Chapter 12

January 23, 2015

“Call from Natalie,” the woman’s pleasant voice announced over the car’s speakers.

“Hi Natalie.”

“Good morning Boss.” She chuckled.

“Grrrrrrrrrr.”

Continuing as if Jessica had not expressed her mock displeasure at being call ‘Boss, ‘ Natalie asked, “Where are you?”

“I’m on Three Ninety-Five just south of Bakersfield, looking for the signs for Highway Ninety-Nine north.

“Not I-Five?”

My trusty Nav told me to stay the heck away from LA, so it routed me around.”

“So, what time did you leave Indian Wells this morning?”

“Merissa and I walked out the door together at six-thirty. She had a breakfast meeting at the college.”

“How did you and she get along? She seemed very nice when I called her about your travel itinerary.”

“She’s wonderful. We got along great. She’s probably mid-fifties – a lot younger than Jacob’s brother and a bundle of energy. She has a very nice house on a hill overlooking the desert. It’s very quiet out there. We went for a walk out her back door into the desert the first evening and without all the lights around, the stars ... magnificent, sort of like how you described the stars over your ranch. I think you’d love it there...”

Natalie was quiet for a few seconds, probably thinking about the ranch in Montana. Kate was beginning to think she’d said the wrong thing reminding Natalie of what she’d left behind when she finally said, “I hope to get a chance to meet her someday, and I’d love to see the desert.”

“Natalie, I think you’d love the beauty and solitude. Yesterday after we got done with the interviews she took me hiking in a desert preserve not far from where she lives. I can see the attraction for people to live there, especially in the winter when many of the plants are in bloom. It’s pretty amazing to see a barrel cactus covered in pink flowers. Although I guess summers here are pretty warm with lots of triple digit days. She says many people get out of town because of the heat.”

“Maybe you could send some of that heat up this way. It’s been a little on the chilly side around here.”

Kate laughed. “That from a girl from Montana!”

“Hey you get spoiled in a hurry in California.”

“Not missing the snow?”

“Sometimes I think about the solitude and the calm that comes with a fresh blanket of snow, but the problem is that you just can’t sit like some snow bunny by the fire in a lodge – you’ve got to go out in it and take care of the animals or start up the vehicles to make sure they start the next day, or bring in the wood for the fire ... always something ... but still sometimes I do miss it...”

“Natalie, maybe someday you can take me there?”

“Jessica I think I see a road trip coming up but not for a while yet...”

“Yeah, I understand.”

They were both quiet for a bit and Natalie finally asked, “So how’d it go yesterday with the scholarship applicants?”

“I should have lowered my expectations.”

“Oh?”

“We had six finalists who looked pretty good on paper, but we ended up only selecting three for scholarships.”

“And?”

“I hardly know where to begin – three of them were disasters. One guy was so obviously stoned that he could hardly put a sentence together much less convince us that he should go to a four-year university on our dime, one woman had such a sense of entitlement that she acted like she would be doing us favor accepting the scholarship and the third, well, he was over thirty minutes late and acted like it was no big deal.”

“I thought they had to go through some sort of a screening process.”

“They do and Merissa apologized over and over and assured me the vetting process usually worked much better. Students apply and get nominated by their professors. Somewhere along the line things went sideways. I shudder to think what kind of idiots they have for professors if those three were considered good candidates.”

“How about the other three?”

“Good kids all. They were appropriately dressed, even though none of these students is well off financially. They did manage to show up on time, minus obvious excess piercings or tattoos ... were respectful, and they convinced us that they would be successful at a four-year school and eventually grow to be responsible adults. In fact the three chosen all had part-time jobs and still managed to excel academically, primarily in the sciences, although one young man was a gifted musician who brought his classical guitar and played compositions from Joaquin Rodrigo.”

“Rodrigo?” Natalie asked

“Yes, check YouTube ... I think between LeAnn Rimes and Darius Rucker...”

“Very funny ... and for such a high class broad how do you know so much about country music?”

“Well it seems that somewhere there’s a sheepskin that says I graduated from a school in Virginia.” Kate would have loved to tell her about the months spent in Tyler Texas and the classical guitar music that always played in the background at the café where she worked and the Saturday night jam sessions on campus where students covered a wide variety of country artists.

“Anyway,” and Kate started to sing, “I ain’t no high class broad, I’m just a product of my raising. I say, ‘hey ya’ll’ and ‘yee haw, ‘ and I keep my Christmas lights on, on my front porch all year long. And I know the words to every Bocephus song.”

