Voilà! We have a home.

Charlotte

When I arrive at the hotel my mother is on the phone with someone important and Dad is sitting next to her listening to her end of the conversation with bated breath.

I know the person is important because my mother sounds like a slave speaking to her master. Yes sir, no sir, I’d be happy to meet with you sir, this is incredible news sir.

“What’s going on?” I ask Stella who is sitting on the bed closest to the door, watching mom with one eye and her phone with the other. She’s on her phone a lot lately. I suspect it’s got something to do with her new secret boyfriend. The one I haven’t had time to investigate.

“Dunno, some lawyer.”

“Why’s Dad look like he’s going to pee himself?”

“I think it’s something about the Hill’s land that he’s always saying is ours.”

I’m impressed. Beau didn’t waste any time getting this arranged and it’s a good thing because I have to get back to school. Three of my professors emailed me this morning asking when I could make up the tests and clinical times that I’ve missed since I’ve been gone.

“Really?”

“Yeah, and there’s a house on that land now so if I’m deciphering her end of the conversation right they might have a place to live.”

“Wow, that’s great.”

“Don’t get excited, I might be wrong.”

I would try to squelch my happiness but since I know she is right I don’t bother.

“What a relief, I have to get back to school. This couldn’t have happened at a better time.”

“Don’t count your chickens, like I said, I could be wrong.”

Ignoring her I look around the tiny room for a sleeping Jake Jr. but he’s nowhere in sight. “Where’s Jake Jr.?”

“With Cammie at her apartment. She told him he could live with her until he finds a place of his own, which you know as well as I do means he will be living there forever.”

“No way.”

“Yep, told ya, she’s totally into him.”

“So weird.”

“Shush, girls, mom’s talking business,” dad says holding his pointer finger over his lips, like he did when we were little girls snickering in church.

I mouth I’m sorry to him and Stella stands motioning me towards the door. We step outside into the perfect spring weather imaginable. The sun is shining bright, there is a light breeze blowing and the distant scent of wildflowers.

“Where the hell were you last night?” She fires her question off hard bursting today’s streak of perfection like a giant bubble.

“Gosh, snappy much?”

“Answer the question.”

“What’s your problem?”

“Charlotte, you didn’t expect me to believe that vague ass text about spending the night with a friend from high school did you?”

“Well, yes, I guess I did.” It wasn’t a complete lie. I did spend the night with someone from high school. I didn’t know him back then but whatever.

She taps a cigarette from her pack and snorts, “You can lie to other people but this is your sister, fess up or I’ll make something terrible up to tell mom and dad.”

Shifting my weight from my left to my right I glance down at the ground and listen to her light her cigarette while I consider which would be worse. Telling her the truth or letting her make something up. Neither will get me a world’s best daughter award but Stella has an active imagination. Who knows what she’ll dream up?

“I was with a man.”

Her eyes pop and she coughs up the smoke she just inhaled.

“No, did you finally give it up?”

I nod and she squeals dropping her lit cigarette on the ground and hugging me so hard I gasp for breath.

“Oh my God, you didn’t just go out and fuck somebody because I gave you a hard time about losing your virginity did you?”

“No, of course not.”

“But you said it had to be somebody exceptional, special. How’d you find that in less than twenty-four hours?”

How had I done that? I still haven’t sorted through all of that myself.

“I uh, I don’t exactly know.”

“Huh? You knew him didn’t you? Was it a boyfriend from school who came down here to support you and just happened to sweep you off your feet, literally?” She laughs at her own joke and I cringe at the irony of her conclusion.

It wasn’t a boyfriend from college but he certainly swept me off my feet trying to support my family and me. Literally.

“No, I told you I don’t have time to date at school.”

Her face screws up in confusion. “You fucked a stranger?”

“No, oh my God.”

“Who then? Come on now, you know I’ll find out. You may as well tell me.”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me who you’re sleeping with.”

She wiggles her fingers missing the comfort of her cigarette settled between them and shuffles her feet. Ha! I got her. I’ve been going nuts trying to figure out who she’s sleeping with and now I get to return the favor.

