulder and said, “It is getting late, Daniel. Come back in the morning and we’ll open presents together. We have a few things for you too.”
I nodded, said thanks to them and wished them a good-night.
As I pulled the Dakota out of the ranch grounds and onto the bumpy road I tried to set my iPod to the country song “I’ve got a Thinkin’ Problem” by David Ball, because Karen was ‘always on my mind’, just as the song suggested. [5]
It appeared that Karen was also on Willi’s mind – his truck was parked just beyond the property line, partially hidden behind a bush. It didn’t register with me until he turned on his lights and began following me through the brush.
So, that’s how he wanted to play. OK, the further he was from the ranch, the safer Karen would be. The only thing I feared was that he could still shoot me from behind. What’s a redneck without a shotgun in his pickup? Should I call Karen? How would that help? She’s already upset. I hoped I knew what the hell I was doing, because I was taking a risk speeding up through this dirt road in the dark. Willi knew the territory better than me. Indeed, he was still behind me, no matter how fast I went.
I began to make the climb to the top of the hill before getting to the main road again. Here it was free from bushes. Now I did a James Bond stunt and performed a 180 turn, shining my high-beams directly into Willi’s truck and his vision. He stopped right in his tracks and jumped out – yep, he was opening his back seat to pull out a shotgun from a rack.
I stuck my head out and yelled, “Don’t do it, Willi, I got my .44 magnum aiming at your head!” What bullshit! But I hoped he would buy it.
He froze and raised his hands. “Don’t shoot. I only wanted to talk.” He was about to shield his eyes from the high beams, but if he did that he would notice that I wasn’t armed.
“You keep your hands in the air where I can see them.” He nodded and kept them up. “Talk to me, Willi.”
“Karen belongs to me,” he said, with the stupidest Texas accent I’d heard since watching reruns ‘Dukes of Hazard’ on TV as a kid – only because I thought Daisy Duke looked so hot in those shorts, but that’s beside the point.
“You abused Karen and she broke up with you. Can’t you get that in your thick skull? She doesn’t want to see you again. What stops me from making this state a safer place to live by pulling the trigger and taking you out of the gene pool?” I tried to make a noise in my mouth as if I was cocking the gun.
“Don’t shoot! That’s murder!”
“What do you think you wanted to do to me, Willi? Wish me a Merry Christmas? I’ll give you a silver bullet for a Happy Holiday under the Texas stars!”
“The sheriff will find out about it. You’ll never get away with this.”
“Your two-bit sheriff will probably give me a medal for wiping out the likes of you. If you want to keep what little brains you have in your head, and not spilled out on that nice truck of yours, I suggest you leave Karen alone, leave the Owens family alone, and leave me alone. Do we have an agreement with that, or do you want that written in blood?”
“OK, ok, just don’t shoot me.”
“You don’t visit her, you don’t call her, write to her, or stalk her in any way, shape or form. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, loud and clear, man.”
“Good, now turn around.”
“What?”
“You heard me, turn around!”
Willi obeyed and turned his back on me, still with his hands in the air.
“Say that you apologize for your rude behavior to Karen and her family.”
His hands were shaking. “Ok, I apologize.” He probably thought he was going to get a big fat hole through his chest.
“Now put your hands down and open your pants zipper.”
“What?”
“Do it!”
A second later I could hear the zipper go down. “Now pee. You’re scared to death so you better pee now.”
Indeed he began to piss onto the ground. As he did so I put my foot on the accelerator and drove past him down the hill. Willi gave an expression of shock as he saw me drive by him. The ground next to his feet, and his pants, looked wet. I drove back to the Owens Ranch and hoped that would be the last of Willi.
I knocked on the Owens’ door a few minutes later. I was surprised to see Karen open the door. She seemed to have recovered her composure, and looked glad to see me.
“What are you doing here?” Karen said. “I thought you left?”
“I wanted to say goodnight to you but you ran to your room upset.”
“It was only for a few minutes but I’m fine again.”
Mrs. Owens showed up to the door too and said, “Daniel, did you forget something?”
“Just wanted to say goodnight to Karen, that’s all. It’ll only take a minute.”
Mrs. Owens nodded and returned upstairs. Karen stepped outside and closed the door. “We can go over to the side veranda if you want,” she said.
