Chapter 11
Cock-a-doodle-doo!!!!
The sound jolts me awake from my deep sleep. In a panic, I sit straight up in the darkness and try to catch my breath. My eyes frantically search the bedroom for the source of the sound that woke me up. Surely it wasn’t an actual rooster. Since when do people have chickens in the middle of town? Maybe I was just dreaming about farm animals. That’s logical, right? It’s not like I’ve been getting much rest lately.
The scream of the bird pierces through the silence again. It’s so loud, I’m half expecting to find it perched on my footboard.
I climb from the bed and walk to the nearby window, pushing the heavy lace curtain aside. Startled by the rooster’s face looking back at me through the dirty windowpane, I jump back. He’s perched on something outside and it’s giving him the perfect boost to stand there and scream at me.
“Get down.” I yell, tapping my finger against the pane, being careful not to hit the glass too hard. “Go!”
Luckily, it’s just enough to scare him. The rooster flaps his wings and floats down from his perch, disappearing into the dim morning light.
I shuffle back to bed and climb under the blankets, burying myself as far into the pillows as I can, hoping I can go back to sleep. The old digital alarm clock on the nightstand brightly proclaims that it’s only 5:47 in the morning, and I don’t need to clock in for work until nine. Last night, I got just enough unpacking done to set up my new workspace amid all the chaos that is this house.
All I want right now is another two hours of sleep before I have to force myself to rebuild my life. Just as my eyes close and I feel myself drift off, the evil yard bird lets out another squawk as if he is trying to get in one last word. “Fine! I’m up!” I scream back at him, kicking off my blankets in what I will admit is borderline tantrum material. My first official day in my new house is already shaping up to be a nightmare.
Angrily, I climb out of bed, and move to the kitchen, stopping short at the coffeepot. It never crossed my mind yesterday to run to the grocery store and get coffee. Mom and Dad had come over and removed all the food from the house after Hazel passed, to keep pests away, so the cabinets are completely bare. I ordered pizza for dinner last night but what I would do this morning never crossed my mind.
According to Google, Drip opens at six. I waste no time getting dressed and moving towards the door to head downtown.
I pull the door closed behind me and head towards my car in the driveway before I stop dead in my tracks. This is the first time in years that I can walk to where I need to go instead of driving across town. Drip and the rest of the downtown business district are only a few blocks away and the weather this morning is perfect. I might as well take advantage of a morning walk while the opportunity is there.
Without a second thought, I shove my key into my pocket and make my way downtown. As I walk, I take the opportunity to really examine the neighborhood for the first time. It’s quiet, and no one is out moving yet. Of course, it’s before six in the morning, so who knows what it’ll be like by this afternoon? Based on the lack of bikes, sidewalk chalk art and children’s outdoor toys, I assume that most of the neighbors are older, like Hazel. The street is filled with quaint houses connected by brick sidewalks. The yards are maintained and clean, every flower bed is full of fresh flowers and mulch. It’s neat and pristine.
I make a promise to myself that I’ll get out in the evening and try to make myself known to my neighbors. I know how people in small towns can be, and I sure don’t want them to be alarmed by seeing me coming in and out of the house.
Or, on second thought, I could hide inside my house until I leave again. That actually doesn’t seem like a terrible idea, now that I think of it. I mean, that would ensure that I can do exactly what I came here to do; rest, reset and get my shit together so that I can sell this house and move back to the city as soon as possible. Or some city… or really just any place that isn’t Fawn Creek. The more connections I make, the harder it’ll be to leave.
As I approach Drip, I frown at the open sign that still isn’t illuminated. I glance at my watch and confirm, it’s just after six o’clock. They should be open by now. As I get closer, I notice the vinyl lettering on the door states 6:30 as the opening time. Although I’m a bit frustrated about Google lying to me, I decide this is just a part of learning about my hometown all over again. I’ll just get in a bit of a longer walk and then grab coffee on the way back to the house. I have a lot of work ahead of me today, so this is an excellent opportunity to get plenty of exercise and fresh air.
Besides, this is the perfect time to listen to an audio book. I pull my earbuds from my pocket and get ready to immerse myself in a romance novel for the duration of my walk. As usual, it’s just another predictable story about two people who realize they are in love after a decade of friendship, my favorite. Sweet and light, with a happily ever after at the end. I wish real life could be as predictable.
