Page 27 of Miles. Alton & The 9:04 (Modern Mail Order Brides #19)

W ednesday morning arrived with a clash of ideologies. One, the peaceful morning Mae had enjoyed came to an abrupt halt with the arrival of a backhoe and a burly man name Jep. He knocked on the door and asked for a refill in his coffee carafe so he could get started digging.

“Diggin what...Jep?”

“Holes for the foundations,” he said, nodding his head. “You do have just plain coffee right, none of that fairy wing shit that came from the asshole of a monkey that looks like a cat on the side of a mountain in Tibet?”

“Sir, if I am to be honest, you can go to the nearest gas station and get your own coffee,” she said, frowning at the man.

“Thom always has coffee ready for me when I work for him,” Jep said.

“I have two weeks. Today, I have to dig the holes for the foundations. Tomorrow, mark and lay the rebar. Friday, Thom wants the concrete poured. Next Friday, we have to start framing. It is a fast job and a man needs coffee. Can I have some coffee?”

“Leave the carafe. I'll refill it once I brew you a pot,” she said, frowning at him.

“Hey, you his girl?”

“I'm Thom's wife,” she said, squinting at him.

“You don't say! I never thought that train-collecting noob would ever settle down,” Jep said. “You collect trains too?”

“No, I drive them,” she said, looking into the yard.

Dan the Survey Man had sprayed orange all over the ground, and she assumed this man would be digging the holes for the foundation for the barndominuim and the barn for her diesel engine.

“Well, that would explain us needing to lay railroad tracks,” Jep said.

“Did you know, we built this house in six months? Yep. Start to finish. Six months. Good house too. Solid. Good materials. Thom is a smart guy. He built it well. It sits on a cross plain, so in the Summer, you can open the front and back door and the wind will blow through and keep the place cool. Yep. Nice house. Real solid.”

In the other room, she heard her phone ringing. She pointed at it, nodding to Jep as she closed and locked the back door. Once the coffee was done, she'd fill the carafe and give it to the man. She made a mental note to have the coffee ready for the next couple of days as she picked up her phone.

“Mary Weston,” she said without looking at the number or who was calling.

“What the hell is going on, Mae Weston?” the deep voice yelled. “I called your office and was informed you no longer work there. Did you get fired?”

“No, Daddy, I resigned on Monday,” she told him.

“What do you mean, resigned? You quit your job?”

“Yes. I walked in, took my degrees off the wall, my name plate off the desk, and my trains from the shelves, handed in my letter of resignation, and I walked out,” she told him.

“Child, that was a good job. I can't believe you quit such a good job that was almost made for you,” Rae Weston snarled in the line.

“Daddy, see here is where you and I always clash,” she said.

“You have yet to ask what those people were doing to me to make me leave the job.

All you're thinking about is you're no longer being able to brag that your daughter worked on the 11th floor with the bigwigs. It is never about me, Daddy, is it? It is always about you.”

“Mae, hold on a minute there,” he said. “I'm not understanding why you just walked into your job and quit.”

“Evidently those people were mistreating me, Daddy, and I decided I didn't want to be there anymore. Therefore, I quit,” she said.

“And what are you going to do with yourself? I mean, your Mamma and I went without helping pay for your college, and you just quit your job?”

“You did what parents who are able should have done,” Mae told him. “I have paid you back several times over. I have sent you and Mamma on several all-expense paid vacations, given your expensive watches, and more. Daddy, this is my time. I am looking at taking care of me.”

“How are you going to take care of yourself? I mean, do you have another job offer, Mae? I am at a loss for words here,” Rae Weston grumbled on the phone.

“I'm going to take a year, maybe more. I'm starting a garden, maybe have a few babies, Daddy, I don't know. For the first time in my life, I am in a position where I don't have to have the answers or a solution, nor do I need to sit and plan out the next five years of my life,” she told him.

“What do you mean, babies? You seeing someone that we don't know about?”

“I married someone you don't know about, and I moved from Chicago to Alton,” she told him. “In a week or so, we will come that way so you can meet my husband.”

