New Ground

The next two days were spent getting acclimated to their new lives. Bank accounts were set up and all the details of living under new names complete with proper documents were finished. Summers had gone with Daryl to get hiking boots and the two of them spent Sunday hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Daryl hated it at first. He was hot, tired, and he could feel blisters forming on his feet despite his new expensive socks and boots. The only thing that kept him going was his stubborn refusal to be bested by Summers who just kept on trucking up the damn rocky pathway like he was walking down a street.

His legs were screaming for a rest and Daryl finally gasped out, "Need a break".

Summers grinned, "Sure". He got off the path and sat down on one of the rocks strewn all over the mountain.

Daryl sat down gratefully. He drank water and ate jerky and began to look at his surroundings. He had been too busy watching his feet trying to avoid being tripped by roots and rocks. He would just glance up occasionally to see Summers move nimbly through the rocks like a damn goat.

They weren't at the top yet but they were high enough for him to notice how much cooler it was up here. The trees and brush had thinned out and it was more open up here. He stood up so that he could get the full effect of the view. It was like being on top of the world and he could see slightly lower mountain ranges that seemed to go on forever.

"It's amazing isn't it? This open areas are called the balds. You get great views from up here." Summers stood up and stretched. "You ready to go?"

They hiked along the ridge lines for miles enjoying the cool air and the quiet of the wilderness. Daryl was glad that Summers wasn't much of a talker. Someday I'm bringing Carol and Sophia up here and we'll camp out and watch the stars come out one by one.

Eventually they turned around and went back to the Subaru. Daryl eased himself into the passenger seat and debated looking at his feet. He decided against it. "Thank you, I guess Mark will need to get out and hike around these mountains every chance he can. It's the only place he can be who he really is."

Merle had spent most of the day at his bookstore. "I just wanted to look it over when nobody was there. Read for a while and then took a walk around the town. Nice place."

Merle's Day

Merle was at the bookstore early on Monday morning. He had the coffee going when his two employees got there. Christina Alston showed up fifteen minutes early. Maybe forty? Her smooth brown skin didn't give too many clues to her age. Tall, thin, wearing glasses, Ms. Alston looked like a middle-aged African-American schoolteacher. It was her voice that caught his interest. Rich and resonant and full of all the right words but there was a slight lilt to it that told him that this woman might possible have a sense of humor.

Glenn Rhee showed up on time looking a little worse for wear as a twenty something should on a Monday morning. Glenn was a part time student at the local college and he handled all the bookkeeping. Glenn cheerfully gave him the bad news that the bookstore was in the red and had been so for months, "Print is dead, might as well close now and save your money."

Christie scowled at Glenn which made Merle like her even more, "Print isn't dead. Some people like books. The store isn't making money because it can't compete with the chain book stores."

Merle decided that the two of them were raining on his parade. "Maybe we should talk about what changes need to take place. Like I lose you two Debbie downers and hire two cute coeds to dress up the place.

Glenn gave a lengthy review of all the expenses with running a book store. Way too much information, short round."

Christie interrupted after five minutes, "Shut the hell up, Glenn." Such a way with words. Probably go a master's degree and the best she can do is "Shut the hell up?"

Glenn shut up which Merle appreciated. "Ms. Alston, do you have any suggestions?"

"I'm Christie. I am summer help. I teach American Literature at Carver High School here in town. I work summers to avoid my children who are seventeen and therefore are so much smarter than I am. I a teacher not an entrepreneur, so my ideas might not be worth much."

"I want your suggestions." I have a few of my own. Just let me review the guidelines on sexual harassment before I say anything more.

She favored him with a smile that made him want to see that smile again. "This store is in the wrong place. A strip mall is no place for a book store. It should be downtown where there is foot traffic. The rent is too high here and there is no room for anything but shelves of books and a few chairs. We're not selling fast food; we're peddling books. People who buy books want to talk about the book with other people. Our target group is older, well-educated or well-read because you can be one and not the other, and who have enough money to buy books." Merle Dixon thinks she is a fucking know it all. Michael Reynolds wants to take her to dinner and listen to her all night long. Both of them want to fuck her.