Elliott always made fun of these books. He enjoyed telling me how unrealistic the stories are, and how they create unrealistic expectations for women to hold towards men. I’d roll my eyes and brush off his comments, telling him to let me live my life. Sure, sometimes they are pretty unbelievable, but let’s be honest, the real world is terrible. At the very least, when I pick up a romance novel, I know that there will be a happily ever after at the end. If nothing else, it’s reliable, it’s safe. If only the same thing could be said for reality. Besides, it gives me hope that maybe one day, I’ll get a happily ever after of my own. Or maybe Elliott was right. Perhaps I’m just a hopeless romantic.
Fawn Creek is great in its own little ways. This is the town that raised me and it will always have a spot in my heart. It’s like a warm hug from your favorite person, but even hugs get annoying and claustrophobic after a while. Fawn Creek will always be home, even if I don’t want to actually live here.
I leave the business district and make my way towards the city park. The park is right at the edge of downtown and serves as a city gathering place just as much as a place for kids to play. It houses a pavilion, a gazebo, picnic tables and plenty of play equipment. There’s a wide sidewalk all the way around the square, each lap measuring a quarter mile. This is a fact I remember well from when I was a kid and thought I was going to be a runner. It wasn’t long because I realized I hated running and I hated waking up early to get a run in before the heat of summer.
As I walk, more memories made in this park quickly come flooding into my mind. My sixth birthday party was in the park pavilion. I still have pictures of Avery and me with blue cupcake frosting on our faces and party hats on our heads. We played so hard that day and got so covered in sand that we had to ride home in the back of my dad’s pickup truck. Our moms wouldn’t let us into their cars.
Next, my eyes move across the park to the gazebo. It seems like just yesterday I took my prom photos over there. I had a date, some Steve guy I don’t think I ever spoke to again after that night. I took one photo with him, to be polite, but quickly moved on to taking photos with Avery instead. We took our own series of awkward prom poses, while Grandma Hazel played photographer. I don’t think I’d ever seen that woman laugh so hard as Avery and I quickly changed poses and made silly faces at the camera. My mother, on the other hand, was mortified. She told us we were causing a scene, and she went to sit in the car until we were done. I shake my head and sigh, thinking back to how mad she was at us. A scene? We were the only ones in the entire park and who cares what anyone else thought? We were just a couple of kids, and we were having fun while we could. I’d give anything to go back to those days now. Life was so easy and carefree. Now, everything is stressful and exhausting.
I finish my loop around the park and make my way back towards downtown. In that small amount of time, Fawn Creek has woken up and people are moving around. It’s Tuesday morning and the citizens with long commutes are already getting in their cars to head to work in the surrounding cities. I’ve always wondered why people lived here, but drove thirty to forty-five minutes to work. Why wouldn’t they just move closer to their jobs? I suppose some of them love the community that much, but it’s hard for me to wrap my head around. Avery is one of those people. She’s tried to explain it to me a million times, but it’s a lost cause. I guess the people that get it, just get it… and the rest of us just pretend to understand.
Before long, I’m back in the heart of downtown and I find myself in front of the little vacant storefront once again. I look down the street and make sure no one is coming before I step closer and peer through the window. Lightly, I touch the doorknob and I feel butterflies flutter in my stomach.
“What are you doing up already?” I hear a voice from behind. I jump and quickly turn towards the sound. It’s Avery, pulled into a parking spot at the curb, with her window rolled down. Busted.
I walk towards her car. “I got woken up at 5:47 this morning by a rooster. He was perched outside my bedroom window, screaming at me. And then, I realized I didn’t go get coffee last night, so I took a walk while waiting for Drip to open.”
Avery frowns. “A rooster? Who in that neighborhood has a rooster? You aren’t allowed to have chickens in town.” She says, as she opens the car door and grabs Juliet’s carrier. “Weird. How was your night?”
I lead her towards the coffee shop and hold the door open for her. “It was nice and quiet. Just what I needed so I could wallow in self pity. I got started on some decluttering, but I have a long road ahead of me.”
Avery places Juliet’s carrier on the floor of the shop and I immediately bend down to the smiling baby to say hello. I’ve decided my first goal during my stay will be to teach Juliet to say my name. “Can you say Aunt Tyler?” I coo to her. “What about Ty-Ty?” I add.
“Hi girls!” Cassidy yells out to us from behind the counter, interrupting my talking lesson. “Tyler, I thought you already left town.” She raises a brow at my appearance.
