Page 44 of Another Love, Another Time

River

I pull up to the airport pickup lane, where I see Baxter waiting for me. His flight landed earlier than planned. I get closer and roll down the window. “Hey, good lookin’. Are you needing a ride?” I ask.

I put my car in park and pop the trunk so that he can put his luggage in the back. Then, I get out, jump into his arms, and give him a big bear hug.

“Missed you, Baxter.” He squeezes me back and lets me down. “Missed you too, Rhondy.”

We both hop back in the car and start heading back to Hannibal.

I turn my head to look at him. “Do we need to stop anywhere before we get on the interstate?”

“Naw, I’m good. I may take a nap, though. I’m worn out. The lady who sat next to me on my flight talked my ear off. I didn’t get any sleep.”

“Sounds good. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

~~

I pull up to my house. That feels weird.

I own a house. Auggie and Mackey helped me move in last week.

It’s nothing fancy. It’s in one of the older neighborhoods, so I got a good deal on it.

It does need some upgrades, but the backyard was worth it.

I have the money I saved from my time in the Army to upgrade what I don’t like.

Auggie has been helping with painting and handyman work. He has been staying in the spare bedroom since we fix up the house after we get off work and we’ve had a few beers. He’s started carrying an extra bag of clothes with him for when he stays over. I’m beginning to get used to him in my space.

Growing up, we got snippets of time together when we did things as a family or when we went on vacation. The rest was through texts and phone calls. I’ve seen him basically every day since I moved to Hannibal.

It’s like he’s invaded my space. I’m not sure what to think.

This is what I was hoping for, but at the same time, I’m keeping him at arm’s length.

I think I’m waiting for him to show that he has chosen me.

I want to tell him about Melissa, but my fear is that he is going to defend her and not believe me. If he does that, it will crush me.

I bring myself out of my thoughts, not wanting to think about that right now. I shove at Baxter’s shoulder. “Wake up, sleepy head.”

“Sorry, Riv. I didn’t mean to sleep the whole time.”

“No worries. You obviously needed it.”

“Yeah, I did.” He rubs the sleep from his eyes.

“Let me help you bring your stuff in, and I’ll show you where you will be sleeping.”

He scoffs. “You mean I won’t be sleeping in bed with my wife?” He chuckles.

Some days, I wish I really were his wife, and he were my husband. It would be so much easier, but I know neither of us is romantically attracted to each other.

I slap the back of the head lightly and laugh. “Watch it, mister. Let me show you around.” We enter, and I take him to his room.

Auggie and I have already pulled the carpet up.

I was pleased to find a hardwood floor underneath in perfect condition.

I can’t believe people covered these floors with carpet.

I’m hoping all the floors look as good as the ones in this bedroom and the main bedroom.

We painted both rooms gray. Baxter doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to help me paint the rest of the rooms the same color.

“Wow, Riv. This looks good. Did you do this, or was it like this?”

I tell him I’ve only gotten the two rooms done so far. “That’s where you come in.” I point at him and grin cheekily. “Guess what we will be doing this week while you’re here?”

“I knew it. You’re going to put me to work.” He sets his hands on his hips. “I better be getting paid well.”

“In good food and drink,” I answer.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” He puts his luggage on the bed.

“Do you want to take a shower first, or do you want me to show you around first?”

He sighs dramatically. “Show me around first so I can see what I’m in for this week, and then I can cry to myself in the shower.”

“Whatever.” I smirk. “I know this makes you happy. You were probably stressing about not doing anything all week.”

He chuckles. “You know me so well.”

We walk back into the hallway, and I show him the room I’ll be using as an office, but for now, it’s storage. I show him the bathroom that still needs to be painted. Otherwise, I think I’ll leave that room alone for now.

We make it to the living room and dining room, and I wait for his reaction. I purposely haven’t touched this room, knowing that he would love it. Or make fun of it. He walks to the center and turns in a circle.

“I have no words.”

His reaction makes me giggle. The room is a poop green. It looks like it hasn’t been updated since the seventies. Green floral curtains cover the windows, while the furniture somehow matches. Even the carpet matches the bits of maroon in the curtains.

“Well, they definitely knew how to coordinate their colors, didn’t they?”

I double over, laughing. “This will be the first room I want to do,” I explain when I catch my breath. “We have people coming over this weekend, and I need your help ripping up the carpeting and painting. You think we can get it all finished before Saturday?”

“I think it’s doable. What are you going to do if the floor doesn’t look as good as the others?”

“I bought a rug. I was hoping that if there was a spot, it wouldn’t be very big. I can throw the rug over it until I can get it fixed. If it’s too big and I’m not ready, I’ll just ask Mackey to move the party over to his house. I really want you to meet the team.”

We move on to the kitchen, which will need to be gutted completely. For now, I’ll just paint it after the party.

He hasn’t said anything about the smell. When I first moved in, it smelled like old people. I’ve been trying to air it out by opening the windows and adding air fresheners from Bath and Body Works. Those seem to be doing the trick.

Next, I show him the laundry room, my bedroom, and bathroom.

