The Years Between (25 page)

He drove down the highway out of town, taking a side road and eventually, turning onto a gravel road for several miles. The three-hundred-and-sixty degree views were incredible. The horizon was comprised of low mountains and trees. They were a mixture of leafy alder and cottonwood with deep green, Ponderosa pines. The land seemed rippled as it dipped and swayed in gentle, rolling waves until meeting the surrounding mountains. A river snaked through the hills far above the horizon. Will parked in a large clearing and turned the truck off. The silence was startling after the truck’s loud rumbling. He opened his door and stepped out. She frowned and followed. He leaned his elbows onto the truck and looked at her.

“What is this place?”

“I was thinking it could be our future home.”

Her spine straightened. “Our future h—”

He grinned even wider as her tongue-tied jaw dropped.

She closed her mouth. “Are you for real?”

“So for real.” He grinned and pushed off the truck, going around the hood. “I’ve been searching everywhere while you’re off at work. And finally, I found this place. I checked and it’s got septic, well, and electricity. It’s ready for building. We just have to pick a house design and get permits and all that crap, but basically, it’s waiting for us to break ground.”

Shaking her head, she slowly drifted away from the truck. She wandered around the leveled spot that did resemble the shape of a rectangle, or what could become a house. “Do you remember the dog house? Now you want to build a real house? I mean, I just don’t know what to say.”

“The dog house? Come off it. I can do better than that. I can do this. If I could rescue you against all odds, don’t you think I can figure out how to read a set of blueprints, and hammer a few nails in?”

She twisted around. “First of all, rescuing me required skills completely unrelated to house building. You are not a contractor. You have no contracting skills. It’s far more than reading blueprints and hammering a few nails!”

He flinched. “Okay, okay a lousy comparison. I just meant, I’ve been up against difficult goals before and managed well. I’m ready for this, Jessie. I’m ready for a challenge. For something to do. A project to accomplish. Something real. Something positive. Something for us. Our future. Our family.”

She lowered herself to sit on a big boulder at the left of the site, and took a deep breath. “Wow, you throw a lot at a girl. Okay, so you want to build us a house? From scratch? You know, that’s a bit more than cooking from scratch.”

“Of course, I realize it’s more than
cooking from scratch. I really want to do this.”

“How much?”

“How much what?”

“Money? How much money would something like this cost? It sounds very expensive.”

“We have enough to buy this land and build whatever we want. Even fence in some of it.”

Her ears perked up. “How much land?”

“Twenty acres. It’s not a farm, but it could be a mini farm. Think of all the poor, helpless animals you could adopt here. You could have fields of them.”

A small smile brightened her face. “You play dirty.”

He came over and squatted next to her. “I’m not trying to. I’m completely serious. I want you to have all the animals you can collect. Don’t you remember? The farm? Well, this is as close as I can give you.”

She touched his cheek. “I never meant for you to literally give me a farm.”

“Well, I did. Look around, Jess. This view. The space. The quiet. It’s our future. Picture our kids running around here. Picture teaching our son to ride a horse as patiently as you taught me. Imagine our daughter sitting next to you on the porch. Picture this… forever.”

She sucked in a breath. “You paint a lovely picture. But it’s a dirty scheme to use our pretend-and-maybe-future children to suck me in on this.”

He grinned and swept her hair back over her shoulder. “Picture us at home,” he added softly. “For good. For real. The place neither of us ever had. We can finally have it; the one
we
create.”

She shut her eyes and let the images he described fill her brain. The feelings they evoked tightened her stomach with longing.
Home.
Her eyes opened. “Okay.”

“That’s all it takes? Pretend kids?”

“No. It’s being in the home forever, with you.”

He suddenly swung her into a hug. “This is it, Jessie. I can feel it.”

Her stomach churned with nerves. “Glad one of us can. All I can picture is what the taxes and insurance costs will be on so much land.”

He shook his head.
“Who could’ve guessed Jessie Hendricks would turn out be the most cautious, tight, careful adult I know?”

“I’m not tight,” she grumbled.

“So tight, you squeak. Now come on, let me show you more.”

“I just don’t like chaos. Or change.”

He touched her face. “I know, baby. I know what you don’t like. But this will be a good change.”

She followed him around the land and listened to his ideas for where the barn could go. Yes, apparently, they would build a barn. And a house. And fences. And animals. And kids. Nearly four times, Jessie sat down to stave off an attack of hyperventilation. Apparently, Will Hendricks
could finally channel the endless, boundless energy he had in the Army towards her happiness and their future.

Which was a little scary to contemplate.

****

They purchased the land for ten thousand dollars under the asking price. It had been for sale for a while in a sluggish market and in a remote land sales area. Will had the utilities hooked up immediately and was ready to start the foundation within weeks. They picked a house plan that took about a week to customize. No stairs, not too big with an open, welcoming entry. They wanted a home that invited people into their lives, but did not show off what they had. They realized they had similar tastes; and the multiple times they picked the same thing made them eye each other with goofy grins. They weren’t as mismatched as they used to fear they might have been.

The day they started preparing the site for a foundation was Saturday. Jessie was there, and ready to do anything she could, but had no clue how exactly to begin the home’s foundation. She was shocked when an SUV pulled into the yard. Shading her eyes from the sun, she walked closer and started grinning and squealing when she realized who was inside: Finn and Bella. She started crying with joy when Bella exited the rented SUV and started hugging her. Finn and Will shook hands. Will was grinning at her, and her heart swelled: he must have known they were coming to visit her. Finn said he planned to help Will for the first week so Bella and Jessie could spend time together.

