2018 words (8 minute read)

Chapter 1

It was the fifth time she hit snooze that morning when she abruptly jumped out of bed. Her shift started at eight a.m.. Binx was swatting his cotton toy mouse across her bedroom floor. There wasn’t much left of the toy, as he had a knack for ripping them apart. She had rescued the tan cat a few years back when she saw him alongside the local highway. Seven-fifty a.m., she tossed her wet hair into a ponytail. “Thank God I get to wear scrubs Binx…” as she stumbled out of her bedroom, her cat running through her legs down the cold hardwood stairs. Eight twenty-seven a.m. “Hey Girl, long night?” asked Timothy as Kate finally made her appearance at work. He was the front desk attendant at McKade Senior Living where Kate worked. “Overslept” she sighed…and the old Volkswagen didn’t want to start. I have got to get her in the shop.” Timothy chuckled “you should run that thing off the bridge.” “Yeah yeah very funny! Meet me at lunch, I need to start my rounds before Sheila has my head.” she uttered as she hurried down the hallway. Sheila was an exceptional boss, but being late, was unacceptable.

Kate was on her fifth room, her favorite room, number 106. “Morning Grandpop… sleep well?” Edwin laid his book on his chest. “Ahhh Mornin’ my dear.. I see you are fashionably late today” he smiled, peering through his glasses. “Will you have time for tea with me today?” His voice still raspy from the cold he was getting over. “Of course Grandpop! Same time as always.’’ Kate winked at him. “I will come back after I finish delivering breakfast. Which reminds me, here is yours.” Pancakes were his absolute favorite. “Sugar free syrup this time.” He stared at her unamused. “I will be back in a few for tea”. She kissed his cheek and proceeded to the door where she had left her cart, knowing he had a hidden bottle of syrup he would grab as soon as she was out of sight. Probably Timothy’s doing.

Edwin was one of the few residents who didn’t participate in the cafeteria eating. Not by choice. Old age had gotten the best of him. His walking has declined rapidly over the last year. He did however go on the times Kate would drag him down there to gossip with Timothy.

Edwin’s wife, June, passed away a few years back, not too long after their fifty third anniversary. He always joked that he would outlive her. Edwin was constantly pulling people’s chains and would do anything to put a smile on June’s face. He had a love for her that would radiate for miles. The day June passed, his heart was shattered into a million pieces. It was that day that Kate took it upon herself to care for her Grandfather.

June and Edwin raised Kate since she was ten years old. Her dad had left shortly after she was born and her mother was a raging drunk with guys in and out of the house at all hours of the night. Livingston, Montana was a predominantly small town not too far from the infamous YellowStone National park. Last Kate heard, her mother had taken off with an oil driver from the local truck stop. Her grandparents were the only positive stable aspect of her life. Once Edwin received a room at the senior living home where Kate worked, she took over the mortgage payments and remained living in their farm house. For a twenty nine year old, Kate had her life together remarkably well.

“Ugh this day is dragging” she rolled her eyes while Timothy made unpleasant noises from his mouth full of steaming hot food. “Did Sheila find out how late you were? I hear she is on a warpath of writing people up.” “I never saw her, thank God. Hey you never finished telling me about your date with Sam!” Timothy was one of the few gay people in this small town. He had recently met Sam through his cousin Shari. They were set up for a blind date that previous weekend. “Girl he is a hottie! And he works at the local fire station. How on earth did I not know about him!” he said with the biggest grin taking over his face. “Well, he did just move here last month,” answering his own question. “Ahh being a flirtatious smartass today are we Timothy?” Kate’s dry sense of humor was one to be reckoned with. “Hurry up and finish your pizza, I am late for tea with Grandpop.”

Edwin was asleep when Kate opened the door. She shut it softly behind her after resting the tea tray on his rustic homemade oak kitchen table. How the nursing home let him have the clunk of wood in there was beyond her belief. Edwin was the best carpenter in the state of Montana, or so he thought. Staring at the table, she reminisced of her childhood and growing up watching him build canes and tables in the basement while she completed her homework. She could still smell the sawdust to this very day, like a crisp woodsy pile of leaves almost. Her homework, nearly always covered with a subtle bed of wood shavings. Now the only thing the basement collected was dust.