Glenn nodded agreement, "You need more room and lower rent. You could buy one of those stores downtown that got put out of business by chain stores."

I want this bookstore gig to work out. I like Glenn and Christie. I'm going to listen. "Glenn, I want you to go downtown and find five locations to put the store. Our lease is up this month anyway. I want photos, real costs to operate a store in that area, square footage, and all the info that you can find. Come back tomorrow morning with all that data and we'll go over it." Maybe I have watched a little much television. I quite fancy Michael Reynolds, entrepreneur.

Glenn looked startled, but he gathered up his electronic toys and departed like a man on a mission.

Merle got both of them a cup of coffee. "Call me Mike or Michael. You and I are going to talk today. Talk about books and you can tell me why you want to avoid your children."

"Michael, I love my children with all my heart, but I like talking about books with adults in the summer. Jada and James are going to be seniors next year. They spend their time freaking out because they don't know what they want to do in life. I need a break from all that teenage angst."

"I'm forty-five and I don't know what I want to do in life. Do you?" I know I don't want to go back to prison. I know that I want to sit here and drink coffee with you. Can we shower together? With lots of beautifully scented body wash? That's for me, you already smell fucking wonderful.

The smile again. "Some days I think I do. Some days I don't have a clue."

Daryl's Day

Dale had caterpillar eyebrows and had definite ideas about Daryl's role in Horvath Construction. Dale didn't need anyone to wheelbarrow cement; he needed someone to run the home renovation section. He already had Abraham in charge of the new construction. Daryl was sent home to change into khaki slacks and a polo shirt and then he and his tape measure went to do an estimate on a kitchen renovation. If only Shane and Billy Bob could see me now. I must have made the team.

Jacqui Prescott ushered him into her home, a large brick house in an older part of town. "Come on in." She led him toward the back of the house to a cramped and ugly kitchen. "Do you have a magic wand to turn this pumpkin into a Cinderella kitchen?" How about a construction crew and a barrel full of money?

Daryl took another look at the room. His karma sucked. He would be expected to take this space and turn it into one of those sterile nightmares. If his stars somehow aligned and he could be with Carol again? She might forgive him for dumping her like yesterday's trash, but she would never forgive him for creating a modern monstrosity in this graceful old home.

"Do you like to cook? Like to spend a lot of time in your kitchen? Tell me what you want here."

Jacqui Prescott smiled at him, "Why don't we sit down with a cup of coffee and talk about this house? It is a hundred years old and I bought it two years ago. I never had the money to renovate the kitchen. My brother was a chef. He would complain about this kitchen when he visited me. He died suddenly a few months ago and he left me some money. I would to take that and create a kitchen that Samuel would have liked. Can you do that, Mr. Reynolds?" Jacqui handed Daryl a cup of great smelling coffee.

Daryl sat down at the kitchen table and listened to Jacqui for a while and he wrote down a few notes. Then he got up with his tape measure and made some measurement and then pounded on a few walls. "I'm coming back tomorrow with a few ideas. I'm thinking if we took this wall down and opened up the space that would help. You want a real pantry right?" She nodded.

"The outside of the house is brick. See this wall? How about if we used old brick here. We could use it to display your antique Fiesta dishware. We'll take out those windows and put in larger ones. Make it brighter in here." You'd like this kitchen, Carol. It won't be cookie cutter. It will be as warm and inviting as Jacqui Prescott is.

They walked around the space and talked some more and when Daryl left he took with him some cookies that Jacqui had made. I need to stay busy. The walls just start coming in on me when I sit down. This kitchen will be a lot of work, but we can make some magic without a magic wand.

I'll let the customer decide if they want warm and inviting or cold and sterile.

Carol

Carol sat down on her front porch to watch the August evening flow from twilight to darkness. Sophia and Carl were watching television in the living room. Andrea and Carl were visiting here in North Carolina while Rick was taking some sort of training in Quantico.

Andrea stepped out on the porch. "It's cooling down."

"How are you feeling?" Andrea had announced her pregnancy not long after she finished law school. She complained continually of nausea and how this not even here baby complicated her life. Andrea is so excited about this baby. She is practically glowing.

