Bernie looked down at her blinking phone and let out a loud growl. Alexis was so hardheaded. What the hell was that girl thinking?
Alexis twisted the knob on the radio and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel to Adam Levine wanting one more night. She turned down the township road and then to her long lane, lined with full pine trees on both sides. Alexis opened her door, ready to be greeted by her four-legged best friend, wagging his tail and jumping in excitement.
Alexis showed him the needed attention, rubbing his neck and patting his side. “Hi, buddy! Watch out,” she coaxed while she moved him with her legs. He didn’t move, knowing what was in the bag. After digging through the grocery sack, she pulled out a big juicy bone. He took it and happily walked back to his favorite spot on the porch, plopped down, and began the task at hand.
“Are you coming in?” Alexis asked with an arm full of groceries, holding the door open with the toe of her shoe. Mr. Dog looked up and thought about it, but then turned his attention back to his delectable bone.
Alexis mixed the casserole she’d been so hungry for and grabbed a quick shower. The scent of her supper reached her nostrils as soon as she descended the stairs. After a quick peck at her evening meal and a glance to the timer, she grabbed one of the beers and headed to the front porch. Her feet pushed lightly, swinging her back and forth while she gazed out to her country piece of heaven.
“Why would I ever want to change any of this for a man?” she asked Mr. Dog. He looked up with sagging jaws and big eyes, but only for a second. He was busy and had one scrumptious bone on his mind and that was it. An ambient, peaceful calm appeared with the aqueous steady rain. Drops fell to the tin roof, skated to the gutters, and created a serene sound.
Just beyond the trees was the very seldom traveled, dirt road. Her parents lived on the same road about four miles in. To the left of the yard was a field with ready to harvest corn. In the back corner, was a kidney shaped pond. A yard on the other side of the house blanketed more grass, butting up against a field of soybeans, also soon to be harvested. The U-shaped porch accented as landscaping behind the meticulously planted flowers, in all shapes and colors. Well, not much color. The once-alive and blossoming flowers were parting with the warm summer. Alexis sighed and pursed her lips, swallowing the last drink of beer.
“Come on, boy,” she coaxed with a heavy sigh. Where the hell was this mood coming from? It wasn’t even time for her period. She shook it off and beckoned Mr. Dog to follow again.
Mr. Dog was tired of chewing the bone, and after looking at her and back to the bone, he decided to leave it for the next day and followed her inside. She sat on the couch and enjoyed her Chicken Divine while watching lions hunt for prey on the Animal Planet. Mr. Dog chilled on the rug in front of the stagnant fireplace—the one that would soon house a cozy fire. That’s probably what was up with the mood. Alexis hated the thought of the cold, the snow, and being stuck inside. She detested it with a passion.
Two
Alexis woke to Jake and Liv from WARC in the morning. She rolled over and sleepily shut off the noise, cutting Jake off in the middle of the morning weather. The rain had stopped, that’s all she cared about. She pulled herself to the side of the bed and rubbed her eyes with a yawn and a stretch. The old wood floor creaked as her bare feet hit the aging boards and continued across the hall to the only bathroom on the second floor.
She slipped on sweats after her morning routine and headed for the outdoors. Mr. Dog walked out first with his nose to the ground, making his way to the pond and his favorite oak tree. Alexis sat on the porch step and yawned, sliding her foot into her socks and sneakers.
“Do you want to go?” she called while her body twisted from one side to the other in a stretch. She asked the same question every morning, knowing the answer was no. Mr. Dog used to love to run along the river. Unfortunately, his running days were over. His hips and ancient bones wouldn’t corporate anymore.
Once through the woods, Alexis ran alongside the river to a well-beaten path. Years of her morning runs and neighboring four wheelers kept it a permanent dirt road. The tranquil path was the best place to find peace, except on days like this. She had to sprint across puddles and run in the grass just to stay out of the mud. Alexis noticed the leaves starting to fade from their summer greens to reds, yellows, and oranges. As much as she hated the thought of what came after fall, she admired the beauty once the trees found their fall foliage.
