Desert Flower

Brian's words had really messed with my head, but I knew I loved Evangeline. When I got home, she had been laying on the couch surrounded by three of her best friends. It was still hard for me to believe Caleb was dead, but I can only imagine how my Evie felt. Caleb had been her friend for years.

Stretching, I got up from our bed. Evangeline rolled and took the covers with her. I shook my head and looked at my woman. The next few days would be the hardest for her. She had never lost anyone who wasn’t older.

I left her and went into the living room where the other three women were all still asleep. Leah shifted on the couch and fell off, walking herself up.

She rolled to her feet and glared at me. “You want to put a shirt on, puta?”

I smiled at her. “My house, my rules. Thank you for taking care of Evie last night. I’m glad she has friends like you.”

Leah smiled at me. “Yes, she is lucky to have us. Look, I have to get myself to work. You tell Evie to let me know if she needs anything.”

I nodded, and Leah left, slamming the door behind her. Both Tally and Cleo woke up at the sound. Tally folded the blankets and left, telling me to let Evangeline know she loved her.

Cleo looked at me and shook her head.

“Why is it you never seem to wear shirts anymore, Matt?” Cleo stretched and popped her back. “Did you help Evie last night?”

“I put her to bed, Cleo. The loss of Caleb is going to be hard for her to get over. It’ll be something that lives with her forever.” I was speaking from experience.

“And she’s going to need you. You are going to need to be a support system for her. Evangeline fears little, but death of loved ones is probably one of her biggest. Caleb was a good friend to both of you. Be there for her in more than a physical way.”

Frustration rolled through my system. “I love Evie, for fuck’s sake. It’s not just physical.”

“Really?” Cleo asked, rolling her eyes. “What do you love about her?”

“What is with everyone asking me that question?” My voice rose with frustration and anger.

“Brian finally asked that, did he? You say you love her, but you only seem to because of her appearance. You only tell her you love her after physical contact. And don’t deny it, she tells me everything.

“Do you know Evangeline at all? Two years you’ve been together, and it seems like you know nothing about my best friend,” Cleo said angrily and headed for the door. “The more I see you with her, the less I think you deserve her. You don’t have my blessing, and you won’t until I see some type of change in you.” She left, slamming the door behind her.

Her words echoed in my head, but I shook them away. I cared for Evangeline. Brian and Cleo had no idea what they were talking about. She was the only person that wasn’t family or Brian that I loved. Just because I showed my love physically didn’t mean I didn’t love my desert flower. I still remembered the first time I told her those words.

The sunset was unlike any other. It was filled with oranges and pinks. I had never liked pinks until I had come to this state. Their sunsets had so many variants of pink, it was actually becoming my second favorite color. The sky was so vibrant, I almost wanted to live here.

Mountains were everywhere you looked, every direction. It was insane how much the valley was guarded by these huge hills. We didn’t have those where I was from. We had a few hills, but they would be considered molehills next to these behemoths. They were beautiful, capped with snow and ice. I loved the way they looked against the horizon. Maybe I would get mountains for my next tattoo.

The air was cold and crisp though. It was much colder here than it was in my beloved Texas. But it was also kind of nice to experience something other than heat and humidity. The cold air was soothing. When I breathed, I could see my breath clouding the air. I was having fun huffing and puffing while I watched the sun set.

Clouds started to cover the sky, covering the beautiful sunset. The sky quickly darkened to grey as the clouds moved in. I watched in wonder as fluffy snowflakes fell. It was magical to watch the snow twirl to the ground and slowly disappear on the road. Slowly, the ground become covered. I had never seen snow before. This was beyond beautiful.

“You know, as pretty as snow is, it’s still freezing outside,” Evie said with laughter in her voice.

Turning, I looked at my girlfriend. She was wearing a blue sweater and Adidas sweatpants. Her nose was a bright red and her arms were wrapped around herself. She looked adorable, trying to hide from the cold.

We were standing on her back porch, Christmas lights the only light we had. The snow was coming down faster now, making the previously grey ground white.

