Running Home (10 page)

“Dude, Carmen, what’s up girl? It’s been forever,” Carson gushed as he reached out and pulled me into the room. The smell of smoke was thick and the walls were splattered with god knows what. The beds were tossed against the back wall, and there had to be at least fifteen people in the small hotel room at various stages of contentment.

“I’ve been around;
just here and there mostly,” I answered, as I watched the questioning eyes that surrounded me.

“
Yo, dude, she’s cool. Trust me. Besides, she can suck a mean dick.” Carson laughed as he lit up a cigarette and sat back down in one of the few chairs still in the room. I shuffled my feet and gained up the courage to wander over to where Carson sat. He patted his leg for me to join him and I cautiously sat down. His arm snaked around my waist as he puffed on the cig in his mouth.

“You want some?” he asked holding the cig out to me.

“Not that no, but do you have anything else?” I whispered in his ear.

“Nope
, sorry Baby Girl, but I think Kevin over there has what you are looking for,” he said with a chuckle. I looked in the direction he nodded to, and a guy was sitting there stoic like in the corner, just watching everyone, looking all creepy like. If I wasn’t dying for my next buzz, all the radars in my normally smart brain would have been set off, but hell, I needed that pill. I thanked Carson, and sauntered over to the corner where Kevin was sitting.

“So
, I hear you have something that you might be willing to share?” I asked him in a seductive voice.

Kevin looked
at my face, and glanced back around the room.

“Sorry
, just gave out the last bit, but I know someone who does. Follow me,” he stated, as he stood up and walked over to the door. He pulled out a cellphone once we were on the landing, and hit a number.

“Hey
, I have one for ya, Sandy Shores,” he said into the phone before he closed it. “An old blue Oldsmobile will be here in like five. He has what you want, but it’s going to cost you.” I simply nodded my head, and walked down the steep steps to the parking lot. It wasn’t long before the blue shitty car came putting into the parking lot.

Walking over to
the open driver’s window I leaned down into the opening and batted my eyes. “Kevin said you had something for me?”

“Get in
, darling,” his voice purred. I flashed him a naughty smile as I hurried to the passenger side, eager to get in. The guy spun out of the parking lot and flew down the road, stopping a couple miles down in a dark ally. I adjusted my tank top and licked my lips; I knew what he wanted in order for me to score what I needed.

“So
, do you want me to suck you off? Or, if you have more I can give you a real ride,” I whispered as I inched closer to him in the seat.

“You want these?” he asked
, as he pulled out a baggie of little white pills from his pocket.

“Oh
, Baby, I would fuck you for days for all those.” My eyes lit up when I noticed the amount in the bag.

“Tell me you want my drugs and
would fuck me for them; I want to hear it come from your lips,” he growled, while dangling the baggie in front of me.

“I
would fuck you for those drugs,” I said sternly, slowly throwing my legs over his lap as I pressed my boobs into this chest.

The guy just gave me a weird loo
k and started to laugh a little. It was then that I saw the red and blue lights as they bounced off the dark brick wall behind us.
Fuck me
.

“I’m Movin’ On” Rascal Flatts

Walker

It was three days before the wedding, and everyone in this town had gone and lost their minds. A wedding in this small town was a time for celebration, where everyone comes out in their Sunday best and throws a big party. Too bad if you desired a small intimate ceremony, the whole town would show up, anyway. Everywhere I went, someone had something to say about the upcoming nuptials just driving down the street in the Bronco had people honking their horns when I passed. Things like this make you famous in a small town.

I strolled into the back of
the café, where I noticed Sadie standing over the large mixture in tears.

“Sadie,
what’s wrong?” I asked cautiously. She was walking a fine line with this wedding. The planning had taken a beating on her sanity, and having everyone and their dog’s input didn’t help the situation either.

“I can’t
get this mixture right; I have 1 more stupid day to master it, before I actually have to start on our cake and it’s becoming a disaster!” She bawled.

“It can
’t be that bad; here let me taste.” Dipping my finger into the mixture, I popped it into my mouth, and almost gagged when it hit my tongue. I don’t know what she did to the mix, but it was awful.

“Yeah
, that batch isn’t very good, but cheer up…… it’s your first attempt, right?”

Sadie pointed to a decorating table behind us, filled with containers of cake batter and small baked cakes. I snickered when I realized it wasn’t the first attempt at making an almond cake.

“Sadie, just let Mom do it. You know she already offered to do it,” I said softly as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

“Walker
, can’t you see? Everyone has a hand in this wedding; I just want to be able to say I did this from start to finish. Me. Alone. All by myself,” she replied in exasperation.