“A cup of tea solves everything my dear” Edwin murmured as he sat up in his bed. “Hi Grandpop. Hope I didn’t wake you.” Kate handed him his tea in one of Junes finest teacups that Kate kept at the nursing home. June had given Kate her china set, passed down from her mother, before she died. “You didn’t wake me love. Tell me,” he said, yawning. “How has your day been? Your face shows stressed.” Kate thought she was very good at keeping her feelings in, though at times like now, her body language chose otherwise. “I am having car trouble again and I don’t have the money to take it to a shop.” “My sweet Kate, don’t you fret. Austin Tisdale with Tisdale’s Auto down yonder owes me a long overdue favor. You stop by there and tell him this old geezer sent you.” Kate squeezed Edwins hand with bashful delight. She loathed depending on others or to appear needy but she couldn’t turn down her grandfather’s request. The two spent the next hour how they always do for tea time; Edwin telling Kate old war stories and his adventures with June, while she listened with a longing heart to find a love as deep as they had.

It was raining again. For August that was very rare, as the summers are short and mostly clear. Today was not a torrential downpour, but rather a steady flow of water just enough to get you wet on the way to the car. Kate pulled into her driveway and jolted for the garage. She kept telling herself that one day she would clean the garage out so she could park inside. Binx greeted Kate at the door, purring loudly, rubbing back and forth against her legs as she hung up her raincoat. “Come on sweet boy, let’s get you some dinner.” heading into her kitchen, Binx scurrying past her. The kitchen and living room were both adjoined in a giant space together. White open shelf cabinets built by her Grandfather filled the light grey kitchens top wall, giving it a warm farmhouse look. Her kitchen table was picnic style. Edwin and Kate built the table together when June was still alive. Beautiful sunflowers overflowed from a porcelain turquoise vase centerpiece. Kate had a weakness for sunflowers. She turned the TV on old country and popped a frozen lasagna in the oven. Settling in on her oversized brown couch with a glass of red merlot, she picked up a trashy love novel from the coffee table to unwind from the day and eventually fall asleep.

Kate had woken in a panic. Slowly coming to her senses realizing it was Friday and she was off work. Already being awake, Kate chose to take advantage of her early awakening and took her volkswagon down to Tisdales. With a slow start, she pulled out of the driveway, leaving Binx staring at her through the dirty glass door. Rain was falling a little harder today and her raincoat was left hung up by the garage entry way from last night. Kate swung by Eddie’s Market on the way to grab breakfast and fill up on gas. Eddies was just over the railroad tracks about five minutes from her house. She preferred breakfast from The Steam Room Coffee Shop, which was within walking distance from her house but they were closed.

The last time Kate had gone to Tisdale’s Auto was when she was a scrawny little girl no more than the age of 8, so she was going off memory to find the place. Her wipers kept leaving a smudge across the windshield as they wisped rapidly back and forth to clear the rain. Squinting, Kate saw the rustic sign beside the road directing the location of the auto shop. The gravel lot was filled with cars. “Well shit, this should be interesting.” She mumbled to herself. Finding a parking spot in the small lot, she dashed to the front door. It was locked. Standing in the rain Kate knocked until a younger gentleman came to open it. “You know we ain’t open yet right?” He rants rudely with a deep southern accent, not looking up from the computer. “I guess come on in and sit down darlin.” Kate was drenched from the rain and immediately pissed off, cursing this hilljack off in her head. Who does he think he is calling ME darlin. Thinking to herself that maybe he had a bad morning, she softly replies “I appreciate you letting me come in, I was unaware you were not open.” Pointing at the sign, again not even glancing up at her, he dryly replied “Says it right there.” and walks away. Kate is fuming. What a complete jackass.

She plops down on an old ripped pleather chair and waits for him to come back. The wait was thirty minutes. His cowboy hat sat low so she couldn’t really make out his face. She watched him get his coffee, play on the computer, work on a truck, and fill out paperwork. All the while, being mesmerized by how handsome he was. He was tall with dirty blonde hair that was a little shaggy underneath his hat. Muscular but not in an overdone way, more of a labor work build. And even though his hands looked rough, they looked like home. She was turned on by them. NO NO NO NO NO she screamed in her head. He is a conceited jerk. Justifying to herself not to give him a second glance, he finally looked up to ask her what she needed help with. They locked eyes instantly. It was him. A blast from her past, sending a flood of emotions violently through her body.

“Jody?” she fumbled his name without ease. “I am here to see Austin… my grandpop...grandfather, is an old friend of his and told me that Austin owed him a favor and to ask for him.” She rambled. Kate rambled when she was nervous. “Kate?” a faint smile filling his face. “Is that really you?” She stood there speechless. Jody and Kate had a fling in their younger years. Quick flash backs immediately flooded her with the most amazing memories; the good ones were always the longest to last. She caught her breath, reminding herself of the end; jealousy and almost losing herself as he became the primary focus of her life. He would never settle down though and she would never fully get over him. Kate turned around in a swift but calm collected motion and headed for the door. “Kate, wait!” She let the door slam behind her, got in her car, and left.




Next Chapter: Chapter 2