“That’s not fair, I’m not allowed to tell you. You just don’t want to tell me.”

“Not allowed? What is he some politician or something?”

“No, I just can’t.”

“Stella, he’s not married is he? God please tell me you’re not a home wrecker.”

“I’m not a home wrecker, he’s not married.”

“The why can’t you tell me?”

“I just can’t.”

“Well then, neither can I.”

“Charlotte, just tell me. I promise to tell you my secret as soon as I can. It’s just, things are complicated right now ya know?”

I inhale a deep breath, cross my arms over my chest, and blow it out in a huff. I really want to tell someone about it. Granted my sister isn’t the best person to tell, she hates the Hills like a proper Deardon is supposed to.

She’s going to flip her shit when she knows I gave enemy number one my prized virginity.

Or will she? Maybe she’s grown up too, maybe she thinks this stupid feud should be over like Beau and I do?

“Beau Hill,” the words pop from my mouth without another thought.

She sucks in a breath and her arms fall limp to her sides. She’s quiet for the longest time and I’m about to follow up with something undoubtedly more stupid when she speaks.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you do it with him? I didn’t even know you knew each other.”

“We didn’t, I mean we kind of did from elementary school and I saw him in the halls in high school but we had never talked until this week.”

“So how the hell did this happen?”

“I was sitting on dad’s truck at the ranch saying goodbye to our home and he saw me. He came over and started talking to me.”

“So you jumped into bed with him?”

“Of course not it wasn’t like that at all.” Why did I tell her? What was I thinking? Now I’m going to have to make up a story because I’m not telling her about Beau’s plan.

“He asked me to dinner. I told him no so he asked me to breakfast and no, he didn’t mean it like that. He wanted to take me somewhere special for breakfast, it wasn’t a come on line.”

“Breakfast?”

“Yeah, you know the meal you eat at the beginning of the day.”

“Shut it Charlotte. I know what breakfast is. This is serious, where did he take you?” She crosses her arms over her chest and I notice for the first time that she’s wearing a very cute off the shoulder periwinkle colored blouse with skinny jeans and black strappy sandals. Very un-Stella.

Biting my lip I hesitate and with perfect timing mom flings the door to our hotel room open. She’s got a smile a mile wide spread across her face and dad is right behind her looking pretty much the same way.

“You’re never going to believe this!”

“Ya’ll are moving into a house on the Hill’s property,” Stella says with no enthusiasm and a touch of sarcasm. Mom’s smile falters but not for long. I elbow my sister in the ribs for ruining her moment.

“Yes, it’s like the good Lord above took pity on us and finally set things straight with that land. It’s not Hill land, it’s ours.”

“Just like I always said,” dad says standing up tall and proud for the first time in days with his hands hooked in the front pockets of his jeans.

“Who figured it out? I mean, after like, a hundred years suddenly it’s ours?” Stella asks.

“That was a lawyer on the phone, he said the Hills tried to file a damage claim, after the tornado, on a house they built on that land. When the insurance company checked into it they found out the land wasn’t theirs!”

Mom is so excited she’s vibrating. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so happy. I wish she knew it was the generosity of a certain Mr. Beau Hill and not a mistake at the register’s office that is going to be putting a roof over their heads.

I wanted it to be a secret when Beau first suggested it but now that I’ve experienced his overwhelming generosity hands on… really, really hands on, I wish he could get the credit he deserves for saving my family.

“That’s great news, Mom, I’m so happy for you.”

Stella leans away from me scrunching up her face. “I’m so happy for you?” she repeats my words sounding irritated. What’s her problem?

I frown, “Yes, of course I am. They’re going to have a place to live now, that’s definitely something to be happy about.”

“It is isn’t it?” mom says clapping her hands together. “Now let’s go have lunch together at the diner and celebrate.”

“You guys go ahead, I have some stuff to do,” Stella says squeezing between my parents to get back into the room.