She slowed her pace and caught her breath with her arms above her head when she saw her dad moving closer from across the field. Dressed in carpenter jeans and his usual checkered flannel shirt—a red one this morning—Walt greeted his youngest child with a smile. Walt always had that smile, he had a lot of things to smile about, and Alexis was one of them. Walt McKinley was a happy man. Even with seven kids, he’d been the type of man that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t make him mad.
Alexis waved a hand in the air to her dad and lifted the barbed wire. She squatted at the knees and climbed under the bottom two wires. “Good morning, Dad.”
“Morning, Sputter Bug.”
The four-wheeler came to a stop and Alexis jumped on the back. Walt drove across the cow pasture, talking about a barn fire one of the neighbors had a few months back. The Hiller’s finally got their insurance money and planned to have it rebuilt by spring. He assured her of his intentions to help, calling over his shoulder. Alexis pointed across the field to monster buck. He wouldn’t be helping build a barn, but Alexis wasn’t going there with him. That argument could wait until the rebuild. Time spent talking about the deer her brothers would be hunting soon was the safer alternative to Walt’s barn building. Those days were over, just like Mr. Dog’s running days.
“I’ll bet you he doesn’t make it out of bow season. One of your brothers will have him mounted on their wall. You mark my words,” Walt whispered with great confidence. Alexis tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the heard of doe, following a safe distance behind the buck—thirteen altogether.
“We better get going. Mom’s going to have our hide.” Alexis decided while her feet searched for the foot-pegs and she shifted her butt. Great. A wet ass.
“Mm mm,” Alexis hummed as her nose caught the scent of freshly fried bacon and eggs. She leaned over and kissed her already-seated mother on the cheek, and then noticed her disapproving look. “It’s Dad’s fault,” she accused, sliding to her habitual chair by the window—the same one she had used as a little girl.
Lola frowned at her daughter’s fib and complained about her cold eggs. Had it not been for her curling shoulders and graying hair, Alexis’s mother could have easily passed for ten years younger than she was. She had the smoothest, creamiest skin and her wisdom was in her eyes, not her wrinkle-free skin.
Alexis sat with her plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and wheat toast, her favorite. Ninety percent of the time, Lola made it without asking. There was no need—the answer had been the same since she was three. Walt talked about how good the corn crop was that year, the horse, Bella, who would give birth in the spring, the upcoming football game, and the birthday party that weekend. Two of the grandchildren were celebrating their birthdays, and her Aunt Rose would be sixty-seven on Saturday. And, of course, her mother had to go and ask about her new boyfriend—the banker. Fabulous.
“I swear,” Alexis exclaimed. “That woman is the busiest body on the face of this earth. And he is not my boyfriend. I sat with him on the spur of the moment, trying to hide from her. Her name should be Aunt Busybody, not Aunt Rosaline.”
Walt sopped up egg yolk with his toast. “I told you it wasn’t true,” he chimed nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on his plate.
“Don’t swear, Alexis,” Lola pleaded. She patted her daughter’s hand and stood to pour fresh coffee. “It wouldn’t be so bad, would it? I need a grandbaby.”
“No you don’t. You have a thousand of those. I’ve got to go. You ready, Dad?” Nope, she wasn’t going to have this conversa
tion again, either. Alexis stood and waited for her dad.
Walt took the last bite of his toast and gulped his coffee before standing.
***
Alexis stayed detained in her office at the studio for the biggest part of the morning, looking over the portraits from the last two days from Bernice and some from her niece, Paige. She sorted through the different families and babies, picking the best ones to submit for printing.
“Hey,” Bernie said a little louder than needed.
“Oh, Jesus. You scared the hell out of me. Look at this, Bernie,” Alexis urged after jumping from Bernie’s unexpected entrance. Alexis just heard her cuss in the next room a second before, engaged in Paige’s work.
The two of them studied the screen with intent and awe. “Wow, she’s going to take after you. That’s absolutely beautiful.”
They observed a little girl, blond hair, bright blue eyes, maybe three years old or so. The little girl looked up to the right with eyes of wonder. A blue light had been cast just over the close up of her face, no smile, just a look of innocence.
