Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
I could have my team make sure Ephemeral has everything she needs security-wise to be safe and protected in her bus no matter where she is, in addition to her rebranding.
I could get my shit together right here and right now, and that includes putting on some damned clothes.
I might not have the right tools yet, but I want to have them. I want to learn to have them. She is probably right about the timing, however much it hits like a blow to the solar plexus. It’s not right now.
But it doesn’t mean it won’t ever be right.
Chapter fourteen
Ephemeral
“Thanks for the ride, Mary Beth.”
“For sure. Anytime.”
“Are you positive I can’t give you money for gas?”
“No way, man.” Mary Beth adjusts her long blonde braids. They’re shot through with pink for the recent festival she attended just outside of Vegas a few weeks ago. “Just hit me up sometime with some of those pumpkin spice muffins. ‘Tis the season, and thank goodness. They’re my favorite, but the ones you make are off-the-hook delish.”
As per usual, any amount of praise makes my face go hot. She waves me off, though, as soon as I pull my two reusable totes filled with groceries out of the backseat. It’s the right time of year, indeed, and not just for pumpkin. Here in Tucson, it’s crazy how much fruit people grow year-round. They set up at the end of driveways, selling garden vegetables, apples, oranges, and even lemons and grapefruits. But you can also get all that homemade stuff at farmer’s markets, flea markets, and at the gas stations along the road.
We’re not really in Tucson. We’re fifteen minutes outside the city, actually. Someone decided to take all their land and turn it into a year-round sort of camping area for RVs. Busses and tiny houses are also welcome. There are people who have lived here for years.
I stumbled upon it by accident. I was looking for a permanent space with lower rent for the whole year. I couldn’t find anything in my budget in Florida, so I expanded my search to the other warm states that came to mind.
Mary Beth is one of the many who have helped make this a more permanent home. She knows all the local stops and where to go for the best deals no matter what you’re buying. On my first night here, when I was feeling more than a little lost and unsure, she came and knocked on the bus door with a great big basket of fresh orchard apples to welcome me. Then, she insisted I join her and her fiancé for a campfire and singing. They’re both incredible musicians. They both work part-time jobs so that they have time to travel and record their music.
I set my bags on the ground so I could wave her off. The place is huge, and she’s on the other side in Row B. I’m in Row M. They’re campground-style names, but this place doesn’t have that feel at all. So many people have set up porches and yards. I guess some camp like that at seasonal spots too, but this place even has a school bus that stops in the morning and everything.
Mary Beth dropped me off right at the bus before her old pickup lumbered off. The thing is ancient and a standard. I have no idea how she drives it. She says the same thing about the bus, though. That she’d be terrified to get behind the wheel of something so huge.
I was once the same way, but it’s crazy how quickly you get used to something once you build up the confidence to just go ahead and do it.
Like this place.
I was terrified of the way my life was changing, but now that I’ve been here for a few months, it’s starting to feel more like home.
We went to a local flea market this morning. I resisted the antiques and other treasures since I didn’t have a lot of extra money or room, but I picked up locally made jams and preserves, all my produce for the week, and some frozen steaks, sausages, and pork. I’m now fully stocked on cat food, treats, and cat nip for months as a few kind souls still send me things from Peach Lips’ wishlist.
“Ephemeral?”
“Oh my god!” I drop both totes and slap my hands over my mouth to smother the scream that barrels up and out of my lungs. There’s no stopping it, but at least it’s more of a muffled yelp.
My heart races sixty thousand times faster than should be humanly possible as I take in the man I never expected to see again. Honestly, I thought he’d be mad at me, but even if he wasn’t, he had better things to do than come to bumdum nowhere to see me.