I stand from my kneeling position and face Cassidy while I search for the right words. “Well… I did and now I’m back. It looks like I’m going to be home for a few months.” I say, hoping this will be enough information.
“I see…” Cassidy responds, wiping her hands with a towel. Her curly blonde hair is held back in a claw clip and she’s wearing a black apron over her t-shirt and jean combination. She looks relaxed, more so than she ever did when I was a kid and she was busy working the corporate life. “Are you staying with your parents?”
“Actually, no. I am staying at Hazel’s. I’m going to get it cleaned up and updated so it can go on the market.”
“Hmm.. I saw your mom on Sunday at church. She mentioned nothing about this.” Cassidy looks concerned.
I shrug. “Yeah, it all happened pretty quickly.”
She raises a brow. “I see. Did your boyfriend come with you?” She presses.
“It’s a long story, but no.” I smile weakly before giving her my order and sliding my card across the counter.
“I have time.” She says with a soft smile.
I’m going to be here for a while.
I’m just stepping onto the porch with a large iced latte in my hand, as well as a bag from the grocery store, when my phone rings. I set my cup down on the concrete porch and pull my phone from my pocket. Avery’s name is on the caller screen.
“Hey!” I say, answering the call. “Missing me already?”
“Hi, my best friend in the entire world.” Avery says, her voice dripping with the fakest sweetness I’ve ever heard.
“Oh my gosh, what do you want?” I ask jokingly.
“I need you to do me a giant favor today.” She says. “Are you back home?”
“Just got here. I stopped at the store to grab some coffee and some groceries. What’s up? Did you forget to unplug your straightener again?” I ask, finally winning the war against the doorknob and stepping inside. I make a mental note to run to the hardware store and pick up a new one as soon as possible.
“Listen, that was only one time.” Avery says, defensibly.
“But you left it plugged in for an entire weekend.” I recall. “I still don’t know how your house didn’t burn down.”
“ANY-WAAAAY.” Avery says loudly, trying to change the subject. “The babysitter just called. Juliet is running a fever, and she needs to be picked up. My mom has a doctor’s appointment today, and I have a meeting this morning that I can’t afford to miss. Is there any way you can watch her for me until lunchtime? I promise she is fairly easy to deal with. I’m sure it’s just from teething, but the daycare lady has some pretty strict rules about fevers, regardless of the cause.”
“Sure! We will make it work.” I say, wondering if I can pull of working with a baby on my hip. “Do you want me to just stay at your place?”
“Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much.” She immediately says, with her voice full of gratitude. “Normally, yes, I would have you stay at my place, but the bug guy is supposed to stop and set off a bomb under the house today. We have a spider problem. So I’d rather you girls not be there. Can you keep her at your place? You can stop and grab the playpen from my house. Everything else she needs is in her diaper bag.”
“Sure. Send me the daycare lady’s address and I’ll head over there.”
“I owe you big time.” Avery says. “She’s already had breakfast at daycare. She will be ready for a nap around 10. I’ll try to be there before she wakes up.”
“Sounds good. We will be just fine.”
“Thank you again. I’ll text you her info. Bye.” Avery says, hanging up the phone.
As I pull into Avery’s driveway, my phone pings with a text from Avery.
Avery: Okay, I don’t know the address, but the babysitter is Madison King. I’m sure you remember her from school. She lives in the white house next door to our old Junior High Science teacher, Mrs. McBride. She has a cute little blue welcome sign and a 15 passenger van out front.
I slowly blink twice. Is she for real right now?
Me: Wouldn’t it have been faster to just ask her for her address instead of all of that? Small-town people are so damn weird.
Avery: Not like you’ve ever known what half of the street names were, anyway.
Me: Valid point. But I have this fancy thing called GPS. It even works in Nowheresville.
Avery: The playpen is in the closet. Thank you again.
I enter the code on Avery’s door and run inside. Quickly, I locate the playpen and lug it to my car. Of course, even after rearranging everything in my trunk, I still can’t get the thing to fit back there. I sigh and carry it around to the backseat until I remember that I have to put a baby back there. Dammit, this must be why all moms drive giant cars. It isn’t because they have that many kids, it’s because their kids just have that much shit.