“She’s getting really good. Did you help her with this?” Alexis asked with an astounded glance over her shoulder at Bernie. She knew Paige was a natural, but wow. This took talent. This was art. Alexis already knew she’d ask Zoe’s mother if she could use it for a display in the lobby. It was that good and Alexis knew how much it would mean to Paige to have it on show.
“No,” Bernie answered with a soft expression, still in awe. “I couldn’t try something like that and have it turn out that beautiful.”
Alexis looked to the right corner of her computer screen. 1:27 pm. “Let’s get lunch,” she said as she stood and walked around her desk. They generally closed the store between one thirty and two thirty every day for lunch, unless it was the busy season, and then they would just go in shifts.
“Travis is bringing me lunch,” Bernie apologetically explained. “But…he’s not here yet, so you have time to tell me about your banker friend,” she pryingly requested.
Alexis rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing to tell, and I do not have a banker friend. Excuse me, I’m going to April’s.” Alexis sidestepped her obnoxious friend and walked out of her office.
Bernie followed with determination. “Lex…for God’s sake, there is something seriously wrong with you. You go over to that bank right now and accept that invitation,” she demanded while holding the front door open, yelling to the street after her. Yes. Bernie was that friend. Overbearing was an understatement sometimes.
Alexis didn’t reply. She kept walking, refusing to encourage her.
She looked around the busy diner and took a seat on one of the red vinyl barstools. April, the owner, stood behind the counter, taking care of the orders when she smiled at Alexis and yelled back to the cook. “I need Alexis’s lunch,” she called while she continued with her rush hour. Alexis spun on the stool, looking around for Mr. Baker unconsciously, feeling disappointed that he wasn’t there.
Good. She didn’t want him to be there. He wasn’t there the next day, either, or the next, but that was great. Alexis hadn’t really hoped he’d be there. Not really. Was she?
Alexis was back to normal, forgetting all about the new city slicker banker within a couple days. Bernie had finally decided to let it go, too. She enjoyed Saturday night with all of her family, except nosy Aunt Rosaline, who she tried very hard to avoid. They sat around a fire and drank beer, laughed, and had a good time—standard for the McKinley clan.
Alexis left early on Monday, leaving the studio all to Paige to finish up the last three shoots and close up. “I’ll pick you up from school tomorrow. I already told your mom we were going shopping.”
“But, am I going to have to get undressed and do the whole examination thing?” Paige asked nervously.
Alexis smiled warmly. “Yes. More than likely you will, but the first time is always the worst. After that, you won’t think anything of it. You’ll be fine. And I’ll be right there with you, well, maybe right outside the door with you.” Both laughs sounded more like an opened bottle of nerves. If her brother found out about this, Alexis would be dead and Paige would be locked in the basement for all of eternity.
Alexis cut out early to tackle her last outdoor project for the year. That didn’t make her happy. Why couldn’t she have been born in Florida? Pennsylvania winters sucked. She worked diligently sanding the wood post of her porch, hoping to get one more task behind her before snowfall.
Once she finished sanding the floorboards, Alexis cleaned up the dust, wanting it to be ready to start painting the next day. As soon as she’d come back from discreetly taking Paige to the out-of-town doctor, she planned on tackling the painting part of her last outdoor project. She cleaned up the mess, and had a full conversation with her dog. Mr. Dog pouted from the yard, pissed that Alexis disrupted his routine. His favorite rug had been missing from his claimed spot on the left side of the porch, and he didn’t like all the dust.
“I think we’ll paint the spindles and the posts tomorrow and get that part out of the way,” she explained while her eyes glanced around at the work at hand. Dust flew into the air when she slapped her hands together, and then coughed when dust entered her lungs.
Satisfied with what she had accomplished, Alexis sat on the step with a bottle of beer. The air was growing cooler and cooler with every passing day. Nobody hated the thought of that more than Alexis. She hated being stuck in the house away from her flowers, yard work, and vegetable garden all winter.