“I’ve never seen snow before,” I said, “It’s so beautiful. Watching it fall is like riding a bull the full eight seconds. It almost makes me want to move to Reno.”

Evie wrinkled her nose. “Feel free to do so, but it’ll be without me. I hate this place.”

“Why’s that?” I folded my arms across my chest, starting to feel the bite of cold. “You seemed to enjoy it during the rodeo and now.”

“The rodeo’s different. I’m only in Reno for ten days and same with now. When I have to stay longer, my anger and bitterness seem to come to the forefront of my personality. Years of therapy haven’t gotten rid of that yet.” She mumbled all of this. “The city is filled with bad memories and worse people. Texas is my home. No cold, no snow, and no bad times. I do miss the mountains which is why I carry them with me.” She tapped her left bicep.

“That’s the most you’ve opened up to me in the year we’ve been together,” I said and held one of her hands. “Will you tell me more?”

Evangeline shivered. “Only if we can go inside.”

I nodded, and we went upstairs to her room. The rest of the house was silent, everyone getting ready to sleep. But the two of us were night owls, and sleep didn’t come easy for either of us.

I closed the door to her old bedroom, now a sewing room and pulled my long-sleeved shirt over my head. Evie walked over to me and touched the tattoos on my right pec. Smiling, I grabbed her hand and kissed it. She smirked and took her hand back to change. She stepped out of her sweats and sweater and pulled on footie pajamas.

“You might want to dress warmly too,” she said, “This room is notorious for getting cold in the winter, and Mom likes to keep the heat off.”

I chuckled and grabbed flannel pajamas to put on. When we were both ready, we arranged ourselves on the small futon. This was not meant for people of my stature. We curled into each other and pulled the pink quilt over ourselves. Evangeline was a little space heater in her pajamas, but I didn’t mind. She was right about the cold weather.

“Tell me about why you hate Reno,” I said softly into her hair.

“I think over the years I’ve learned it’s not Reno I hate, it’s the situations I was put in that made me dislike this state so much.” Evie’s voice was so quiet, like nothing I’d heard from her. “Things were fine, even great, until I turned fifteen. Things changed that year. Dad had a stroke, and I noticed Dad’s alcoholism. And Mom worked all the time, three jobs to make sure Mary Jane and I had the things we wanted. Mary Jane was in college, and I was stuck here with them. I hated the situation I was in and it only got worse.

“There was so much fighting in this house: between Mom and Dad, me and Mom, or me and Dad. High school sucked. It had its moments, but I was a raging bitch for most of it. I lost the ability to play competitive soccer here, something I loved so much. I still love soccer. It was in this state that I got a stalker, was assaulted by said stalker, saw Mom try to kill herself because of Dad’s lies and gambling, and basically fended for myself emotionally for three years. This city is filled with bad memoires. So much bad shit has happened here. Reno is a nest of bad juju. I only come home for my mom.

“It was here were I had my knee taken away from me, had to learn how to use it, how to walk. This is where I found out Grandma died. This is the very house where Mom told Dad she was divorcing him, that she couldn’t take his drinking any more. You met him;
that’s not my dad, Matt. That man is consumed by his drinking. I love him, I do, but it’s hard to see him. And because of all of that, I hate this city.”

I was shocked. She didn’t give me many details, but this was more than she had told me in the year we’d been dating. My girl was finally opening up to me, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I rolled to my back and took her with me, placing her on my chest.

“Thank you for telling me that, desert flower.” I kissed her hair. “Now, we should sleep so we can be lively when we open presents tomorrow. We’re going to have a white Christmas. Oh and Evangeline, I’m in love with you.”

She shot up and looked down at me. “I’m in love with you, Matt.”

I snapped out of my memory and focused on the present. Clay and Cleo were wrong. I fell in love with Evie because she was smart, talented, and vivacious. I still loved her for all that, but I couldn’t ignore her beauty. That didn’t make me an asshole. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought we shouldn’t get married. I couldn’t even think of reasons for why I loved her, how the hell was I going to be a good husband?

Notes

YAY updates. I'm going to try to update my other stories as well! I've been just so blocked lately.