An hour later, Noah, his two brothers and his dad showed up
, along with the Clapsmiths. They easily joined Will and Finn in leveling up the site. Each one knew ten times more than Will about what the hell to do. Unlike what Jessie felt sure Will was used to, he allowed the others to tell him what to do.

She thought her heart might roll out of her chest. All these people, their friends, came there to be with them, and help them, and welcome them to the community. It was a feeling she never dreamed she’d know. She finally belonged somewhere. Will caught her eye across the dusty, crowded clearing, and tipped his head towards her. She rolled her eyes with a shy smile and wiped some tears that fell. A small smile lifted the side of his mouth. His eyes glowed with something deep and burning as he held her gaze. He knew exactly what she felt, and how surreal and incredible and unbelievable it all was to her. He just knew everything.

He mouthed, “I love you,” and she mouthed it back, ready to finally embrace her happiness. Life. Belonging. She was finally living and not just surviving. She finally attained the lifestyle she never, ever thought she’d survive long enough to enjoy.

****

The house took nine months to build. Will did as much work on it as he could; and hired subcontractors for the things he couldn’t do or figure out. He spent a lot of time learning how to do things before tackling them. He often stayed up late into the night, studying whatever he needed to learn, and getting up early to go to the house. Jessie still worked for Noah, and attended classes in between. She usually went to the house every weekend and did any odd jobs Will could find for her.

They had a few setbacks. One of the bathrooms was designed wrong and the toilet hit the door, which had to be completely reframed.
They also had trouble getting the electric work to pass code inspection. Will threatened to bomb the house a few times in a rage. His eyes grew so inflamed, Jessie stepped back, and remembered that he really did know how to blow stuff up.

They fought about things. He worked too much. The obsessive/compulsive Will often reared his head. His focus for Army missions, was now his focus on the house; and with no less concentration than he had on his mission of saving her. He was, she knew, like a heat-seeking missile when he set his mind to something. Almost to the point of becoming ridiculous. She often had to put him back in touch with normality and real life. He had other things to do besides his single-minded obsession. He was living life now, and not reporting to the Army.

They also started to have more fun with new things. They got to pick out everything they put in the house. Weekends were often spent browsing the home improvement stores and choosing interiors and fixtures. They fought about money, and how much to spend. Will always wanted the best, and Jessie preferred the most economical. They learned how to compromise.

All the while, she continued taking community college classes. To her surprise, she didn’t suck at school. She could sit in class, quietly learning, reading and taking notes before successfully regurgitating the information on the tests. It really wasn’t rocket science; and just required a bit of dedication and tenacity. Things she never excelled at before, but now did.

Sometimes, they left it all behind to drive around the area and hang out by the river, or hike up in the mountains, exploring. They had picnics during the fall, and tried snow skiing in the winter. When spring came, Will decided to find a hobby. To her dismay, he re-discovered dirt bike riding. She learned he used to do it with Tony and Lewis when he was younger, but hadn’t done it in years. As was typical for Will, he embraced it one hundred percent.

Jessie couldn’t watch him ride at first. He bought a bike and made a track around their acreage. He, of course, was very skilled at it and looked like he’d done it all his life.
He often begged her to come with him, and eventually, she started going. Perched on the back of his bike, and squeezing his middle as she hung on for dear life, together, they explored remote mountain trails. Their destinations took them all around the state, through the most beautiful scenes and breathtaking vistas. Mad Lake. Foggy Dew. The names were colorful and many. They were gone entire weekends and sometimes, even skipped out on Jessie’s work and school.

In no time, they accumulated hundreds of pictures of them doing various things together and enjoying other people. There were picnics and barbecues with neighbors, Noah’s family and the Clapsmiths. There were pictures of them at favorite bike riding spots as well as the numerous places they discovered. Finally, they had evidence of their shared history and the life they lived and loved each other in. Their wedding picture, now framed, always hung directly above their couch. It was and would always be Jessie’s most prized possession.

A year after they returned to Washington state, their house was ready for occupancy.

Jessie and Will stood before it after the final inspection passed. It was done and they could move in. Will grinned at her like they’d just won the lottery. She filed it away, along with the many other big moments of their past. Only nowadays, it was smaller events, and calmer occasions than taking down rapists or watching Will leave.

Will held his hand out to her. “Well, Mrs. Hendricks, shall we enter our new home?”

She slipped her hands into his. “It feels like we should cut a ribbon or christen it with a champagne bottle.”

“That’s for boats, Jess.”

“Well, it feels that important, doesn’t it? Like it deserves some kind of ceremony. I mean, we built a house, Will! We’ve made it long enough to build a house.”

He swung her around and suddenly lifted her up in his arms. “Okay, will you settle for me carrying you over the threshold?”

Grasping his neck, she threw her head back with a laugh. “I’ll settle for that. I’d have settled for you and a tent out in a field, soldier.”

He smiled down at her with a tenderness that inflated her heart. “I’d have settled for that too. Everything else is just pretty wrapping. It’s you who makes wherever we are my home.”

She squeezed herself against his chest as tears glistened over her eyelids. “Oh, Will Hendricks, sometimes you could melt a rock with that tongue of yours.”

“There’re better things my tongue can do…”

She hit him when his cocky, teasing grin ruined the moment. However, the laugh that came out of her mouth would never have been heard six years ago. Will gave her back her sense of humor along with everything else that was important.

On June twenty-first of 2010, Jessie and Will Hendricks crossed the threshold of their house, and for the first time in either of their lives, they were finally at home.