Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The rest of the weekend had gone off without a hitch. There were no more threatening phone calls. Dustin and Beth went away for the weekend on an overnight rendezvous up in Maine and Jenny came by Sunday for our weekly dinner and movie night. Everything was starting to settle again.

It was Monday morning, and I was ready to head to the bank and apply for my first loan. I had officially decided that it was time to act like an adult and not think it was weak to need help. Everyone gets loans. It is part of life. If you cannot afford it at the time, then you get a loan. Simple as that.

I left the loft at 9:30 since the store doesn’t open until one on Mondays, I had enough time to go to the bank and fill out all of the forms. I brought all of my financials with me in case there was something specific that they needed for the loan information.

When I stepped into the bank, I walked over to the direction of the offices and waited in the line for business accounts and loans. I was the only one there so in a matter of a couple moments I was in the office of Suzanne Cranston, and we were discussing the loan.

Suzanne was a little intimidating with her tall figure and high cheekbones. Her face looked like she had bitten too many lemons in her day and her attitude mirrored her face.

By the time we were done, Suzanne had informed me that it takes a couple of days for an answer but that we shouldn’t have any problems as long as my credit history is clear.

I didn’t bother to tell her I didn’t have any credit. She would see that when the report came back. No credit must be better then bad credit, right?

Leaving the office, I still felt my nerves on edge. Hoping and praying this loan would go through. I couldn’t afford for it not to since I needed the finances to pay for the rent and new inventory. I had enough right now to replenish the inventory, but the rent I couldn’t do. If I paid the rent, then I wouldn’t have the money to replenish the inventory.

Happy thoughts, I just had to think happy thoughts.

It was time to go and take a drive, and I knew just where I needed to go to clear my head.

Lake Arrowhead.

# # #

I left a note on the store window, letting everyone know that I would be closed for the day. It’s not like business is booming anyways. It would be good to get away from everything for the day. A little me time never hurt anyone.

Lake Arrowhead had been a place that Dustin brought me right after my parents passed away. It was our special place that we could go to and not worry about what life has in store for us. We would fish, bring picnics, and just enjoy each other’s company with the serenity of our environment. It is singlehandedly the most peaceful place on Earth and that is where I was headed.

As I started down the windy road that led to our deserted patch of land surrounding arrowhead, I realized that this was the first time I had actually gone up here by myself. Usually, Dustin would bring me here when we needed the relaxation and now he is growing up and making new memories with a life of his own.

I am now on my own. That thought hadn’t really sunk in until now. Even after my parents passed away, I had actually never thought of myself as truly being alone. I had always had Dustin and his parents. They were my second home.

          Now I was just the old friend that he was starting to grow out of. It is time for me to open my wings and start living. That’s probably why Dustin tried setting me up the other night with Sam.

          As I passed the cranberry bogs, I could see the woods in the background that surround the lake. It had been a while since we had gone down here. With the store having so much going on last year, I didn’t have time. Dustin had just been promoted to manager and he proposed to Beth during the summer last year. We had just started to drift apart.

          When I reached the mini dirt parking spot that led to the trail surrounding the lake, I parked my little Jetta and hopped out. Walking along the path definitely started to lift my spirits. It’s early spring and you can just smell and feel new life all around you here. Leaves from fall littered the ground, what were remaining anyways. green moss lined the edge where the pathway dropped to the water.

          The water here was so clear in the sunlight you could see the shiny pebbles in the bottom glistening like jewels in the sunlight. You could also see the different fish that were out during this season. From what I could tell so far there were some sun fish, perch, crappy, and another fish that I wasn’t too sure on. Each time when we came here, we would go down the path about a half mile from the parking spot and sit on the rocks that lined the water. There are two boulders that we would sit on and either fish or talk about what’s bothering us.

          Usually, Dustin would sit on the higher rock, due to my fear of heights (hey, I’m only 5’2” everything is high to me). Today it was time to face my fears and sit on the higher rock. It was only me today. Time to spread my wings and do daring things. Well just get on a rock that is only three feet off the ground. But hey you gotta start somewhere.

          As I arrived at the rocks, I rested my purse on the lower rock and climbed onto the larger one. When I was finally seated (and drying the sweat from my face), I looked out onto the water and finally felt peace.

          About an hour later I started to really think about everything that had been going on. Here there were no stresses, no urgency. Here someone could think with a clear mind and not worry about being rushed.

          I thought about the loan, the rents, Dustin, Sam, just everything. Time started to escape me. Before I knew it, the sun was starting to set and there was a dark shade to the lake with all the trees that surround the little slice of heaven. Even in the dark and the natural sounds grew louder, the lake was still peaceful.

          I started to climb down the rock when I heard the sound of a truck barreling through the bogs. It had to be the Environmental Police. Damn. You were allowed to be here, you just needed a parking permit, and that was something Dustin always handled. My first freaking day out and I was already messing up.

          Thank you, life, for the reality check.

          When I came out to the clearing I realized my mistake right away. Slamming on his brakes and throwing the truck in park was no EVP it was Dustin himself.

          “Where the hell have you been?” Oh, he was pissed.

          “I’ve been here. What the hell is your problem. Why are you so pissed?” I was totally confused. Honestly, I had no idea. It’s not like we check in with each other on where we are going to be.

          “Why am I PISSED? WHY AM I PISSED?” Dustin was fuming, “Hmm. Let me think maybe because you started receiving threatening phone calls on Friday. Neglect to tell me by the way. Come Monday I finally find out and I try reaching you and you don’t answer. No one knows where you are. The store is closed, and you don’t have the decency to keep your god damn phone on you! Does that about sum it up for you?”

          “Listen D, I didn’t tell you Friday because you had other things on your mind, and I didn’t want to ruin your weekend. I had things to do for the store this morning and decided when I was done to take the day off and get away for a couple of hours. Now I appreciate you caring about me, but you are not my keeper. You have no right to stand there and berate me like I did something wrong. I had actually just started to relax until you come barging in!”

          Ok I knew he was just looking out for me. I just couldn’t deal with the overprotective crap right now. I was trying to distance my emotions from him and here he is in all his glory practically screaming at me.

          Damn he is sexy when he’s mad. UGHHH! Bad thoughts... bad thoughts!!

          “Listen, Tara. I’m sorry I just freaked out when I heard that you were getting calls again and didn’t tell me. Listen we really need to talk about some things. Get in your car and I will follow you home. We can order Chinese and have one of our movie nights.” The look on his face spoke volumes. Something was up and it was serious.

          “Okay. Yeah. Just follow me. Oh, and for the record it was one call and I filed a police report.” I smiled at him and got in my car. On the way out of the cranberry bogs, I got the sense that this conversation we were about to have been going to change everything between us. The part that really scared me was whether it was in a good way or bad.