Cottage Country (6 page)

Stacey wriggled out from under his arm and made her way to the washroom to pee. Max greeted her with his sloppy kisses when she was done.

“Good morning sweet boy.” She whispered as she stroked his soft coat. She was going to miss him too when she left for home. She slipped her clothes on and walked down the hallway into the kitchen to rummage through the cupboards and look for a kettle and a tea bag. It looked like the Harpers had left everything behind when they sold the cabin to Brandon so she easily found a teapot, mugs and an electric kettle. The tea bag took her a bit more time to find.

“Hey there beautiful.” Brandon said as he stood stretching at the end of the hallway in only a pair of boxers.

“Hi sleepy. I beat you out of bed this morning.” She smiled as she approached him for a small kiss.

Brandon wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. The reminder that she was leaving soon hung in the air and both of them were painfully aware of it.

“I am going to miss you so much.” He sighed, holding her tight.

“Me too.” Was all she could say.

“I wish that you could just stay here forever.” Brandon murmured.

“Yeah well I guess I will have to start buying lotto tickets so that maybe one day I could move here to the lake and just spend my time reading and swimming.” She joked, attempting to make light of the situation.

“Or I could hire you as an apprentice carpenter?” He raised his eyebrows and smiled. They both burst out into laughter.

“You would hire me? We would never get any work done!” she joked. “We would be stopping to have sex every few hours and by three o’clock we would have half a dozen beer down.”

She was probably right. But they got a good laugh from the thought of it.

Stacey didn’t want to, but it was time for her to head back to her cabin and pack up. “I should really get going.” She whispered as she looked at the kitchen floor.

Brandon tipped her chin up and kissed her lightly. “I know. I’ll come and help you pack up if you like.”

She accepted his offer and Brandon got himself dressed and walked with Stacey over to her place with Max in stride in front of them. She really didn’t have much to pack up. Just a bit of food from the fridge. She left the extra dry food and wine for her parents who would be there within the next couple of weeks anyway.

Brandon packed the last bag out to Stacey’s BMW and closed the trunk for her. She locked up all of the doors and windows and met him beside her car.

“Thank you for everything Brandon.” She said looking up into his warm eyes.

Brandon cupped her face in his hands and kissed her long and hard. “Good-bye Stacey.” He whispered.

“I need your number. Do you text?” she asked.

“Yes I do.” He said pulling his iPhone out of his pocket. They exchanged cell phone numbers so that they could stay in touch and vowed to text each other a few times a day.

Stacey opened the door to her car and slid into the plush leather seat. She turned the key and opened her window. “Good-bye.” She extended her hand out to touch Brandon’s and drove away slowly. She watched him in her rear view mirror, standing there with Max sitting beside him. A lump formed in her throat as she got further down the driveway, and when she turned out onto the gravel road, a small sob escaped from her mouth.

She drove in silence until she hit the paved road and then she blasted her music as loud as she could to drown out her thoughts. She missed him already and it had only been minutes. She slammed her hands against the steering wheel repeatedly as she drove. She had finally met the most perfect guy for her and she was driving away from him.

****

Stacey spent her last day in Montana visiting with her Mom and Dad. She did her laundry and helped her mom work in the garden. Then they made a nice dinner and sat on the sundeck enjoying the sun while they ate. She told her parents about Brandon and what his plans were for the Harper’s cabin and her dad perked up when she spoke about helping him to screw the plywood on the deck.

“Why would he put plywood on the deck?” her dad questioned.

“Because he is putting a vinyl decking over top to keep the deck from rotting again.” She explained.

Her dad screwed up his face a little bit as he thought about the logic behind vinyl decking on a cabin. “I guess it would be a good idea to fight the water off out there. And you wouldn’t have to stain it every year or two either.” His eyes lightened. “Smart guy.”

“So are you going to see him again?” her mother asked.”

“It seems impossible at this point.” Stacey sighed. “He is here and I am in Portland. We both work so much that it would be impossible to get away and what fun is a long distance relationship where we see each other once a year?”

Stacey’s parents could both see the sadness in her eyes. “Well you could always move back here.” Her mom said sheepishly.

“And do what for work Mom? There aren’t that many firms here that need a newbie lawyer with minimal experience. And the last time that I checked, there weren’t too many hardened criminals in this town.”

Her mother looked down at her food sadly. “I know Stacey. It’s just that we would love to have you back here too.” Her mom’s comment broke her heart.

The family finished eating and went out for an evening stroll together. Stacey was happy to see her parents exercising and taking better care of themselves. Her dad’s health scare caused them all to be a bit more aware of eating well and getting themselves out for exercise each day. Even Stacey tried to take the stairs more at work and chose the chicken salad over the pizza at lunch. Now to reduce her stress at work would be the next challenge.

****

Stacey packed her things into her car and got herself ready to make the long drive back to Portland. It was seven in the morning and she wanted to get an early start. She quickly grabbed her phone and text Brandon before she left.