“Hold the hell up! How are you going to disrespect me by marrying some man who wouldn't come to this house and look me in my eye? What kind of controlling, misogynist, have you tied yourself to that didn't have the respect to ask me for your hand in marriage?”

Mae had been through this huff and puff before with her father when she did bring a man home to meet the family. The experience had taught her to never do that again, which is why she’d opted to marry Thom and move on with her life.

“Daddy, I'm grown,” she told him. “I don't need your permission to do anything where my life is concerned, as you can see. And for the record, he wanted to come meet you and ask for my hand, but I chose to do it differently.”

“And why did you feel like we didn't deserve to meet this man?”

“Because you're the most unhappy, bitter, and resentful person I know,” she told him.

“Fae is miserable. Her husband is miserable.

Their kids are miserable. My mother is miserable living all these years with you, and in turn, you've made Jae into a bag of self-doubting, insecure, overcompensating parent who is in dire need of therapy. I quit the job, and I'm quitting you.”

Rae Weston held the phone. “What do you mean you're quitting me?”

“Daddy, when I walked out of that building, I didn't have a plan in mind,” she told him.

“I went home, looked around that stupid apartment, and didn't want to be there either. I loaded my suitcases, grabbed my plants, and started driving. I arrived here on Monday evening. He married me on Tuesday morning, and today I am going to look for a reading chair to go by the living room window.”

“You still didn't explain the quitting me part,” Rae asked.

“The weight of being your daughter, living up to, or just trying to meet your expectations was killing me inside,” she told him.

“I'm not going to become my mother. I'm not going to continue to work a job I hate like Fae, so I can stay in your favor. I’m not going to fall over myself to be a better parent because as a father, well, there were areas of improvement where you’re concerned.

You did what you knew how and we are all here because of it.

I am also grateful to you for showing me what to look for in a husband and I found it.

However, I am stepping away. I am starting something new and I wake up every day with a smile. I like smiling. I'm happy.”

“Happy don't pay bills,” Rae snapped.

“No, but my husband does, and I'm not poor by any means,” she said. “Will you be happy for me, Daddy?”

“Happy is for children.”

“Your children are not happy, Daddy. I have a chance to be at peace with my life choices, and you don't even want that for me.

You'd rather have me at your table each Sunday, miserable, filled with ulcers, so you can call the switchboard every Wednesday and brag to your slag friends about your successful daughter,” Mae said, feeling tired.

“I'm quitting you, Daddy, and I'm going to go and be happy.”

“Mae?”

“Daddy, I'll call and let you know when we're coming to Chicago to get my things,” she told him. “You can meet my husband then. Love to Mamma.”

Mae ended the call and checked the coffee. She filled the carafe for Jep, then grabbed her keys. Thinking about it, if she found a chair, it wouldn't fit in her Audi, and she went inside to get the keys to the Subaru.

“Haha,” she said aloud. “Whodda thunk?”

For good measure, she called Megan, who answered on the second ring. “Hey girl, I'm going to look for a reading chair. You wanna ride along?”

“Heck, yeah!”

“Send me Jiminy's address and I'll swing by and grab you,” Mae said.

A moment later, the address came through, and she set off.

Ready for a fun adventure, she and Megan explored sides streets and out of the way shops, finding treasures for both their homes.

Pleased with her findings, at a local market Mae picked up a few apples which gave her an idea for a wonderful dessert.

She dropped Megan at home with her goodies, making her way to add the chairs in front of the living room window and start dinner.

Mae had never considered herself the domestic type, but the was feeling good.

The house was a clean palate to decorate as she joyfully created an environment where they would raise their family.

A wayward hand went to her stomach, thinking in the near future, Thom would come home to not only a pie coming from the oven, but her having one in the oven herself.

The smile remained on her face when her phone rang, and it was her brother's ringtone.

“Hey, Jae,” she said, picking up the phone. Mae found herself humming as she arranged the chairs, adjusted the plants, and then centered a small tea table in between the seats. The cute ottoman she had found went well with the chairs and created the perfect reading nook, along with the lamp.

