A Love for all Ages (Crockett County Trilogy Book 1) (14 page)

The doctor had left and it was the nurse who informed her
she would need to come back in three weeks to be re-evaluated.
After paying the co pay she got the brochures shoving them in her
purse before leaving the office.

The fact she was wanting birth control had her evaluating
her life.
Coming to Kentucky has made her rethink her past
decisions.
When she had gotten out of the dating game she had
stopped taking her birth control.
She had decided men in general
were just too much trouble.
Now she is envisioning sex, a
relationships and love.

The sound of her cell phone vibrating brings her thoughts
back to the present.
Picking up the phone she doesn’t recognize
the number, swiping the screen she answers. After a few minutes
of listening to the man speak Stephanie ends the call.
Not sure
what to do she dials Chase’s number and waits impatiently for him
to answer, when he says hello, she ask him if he can come get her.
She needs to go home.
Ending the call when he tells her he is on
his way.

Paying for the book Stephanie goes outside to wait for
Chase.
Still confused about the call earlier she knows Chase will be
able to help her understand.
She watches traffic as she stands on
the sidewalk.
Seeing Chase’s black Taurus she steps closer to the
curb. Pulling up beside the curb Chase stops in front of her,
Stephanie opens the car door sliding inside she doesn’t give him
time to assist her.

Shifting on her seat she turns to Chase and blurts out, “An
officer from Orlando called me and he is coming here to discuss
Mitch’s accident with me.”
Taking a breath she continues, “He
said he found some information about Mitch he wants to tell me
about face to face.
I’m scared Chase, what could he have found
that he can’t tell me over the phone?”
Feeling tears forming in her
eyes she stares at Chase.

Moving to face her Chase pulls her in his arms.
“Oh honey,
I am so sorry.”
have to wait.
been close, friends as well as siblings.
He knew this.
Feeling her
sobs subsiding he lets her move back to her seat, reaching in the
glove box he retrieves a small pack of tissues, after opening the
package Chase hands her one. Keeping his voice low, “Blow your
nose, baby, sit back and close your eyes, I will have us home soon.”
He puts the car in gear then merges into traffic.

Stephanie wipes her eyes, blows her nose then leans back on
the seat.
Closing her eyes she allows her mind to drift to the last
time she had seen Mitch.
They had gone out to dinner at a fancy
sea food restaurant.
He had told her he was taking a job at a
major hospital in California.
It was more money and a promotion;
he said he had done his time as a low partner at the clinic.
He
would have more time to date. He was ready to settle down. He
talked about his break up with the realtor he had dated for six
months.
The blame was his; he had put the clinic first.

Mitch wanted Stephanie to come with him, she worked from
home, it was easy for her to pack up and move.
He hadn’t wanted
to go without her.
She remembers him smiling as he talked about
them finding a place close to each other and about them both
starting over.
He had reminded her of their Mother; the next
town, the next big opportunity.
As she had sat there listening to
him, he had seemed excited, he loved meeting new people, getting
involved with the local charities and locating the best local
restaurants. She knew she would move, after all family is family.
But she hadn’t wanted to pack up and leave her home.

Turning her head she opens her eyes and looks at Chase.
He is busy driving so Stephanie allows her eyes to drift over him; he
is dressed casually today, wearing faded jeans, a white t-shirt and a
pair of jogging shoes.
Chase is a handsome man; it didn’t matter if
she sees him in his uniform or casual clothes.
He is sexy.
She
knows he is a kind, honest and hardworking man.
He is loved by
many in the community, a man you can count on when needed.

He rubs her back as she cries.
Questions would
She needs this; Mitch was her brother, they had
enjoys their time together.
After being a loner for so long, had she
been waiting for him?
Was she confusing sex with love?
She
wondered how being in a new town could change so much about a
person.

Letting her mind drift again; her thoughts return to Mitch.
If Mitch was still alive, would she be here now?
Would she have
moved to California, just to move here when the attorney notified
her about her inheritance?
Would Mitch have understood her
moving here, leaving him?
Not wanting to dwell on the “what if”
she closes her eyes.
Sitting quietly she begins her mental exercises
to relax.
She trusts Chase to get the answers concerning Mitch
and for him to get the situation here solved.

Chase tries to concentrate on driving even with his mind
working overtime.
What kind of information would the police
have found on Mitch?
Why would the officer travel to Kentucky to
talk to a dead man’s sister?
Would he be able to get the
information if he inquired on Stephanie’s behave?
The questions
keep circling in his head however he is unable to get answers until
they are back home and talk.
He doesn’t try to speak with her
now; he can feel her tension as she tries to relax.
He will give her
this time to think.
Knowing they both need to sort this out.

The traffic is light this time of day allowing Chase to continue
mulling the situation over in his mind.
He decides to contact the
police department in Orlando.
Making up his mind to call as soon
as they are home the remainder of the drive is completed in silence.

Arriving back at the house Stephanie gets out of the car and
goes inside; once again she doesn’t wait for him to open her door.
Standing by his car Chase watches as she closes the front door.
Reaching in his pocket he removes his cell phone calling Karen, he
tells her to contact the police department in Orlando asking the
detective to call him.
Retuning the phone to his pocket he walks
up the porch steps he stops to sit down on the top step as he looks
out over the yard.

He always enjoyed coming here when he was younger.
To
make some money as a teenager he would mow grass, paint, do just
about anything for people in the community. His favorite place to
work was here.
He loved Miss Della, he knew people thought she
was crazy but to him she was a sweet elderly lady who believed in
the mysteries of the supernatural.

She always had a sweet smile and a kind word.
Even after
he no longer mowed for others, he would for her.
He knew she
was too frail to be doing it herself and he had enjoyed her company;
she would tell stories of her youth and about her family.
They
would sit for hours after he was done working; he would drink
lemonade as she told him about her past.
He had heard her
stories a hundred times or more but he would listen and comment
as if it was the first time he had heard it.

