by Cee Bowerman
My Uncle, his girlfriend and I had talked for over an hour about our situation and how much I could safely tell Sam. We hadn’t made any decisions yet, although I told them that I was ready to be honest about my life and our running from things. I told them I was not going to run anymore because Sam had to stay. I could never ask him to leave his family and I could never leave him.
Our discussion went back and forth, my uncle set firm on me giving no information. His girlfriend just as firm that it was my decision. I was going to go with my gut. Tonight I would tell Sam all about the real me, and I knew he would pull me close and never let me go.
I was going to tell Sam tonight while we were alone at his house. His family would be out at the club all night, and he and I would hopefully have their house to ourselves. I was ready to spend the night in Sam’s bed and wake up with him tomorrow morning. I was going to share my secrets and my body with him because I trusted him to hold them close.
“My uncle is okay with whatever we get up to, as long as it doesn’t include cop cars or bail money.
Other than that, the road is wide open.” I tipped my head back to look into his bottle green eyes.
Those lashes fluttered for a second before he closed his eyes and moved his mouth closer to mine.
“The road is wide open? How far are we traveling today, sweetheart?” he mumbled against my mouth.
“Lets get me on this big beast, have some wind in our hair and sun on our face. We will get some food in our bellies and be social for a little while then we can look at the road again. How about that?” We were standing with our arms around each other, our lips touching while we spoke.
“Have I told you how happy you make me, Carles?” He again rubbed his nose against mine. “I’m head over ass in love with you.”
I caught my breath. Every single time he told me he loved me my heart stopped for a second and then started racing. His lips on mine felt so soft, his hands around my back held me so tight. I was in the place I was meant to be.
“I love you too, Sam. I always will. Even if we are far apart and lose touch, I want you to know that I will always love you exactly the way I do right now.”
Sam tipped his head back and raised one eyebrow. “You planning on running off without me?”
“You never know where the road is going to lead or what bumps are ahead. I just want you to promise me you will remember this moment. Feel the warmth of the sun, the breeze through our hair, our arms around each other. I will never forget this perfect moment for as long as I live, Sam. I mean that. No matter what, just know that I mean that”
“I know, baby, but we will always be together so we will have plenty of times to make even more memories like this one. When it’s all said and done this moment will just be a blip on the radar.” And then he kissed me senseless and we got on his bike and rode away to the last night I spent with him in Rojo, Texas.
I shook my head and threw back the covers. I had quite a few things planned today and wallowing in bed with my dog while thinking of Sam were not at the top of that list. Lisa had been out around town snooping in between helping me unpack boxes and arrange things in my new house. She found some people I needed to speak to and we got quite a bit more information from Brenda last night over drinks.
Brenda had been floored when Lisa invited her into the house and she saw me in the kitchen. She was instantly mad on Sam’s behalf, Kari’s behalf, all of the Duke’s. She started to turn around and leave but I was able to stop her. I explained a short bit of what had happened and she nodded her head a lot, I am not sure she wanted to believe me. She answered my questions about Steph and ‘Drea but wouldn’t tell me a thing about Sam. Today was the day for me to find the ones I had left and try and get them to understand who I am.
I showered, dried my hair, slapped on my usual amount of makeup, which honestly was only a couple of swipes of mascara and some lip gloss. I had thought long and hard about what to wear on this day and decided on my favorite jeans, a black tank under my favorite long sleeved, purple, cowl neck sweater and my trusty riding boots. Square toe, matte black, a strap over the top and around the ankle, held with a gold ring. I had been in these boots to hell and back and it showed. The thought crossed my mind as I pulled them on that maybe soon I could hop on the back of Sam’s bike and ride the wind with him. I squashed that thought. There was way too much blind hope there. I would be lucky if the man even spoke to me after all these years.
I grabbed my phone, threw it in my purse and went out to start Betty. After letting her warm for a while and listening to Freddie Mercury sing about his best friend I backed out of my driveway and headed to the old part of Rojo, where the beautiful people with money lived. I knew there I would find one of the most beautiful of all, Stephanie.