Natalie burst out laughing and said, “Jessica, I think you better keep your day job!”

“You don’t think Gretchen Wilson might be worried?”

“No!”

Natalie paused, Kate thought she was checking her tablet, and finally she said, “So coming on to Bakersfield, that’s about two-hundred thirty miles from Indian Wells and you’ve been on the road for just under three hours. You’re making pretty good time.”

“I’ve had the cruise control set on eighty. So far no signs of troopers and in southern California I think ten over is pretty much the norm.”

“Plus I’m sure you could call Trooper Sergeant Candy...”

“That’s ‘Canady.’”

“And he’d be happy to put in a good word for you!”

“Stop!”

“Although I do think he kind of got the message the last time he just ‘happened to drop by, ‘ and you and Harrison were walking out of the house together looking all starry-eyed with your arms around each other.”

“We were not all ‘starry-eyed!’”

“Jessica, I know starry-eyed when I see it. Actually it’s kind of cute.” Natalie’s voice got serious. “Harrison’s not been this happy in years, although the last three days he’s been kind of mopey. Probably doesn’t have anything to do with your absence.”

“I talked to him already this morning. He didn’t sound ‘mopey.’”

Kate pictured Harrison with his arms around her. She had missed him. Since Christmas they had become a couple. Somehow it just seemed right but even though they lived next door their busy schedules prevented them from seeing each other as much as she wanted. Harrison, as the new teacher, felt compelled to start early and stay late and it seemed each night he had lesson plans to prepare and assignments to grade. Fortunately they now had the same early morning exercise schedule at the YMCA. Kate had given up her morning walks to be able to spend that time with Harrison. At the gym she also got her first look at the scars on his left leg where the terrible wound to his knee had been repaired. The doctors at the VA had told him that sooner rather than later he’d have to have that knee replaced. He’d never had the time to be on what he termed ‘the injured reserve list’ since his return from Afghanistan because of the ranch. Until he had that time – maybe on summer break, Harrison worked out hard especially in the pool.

Of course Harrison had ‘Dad’ and brother responsibilities but Kate was most always included, and since she and Natalie had cleared the air on Christmas their relationship had become a cross between sisters and best friends. Natalie no longer saw her as competition but as an ally in taking care of Harrison and Jenny. Jenny had also become her good friend and seemed to figure out that with three laps now in the offing that she could spread her time out equally.

There was also the fact that Harrison had two additional females living under his roof from Christmas until January ninth when Anya and Liza moved into their newly refurbished rental house. During those two weeks, they had also competed for his attention, and demanded to be part of the daily household activities. Kate had moved a table into the living room in her apartment where she insisted they go each evening to do homework once school started again. That gave Harrison and Natalie some space to get their own work done. Harrison was mostly amused by the attention, and Kate couldn’t really complain since it had been her idea to bring the two pretty teens home in the first place.

She and Harrison did make time for each other on weekends and those times were pretty special. Harrison was polite, considerate of her and a fantastic kisser! Kate’s body was telling her that it was time to move things along. It was just she had zero experience with the physical side of a relationship with a man, or for that matter the emotional part of a relationship. Harrison was six years older and had been married and Kate trusted him, but she was losing control. Finally she had a conversation with Maria.

One Wednesday when Maria was there cleaning, and the apartment was quiet with everyone else off at school, Marie made lunch and sat with Kate at the kitchen counter. They ate in silence for a few minutes, but once their soup and sandwiches were gone Maria looked at Kate and said, “Señor Harrison is very much in love with you.”

Surprised by Maria’s comment, Kate sipped her tea and simply nodded. He had not said anything but she thought she knew.

Maria continued, “And you Señorita Jessica are in love with him. Yes?”

Kate suddenly found herself on the verge of tears, and answered, “Yes ... I think so, but I’ve never been in love before, so how do I know?”

Maria smiled and patted her hand. “Do you know that even after many years together I can’t wait to see Tomás at the end of the day? I think you feel that way about Señor Harrison.”

Kate nodded and said, “I miss him dreadfully when we’re not together.” Her day brightened when he came in after school. These days if she was home, and not at some ‘important’ meeting, she would rush down the stairs as he drove up and grab him and kiss him as he got out of the truck. And most evenings they had dinner together as a family. It was those times she was happiest when they shared their day with the group around the table.

“And do you get... ‘Mariposas, ‘“ Maria pointed to her stomach, “here, when you see him?”

