Chapter Thirty – Three
Krystina
Sunday was back to business as usual on the ranch. I made a point to tell Gentry that the land was for sale. Might as well get my money worth.
That evening I watched him spread out his papers on the kitchen table. Budgets, projections, assets, bank statements. The who enchilada. He bitched at me again for not cashing my paychecks. I hadn’t opened any of them as of yet and had no idea what they amounted to nor did I care.
I promised him yet again that I would get to it as soon as I opened a bank account local or when we went into the city. I tried offering my assistance but he wouldn’t hear of it. My guess was that the ranch wasn’t as flush as he pretended it was.
And since it bothered me that Gentry refused my help I did the next best thing. I cornered Ed in the barn.
“How big of a deal is this new acreage to Gentry and Mirror Lake?”
“Did you ever learn to make small talk?” Ed asked me as he brushed down his horse Brownie. I was a straight shooter and Ed appreciated it but he hated getting bombarded.
“Never was one of them fancy talk lawyers.”
Ed straightened his back, putting his brush on the edge of the stall door and patted Brownies neck. “To Gentry it means a lot, he has this constant need to prove himself. The ranch could expand eventually. Run another hundred head or so. Not to mention with the layout owning that parcel would mean a lot. The old man who used to own it let us cross him to get to our North Eastern piece. Instead we have to go up and around or haul them by road. Originally it was part of Mirror Lake decades ago. One of the first sons took that piece and it was sold off later on.”
“What’s the asking price for it?”
“Three hundred and eighty-five thousand.”
“Is it worth it?” I asked pulling a carrot stick from my pocket for Brownie.
“It’s an okay price.”
I watched Brownie eat his carrot and dreaded the next question id didn’t want to ask. I didn’t have to though because Ed offered.
“There’s no mortgage on the ranch but taking one on could strain him. If the bank will loan it.”
“That’s sounding like a big if.”
“Don’t worry about him,” Ed said opening the stall door to let himself out. “Even if he don’t get it he will be okay.”
“I’m not sure about that,” I whispered. “There is someone else interested.”
“Who?”
“According to Lacey, my ex-husband.”
Ed was silent for a moment. Latching the door and picking up his grooming tools to put away. “Guess we just need to say a prayer or two then.”
***
The days drug on. I spent time shopping with Melissa anywhere there was a place with a cash register. Time with her was fun and relaxing. I was finding myself with the easy kind of friendship that I had with Gloria.
I also watched the pain she had around Ethan. She like him tremendously and I would never take her for a shy woman when it came to men. But Ethan had a baby with an ex-old lady which made a difficult combination.
Melissa had helped me hand pick items for everyone for Christmas at the ranch. Ed, Carla, Gloria and her husband and the two kids, all the ranch hands. A bottle of holiday Jack Daniels for her brother Jake. I had a special pair of new boots on back order for her that she still didn’t know about.
We went a little overboard with Ethan’s daughter’s new wardrobe, because it was fun to shop for babies and Melissa was excited about it.
As the second week of December set in Melissa locked herself down for finals studying. I began the decorating at Mirror Lake. I was under the firm impression that the ranch house had not had a Christmas tree since Gentry’s grandmother was alive and that saddened me. Of course most Christmases since her death the boys spent in Illinois with Gentry’s parents and Gloria.
I made Gentry spend an afternoon in the forests edge finding a perfect, or as Gentry put it, “good as you’re going to get, I got shit to do,” tree. We hauled it home and I bribed everyone with Irish coffee and fresh cookies to come pretend to help me decorate the tree. I found the attic and old dusty boxes of decorations. I tried to convince Ed to let me go on a splurge for new decorations but he firmly told me no. I went out anyhow and snuck in a few new strands of Christmas lights.
“The babies are down finally!” Gloria half whispered into the phone I was cross legged on the floor of my room – though it was just used for storing my stuff. I slept in Gentry’s room since he had cleaned it top to bottom including the bed. He had been right. His mattress was better.
“You have been useless in helping me,” I told her for the umpteenth time this week. I placed a box of clothes in the center of the wrapping paper. This was for Ethan’s daughter Annie. I was signing both Melissa’s and my name on the these. She was so picky on Annie’s gifts.
Gloria groaned on the other end of the line. “You’re killing me smalls!”
“Well what are you getting Gentry for Christmas?”
“What I get him every year. Same as mom does. Jeans, dress shirts, socks, boxers, new fancy razor set and some half way decent cologne. Things for bachelor men, the cowboy special. They don’t typically remember to buy things like that for themselves.”
“Well, thanks for that I guess. Clean underwear and tame whiskers.”
“You’re welcome. Throw out anything of the socks and underwear that have holes please and thank you.”
“Ugh, will do.”
“Good. It will save me a lot of time on my trip next month. Carla has cut back on my need to all the chucking and cleaning while I’m there. Hopefully, you will knock it out some more.”
“I cannot believe you’re coming in the middle of January.”
“We come for a week in the summer too. Until the kids are older it’s our way of getting to the ranch when the guys don’t come home for the holidays. Without mom bitching that we aren’t home for Christmas.”
“She still won’t come out here?”
“Not since Gran died. But her aversion of the place comes way before that.”