“That would be great.” As we moseyed over to the other side of the house, I caught the smell of hay and manure from the nearby horse stall. The floorboards creaked as we walked along. “Look, I just encountered Willi on the road and we had a chat together.”
She gazed at me. “A chat?”
“Yes, he saw things my way and has agreed never to see you again. He wanted me to tell you that he apologizes for his rude behavior.”
She had that look once again as if I was from another world. “Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious. Willi promised never to come back. I made sure of it.”
“What did you say to him?”
“Um, we discussed everything in a diplomatic and gentleman-like manner. The exact words I don’t recall anymore. It’s getting late and all that.”
“He’s never coming back?”
“Guaranteed.”
She paused for a moment, enough for me to hear one of the horses in the stall snort – a romantic sort of thing, I guess.
“Why would you do that for me?”
I smiled and held her hands in mine. “Because I love you.”
She said nothing for a long time. I think I saw her eyes tearing up. Then she stood on her toes and tilted her head so that I could place my lips on hers.
I could still smell the egg nog on her breath. I moved closer to kiss her, something I’d wanted to do for so long now, but kept getting either distracted or interrupted. Now on this Texas evening under the stars, I could finally get my wish.
“Karen? Everything all right?” Kenny strode around the corner of the house and stopped in front of us.
Karen released my hands and turned to her brother. “Kenny, you are such a dick!”
“Huh, what did I do?”
She started to hit him on the chest, several times. “Will you get the hell back in the house? I’m a big girl now. I can take care of myself, damn it!”
“All right, I was only checking up on you,” he said as he ran around the corner, with Karen still beating him on his back.
“Mom and dad sent you out here, didn’t they?”
I stood there alone as I heard the door slam shut. It got quiet again. I decided that it wasn’t worth trying again, so this time I went home.
Chapter Fourteen
On Christmas morning I rose and checked the news. The weather said that Central Texas would have an unusual heat wave – not as hot as it was in July or August, but warm enough. I called my folks to wish them a Merry Christmas. We chatted for a while and I noticed a dark red sports car pull into my driveway. A visitor? I told them that I had to go. Still wearing only boxer shorts, I stepped onto the porch to take a look. The glare of the sun on the windshield prevented me from seeing who it was. The door opened; first came a nimble foot, then a slender leg, followed by Karen, wearing a white summer dress and hat to match. She looked amazing with the sun shining on her curly red hair.
“Hi, where did you get this baby?” It was an older model of an Alfa Romeo Spider.
She smiled. “It’s Kenny’s. One of the best fix-up jobs he’s ever done. He lent it to me to make up for last night.”
“
Way to go, Kenny. Are you giving this to me as a present? I’m flattered.”
She opened the passenger door and said, “Come on. We’re having a picnic together. It’s a perfect day for it.”
“What about your parents and opening presents?”
“I told them we’d be away for most of the day and would meet them for dinner.”
She was a genius. “Where do you have in mind?”
“A beautiful lake I enjoyed going to when I was little. Haven’t been there in ages.”
“Then we should go swimming too?”
“Don’t be dense, Daniel. Of course. Hurry up, get your things and come with me. Oh, and you’d better get some clothes on too.”
A few minutes later, wearing summer shorts and a T-shirt, I jumped in the passenger side and threw a duffle bag on the back seat. The top was up and the air conditioner was on. The car had a great stereo set built in, courtesy of Kenny, and Karen was listening to classical music. The seats were black leather and smelled new.
“Your brother must have spent a fortune renovating this,” I said.
She nodded. “Ten years in the making. He rarely uses it, except for special occasions.”
I smiled. “Such as today.”
She revved the powerful motor, pulled out and screeched down the road, heading south.
After leaving Hamilton behind in the dust, she pushed the pedal to the floor and roared across the open land like a rocket.
“Hey, let’s get there in one piece,” I said.
“I’ve driven this car before and I know the roads. Trust me.”
Watching the road posts pass by like a picket fence, I answered, “I trust you with my life, darling.”
“I need to go fast, the lake is about 90 miles from here, close to Austin. There’re no cops between here and Burnet on Christmas.”
“How do you know that?”
She punched me on the shoulder and said, “You don’t know anything about me, do you?”
“Well, I’d like to find out.”
She grinned and put on her sunglasses – concentrating on the road.
Heart of Texas Page 11