“And that completes the tour,” I announce.

“It’s going to look really good when you get done with it.”

“I hope so. Why don’t you go take a shower, and I’ll warm up some food. My mom is going to stop by; she can’t wait until tomorrow. Hope you don’t mind?”

“Heck no. I love your mom! Let me jump in the shower so I don’t stink. I need to call my mom and let her know we made it to your house.”

“Tell her I said ‘hello,’” I call as he walks back to the spare bedroom.

~~~

“I can’t believe you’re here to visit her, and she puts you to work,” my mom taunts Baxter.

Meanwhile, she’s helping to sweep up the padding left from pulling up the carpet.

Surprisingly, the floor is not bad at all.

There are a few spots I could sand down, but I think it shows character. It can wait for right now.

“I would have been more surprised if she didn’t put me to work,” Baxter responds.

“Hey, is it Pick-on-River day? I’ll remind you that both of you volunteered for this. Besides, I need to get all my honey-dos done before this guy kicks me to the curb.” I jab my thumb at Baxter.

“Oh, River, I’m not kicking you to the curb; I’m just trading you in for another model.”

“Asshole! Mom, you hear what I have to put up with?” Laughing at him, I throw a piece of the carpet, and it hits him square in the back.

“I’m not getting in the middle of it, but Baxter, if you ever want to trade for a classic model, you know where to look.” She winks at him. My. Mom. Winks. At. Him. Oh, God!

Baxter looks at me with a gleam in his eyes. “Riv, just think: I could be your step-daddy.”

“Eww. Gross. Stop you two!” We all laugh and throw bits of carpet padding at each other.

Finally, we slow down, and my mom asks, “So when will the divorce be finalized?”

It’s Baxter who responds, “Well, we both have signed, and River’s lawyer sent them back, so it should be soon.”

“You two may have the most civil divorce known to mankind.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“I don’t want to lose touch with Baxter,” she says. “He’s become family.”

He pats her on the back. “Thanks, Mrs. G. You all have always made me feel like family.”

“Because you are, sweetie.”

There is a knock on the door, and I open it to see Aunt Jessica.

Earlier, my mom was telling Baxter about this place in Monroe City where they sell moonshine, and he wanted to try some.

She called my Aunt Jess to bring us some to-go drinks so he could try some.

She picked up Aunt Connie on her way over.

“Here you go,” Aunt Jessica says. “I’ve got a few different flavors.”

“How much do I owe you?” My mom asks.

“Nothing. My treat.” She beams at Baxter. “I’m Jessica. You must be Baxter. It’s good to finally meet you.”

Aunt Connie has met him, and she greets him with a “hello.”

“You too,” Baxter returns to Aunt Jess. “Thanks for picking up the drinks. River only has shitty beer.”

My jaw drops in mock affront, and Aunt Jess continues, “No worries. How long are you in town?”

“Until Sunday. We have a thing where I’m going to meet all of River’s friends, and then River is going to drive me to see my family. From there, I’ll go to my next duty station.”

“Do you know where your next duty station will be?” Aunt Connie questions.

“Yes. They’re sending me back to Iraq,” Baxter answers.

Aunt Jess asks, “How many times have you been there?”

Baxter looks down at the floor. “Three times.”

“Wow,” Aunt Jess murmurs.

Sensing he doesn’t want to talk about it, Aunt Connie changes the subject. “So, have you met Auggie yet?”

“No, he hasn’t,” I cut in, giving Baxter time to get back into the right headspace. “I’m surprised he hasn’t been over yet.”

It’s only been a day, but he had texted me last night saying he was going to sit down with Melissa and ask her to move out. He didn’t text me after, so I’m hoping that went well.

I’m pleased to hear he’s moving in the right direction. Throughout the week, he has hinted that he would like me to give him another chance. Asking her to move out is a step in the right direction.

“Don’t you think it would be good to introduce Auggie and Baxter before the party?” my mom asks.

“I was planning on it. I guess he’s been busy.” I don’t want to say anything to the moms about him asking Melissa to move out. That’s his news.

Speak of the devil. I can see through the front door’s window that Auggie’s waiting outside. I let him in and notice that he’s taking in the changes since the last time he was here. He must have realized the moms were here after seeing their vehicles in the driveway.

I start, “Hey, Aug. This is Baxter. Baxter, this is Auggie.” Baxter walks over to us and holds his hand out to Auggie, who shakes it.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Auggie says. “River has told me all about you. Thanks for taking care of her when I wasn’t there.”

“It really wasn’t hard. This girl is tough as nails.” Baxter wants to say something else, but I know he won’t, not in front of our mothers.

Auggie looks at me. “Yeah, she is. It was nice to finally meet you, but I need to borrow River for a minute to talk about one of our cases. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll be over to help with some of the other things that need to be done.”

“No problem. I have my hands full with these three.” Baxter jabs his hand over his shoulder at the three mothers watching our exchange. “And if you want to thank me, bring me some good beer tomorrow. Our girl bought me shitty beer.”

“Will do.” Auggie smirks.