“I think I’ll start on that family room off the living room after this, Mr. Dog,” she explained. “I have all of those beautiful bookshelves in there and nothing on them.” The room actually had nothing in it but an old Victorian style couch, an antique oak desk that had seen its better days, and an old wooden chair that was left by the previous owner.
***
Alexis was instantly irritated when she woke the following morning. It rained again and there would be no painting that day, nor would she be able to run to her breakfast along the river. Stupid rain.
After a quick stop for an egg sandwich from April’s, she spent her morning at the studio until Bernie got there in the afternoon.
“Do you think I’m doing the right thing?” Alexis asked with a glazed look, doubting her decision.
“Yes, Lex. I do.” Bernie reassured her. “She has too much potential to get stuck in this town, married with a baby.”
Alexis agreed. She did feel like she didn’t have a choice. The last thing she wanted was for Paige to end up like her. She didn’t want her to make the same mistakes. The blank stare into space was a dreadful, reminding moment of her own first love, her mistakes, and the pain. Yeah. She wasn’t going there again.
“It’ll be fine. It’s better for you to support her and help her with this than for her to go through the consequences later, right?” Bernie persuaded with her hand on Alexis’s arm, pulling her from the thoughts swirling around in her head.
“Yes,” Alexis agreed, snapping out of it. “It is. I probably won’t be back today. Are you okay to close tonight?”
“Of course. My husband is in Timbuktu and my son is with his sperm donor until Thursday, so yes. And then I’m going to the County Line and getting wasted—you should come with me.”
Alexis laughed at the sperm donor remark but declined the offer for the bar. “I’m going to clean that room next to my living room tonight. I want to turn it into an office so I can work from home some in the evenings and when I’m snowed in this winter.”
“Come on! Let’s go get inebriated and be stupid giddy girls,” Bernie begged.
“Who does that on a Tuesday? And besides, one of us needs to be able to open this place up in the morning.”
“One beer, come and have just one beer with me.”
“I’ll call you.”
“No you won’t, you’re just saying that to shut me up.”
Alexis laughed. “Is it working?”
“H
ell no!”
Amusingly, Alexis shook her head and grabbed her purse from behind the counter.
“Lex, you are twenty-eight, not fifty. Let’s go have some fun,” Bernie begged with a pout, trying one more time.
“I’m going to have fun with a hand sander and my dog. I might come over and eat a burger and drink one beer. Now quit your whining. Are you sure you can handle the McNeal family? There’s going to be nine of them.”
“Lex, I’ve got it. Get out of here. Geesh. Give me a little credit would you?”
***
The Thomas Memorial Clinic appeared crowded. Alexis and Paige had to park alongside the street and walk across the parking lot to the three-story building.
“What if someone sees me?” Paige asked nervously with her hands clenched into fists.
“Then you are here with me. Stop worrying.”
They walked to the window where the very attractive receptionist gave them a clipboard and told them to fill it out, sign in, and take a seat. She wore a tight, psychedelic shirt, showing too much cleavage for her job. Her light brown hair looked like she had just stepped out of a salon, cut in layers around her face with three, maybe even four different highlighted colors. Her makeup seemed to be fresh and her long nails were painted in an ugly green to perfection.
Alexis stared at her while Paige filled in the lines on the paperwork. Feeling a little self-conscious and maybe even a little bit ugly, she looked down and checked out her own attire. Her breasts were hiding under her three-quarter-length jersey shirt. “Cedar Springs Photography” was spelled out across the back of her shoulders—one of the leftovers from sponsoring the little league team back in the spring. Her hair was in its accustomed ponytail, and she wore her everyday jeans and bright white sneakers, the ones she only wore when she went out.
Looking over at her beautiful niece, Alexis noticed they were dressed pretty much the same, except Paige’s jeans had a rip along the top of her knee, and her tee shirt said “Dragons” with Jordan Casino’s number on the front shoulder. Her hair was straightened and hung just below her shoulders. Alexis looked around the room and noticed a girl about the same age as Paige. She wore a fancy, off-white top, black Capri’s, high heeled sandals, and just like the young lady behind the desk, looked like she had just stepped out of Vogue.