Within a few minutes, I’m on the other side of town, pulling up in front of a cute little white house with a blue welcome sign just like Avery told me I would. As soon as I get out of the car, I glance over at Mrs. McBride’s house. Nothing on her porch has changed since I was probably seven years old, including her concrete goose that she dresses up for every season. It’s currently wearing a yellow rain jacket with a matching hat. That damn goose is more stylish than I am, and I bet it has more clothes than I do. I pause to wonder if it has its own closet, but then quickly remember I have a task at hand.
I walk up to the door of the home daycare and it swings open as soon as I step foot onto the wooden porch.
“Tyler Burris! How are you?” A skinny blonde girl bounds out of the house and attacks me. Okay, maybe she doesn’t actually attack me, but she definitely pulls me into a hug that kicks my fight-or-flight response into overdrive. Why does everyone in this town think I want to hug them? Does no one have personal boundaries here? Has it always been like this and I just blocked it out?
“Hey! How are you?” I say, trying to search my memory for whatever Avery told me this girl’s name was, but I come up blank.
“I’m good!” She beams and stands staring at me for a beat too long. “Thank you so much for being able to come pick up Juliet. Avery’s lucky to have a friend like you.”
“It’s not a problem at all.” I smile softly. “I am in a bit of a hurry though….”
“Oh yeah, of course,” the woman says, opening the door wider and handing me a diaper bag. “She’s already had breakfast and she should be about ready for a nap around 10. Just give her the bottle in the side pocket around 9:45.”
“Perfect.” I say, taking the bag and baby carrier from her. I glance down at Juliet, to get an idea of how she is actually feeling. Juliet looks up at me and shows me a wide gummy grin.
“Hi, sister. Want to go to Aunt Tyler’s?” I ask her.
She coos in response.
I smile down at her before turning towards my car. The weight of the carrier almost takes me down. Sheesh, this thing is heavy. I wonder how Avery totes the carrier all over the place. She made it look effortless at the coffee shop this morning. I would probably never leave my house if I had to carry this contraption everywhere.
“Nice seeing you!” I yell over my shoulder, not stalling to see if the sitter says anything back. I’m too busy fighting for my life to carry Juliet down the stairs.
I get back to my car and heave the carrier into the backseat, making sure Juliet is facing backwards. It’s only then that I realize I have no clue how I’m supposed to belt the car seat in. I try to remember how Avery does it, but I feel like she has a plastic base in her car that this thing snaps into. I’ve spent plenty of time babysitting over the course of my life, but it’s never been with any actual babies. Every kid I’ve ever watched has been at least in a booster seat. I sigh and grab Juliet again, lugging her back up to the daycare provider’s house.
After one quick knock, the provider sticks her head back outside.
“Hi.” I say. “Do you know how to buckle this into my car?”
She stares at me, bewildered for a second. “Oh, like with the lap belt?”
“Sure? I have actually never put a kid in my car before.” I laugh.
“Umm… you just pull it across and…” She stops talking when she notices the look of confusion on my face. “You know what? I’ll go do it. Can you just stand in here so I’m not leaving these kids unsupervised?”
“Sure!” I say, stepping into the living room.
She grabs the car seat from me and slides through the front door.
I smile down at the kids sitting on the carpet staring at the television. A cartoon about a blue dog mesmerizes most of them.
“What’s your name?” A little girl with pigtails turns to ask me.
“I’m Tyler. What’s yours?” I ask in response, bending down towards her.
The little girl ignores me and looks back at the television as though we never spoke.
Another little girl comes toddling out of the kitchen with a sippy cup in hand. She’s wearing hot pink bell bottoms with an AC/DC shirt and a big pink bow in her hair. She frowns as soon as she sees me. “Why does your hair look like that?” She asks me, staring at the messy bun on top of my head.
“Uh… Well.” I think. “I just haven’t had time to fix my hair yet today.”
“My mom says you aren’t supposed to go places if your hair is messy.” She tells me sternly. “People will think you don’t have a house to live in.”
“Piper, that’s enough.” Interrupts the daycare lady as she walks back into the house. “Okay, Juliet is all ready to go.” She says, holding the door open to me with a smirk. “Sorry that kid it a little spicy sometimes.”
I laugh. “I’m sure it keeps your day interesting.” I saw with a wink.
She sighs and chuckles. “You have no idea.”
“Thank you so much.” I say, as I move out the door. “Bye.” I say to the room full of kids, with Piper being the only one to wave back. I don’t know why, but I like that feisty kid.