“Hey back,” Jae Weston said. “Daddy said you quit your job, got married, and moved. He said to Alton, so I assume you married that dude?”

“I married that dude,” she repeated.

“Mae, I dunno, you went about this really different,” he said.

“And you brought Sherryl to meet the family, and she refused to speak to you for three weeks after,” Mae said. “You had to propose to win your woman back. I wasn't going to expose him to my family for that kind of ridicule and nonsense.”

“So, you married him first to make sure he didn't get away,” Jae asked, laughing.

“No Jae, I married him because he's good, and honest, and loving, and giving. He makes me laugh and feel at ease, but more importantly, I can see this life with him of no fighting over stupid shit,” she said.

“There are meals we share where we don't talk. There are meals we share and discuss the meaning of the universe. Even now, I’m making his favorite pie.

His Aunt in Kansas showed me how to make this, and I'm even doing the crust from scratch.”

“Kansas? You went to Kansas to meet his family but won't bring him to meet yours? Better yet, when can I come down and see where you live? Is it a trailer?”

Mae laughed. “We're working on it.”

“Working on what? The trailer?”

“No, getting things ready for the family visit,” she said. “I'm in a level place in my head and my heart and this feels good.”

“You're embarrassed about us, aren't you? Admit it. You're trying to make sure that man is so in love with you that when he meets your family, it won't matter because you're already married,” Jae said into the line.

“Damn straight! You bunch of weirdos aren't going to ruin this for me,” she said, laughing. “We'll talk soon. Love ya.”

“Love you too, sis,” he told her, ending the call.

Mae peered out the back door to see the two very large, even pits in the backyard. Jep said he would be back tomorrow to add in rebar before they poured in the concrete. She hummed as she milled about the house, dusting and adding touches here and there.

Barefoot and pulling a pie from the oven when Thom came through the backdoor, she offered him a wide smile.

“Pie!” she said, arching her brows.

“Pie,” he repeated, looking at her. She placed the pie on the counter on a trivet, still humming as she made her way to the living room.

Thom followed along behind her, noticing the chairs and the ottoman. She snipped dead leaves off plants, turning to smile at him again. “How was your day?”

“Not as good as yours,” he said, smiling at her. “Mary, you look so at peace.”

“Hell, I am,” she said. “I used the Subaru and picked up Megan; we bounced about, and I found those chairs for seventy-five bucks. My Daddy called. I told him I was married and moved, and I was quitting him.”

Thom blinked several times. “I'm sorry, what?”

“I told him I was quitting him, just like I did my job. He no longer has a say in my life, and I feel lighter,” she said, smiling again.

“I don't know if this is love or me just loving being with you and being your wife, but I'm truly content.

I'm just going over all the things that I don’t have to do any more and now I am here with you.

What is next for me, I don't know, and for the first time in my over-planned life, I don't need to know. I can breathe. And I made your favorite pie from scratch.”

“Yes, you did,” he said, looking at her. “I don't know if it's love either, but whatever it is, it feels good as hell. I love coming home to it, and I love coming home to you.”

The oven dinged and she held up a finger. She pulled out a meatloaf covered in tomato sauce, two baked potatoes, and oven roasted green beans. Thom stood in the kitchen doorway looking at the meal and the woman. His heart was full and the words he’d been holding tumbled out without prompting.

“Mary, I love you,” he blurted out. “In my wildest dreams, what I wanted in a relationship is not even close to what you're giving me, and I'm simply overwhelmed here. Thank you.”

“I at least thought I would get an ‘I love you’ from those roasted lamb chops with the risotto, and I get an ‘I love you’ for meat loaf? I am going to have to up my sex game with you, Sir!” she said, frowning at him.

All of it felt amazing. They sat at the table, having dinner and sharing snippets of their day with each other. Mae told him of the conversation with her brother, which led to the conversation of her sister-in-law Sherryl meeting the family for the first time and the many laughs which came next.

However, two weeks from Friday, Thom found it to be no laughing matter when he met the family in person.