Shoe Strings

Damn it, she’d
never get out from under his iron thumb.
    When she reached the interstate, she thought of how she’d
stressed over navigating the curves and mountain roads.   Now, with six lanes of blacktop in front
of her, she wondered how she’d navigate the rest of her life knowing she’d left
a piece of herself behind in the mountains.
    ***
    Jesse spun his wheels out at the base of Cal’s drive and
continued up the steep incline.   He
didn’t know why Angelita’s not being around when he woke disturbed him so, but
he knew he needed to find her, make her talk to him about her troubles.   She’d been upset about something last
night, but he hadn’t pushed her.   Now, with the nagging feeling like something was terribly wrong, he
wished he’d pressed the issue.
    Her car was gone and his knock at the door went
unanswered.   Damn.   He headed around to the back to see if
she’d left word with Cal when his dad sauntered down the cabin’s deck
stairs.  
    “That you knocking?” Cal asked, his arms full of sheets and
towels.  
    “Where’s Angelita?” Jesse demanded.  
    “Gone.   She left
first thing this morning.”   He
attempted to retrieve something from his shirt pocket without dropping the
linens and then threw them to the ground when he realized he couldn’t manage
both.   “She left this for you.”   He handed Jesse an envelope with his
name scrawled across the top.
    Jesse tore into the envelope and pulled out the scented
card.  
    Jesse~  
    I had to go back to Atlanta rather
suddenly.   I’m sorry for leaving
without saying good-bye, but this may be easier for both of us.   To say I’ve enjoyed our time together
wouldn’t say enough.   Jesse, I’ll
see your face in every sunrise and hear your voice in the wind.   You’ve touched me in a way I never
expected and will never forget.   Be
happy.
      ~Angelita.
    When Jesse looked up, Cal watched warily as he crumpled the
card in his fist.   “Did you know she
was leaving?” he asked his dad.   “Did she tell you yesterday she’d be leaving today?”
    “No.”   He reached
down to gather the sheets and towels.   “She knocked on my door first thing and said she had to head back.   Her car was already loaded.”
    Damn it.   Why
didn’t she say anything last night and why did his chest hurt so badly he had
to rub it with his fist?  
    “I take it you didn’t know about this.”
    “No, I didn’t.”   He looked down at the note.   Be happy?   How the hell could
he be happy when she’d upped and disappeared just when he’d planned on talking
to her about making things permanent?
    “You want to come inside and have some coffee?” Cal
asked.   “I could rustle us up some
bagels, maybe make a few eggs.”
    “That’s okay.   I’d
better head out.”   But he couldn’t
move.   He just stared at the
deserted cabin and felt like he’d received a swift kick to the gut.
    Cal put his hand on Jesse’s arm as he turned to leave.   “I’m sorry, Jess.   I know you care about her.   You want to talk about it?”
    He looked at his dad and all the anger they’d spewed at each
other faded like mist in the wind.   “Not now.   I’ll call you.”
      Hours later,
he’d scrubbed the bathroom and patched the hole in the last of the hand-me-
down rafts he kept around for emergencies.   It was tedious physical work that kept his hands busy and allowed the
thoughts in his head to zing like lottery balls.   He couldn’t decide if he felt angry or
hurt by Angelita’s abrupt departure.   Was she in trouble?   Had her
father threatened her again and she felt compelled to face him?   Or did their burgeoning relationship
scare her into running home?    Either way, she’d gone without telling him, tucked tail and run like a
child.  
    What did he expect?   Did he possibly think she’d give up her weekends and active social life
by hiking up the highway to small town America to date a single dad with a
rafting business?   He’d waited his
whole life to feel this way about a woman and the moment he did, she upped and
left without a word, save for a note with some pithy catchphrases.  
    “Hear my voice in the wind,” he spat out in disgust.   “Can you hear me now, Angelita?   Can you hear my heart break?”   He set aside the raft and stood up to
ease his aching back.   “We’ll see if
you hear me having a good old time at your expense.   I won’t pine for you, darlin’.   Don’t expect