4.
I parked Betty on the curb in front of a big white house on Tyler street, close to the historic section of Rojo. The butterflies in my stomach wouldn’t let me turn off the ignition so I could open Betty’s door to get out. Across that lawn and behind that door was my friend Stephanie. Another person that I had run away from without a word almost eleven years ago.
While I worked up my courage, I sat and studied the well-manicured lawn, the trimmed shrubs and the multi-colored flower pots lined up on the end of each step of the porch. The yard was almost in total shade this early in the day because of the two huge trees that were set out close to the street. I could tell by the size of the trees that not much sun would come through even in the brightest part of the day. The third tree, closer to the house, had a rope swing with just a plank for a seat down low to the ground. Lisa said that there were a few pictures online of Stephanie with a handsome man and a little girl. I couldn’t make myself look at the pictures. I wanted to see Steph face to face and let her introduce me to her little family herself. My biggest worry was that she wouldn’t ever want to do that.
I laid my forehead on the steering wheel and closed my eyes. Through the years I had imagined so many different scenarios happening in this situation. At one point I thought it would be funny to put myself in a box and have a fake UPS man deliver me to her door. I could jump out and yell “Surprise!” and Stephanie would throw her arms around me like I was the best gift she had ever received.
Most of the scenarios I imagined for this day were a little more realistic. For instance, I knock on the door, she opens it up and doesn’t even remember me. Or worse yet, she slams the door in my face after telling me to get the hell off her lawn. Either of those things could happen, but none of them would if I just started the car and went home to Tuff.
I lifted my head from the steering wheel, grabbed my purse from the passenger seat and then twisted the key out of the ignition. I straightened my shoulders, turned and got out of the car. I looked down at my boots for a second and took a few deep breaths. I straightened my shirt, jingled the bracelets over my wrist a few times, pulled at the hair ties that I always kept on my left wrist, touched each earring and smoothed my hair back over my shoulders. I took a deep breath and then another. I should get back in the car and drive away! The little voice in my head told me to quit being a little bitch and go for it. The other one screamed, one more time, get in the car! Guilt, uncertainty and even fear almost overwhelmed me. More deep breaths. I heard the grass move behind me as someone stepped up to the curb. I whipped around and saw my best friend for the first time in years.
“Carlie Rose, are you going to come in the house or just stand out here and fidget all damn day?”
Stephanie asked. I stared at her, frozen. No words. With a sob she opened her arms and said, “C’mere girlfriend.” I flew around the car and grabbed her in a hug. She clutched me to her and we cried together, talking over one another as we swayed a little side to side. I pulled back and tried to speak but no words would come out. This was the better than I ever imagined. She laid her head into my neck and whispered, “You came back to us. I knew you would.”
“Mama? Mama, are you okay?” I opened my eyes
when I heard a little voice from behind Stephanie. A little girl with her dark hair in french braids was standing on the sidewalk, a barefoot man in a t-shirt and pajama pants right behind her. He reached down to pick up the little angel and said, “Mama is fine Rosie girl. That is a good cry. Give her a minute.” He turned his head to me as he walked away. “I’ll set out another cup for your coffee and Rosie and I will go have a tea party in her room for a bit while you ladies dry things up.” He winked and then turned and kept walking to the house. I looked down to see Stephanie’s eyes following the handsome man and beautiful little girl to the house.
“Steph, did you marry Prince Charming?” I giggled through my tears.
“I met him when he held my hair back so I could puke and we haven’t been apart a day since then. Want the details?” She pulled back and grabbed my hand. “You haven’t spoken to Andrea yet, have you?”
“No. You were my first stop. I met you first so I came back to you first. I figured if you hated me on sight I would just not find ‘Drea and go back to my house and never leave it again.” I squeezed her hand.
“Quit bullshittin’ sister. You came to me because you knew I would be an easier sell.” She narrowed her eyes, but the smile had not disappeared.
