The Magnolia Cafe(5)

A rosy glow of the morning light filtered into her room. The same view she’d woken up to her entire life. The same quilt on the same twin bed, the same lace curtains hung over the windows. Her desk that used to hold homework, now spilled over with bookwork from the restaurant. Her old stereo had been replaced with a small MP3 player and speakers, mostly because she needed the room on top of her dresser to stack up yet more files and printouts from work.

The bedroom walls were a faded yellow now. She kept thinking she’d change that, but really, when did she have the time for something as superfluous as painting her room? She only used the room for crashing out in exhaustion anyway.

She needed an attitude adjustment, she knew that. Another day feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to change anything. It just wasted her time and made her annoyed at herself.

Listen to the birds. They are exuberantly greeting the day. Learn from them.

She leaned over to the bedside table and slipped her journal out of the drawer. The journal was a brightly colored flowered notebook. She was writing in it with her favorite fountain pen and bright pink ink. She scoured the stores and searched online for just the right notebooks for her journals. Fountain pens and expensive journals were the two extravagances she allowed herself. To her they were much more exciting than new shoes or designer purses. She obsessively coordinated the ink color with the cover of each journal. She had her favorite fountain pens, always with a fine nib, and too many bottles of ink to count. An entire box of journals were hidden in the back of her closet dated back to the year she turned thirteen. Sometimes she thought they were the only reason she was still sane. If anyone would call her sane.

Keely opened the notebook and started writing. She carefully wrote the date, the day of the week, and the weather. Just as always. Her words flowed neatly across the lined pages. Then she wrote down the first thing that popped into her mind. I saw Hunt Robichaux again. He’s looking good.

~ * ~

Hunt stretched and looked out the window at the early morning daybreak. A warm pink color filtered upward from the horizon. He sat up and looked around the converted porch he was using for a room. Well, he’d stayed in much worse places in his travels. He’d never really had a place to call home, not even growing up. They’d moved constantly around town. Each time to a smaller and smaller house, finally to a beat up two room apartment where he slept on the couch and lived out of two cardboard boxes tucked into the corner. Natalie had had a closet sized room, and his parents a room not much bigger.

Until everything had fallen apart, that is. That crappy two bedroom walkup had looked like easy street compared to life after that.

He couldn’t really afford to stay here too long, though. All he knew how to do was shoot photos, and he was pretty darn good at it. He loved photography. Seeing just the right light. Capturing emotions on film, and now digitally.

Even though Natalie needed help, he wasn’t sure he could trade something he was talented at and proud of, for some nine-to-five job here in town. Besides, what the heck would he do? He wasn’t even sure he was that much help to Natalie, she certainly couldn’t rely on his parenting skills.

He knew his sister had been looking for a job, too. Things were tight around here without Kevin’s income. Hunt had some savings he’d be glad to share with his sister, but she was probably too proud to accept his help. She’d always been one to make her way on her own. Heck, so had he. Cut from the same cloth. It’s not like they really had anyone to depend on growing up. Their mom had been too sick, and their dad… well, he wasn’t much interested in raising kids, or supporting his family, for that matter. Hunt tried to hold it all together for Natalie and his mom, but he’d failed at that.

Spectacularly.

He rolled over on his side and stared out across the backyard. Kevin had cleared an area around the house and planted pecan trees down the slope of the hill out back. He’d fenced an area near the house and built the boys a tree house. All the things a dad should do for his kids, not that Hunt’s dad had done any of that.

It wasn’t fair Kevin was gone now, a really great dad, and the boys would grow up with barely a distant memory of him. Especially Jamie, at six years old he wasn’t going to have many memories to hold onto.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, grabbed his jeans, and tugged them on. It still surprised him he was back in Comfort Crossing, something he vowed would never happen.

A fleeting picture of Keely flashed through his mind, how she’d looked last night. Tired, but good. He’d always thought she’d go off and travel the world. She must have decided to stay here in Comfort Crossing after Katherine’s accident. He wondered if she ever regretted that decision.