Coming Home to the Mountain: Complete Edition

Epilogue 1

Epilogue 1

HANK

SIX MONTHS LATER

“So, just finishing up this checklist. The appropriate amount of exits? More than enough. Each of them with neon exit signs? Yep. plenty of smoke detectors and sprinklers? Looks good to me.”

Rye and Mac stand with their arms crossed. I put them through the ringer about all of this, knowing that as a new official, all of my safety reviews will be under immense scrutiny.

The Home Fire Department has a half-dozen people in total, and in addition to putting out fires, it’s also our duty to inspect the safety of any new construction in the town.

I volunteered to learn and expand my skills. It’s something I can do if my body ever gives out and I can’t carry people out of burning buildings anymore. Hopefully I’m decades away from that point, but hey, you can never start too early.

The Rough boys recently won a sweet contract to build a new community center in the town, and they’re currently putting on the finishing touches before declaring the project done.

“So that’s it? We’re done? We’ve cleared all your safety hurdles?” Mac says. He’s been slightly annoyed with how much of a stickler I am being about all this.

“Hey, he’s just helping keep people safe,” Reuben chimes in, a brotherly hand over my shoulder. “Don’t be a dick to Hank for just doing his job.”

I nod. “If I was less strict, you should be worried. The previous inspector might have been half-assing it.”

Rye nods. “Old Man Richards did seem to be out of fucks to give about anything. If I didn’t realize we forgot to put smoke detectors in that bungalow outside town, no one would have.”

Mac sighs, and relents. “Yeah, I guess. Sorry, don’t mean to be a dick at ya.”

I shake my head. “No offense taken, I’m not a fan of being a super strict asshole either, but it has to be done.”

“Job’s done now, though,” Rye adds. “We all go out and get plastered in celebration. You’re welcome to get plastered with us, Hank.”

I laugh, but shake my head. “Can’t. Told Fig I’d go and help her do the last touch-ups on her shop. Opening day is very close.”

Reuben slaps me on the back. “Ah, I see my sister has you completely under her control now.”

“Yep. I’m henpecked and I couldn’t be happier.”

Mac lets out a long sigh. “Yeah, guess we shouldn’t get plastered anymore. Maybe a few drinks. Gotta be adults now. I mean, all of us are, or are expecting to become, parents, right?”

Rye nods. “Bit of a pain, but sometimes you give something up to do something better. I’ll pass on getting the hangovers for a happy wife who is very excited to see me come home.”

“Think I need to swing by the store and get Merit some soda. Just remembered I promised that,” Mac says.

“Need some baby formula from the store myself,” Rye adds. “And maybe some of the muffins Prairie really likes.”

“Aw, jeez,” Reuben chimes in. “That’s right, Meadow wanted me to get her some guitar strings. So guess we ain’t celebrating tonight at all.”

“The time will come boys,” I say. “We take care of our loves, and that comes with some responsibility. But next family dinner, I’m sure we’ll all raise a wine glass to a job well done.”

“Can I do whiskey at least?” Mac asks. “If I wanted to drink grape juice I’d just drink grape juice.”

Rye pats his brother on the head. “I’m sure Dad won’t mind, Mac.”

They all laugh, and the four of us head for the door and go our separate ways. I have an errand to run before I go home to my love too, and it isn’t at the grocery or music supply store.

Home’s small enough that you can get through it at a brisk walk, and you see a lot of the same faces everyday, meeting them with a smile. I missed it when I was in Spokane. I was a single face in the sea there, but I really feel like I’m part of a community here.

“Britney, you really shouldn’t dial 911 for this.”

“But Spider is up in a tree!”

And sometimes you run into close friends and family.

Graham is talking to a six-year-old child. He looks somewhat annoyed, but knows the target of his annoyance doesn’t know any better. “911 is for emergencies. I don’t think this is one, Spider seems happy in that tree.”

“But I need him down here! It is an emergency, Officer Rough!”

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“The old cat stuck in the tree problem?” I say as I approach.

“Hank? Aren’t small animals in tall places they shouldn't be a firefighter problem?”

“I mean, we can help with that. We got the equipment.”

“You think you can call in reinforcements? Britney wants her cat back, but my squad car didn’t come equipped with a ladder.”

I look up and down the tree, and the cat casually chills on the branch. “Nah, you don’t need all the firefighters for this.”

“How are we going to get Spider down then?” the kid asks me eagerly.

“Like so,” I say, before leaping onto the tree and shimmying up it enough to get hold of the branch. This is nothing compared to the training I went through to get certified.

Graham looks up at me, impressed, the kid does too.

“Here kitty, psh psh psh,” I repeat.

Curiosity gets the better of the cat and he approaches. I itch his ears and he comes close enough for me to scoop him up and start my descent. It’s a bit like sliding down a fire pole, except with way more bark.

“Spider!” Britney exclaims as I hand her the cat, who meows in response. “Thank you Mr. Guy, sir, whatever your name is.”

“Hank is fine.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hank!” She runs away, holding her cat tight, hopefully preventing it from running up any more trees in the future.

“Well then, I didn’t expect that,” Graham says. “The training cops get is mostly cardio and marksmanship. I would have climbed that tree if I knew it was that easy.”

I laugh. “I’m not throwing you any shade, Graham. Different skill sets is all. Doubt you gotta chase any crooks up trees. Not exactly the best getaway plan for them.”

“I’ll be sure to call you in if any of them do flee up a tree.” He strokes his chin. “Perhaps that’s where a cat burglar would go.”