“I already ate but I’ll join you,” I say and reach out to embrace both of my parents. I kiss mom on the cheek and my dad does the same to me.

“Who did you eat with honey?” mom asks stepping back into the room to grab her handbag off the table.

“My friend Tara, she’s the girl I spent the night with last night, we just grabbed coffee and a pastry.”

Stella harrumphs but mom and dad are riding so high on their good news they don’t notice.

“Tara, I don’t think I remember her, was she a cheerleader?”

“No, she was more of a bookworm, you probably don’t remember her.” She doesn’t remember her because she doesn’t exist, a lie I couldn’t have gotten away with back then because she knew every one of my friends. But it’s been four years and I’m counting on her memory not being so sharp.

“Oh.” She swings her purse onto her shoulder and pauses with her hand on the strap while she tries to remember the fictional Tara.

“Let’s go eat, I’m starving and I’m sick of staring at these four walls,” dad says shoving mom out the door and closing it. I catch a glance of Stella who is sitting cross-legged on the bed with her nose in her phone again.

We stroll down the dirt road toward the diner together. Mom and dad are going on and on about how they always knew that land was theirs. So much so that it starts to piss me off.

It wasn’t theirs, it was Beau’s and he’s giving it to them out of the goodness of his heart. And, I think, because he likes me a little, I hope.

I look back several times to see if Stella comes out of the hotel. She feigned errands as an excuse for skipping breakfast but I have a feeling it’s only one errand, and it’s with her mystery man.

Right before I enter the diner I glance back one more time and see a long black glistening limousine pull up outside our hotel room. Who the hell comes to that rat hole in a limo? Where did a limo even come from in Redwater?

Stella steps out, locks the door behind her. The driver steps out and rounds the car opening the door for my sister like she is royalty. He holds her hand so she doesn’t twist her ankle stepping off the curb in high-heeled strappy sandals and she lowers herself in like she does this every day.

Now my curiosity is switching into overdrive, and all I want to do is bolt back down the road and look into the back seat of that limo and see who her boyfriend is. But, since I can’t do that I do the next best thing and memorize the limo’s license plate.

I head inside and while we wait for the hostess to find us a table I text the plate number to Beau. He was able to give my parents one hundred acres of land and a house on short notice with an excuse that worked for everyone involved so he’s resourceful. I figure he might be able to help with this.

Me – Can you help me with this? XXY-358

He said he was going to be working today so when he shoots me an answer right away I’m surprised.

Beau – Depends. Is this a man’s license plate?

I smile; he’s possessive. I’m new to all of this but that seems like a good sign.

Me – I don’t know, that’s why I need your help.

Beau – I’m not helping you find another man without an explanation.

Me – He’s not for me, I’m already seeing someone. It’s the plate of a limo my sister just got into. I’m curious, and protective, is that a good enough explanation?

Beau – Yes, as long as the guy you’re referring to is me.

Me – I’ve only seen you once, does that count?

Beau – YES.

We are seated in a booth by the window. I slide in alone with my parents across from me.

“What are you smiling about over there young lady?” mom asks.

“Oh, nothing, just a joke on Instagram.”

“Insta-wha?”

“It’s a social media website.” Mom’s not up on social media so mentioning Instagram is as good as speaking a foreign language and she’s lost interest before I’m done explaining.

Me – Okay, it’s you. Do you know how to find out who that license plate belongs to? Oh, btw, I told my sister about us.

Beau – I will by tonight. I thought I was going to be your dirty little secret.

Me – Thank you so much, and you’re dirty but nothing about you is little.

Beau – Damn straight.

Me – That too.

Beau – Cute.

Me – Thanks.

“Okay, put that thing away. I want to celebrate not watch you read jokes,” dad says reaching out to take my phone like I’m twelve. I jerk my hands up and in a flash my phone is tucked safely in my back pocket. The last thing I need right now is to have my dad find out I have something going on with Beau Hill.

And that’s when it hits me. I have something going on with Beau Hill. What the hell am I doing? This will never work.