Since she had no family coming on Saturday, Sadie wanted everything to be perfect. She was scared to death that the town didn’t approve of her marrying me, and it was the furthest thing from the truth. Everyone in town loved Sadie. She was always smiling, willing to lend a hand, and a
true gentle soul. She stayed and sat with Old Lady Myrtle for three days when her beloved Pekinese died, listening to the lady carry on and on, without ever uttering a single bad thing. If someone was too sick to teach Sunday school at church, Sadie was the first person to volunteer, even if it was the terrible toddler classroom, which everyone dreaded being stuck in. She stayed late to help Mom at the café, and always helped Aunt Patty clean and cook at the B&B. There was no possible way anyone would ever hate her. She was perfect in not only my eyes, but everyone around town as well. 

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” I asked with caution. Last time I offered to help with the wedding
, I spent the next four hours washing out old tin cans and tying three together at a time with bailing twine.

“No,” she said with a sigh
, while she dumped the latest batch into the garbage. “Walker, is everything going okay on the farm? I’m so sorry I haven’t been out there to help you guys paint.”

“Don’t worry about it
, Sadie; everything is coming together nicely. We will be able to move into the farm house right after the wedding; I promise.” Sadie gave me a small smile, before she turned to start yet another round of cake batter.

“Good luck,” I called as I walked back out the door. There was no way in hell I was going to sit there and wai
t to see if round number thirty-three worked out for her. I ran up to the apartment, and decided to finish the last of the boxes I needed to pack. I noticed Waylon had taken up residence on the couch since we got home.

“Comfy
, Buddy?” The dog didn’t even lift his head; just stretched out his legs and collapsed back into the soft worn out couch. “Lazy bum,” I muttered, and headed back to the bedroom.

I didn’t really see the need to pack things carefully
, since we were just moving across town, so I started to throw garbage bags over my hanging clothes, securing the bottoms with duct tape.  I hated to do laundry and folding them neatly in boxes, then just bringing them back out to hang in another closet. I’m too lazy to do that. Once I had the remainder of my clothes wrapped I figured, I’d move some of the already packed boxes out to the farm I needed to finish the second coat on the bedroom walls tonight.

“Coming
, Waylon?” I asked the dog as I grabbed two large boxes marked kitchen. The mutt didn’t stir from his spot. “Waylon, come.” His head slowly rose from the cushion as he slid his body off the sofa and wandered over to my feet. I laughed at the overall sluggishness this dog projected as we headed out to load the Bronco to drive out to the farm.

Everything on the farm was in full bloom. My Aunt Patty and mom have been out here during all their spare time the last couple weeks
, making sure all the flower beds were top notch and bushes trimmed. I couldn’t help but smile when I noticed that my dad finished stringing the Christmas lights back on the trees for the evening ceremony. I parked the Bronco in front of the house and opened the door for Waylon to hop out. The dog immediately went into the barn to plop himself down in the hay. “Lazy bum,” I yelled out to him, as he disappeared through the big barn doors. Grabbing a couple boxes, I walked over to unlock the back door, when I noticed it was open. Immediately I dropped the stuff and went to my concealed weapon that I always carried. Slowly, I made my way through the door and quietly snuck into the kitchen, paying close attention to the sound I was making. I could hear something coming from the back bedroom but noticed the door was slightly closed. Quietly, I slipped down the small hallway and peered into the room.

“Shit
, Dad, you scared the crap out of me,” I gushed while I pushed the door open and holstered my gun. “What are you doing?” I questioned.

“Isn’t it obvious? Painting
,” he replied sarcastically.

“Well
, no shit, Sherlock, but why? I thought you had crops to harvest?”

“Well
, you plan on moving in after the wedding, right? And as fast as you work on projects now, I figured I might as well give you a hand, so you don’t have to bring your lovely bride back to the apartment over the café for the wedding night.”

It didn’t even dawn on me where we would be staying
for our wedding night. I guess that was one detail that completely slipped my mind. I was in charge of getting the house painted, bathing the dog, picking up the tuxes, and that was it. We didn’t even plan a honeymoon, knowing that I didn’t have the time to take off, and most of our extra money was tied up in the reception.

“Dad
, you didn’t have to help; you guys are already doing so much on Saturday.”

“Oh
, shut your trap, and grab a roller.” He rolled his eyes and went back to painting the crisp white onto the old walls. I snickered and dipped the roller into the paint pan, smoothing it onto the wall. It had a sort of calming effect, and lord knew I needed it with the coming events.

The first problem was the cake on Wednesday, Thursday brought the issue of the power going out at the farm, and Friday
……. it rained. I’m not talking a sprinkle here and there; it was a monsoon in South Dakota. Staring out the kitchen window of the old farm house, I sipped my coffee and watched the rain hammer the white canopy tents we put up yesterday.