             
             
‘I miss you already. Just about to leave. I had a wonderful time this weekend.’

It didn’t take long for Brandon to return her text and her stomach flipped when her phone chimed.

             
             
‘I miss you too. Please drive carefully. Talk soon.’

She walked out to her car where her parents were waiting for her to say good-bye. Her dad checked the air in her tires and looked under the hood as if he knew what he was looking at. Stacey was pretty sure that look of a vehicle under the hood had changed significantly over the years and her dad wouldn’t even know where to put the oil let alone how to fix something in her BMW.

“Thanks Daddy.” She said giving him a small peck on the cheek to show her gratitude. It was his way of showing her that he cared.

“I made you a care package and put it on the front seat for you.” Her mom said starting to tear up.

“Aw Mom, you didn’t have to do that.” Stacey said hugging her mother tight. It was always the same when she left. Tears flowed between all of them.

“Please drive safe Stacey. Call us every once in a while and let us know when you get home.” Her mother instructed.

“I will be careful and I will call.” She said crawling into her car and fastening her seat belt. She waved to her parents as she pulled out of the driveway with tear filled eyes. She was going to miss them so much and it would probably be another year before she made it back.

Stacey made her way to the highway and put her foot to the floor. She was Portland bound and wasn’t going to stop until she got there…well except for gas and pee breaks.

CHAPTER 5

Stacey got home safely and packed her things into her condo. Nothing had changed really. Her plants were still alive thanks to her wonderful neighbor Mrs. Clarke who came over every couple of days to water them and check up on things. Her clothes still were hung in the closet and her bed was made just like the day that she left.

She went to the grocery store to replenish her cupboards. She bought lunch stuff and a few frozen meals for her dinners. It was difficult to cook a big meal for just one person so she ended up eating a lot of salad and baked chicken breasts.

She needed to return to work the next day and she was dreading the pile of paperwork that she was going to be buried under. Stacey went to bed early and was up early to shower and dress in her business attire. She made a pot of strong tea and poured her metal to-go cup full to the brim with her caffeinated beverage. It was time to get back into the swing of her normal life.

Stacey stepped off of the elevator and walked past the reception desk at work. The receptionist Carol who was busy on the phone, gave her a small smile and a wave as Stacey passed. Nobody else even bothered to look her way. She was such a small fish in this big pond and nobody even knew who she was except for a select few.

Her office was exactly as she had left it, only her mailbox was jammed full of envelopes and memos. She sighed and dropped her brief case on the top of her small desk. “Here we go.”

Her days were spent catching up on all of the work that she had gotten behind on. She had to prioritize everything in order to not feel completely overwhelmed and she had a couple of trial dates approaching so she thought she would start with that stuff.

Week by week went by and she diligently cleared through all of her work taking time to attend the courthouse now and again to plead cases for the criminal losers that she was being paid to represent. Drunk drivers, Assault cases, small time drug dealers. They were all the same and it sickened her more and more each day to help these jerks walk free.

One evening while she was looking up some comparable assault cases to the one that she was working on right now, she decided to pop into Google and type in a search.

             
             
‘Lawyers near Chester Lake Montana’

A handful of sites resulted from her search and she clicked on a few of them to see who they were and what they were all about. She found a few tax attorneys, some real estate attorneys and just a couple of family law offices in the town of Chesterville, which was about twenty minutes from Chester Lake and about forty minutes from her parents home town of Cedar Meadows.

She clicked on the link that took her to the site for Sanders, Parry and Murray Law Office. Their website home page displayed a photo of a group of people all dressed in black suits and skirts. They were all smiling and looked like a very happy bunch. Stacey clicked on the link that said ‘careers’ and a page opened with a small write up about the firm and a list of their current openings.  The paragraph boasted about the family atmosphere in their office and the benefits of working for their firm. It looked pretty impressive. Stacey scrolled down the page and her eyes stopped on a posting.

             
‘Family Law Lawyer (1 year renewable contract)’

She clicked on the posting and opened up the description. It was a job working in family law under a one year contract that would be renewable on the anniversary. She smiled thinking about how great it would be to work so close to home. She would most likely take a pay cut but her cost of living would go way down not living in the big city.

She decided to take a chance and apply. What would it hurt to inquire about the job? She probably would not have enough years under her belt for them anyway but it was worth a shot. She pulled up an old resume that she saved in her emails from when she was applying for positions after graduation. She updated a few points and added her new job to the bottom and attached it to the application link online. She filled in all the necessary information, attached her resume and cover letter and clicked send. She made sure to refer to her personal email address for all correspondence. She didn’t want anyone to know she was looking at other jobs.

Stacey didn’t hear back from Sanders, Parry and Murray in over a week and she had pretty much given up on the idea of moving back to Montana. She knew that everything happens for a reason and she if it was for her, it wouldn’t go by her. She didn’t tell her parents or Brandon that she had applied for the job. She didn’t want any of them to get their hopes up.