"About like you." Guess I can't blame my pregnancy on the stress of finishing law school. I could sue the condom company for selling a defective product. This baby complicates my life but I love he-her already. Abandoned and knocked up. "I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf. / I've eaten a bag of green apples, / Boarded the train there's no getting off."

"Then you are feeling better? Did you talk to Rick this evening?"

"I haven't been sick all day. Rick's talking about taking a job in Virginia? What do you think?" Andrea sat down on a rocking chair. "The starting salary is twice what Rick makes in Atlanta."

Carol eased the sleeping puppy off her lap, "That sounds good. You can practice law in Virginia as well as Georgia. Let's take Muffin for a walk."

They walked the mile to the main road and back talking and laughing. Muffin made enough deposits along the way to convince Carol that he was good for the night. Both women paused to appreciate the sight of the white farmhouse with its wraparound front porch set well back from the road. How long will I live here before I stop wanting to share it with Daryl? Even if he is a cowardly asshole who broke up with me by text message.

Carol shut the gate behind them, "Let's go to the beach tomorrow. Rick has another month at Quantico and the kids have two weeks until school starts. I start my job at the bank in a few weeks. I can rent a beach house big enough for us and even Muffin can go." Adulthood sucks, it really does. Let's become beach bums? Drink margaritas and listen to Jimmy Buffett. Okay, virgin margaritas will be wild and crazy enough. My standards for wild and crazy are pretty low.

"Who is this woman who inhabits Carol's body? Impulse vacation? Are the pregnancy hormones making you a little cray-cray?" Andrea went up on the porch and plopped back in a rocker. Not crazy, just want to make the most of my life. Spent too much time being afraid, from now on I do what I want to do.

"We're pregnant but not helpless. We can get to Sunset Beach in four or five hours. We'll be able to take long walks along the beach in the morning and the evening. The kids would love it. I have already paid for it. My treat. You let me cry on your shoulder after Daryl left. You listened to be rant and rave my way through all that. I want a vacation from serious driven Carol. I want to have some fun." Carol sat back down in her own rocker and Muffin begged until she picked him up. He snuggled up against her and went back to sleep.

Andrea snickered, "Look what happened the last time you had fun." No complaints about the fun or getting pregnant. I did what I wanted to do.

"We're going to have babies next summer. You're going to be living in Virginia. We might not get this chance again." Babies don't travel well. They poop and pee at really inconvenient times. They don't like change except when it involves their diaper at two o'clock in the morning.

"Let's do it. I'll call Rick and tell him we're leaving in the morning."

Two weeks later Carol hugged and kissed Carl and Andrea goodbye as they left to return to Atlanta. Rick was taking the job in Virginia. Andrea was going to pack up everything in Atlanta and put it in storage until they bought a house in Virginia.

Andrea hugged her, "Call me every night. We'll be back for Thanksgiving. If you need anything, call me. I'm pregnant, not helpless".

Carol and Sophia waved goodbye as Andrea and Carl drove off. Carol wiped back her tears. Andrea, I am going to miss you so much.

AN

Old Appalachian superstition. If your feel itch, then you are going to walk on "New Ground", that means to travel to new place. Our characters are in new surroundings and that is beginning to change who they are.

It's a filler chapter for sure. Merle-Michael is trying to save his bookstore and negotiate a relationship with an intelligent, well-educated woman of color. It's a stretch for Merle.

Daryl-Mark have found the Appalachian Trail and it will become his escape from his "Beige Hell". He has a job that give his something creative to do and will keep him busy. He'll regain his snark, but he's still mopey right now.

Carol has found a new home and is starting a new life. Carol was married to Ed so by comparison having only her heart broken by Daryl was a step up. Getting dumped by Daryl was painful but she is through the ranting and raving. She is determined to enjoy her life and her new baby. The pregnancy quotation was from Sylvia Plath.

I love Sunset Beach, North Carolina. So Carol takes a beach vacation. She isn't sitting around weeping over Daryl… but she looks at her house and wishes he was there.

Going to be a time jump in the next chapter.

Hope you like this chapter. It was slow going.

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