“This is an absolute disaster!” Sadie cried as she stumbled into the kitchen that morning. We had finally got the walls finished late Wednesday night, and yesterday we brought over the remainder of our belongings. We had spent so much time last night organizing and putting things away that we d
ecided to just stay here last night. Panic set in a little after five that morning, with thunder and lightning. Then, the downpour started around six, and that’s when Sadie had a complete meltdown. It was now a little after eight, and she had finally peeled herself out of bed and came to join me in the kitchen.

I wrapped my arms around her waist as she stood
at the back door, staring out into the flooded ground that was our reception area.

“What are we going to do
, Walker? We can’t get married in four inches of water and mud?”

“If it
doesn’t stop raining and dry out today we can move it into the barn; it would be tight, but we can make it work,” I tried to reassure her rattled nerves.

“But the barn isn’t even clean? How can we possibly get it ready in time?” Sadie asked
, still in total panic mode.

“I’ll call Derek and D
ad in an hour or so. And I’m sure some of the guys at work would be more than willing to help out. We will make it work, Sadie. You deserve the perfect wedding, and I’ll do everything in my power to give it to you.”  Sadie sighed and rested her head against my chest, as I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Don’t worry so much; just get dressed and head into the café to make that killer wedding cake I know you’re capable of doing.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t ge
t the almond flavoring down. Is plain white really going to be okay?” she asked, voiced laced with self-doubt.

“Hell no,
” I stated. Her body froze in my arms, and I’m pretty sure she stopped breathing too. “Sadie, I’m kidding; I don’t care what flavor of cake it is, and I just want to watch you walk down the aisle and say ‘I do’. That is all I care about; just you and me, Sadie.”

“I love you
, Walker,” she said with a smile, tilting her head back to kiss my lips.

I watched her scurry out of the kitchen and into the bedroom to change
, while I poured myself another cup of coffee. I was going to need like twelve cups today to pretty much accomplish the impossible in that barn. But hell, I was going to give it all I had, and it would be fucking amazing when I got done.

Derek showed up a little after eleven
, and Dad came by shortly after that with pizza. All three of us stood in the barn unsure of where to get started. We had stored tractors and hay in the barn for the last fifteen years or so, so to say it would be a difficult task today was a total lie.

“Um, maybe move the hay to the empty silo?” Dad offered as he scratched his head.

“Yeah, I guess. I think the front loader over there still runs; I don’t think anyone has fired it up in over a year, or so,” I said with doubt, as I looked at the machine covered in dirt and cobwebs.

“Well
, let’s not dilly dally all afternoon; the rain looks like it’s not going to let up anytime soon, and you promised Sadie that this would work,” Dad barked, as he wandered over to the other large door and slid it open. Dust and dirt fell from the rafters when he pushed on the doors; yep, the white table clothes were going to look stunning in this shit brown world.

All three of us were filthy when the rain finally stopped late in the afternoon. “Well boss, what do you want to do now?” Derek asked
, as we finally had all the hay and machinery out of the old barn, and were working on sweeping out the crap on the old wooden floor boards.

“I don’t know, I guess we should finish the floors and hope the rest dries out? I mean we can always set up everything tomorrow in here if we need to,” I said as I looked around at the now empty ba
rn. It didn’t look half bad now; it was old, but hanging some lights from the rafters and some draped tables with the center things would perk this place up.

“Alright boys, well I’m going to call it a day. I promised your mother I would help her load the
ice chests tonight, and haul them over here,” Dad exclaimed, as he wiped the sweat dripping down his forehead with an old handkerchief he always carried.

“Thanks D
ad, for the help. Would you give Sadie a kiss and a hug for me when you see her?”

“What
, isn’t she coming home tonight?” Derek asked, looking confused.

“No
, something about tradition and not seeing the bride the night before, blah blah blah. I don’t know, man; it was my aunt’s doing. Sadie is staying at the B&B tonight, and getting ready there tomorrow. Pearl and Martha, from the beauty shop, are going over there in the morning to get her all together.”

“So, what time do you need me tomorrow? I know I should help you set up and all,” Derek groaned as he placed the
push broom against the wall.

“Sometime in the morning should wo
rk. The wedding isn’t until six-twenty, and hopefully by then it dries out a little more so we can set up outside.”

“Your mom and Aunt Patty
should be over here around lunch to help with the woman’s touches and food. Night boys,” Dad said as he walked out to his truck.

“Alright
, well since all there is left to do is more sweeping I’m taking my hot self out of here and getting a shower. See you tomorrow Buddy,” Derek commented, as he followed dad out the doors. I glanced around the barn once again before I continued sweeping. All the planning for the last year came down to tomorrow; I was finally going to marry my best friend.