Jake angles the Hog to the side of the narrow road, eases it to a stop, and flexes his shoulders. Taking off his helmet, he runs his fingers through his dark blond mullet cut hair. Rubbing his tired hazel eyes, he looks across the terrain at the rolling hills. Only 6 more miles and he will be home.
Rotating his shoulders, he thinks about how long it’s been since he was home. Had to be 8 years since his brother Tom’s wedding. Why had he let so many years slip by? He knew why, Ella.
Tom visited him twice in Arizona, keeping him up to date about people he knew from home. The only thing he wanted to know about was Ella until Tom told him Ella married Bryce Carter.
Jake walks a few steps away from the bike; bends over, stretching his back and spine. He remembers there is a diner about 2 miles ahead. He'll stop, use the facilities, and get a cup of coffee to go. He'd get real coffee, not that mocha- choco stuff. He grins, settles the helmet snugly back on his head, and straddles the bike.
Time to move on, finally meet Tom’s two kids, and get the damned visit home over with, hoping he won’t see Ella. One night then off to wherever fate leads him.
Gunning the engine, he checks the side mirror making sure there is no traffic approaching and roars onto the highway. With the wind whipping against him, he wonders where he is going to be moving on to this time. Why couldn't he find a place and settle down?
A glance in the left mirror, then a double-take. A vehicle is zooming behind him. Jake calculates it is moving faster than the speed limit, like a red bullet closing the distance between them in seconds.
Jake tenses then relaxes when he sees the diner ahead. He'll pull off the road at the parking lot and get out of the red bullet's way.
“Son of a bitch”, he mutters as he barely makes it out of the way as the gust of wind from the speeding sports car nearly topples him and the bike. Head shaking, he gets off the bike and stomps into the diner thinking how dangerous that speed is on the narrow road, and the treacherous curves beginning just a mile or less ahead.
"Well, I don't believe it." Sally Meadows barks from behind the counter. Jake waves, striding towards her. He couldn't remember when she was not working at the diner. She was there when he was a teen and his parents stopped with him and Tom on their way home from trips.
"Jake Malone. You are a sight for these sore old eyes. How long has it been since you brought that badass body of yours in here? Come on, give me a hug, but not too hard, these bones aren't as strong as they used to be."
"Good to see you, Sally." He looks down at her aware she is one of the few people he cares about in Lowden. She and Ella, but he wasn't going there. He learned a long time ago not to think of Ella or at least he could try not to think about her. It still hurt.
Sally fills a mug with steaming coffee. "Your timing is perfect. Just made it fresh." Pulling her order pad from an apron pocket, she waits for him to choose from a tattered, stained menu. "What'll it be? The meatloaf ain't too bad today."
"How about a piece of pie? You got any cherry?"
"Yep, but I think you'd like the apple better. It's fresh today. Cherry is from yesterday."
Putting the pad back into her pocket, she slides a piece of pie from a cooler behind her and tops it with a spray of canned whipped cream. "So what brings you back to Loaden after, what is it now, 10 years?" She leans on the counter.
"About eight," Jake gulps some coffee. "When Tom got married."
Shifting from one leg to another, Sally grins. "You know I catered his wedding?” She paused, topped off his coffee, and continued. “I honestly thought I’d be catering your wedding to Ella.”
Jake wipes his mouth with a paper napkin, swallowing a lump that popped into his throat. He and Ellas had planned to have her cater it. Never mind, he brushes the thought, pulls his wallet from a shirt pocket.
Sally waves it away. "It's on the house, Jake. Good to have you back. You staying a while this in time?"
Leaning across the counter, he touches her lightly on the cheek. "Just an overnight. Depending on which way I go, maybe I'll see you on my way out tomorrow.Take care."
She calls to him as he nears the door. "You hear Ella and that Bryce guy got divorced?"
Jake freezes, his back ramrod stiff, holding his breath.
Sally continued. "He sure didn't treat her halfway decent. Flaunting his screwing around ways right in front of her. It was a shame. Jake, how come you two never married?"
Stopping abruptly, he turns, letting out his breath slowly. "I don't know Sally. We were young. I wanted to travel, see the world. She wanted to stay in Loaden, raise a family. I wasn't ready. When I was, I heard she was married.
"You snooze you lose. Maybe now that you're home you'll wake up. She needs a good man like you."
"See you, Sally." He blows her a kiss before walking out the door.
Standing on the porch, he looks towards the valley thinking about Ella. Smiling broadly, he jogs to the Hog thinking maybe he’d stay a little longer than just overnight.
A M. Bradley McCauley short story
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