This house had been in the Cain family for generations, it
was a house of history, a house that was a home to all who came
here.
Chase always felt peace when he came to visit, he would sit
on the same step he was on now and actually feel the calm
surround him.
As a young boy he dreamed about living here, as a
young man he had thoughts of buying this house.
Now as a grown
man he knows this house was always meant to have a descendent
of the Cain’s family.
The land, the farm and the house will forever
be a major part of this community; it will always be the Cain’s family
farm.

Rising from the step Chase decides to walk to the barn.
He
hadn’t checked it earlier, now waiting for a phone call he hopes to
receive; he figures this is a perfect time to look around.
Chase
retrieves his gun from the glove box of his car, placing it in the back
waist band of his jeans then covers it with his t-shirt.
Glancing up
at the house he turns walking away.

Stephanie upon arriving at home; had gone to the kitchen to
fix a pot of coffee.
Now as she sits on the love seat with her legs
curled under her, she cradles her mug of coffee with both hands.
The quite of the house is calming.
She figured when Chase hadn’t
followed her in the house he was doing his police thing.
He seems
to always be working, she had heard an officer was never really off
duty, he was on call 24/7; she just hadn’t ever dated a cop so she
didn’t really know this for fact until now.

Sipping her coffee Stephanie allows her thoughts to return to
the phone call from the detective.
He had seemed polite but
formal.
He had gotten right to the point, said he had to speak with
her in person about some information he had received about her
brother Mitch.
He had told her his name but she was so shocked
she couldn’t remember it.
She does remember him telling her he
would see her in a few days then he had ended the call.
The saying
Short and Sweet came to mind; however since it wasn’t sweet it
didn’t apply.

Stephanie closes her eyes picturing an image of Mitch in her
mind; he is looking at her with his mischievous grin.
Opening her
eyes Stephanie feels a deep loss he isn’t really standing in front of
her.

Gazing out the window she sees Chase walk towards the
barn.
Stephanie figures he needs time to sort things out, the same
as she does.
She continues to sit on the love seat, accepting she
isn’t in the mood to work, but needing something to take her mind
off Mitch; she stares at Della’s journal laying on the end table.
She
had brought it in here when she cleaned the clutter from the
kitchen table.
Stephanie sets down her mug then picks up the
leather journal.
Flipping it open at the bookmark she begins to
read.

I am at a loss on how to help Archibald.
We sit and talk but
neither of us understand the reason he is here; stuck for lack of
better word.
I find myself falling deeper in love with him daily.
He is such a wonderful man.
He cares deeply for the men who lost
their lives by the pond.
I make him go to the pond with me.
I
hope to help him find peace there.
It is hard for him; he hates it at
the pond.
He only has told me bits and pieces about the day he
died. He tells me he doesn’t want to talk about it; I think the
reason he is still here has something to do with the day he died.

And to be honest, at least here within my diary, I don’t want
him to leave.
My heart will break when or if we figure this out and
he leaves me.

I just got back from vacation; my parents made me go to
Myrtle Beach.
I didn’t want to go; I didn’t want to leave my love.
The two weeks away were hell for me.

I have looked for Archibald, he isn’t here.
I have sat for
hours in the attic, hoping he would appear to me.
he figured out how to leave my world, to leave me.
breaks for my love is gone.
I must conclude

parents are worried about me, and I am unable to explain.
How do
I tell them I want to die, thinking if I do I will be able to see my
Archibald?

With tears in her eyes Stephanie turns the page and
continues reading; her own heart is breaking for the pain Della is
feeling.

I am both joyful and angry.
My love has returned; how I
missed him. He makes me
complete.
The anger comes from the
worry he has caused me.
The time away from him has made me
understand I will never love another.
Bless my Archibald he did try
to explain, but me being me, I did not let him at first.
I yelled at
him, I know it was from the pain of losing him and I did feel bad
when he looked at me and I see the same love in his eyes that reflect
in mine.

He had been at the pond, he told me he was trying to find the
peace I keep telling him he needs.
For him an hour, a day, a week
doesn’t matter.
Time is not relevant.
He hadn’t realized he had
been at the pond so long; he had missed me and figured he would go
to the pond to sort out some things.

When I had seen him again at the foot of my bed, my first
thoughts was to jump in his arms.
How I hate the fact he will never
be able to hold me.
I do not love him less; I just want more for us.

Stephanie lays the journal on her lap, picks up her mug; the
cooling temperature of the coffee she sips has her moving the
journal to the cushion beside her.
She rises from the love seat
carrying her mug she goes to the kitchen to make her another cup.
Pouring the cold coffee in the sink she fixes her a fresh cup.

As Stephanie does this she thinks about Della and Archie.
The love they had for each other was unique.
A love most never
have, Stephanie feels sorry for the two lovers.
Their love was real;
she felt it when reading Della’s journals and when listening to
Archibald.
Both were committed to the other, both wanted more
but grasped what they could.

Leaning against the counter Stephanie sips her coffee.
Hearing the front door open she sits her mug on the counter then
walks to the foyer.

Chase closes the door when he turns he sees Stephanie.
She looks calmer; she had been a nervous wreck on the ride home.
He had given her space taking his time to check out the barn while
he waited for the call.
After speaking with Detective Rogers, he
had a few answers but more questions.

Chase knows he has to tell Stephanie what the Detective had
told him.
However, he had taken time to sort out his approach.
Standing in the foyer staring at the woman he is falling in love with,
Chase tries to find the words to tell her about the drugs found in
Mitch’s system.
“How are you doing?” As he asks her the
question he walks forward, he stops directly in front of her, raising
his right hand he touches her cheek.