“If I wasn’t in such a good mood, Graham, I think I’d risk being arrested for assaulting an officer over that pun. And I don’t think the jury would convict me either.”

“Fair, it’s so awful that I think I’d testify against myself.” He smiles. “But with Lucy getting older, I gotta get into the dad joke mindset. It’s easier said than done.”

“If you’re already making jokes like that, I have complete faith in your ability to master the dad joke, Graham.”

“What about you? My sister drive you seven kinds of crazy yet? I can’t imagine being married to either of my sisters, just being related to them is bad enough.”

“I can’t imagine not being married to her,” I say. “Only kind of crazy I am is crazy for her. And I think you can appreciate that kind of crazy with Tallie, no?”

He nods. “I’m absolutely insane about her, yes. Still, you married into our crazy family. And so did Tallie. Can’t believe either of you would willingly do that.”

“Never been happier, Graham. And I’m sure Tallie’s never been happier either.”

He nods. “I damn sure hope so. Her happiness is my one wish in life. Lucy’s too.”

“Take it easy man, I gotta get to the hardware store.”

“Keep on keepin’ on, Hank.”

It’s nice meeting familiar faces and having chats out of the blue. I really did miss that.

Over at Bartlett’s hardware store, I throw him a greeting, and go about my business. I pick up three smoke alarms, and bring them up to the counter.

“More fire safety, huh?” Bart says as he rings up my order.

“Can’t believe it took me until the other day to realize the alarms in the old shoe store didn’t work. They were some really old ones too, from the seventies.”

Bart grimaces. “They might be older than my Dad.”

“Last thing I want is for Fig to get her dream shop going, only to have the fire marshal come into town and shut her down for improper safety procedures.”

“Aren’t you the new fire marshal?”

I shake my head. “I’m just the inspector, and I’m still training too. I’m sure they’re going to send someone to check in on whether I’m doing a good enough job, so I’m being particular about everything.”

He shrugs. “Better that than everything burning down.”

I raise an eyebrow with a smirk. “Have you checked your smoke detectors recently, Bart?”

He gives me a cheeky salute. “Yes, I check yearly, Smokey. I know only I can prevent hardware store fires.”

“Just making sure. You know, I think Fig would like it if I were more like Smokey. The shirtless and hairy parts at least, I don’t know how she feels about hats.”

“I’d rather not think of what my sister wants in a man, thank you very much.”

I pay for my stuff, and wish Bartlett a good day, then head to my final stop before I go home for the evening.

Fig’s Fashion and Function.

My sweetheart’s new dream shop. Custom orders and tailoring, along with plenty of original designs for sale. She’s young enough to keep up with the youth, and is planning on trying to appeal to the young people of Home, with the idea that even the slightly older people want to be cool, so they’ll come to her shop too. Then she’ll win them over and make them loyal customers for life.

Fig surprised me with her little cunning business plan. Her head’s not completely up in the clouds with this, and she’s determined to succeed. As much as I want to support her, at the end of the day, fashion isn’t something I think about, so that’s all on her.

“See, you should put this shelf here, and let the customers flow through your shop. A little bit of planning goes pretty far when it comes to a store.”

Lemon is in here explaining things to Fig, about the placement of some shelves and the register.

“When someone comes in and is looking around, you want them to find something that they like. And that requires arranging everything well, setting the store up to take them on a journey through your collection.”

“I’m feeling you. So…. sunglasses near the register?”

“And make sure where you stand, the sun is pouring in from behind you. They’ll realize that maybe they need some sunglasses. Boom, extra sales.”

I didn’t expect both Rough sisters to be such shrewd businesswomen.

“Good evening, my sweet Fig,” I say, making my presence known and wrapping my hands around her waist.

Lemon cocks an eyebrow. “Speaking of the sun… it's getting awfully low in the sky. I think I’ll let you too lovebirds be.”

The older sister chuckles to Fig as she struts out of the shop.

I dance with Fig, holding her close. “You seem anxious.”

“How can I not be? I’m throwing a big opening day party next week. Everyone in town will probably stop by. And I have to keep a smile on my face to convince myself this isn’t a bad idea and a waste of money.”

“It’s what you want. It’s not a waste of money, Fig. I believe in you. And I’m so fucking proud of you for going for this. For sticking to your guns, and for following your heart.”

“Is that just because my heart told me to marry you out of the blue months ago?”

“Well, yeah. If your heart told you to do that, your heart is pretty smart. I trust it to make good decisions.”

She turns in my arms and flashes me those beautiful brown eyes of hers. “My heart wouldn’t have done any of this without you, Hank. Without you, I would have buckled, and I’d be miserable in Los Angeles right now, working under some stuffy cruel asshole, instead of paving my own way in my hometown.”

“It’s a lovely place, Fig. It’s why I think you’ll succeed.”

“Because of Home?”

“Why’s someone going to go to some department store in the next town over when they can get something better from you?”

“Speed? Price? Convenience?”

“I guess in some cases? But I think the people of Home are dedicated to supporting one another. They’ll come to you if they can. How do you think the store shoe before you prospered for so long? It didn’t go out of business. The owner just retired.”

She nods. “I need you to keep me grounded. To keep me free from worry, Hank. I love you so much.”

“And I love you. And this town.”

I’m not just blowing smoke up her ass.

Every day I’m here I feel like it’s more of a community, and I’m a part of a bigger family. The Roughs have taken me in by marriage, and even before that, treated me well as Reuben’s friend.

I’m blessed to be a part of them, and to be a part of this town.

But more importantly, I’m blessed to have Fig, the woman I will love until the day I die.