“Will she speak to me?” We went through the front door into a beautiful open entry way. A bench was to the left and perched there was a large calico cat. He tilted his head to check us out and then jumped down and headed down the hallway. I saw a door and staircase to the right, a large open living room area with a big television and a fireplace to my left. Overstuffed couches, an easy chair and toys on the coffee table gave the room a family feel. Up ahead of us, straight down a wide hall, I could see a sunny kitchen with two mugs on the table next to a silver and black coffee carafe. Stephanie led me there and pushed me to a chair at the end of the table.
I watched her walk to the cabinet and pull out another coffee mug. She moved over to a different cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Irish Whiskey. She sat next to me, facing the front door. She sat the empty mug down in front of the chair to my left, broke the seal on the whiskey and twisted off the top. She deliberately set the lid down in the middle of the table, picked up the bottle and took a long swig before she sat it down in front of me.
“Honey, it’s not even ten in the morning. I need to talk to you and tell you everything that has happened, I don’t know that getting drunk before lunch is the best way to accomplish that.” I said softly. I put both hands around the bottle and slid it to the middle of the table. I pulled a mug and the carafe my way and began to pour a cup of coffee instead.
“’Drea will talk to you. She and I have talked about this exact thing happening so many times, it seems like I am walking through a dream. This,” Steph tapped her nails on the neck of the bottle, “is part of what we planned for this day. Pass around the bottle like we did when we were giggling underage girls pretending that we liked the taste of whiskey. We used to pass it back and forth while talking about those handsome Duke brothers and I have a feeling we will get back to that conversation sometime real soon. She and I promised this to each other and swore to do this whether you came back when we were 30, 40 or 85. Every year on your birthday she’d pack a bag and come stay with me. She and I would crack open a bottle and talk, laugh and cry our way through it. We talked about our lives and what we thought was happening in yours. We had faith that you would come back to us. We never wavered. We cried, we laughed and we worried but we never stopped believing in us or in you.” I was crying so hard I could barely see her face now.
Steph took another swig from the bottle and passed it my way again. Once again, I moved it to the middle of the table and picked up my coffee.
“We talked about you just yesterday and here you are. When I heard that car with that engine pull up in front of the house I knew it was Betty. I just knew. I looked out and saw you. I screamed bloody murder, snatched up my cell phone and took a picture of you sitting in Betty in front of my house. I sent it to ‘Drea with a text that just said, My place. Now. I yelled at my husband, ‘She’s here!’ and then, I ran outside. She probably jumped on her broom the second she got the message and is speeding her way to us as we speak.” She left the bottle alone and picked up her coffee mug.
The front door flew open and the third member of our ‘coven’ with her Blonde hair flying behind her, wearing a tank top and a pair of hot pink pajama bottoms with bright yellow bananas all over them came running into the room and paused at the door. She wasn’t wearing shoes, only socks, and did a Risky Business slide and smacked into the table as I jumped out of my chair. She was bawling and laughing at the same time. She threw her arms around me and said, “You made it. I can’t believe you made it!” I hugged her tight and felt Stephanie’s arms join us within just a few seconds. Andrea pulled back. With one arm around me and another around Steph she shot me a glare and said, “It’s about fucking time, sister. I don’t know whether to punch you or kiss you. But I do know this calls for a drink!”
“Auntie Dre, you’re crying too!” the little princess was back, followed by that hot guy husband I had yet to meet.
“Rosie, my girl, its the best kind of crying!” ‘Drea swooped down and picked the little princess up.
Stephanie walked to Prince Charming and nudged up under his arm to put her arm around his waist. He laid his very large arm across her shoulders and leaned over to kiss her on top of her head.
“Chandler and Rosie, I would like you to meet the one and only, Carlie Rose Jensen. Carlie, this is Chandler, my husband and Drea Rose our daughter.” Stephanie put her arms out and took the little princess from ‘Drea. “Rosie, you have her name just like you have Auntie Dre’s. Isn’t that cool?”