“Sí, ‘butterflies, ‘ all the time when I see him and when he smiles at me.” She got that feeling anytime he was around. “And when he holds me, or even just gives me a quick hug and a kiss on the top of my head, the ‘mariposas’ get very busy! But most of the time when he holds me I feel like melting.”

María laughed, “Señorita Jessica, qué estan enamorados!”

Kate smiled and said, “Maria, you’re right I guess I’m in love, but it’s very confusing.”

“Sí?”

“I’ve been on my own and independent for a long time and, well ... the loss of control is unsettling.”

“Being in love means you must ... trust the other. You can trust Señor Harrison. He is un buen hombre.”

“But what about the other...” Kate blushed, “I have no experience.”

Maria took her hand. “You may trust Señor Harrison in that too.”

Abruptly Kate was brought back to the present when Natalie said, “Hello, Earth to Jessica. Are you still with me?”

“I’m here ... just got a little distracted.”

“Must have been some distraction. I’ve been chattering away about all this important stuff and no response. I figured I’d lost you - maybe you’d driven into a cellular dead spot, now it turns out the dead spot may be between your ears. I hope you’re at least paying attention to your driving.”

“I’m sorry Natalie. What were you saying?”

“Harrumph, you can just wait until you get here. So you’ll be home in what? About three hours?”

“The trip computer says I’ve got two hundred-fifty miles to go, so that’s about right as long as I push it a bit more and I don’t get stuck behind any more trucks.”

“Right and no troopers, though blonde babe in a silver BMW would probably get off with no more than a warning!”

“Enough!”

“You don’t have the top down do you?”

“Of course not, at eighty it would muss the ‘blonde babe’s’ hair.” She laughed

“I do hate to change the subject from your travels with BMW, but I’ve got to get off to class sometime this morning.”

“Oh right, it’s Friday, Spanish class with Señora Montoya.”

“Hola, Señorita Jefe Jessica. Como Estás?”

“Hola, Señorita Natalie. Muy bien gracias, y tú? And knock off the ‘Jefe’ stuff!”

“Yes boss.” Natalie replied.

“Grrrrrrrrrr!”

“Okay, okay I think this is where I came in.”

“You’re probably right. Speaking of day jobs, maybe you better fill me in on what’s up today.”

“Before we talk about that, I want to ask you about the unclaimed fourth scholarship.”

“Okay, what about it?”

“Any chance it might be transferred to San Joaquin Delta College? I know a pretty deserving student.”

“You’re not eligible until next year and you’d have to go to school at Cerro Coso Community College in Indian Wells.”

Natalie laughed. “I think the commute might be a little tough. Anyway, it’s not for me. There’s a girl in my biology class who’s working on completing her studies in May, but she’s struggling financially. Her dad lost his job a couple of months ago and by then it was too late to apply for a scholarship for this year. She’s brilliant and might just be the one who discovers the cure for cancer one day.”

“That smart huh? Wonder why she didn’t get a scholarship to a four year school right out of high school?”

Natalie paused and then said, “Jessica, she told me about that. She was pretty much of a misfit in high school, barely scraping along, and her home life sounds pretty terrible too, but once she got to the college she ended up with a student advisor who cared and she also discovered that learning, especially the sciences was fun.”

“Sounds like an ideal candidate for a scholarship, but she needs the money now. How should we handle it?”

Natalie was pleased Jessica deferred to her. “How about the ‘Jessica Brandt Fund for Broke Students?”

She heard Jessica laugh. “How about the Jacob Brandt fund for academic excellence?”

“That does sound better.”

“Okay, let’s make it happen. Set up a meeting with Joe Foss and Alicia Estrada for next week. Also get with whoever handles scholarships at the college and find out what they need and how they can support something like this.”

“Okay Jessica, and I think I know the person at the college to contact.”

“Great, and set up a meeting with this girl. What’s her name?”

“Laurie Friese.”

“If need be we’ll meet at the college. I’m thinking of a direct payment to the school for next quarter’s tuition and maybe a stipend to her for books and commuting expenses. That sound okay?”

Natalie was quiet for a few moments. “Thanks Jessica. You know sometimes you’re pretty amazing.”

“Only sometimes?” she teased.

“Okay, most of the time.”

“That’s better. So now we have that problem solved what else have you got for me?”

“You’ll be happy to know that I haven’t added anything to your calendar for today and tomorrow is Saturday so you’re pretty much free for the weekend. Mr. Willetts has asked me to pencil in dinner and a movie on your calendar for tomorrow and he assured me he had already cleared that with you. Yes?”

“Yes. Mr. Willetts and I did discuss dinner and a movie. Any suggestions?”