“Still sad,” I said carefully placing a pretty, sparkly purple bow on the fun snowman paper for Annie’s gift.
“It’s my mother. Who by the way, Gentry still hasn’t told about the two of you.”
“I don’t see what not.”
“There was a fight about the holidays and he has been opting to use the fewest words possible method complete with his non-committal grunts. She leaves it on speaker phone so I know how horrible his manners are.”
I groaned. “Can you…”
“Nope. No way in hell. I don’t want to hear her bitch about why Gentry didn’t tell her himself. When there’s no explanation but that fact that he’s my brother.”
“She’s going to bitch about it to you eventually anyhow.”
“Fine. You owe me one. And only because she’s calling me now and I don’t want to talk about what I forgot for the church fundraiser.”
Gloria disconnected and I was no closer to finding a gift for Gentry. I wanted something extravagant and memorable. Like our first Christmas.
****
I blared Christmas music throughout Gentry’s old beat up Impala. “Turn that shit down!” he said climbing in the car. We had just gotten out of our last class and I had beat him to the car taking the key he had made me for emergencies and starting up the engine. It was a dreary ass day and our days till Christmas. School was out and I dreaded break but Gentry couldn’t wait to get away from his brick and mortar hell.
“Are you afraid your popular football friends will hear?” I teased.
“It’s just annoying.”
“Fine,” I turned the radio down and tossed in a mix CD. His guarantee there would be no holiday cheer.
“How many books are you bringing home? No one assigned work over break?”
I stared at my overstuffed and worn out bag. “I want to get ahead. And Ms. Patterson let me check out some extra books from the library to keep me entertained over break.”
“I can keep you entertained,” he said squeezing my knee. We rolled to a four way and after a quick glance and not seeing anyone I leaned over and kissed his lips quickly.
“I’ve missed that all day,” he told me as I leaned back in my seat and he rolled on through the stop.
“Me too. Where’s Gloria at?”
“Snuck off with that new boyfriend of hers. She’s not supposed to date till’s she’s sixteen and dad’s pretty firm on that. So we are covering for her. You out of love as best friend, I traded trash duty for it,” Gentry grinned.
“You’re incorrigible!” I laughed slapping him on the arm playfully. “She’s covering for us.”
“But she doesn’t know it.”
“True. How come your dad’s such a pain about the sixteen dating rule? You dated before that.”
“I’m a guy. It’s different.”
“How sexiest.”
Gentry reached over and held my hand. “Only if you’re female.”
I tried to tug away but his grasp was firm. “What’s the plan?”
“Well, Ms. DeLouch we can either sneak into your house or we can drive down to the river and kill time.”
“Mom’s boyfriend is with his wife or whatever tonight so she will be at the house moping around until it’s time to sling drinks at seven or so.”
“River it is,” Gentry turned the car West on the next side road.
“Good. I got a surprise for you,” I told him.
“For me?” he asked in a silly fake surprised voice.
I nodded. “You’re Christmas present.”
“Good. I have you’re too.”
Sneaking around the last month had become to be the norm for us. It was just before Thanksgiving when he had first kissed me for the second time. In his parents kitchen out of frustration over whatever we were fighting about before storming off. Now we had our understanding and our rhythm.
We pulled into our spot by the Illinois river bank and Gentry jumped out to get a package from the trunk. He got back in and we leaned our seats way back to give us as much room as the bucket seated, small car allowed.
I quickly fished the small box containing Gentry’s present from the front of my back pack, careful of the smooth paper. He handed me a large box with Rudolph wrapping paper and a red bow. “Open it,” he said trying to mask his excitement.
I slowly removed the bow and ripped into the paper. He handed me a pocket knife from under his front seat and I cut open the box, pulling out a sleek dark blue very ‘cool’ and very pricey book bag.
“I love it,” I gushed scrambling to give him a hug.
“You’ve had yours forever and you don’t carry a purse just your books everywhere. I didn’t know how to buy books so I bought something to carry them in.”
In our school looks were of utmost importance. Name brand style was demanded and I lacked those things. It had caused me to struggle with my insecurity, at least before Gentry. There was something about seeing the most popular and beautiful girls in town try to catch his eye and knowing that he was faithful to me and me only.
I handed him his box and watched him tear into it. He opened it to find a silver belt buckle with the initials ML embossed on the front.
“I love it,” he said looking it over and I smiled sheepishly.
“It’s nothing special. I found it at one of those pop up stores at the mall that they have around Christmas time selling antiques and other stuff. I saw the ML and it made me think of your Uncle Ed and the Sutton family ranch. Mirror Lake. I know you want to go there to stay. I thought you would like a real belt buckle. Blend in with all the cowboys,” I looked down at my bag feeling embarrassed. It was a silly gift I had picked up used not this perfect bag, tags still attached.
“I want us to go there,” I felt his hand on the bottom of my chin tugging my face up. “Me and you. We could have a life of our own there. Away from this town, away from your Mom. I love you, Krystina DeLouch. I am in love with you.”
“I love you too Gentry,” emotions swelled up in me as I leaned in to kiss him.
“Wait, wait,” he said pulling back and reaching between the seats. “We got to do this all Christmas-y like.”
And so we kissed underneath him holding mistletoe over our heads.