“That’s so cool, Mama. I am going to have a tea party with Macy and I get to stay with her all day long. Maybe even I get to sleep at her house too! Daddy packed my bag just in case.” Rosie told her mother seriously.
Steph looked from Rosie to Chandler as Rosie wiggled down and took off after the cat. “She’s going to Macy’s? Did you call her? What did I miss?”
“Sweetheart, I called in reinforcements. If this is your ‘coven’ then I am your Jack Nicholson. I now have a redhead, a brunette and a blonde in my house, two of which are wearing pajamas. I have watched that movie enough times with you to know that children should not be present.” Chandler touched his finger to his wife’s nose, “It is not even lunch yet and you already cracked open the whiskey, ‘Drea is screaming for a drink, you’re bawling your eyes out and your new old friend better sit down before she falls down. Macy is on her way to get Rosie and I am going to cook you lovelies some lunch and then go into the den so I am close if you need me to hold your hair back for you. Or if they do. There is a lot of hair to hold back in this room. I may need backup.”
“He watches The Witches of Eastwick with her? She really married Prince Charming. Holy shit. She did it.” I said to ‘Drea as I pulled her in for another hug.
~*~
With our bellies full, the dishes in the sink and Prince Chandler out working in the yard, ‘Drea and I sat down at the table to wait for Steph to come back. I knew they both had a million questions, and for once in my life I could answer them honestly. This honesty business was new territory for me. Honesty, facts, details and information about what makes you who you are. Those things that most lasting friendships were built on had never been shared with these women but still here they were welcoming me back like I had only been gone a day. As nervous as I was, I was ready to share.
Stephanie came back into the room holding a shoe box. She sat it down in front of her chair and tilted off the lid. She shuffled through some photos I was trying to get a peek of and pulled out a piece of worn notebook paper. It was folded in fours, and I could tell it had been well used for some time. She put the lid back on the box and sat down to unfold the paper.
She pulled the bottle in front of her, took a big swig and passed it to me. I held on to the bottle f
or a second and then scooted it ‘Drea’s way on my left. When she was finished with her turn she slid the bottle back to the middle of the table. Stephanie ran her palms over the paper a few times to flatten it out and then began.
“These are the reasons we think you disappeared. I am going to read them to you, we are going to laugh, and then you are going to tell us the truth. Right?” Stephanie asked.
“I have one thing to say first,” ‘Drea put her hand in the next to the bottle in the middle of the table, “the witches are all in from now on. No one runs away, no one disappears, and no one keeps secrets from here on out. Am I right?” I laid my hand on top of hers, and Stephanie put her hand on mine.
“No more secrets. No more running. I’ll be so far up ya’lls asses you will wish I would go – and I will do that for the rest of our lives. I promise.” They were both staring at me. I looked into Steph’s eyes and said, “I promise.” I looked to the right and stared ‘Drea in the eyes. “I promise.”
“Was it aliens?” ‘Drea blurted that out. “Seriously. I looked into that shit for a while and I started to believe it could happen. Then Men In Black came out and Tommy Lee Jones said that aliens are hiding all over the place and it seemed like maybe, just maybe, that is what happened to you. They hit the little button, the light shined in your eyes and poof you forgot us and disappeared.” ‘Drea was dead ass serious.
“Fuck, ‘Drea. You had to lead with the alien theory?” Stephanie asked. I laughed so hard I snorted, and then they were laughing and I snorted again.
“Okay! Okay! Let’s start this.” Steph said with a giggle. “We covered the alien theory, now our other options were a religious cult, you are a member of the British royal family and they took you away to a castle, you were part of a spy organization that was sent to the Bible Belt in the middle of Texas to infiltrate the Knights to see how they bred such beautiful sons, you were in witness protection because you witnessed a mob hit while you were riding a carousel, your Uncle was really your kidnapper and you were brainwashed to follow him anywhere, you are an illegitimate daughter of one of the Bush brothers and they were worried about election fallout, you are a mafia princess and wanted to hide out before you married a Sicilian named Vinnie and had 14 of his kids. There are others but those are by far the best we could come up with.”