“I’d say, ‘American Sniper’ is probably off the table. You should find some treacly chick flick to make him sit through, although it probably wouldn’t bother Harrison because when I ask him what movies you’ve seen together he doesn’t really know. You know you could just come back to the house after dinner. I’m having a ‘Firefly’ marathon. You two could just sit on the sofa as usual under the blanket and I would keep my eyes on the big screen!”

Kate laughed, “I’ll think about it.” The idea of being snuggled under the blanket pressed against Harrison as opposed to sitting in a movie theater appealed a great deal, and Natalie had a habit of getting ‘tired’ early. Kate smiled at the thought and then asked, “Anything else going on I need to know about?”

“Anya Netrebko called me yesterday afternoon and she said Lilia was released from the hospital a couple of days ago. They brought her home to their new little rental house on Fredrickson. That place is perfect for them. Anya says her mother’s doing so much better. She was in tears she was so happy and grateful for all you’ve done and how wonderful the house is. I suspect you might have had something to do with Jake Smith’s visits to the hospital and for his help hauling donated furniture to the house for the girls, and getting Lilia home and comfortable.”

“I ran into Jake on Christmas night at the truck stop café when I was running around trying to find gas and might have mentioned Lilia was in the hospital. He’s a nice guy and he knew Jacob.”

“Well the girls think he’s almost as nice as you.”

“And what about Harrison? What do they think about him?” Kate asked teasingly.

“Oh good grief, you’ve seen they both have crushes on Harrison even after living with him for a couple of weeks. Can’t imagine why.”

Kate smiled and then said, “He is pretty crushable.”

Natalie laughed. “Yes, and I think we were all relieved when Anya and Liza moved into that little house. Liza seemed to give Harrison an eyeful every time he turned around.”

“Maybe I need to have a talk with that young woman.”

“Too late. I already did. She claims it was all in fun. As if. Anyway she did admit that you were impossible to compete with especially in Harrison’s eyes. I think she did discover that she wants to be you when she grows up – she figures if it takes a Jessica Brandt to attract a man like Harrison, then that’s what she needs to strive for. So not only are you a role model for me but for a couple of teen girls.”

“Last time I checked you were still a ‘teen’ girl.”

“I haven’t been a teen girl in ages – no time for it. And anyway I’ll be twenty in a few months, if you and school don’t work me to death.”

“You knew it was a tough job when you signed on.” Kate replied in the same humorous vein. She was then glad that Natalie couldn’t see how her expression changed as she pictured how disappointed everyone would be if she was exposed as a fraud and sent to prison. She shook her head to clear that vision.

“And Jessica, Anya mentioned her eighteenth birthday is next Saturday and we’re invited to their home to celebrate. I told her we would be there and put it on your calendar.”

“Harrison too,” she asked.

“Well duh. We probably wouldn’t have been invited if I hadn’t agreed to bring Harrison!” They both laughed.

“Anything else?”

“I guess I should mention the guys at the VFW took up a collection and bought a three-year old Toyota SUV for Lilia. I figured Jake was behind that. Anyway, Jake then took the Subaru over to Wilson’s Garage and they did a top to bottom fix up and detail for free and then they gave it to Janine Rider. She’s a waitress over at the truck stop café. Jake said that she’s a single mom who desperately needed a reliable car.”

Kate smiled at the memory of Christmas night and her meeting with Janine and Jake. Then she asked, “Natalie, do you think we should send some money over to the VFW and to Wilsons to help with the costs?”

There was a long pause.

“Natalie?”

“Jessica not only are you my ‘Jefe’ but you’re also my friend, so take this as advice from a friend.”

“Okay...”

“I don’t know much about your net worth, but I get the impression that around here people think you might have more money than God.”

“Not hardly, but?”

“And, if every time some organization like the VFW or some business like Wilsons comes up with some money or service for people and then Jessica Brandt comes charging in with a check to reimburse them, what happens?”

“I think I see where you’re going with this...”

“Yeah, pretty soon the attitude is, let Jessica do it, or go ahead, Jessica will reimburse the cost. That’s not good for the community we want to have here. It’s like Father Xavier said last week at Mass when he asked for people to up their pledges for the church and school. ‘It’s not a sacrifice, unless it’s a sacrifice.’ Part of what makes a strong community is for people to work together to help others who aren’t so fortunate. On Christmas, Jessica Brandt could have hired a hall and paid a bunch of people to cook and serve and clean up and that would have let a lot of people enjoy Christmas evening with their families, but the fact they gave up something precious like their time to help others in our community is what counts.”