|
|
"Not a bad drive." Jessica said. "About forty minutes." It was a straight shot along 64, four lanes until the turn onto state 228, a two-lane road but in good shape. "If you wanted to stay around Jonesboro you'd be pretty close. But you might want to be closer. You and Scott were pretty tight back in the day, and you might like to be closer." Funny, Jessica describing my former relationships, what's it going to be like, bringing them back? How long was it? Thirty years or more, some of them. "Yeah, not bad." Alex said. "I wouldn't mind living here. I'm starting over, so I'm pretty flexible. I forgot to ask, where do I know Scott from?" "You and Scott are both from Wynne originally. He moved to Jonesboro not long after you did. He worked for the Jonesboro schools as an infrastructure engineer. You and he palled around a lot, went out shooting and fishing together, we went to some of his gigs when he was playing somewhere close. What else? Let's see.... "He was married to a girl from Wynne, she worked at Citizens Bank. I believe it's something else now, like most of the old banks. They got divorced a few years after they moved to Jonesboro, and he has a number of casual girlfriends, I guess you could call them. They all seem to get along pretty well. Anything else?" "That should do to get us started." Scott's house looked new, a simple ranch style, but large. Especially for one person. A detached four-car garage sat back at one end. Two large metal shop buildings were further back. The entire area was populated with large trees, spaced as if they had been planted that way by a landscaper. Jessica had parked in the circular drive at the front. As they exited the Trailblazer Scott came out to meet them. He was accompanied by a much younger woman, probably in her thirties. She and Jessica should get on well. "This is Jessica and Alex." Scott said to her. "Alex, Jessica, this is Michelle. I don't remember if you've met before." "No." Jessica said. "Hi Michelle." "Just met a year ago or so," Michelle said, "when I moved up here from Little Rock." Michelle was very attractive, in a girl-next-door way. Not much makeup, or a need for it. She was wearing jeans and T-shirt, her long blonde hair in a ponytail. Lightweight hiking shoes. "I filled Michelle in on your situation, Alex." Scott said. "Let's get in and figure out what we want to do with the day." Inside they found themselves in a large living area with dark panelling on the walls, with several oriental rugs on a stained concrete floor. Two large couches faced each other across a large cocktail table, and a couple of large recliners at each end of the group. "Can you stay overnight?" Michelle asked. "If you're not driving home we can start drinking early. It'll soon be noon." "I don't see why not." Jessica said. "Alex?" "Sounds good to me." "C'mon Jess, we'll get the refreshments while the boys get the talking started." Jess. Did I ever call her that? Michelle led Jessica off to get the drinks. "Well, what do you want to do first?" Scott asked. "I could show you around, see what you think of the place. If you might want to live up here." What do I want? Reconstruct the past? That would help. "Show me around and let me get a feel, I guess." Alex said. "I need to get my past back, if I can. It may not be pleasant, but it's better than nothing." Jessica and Michelle returned with the drinks. "It seems Scott is partial to brandy too." Jessica said. "So we're in luck. Michelle and I are going to have some Arbor Mist." She handed glasses to Scott and Alex, and sat down beside Alex. Michelle took a place beside Scott. "So, have you guys decided what to do with the day?" Michelle asked. "We figured to take a tour around the place." Scott said. "Alex had only been out a few times since I bought it, but it may help him to look around, see if it helps remember anything." "Sounds good." Michelle said. "Have you been here before, Jess?" "Two or three times, I believe. Not enough to see all of it." "That would take a while." Scott said. "It's seventy-eight acres, more or less, as the ad said. I still haven't gotten familiar with all of it." "How long have you been here now?" Jessica asked. "A couple of years?" "Three, and a couple of months." Scott replied. Michelle looked at her watch. "It's almost eleven." she said. "Want to have lunch before we start, or do you want to take Alex for a look around first?" "If you don't mind a late lunch," Scott said, "let's get started."
"The place runs from here about about a half mile south." Scott said. "It's a quarter mile across. Down that way you can see the creek that runs across it, and it's all woods on the other side. About half of it, forty-something acres." "Nice." Alex said. "What was it, forty acres back over by Jonesboro?" "Right." Jessica said. "Is there anything like this available out here?" "There's a few." Scott said. "I got this one through Sanders Realty in Paragould. I still see their signs up here and there, so I guess they're still around. Realtors job hop like crazy. I'll call the gal that sold me this place, see what she's up to." "I'd like a place like this." Alex said. "Quiet. I need time to think. What do you think, Jessica?" "I like it a lot." Jessica gonna like wherever I am. Don't know what I ever did to deserve her. Or if I did. "I'll give her a call." Scott said. "One thing about real estate salesmen, they're never hard to find if there's a possible sale. Let's go outside and have a look at things." A large sliding door opened onto a very large patio, half of it roofed and enclosed by screen panels, the other half open. They went outside, sipping their drinks while standing one of the round picnic tables. "You can see the creek from here." Scott said, pointing across the open field. "It's about a quarter mile from here. That row of hay bales is a backstop I use for target practice. It's about three hundred yards out. "Beyond that it's all woods, out here I can shoot as many deer as I want on my own place." I guess I hunted. Don't know what kind of guns I have. "You never did get a chance to hunt here." Scott continued. "We used to go down south to that Danny Baker's deer camp. You remember that?" Nope. "No, doesn't ring any bells." Alex said. Damn. Everything gone? "They got plenty of deer here anyway." Scott said. "Actually, the state is over-populated with them, and they keep adding days to the season, to keep it under control. Crowleys Ridge has some of the biggest deer in the state." "Let's go out and take a look around." he said, draining his glass and setting in on the table. Jessica and Michelle finished their wine and followed Scott and Alex. |
|