His mom came into the kitchen. “Good morning, Amelia."
"Hello, Diana. Please call me Mel." I smiled at her, even though I felt like an undead zombie. She looked like she’d been up for hours, every hair in place. I felt embarrassed for walking downstairs in my rumpled clothing. I was an awful mess.
"Oh, I didn't know that you went by a nickname. Jimmy didn't say."
I was quiet. Jimmy and I did not have pet names for each other. He didn’t know that everyone called me Mel, and everyone called him Jimmy, it seemed. We were strangers still, and nights like our wedding night were not going to cement our commitment to one another.
After a tiny beat of awkward silence, Diana said, "I'll get out of your hair. I know that this is technically your honeymoon, although why Jimmy didn't take you out of the country is absolutely beyond me."
"I'm sure that we'll figure something out." I ate another bite of eggs. "He probably wanted me to meet you first thing."
"Well, anyways, I'll drive back to Chicago this morning."
"This morning? Don't you have a driver?"
"Yes, but he lives in Chicago. I'd hardly ask him to drive me the four or five hours between Madison and Chicago. I can barely stand the horrible Chicago traffic, and I would spare anybody else the inconvenience if I could. So I will."
I liked her. She was spunky and self-sufficient.
"Okay. It was so nice to meet you."
She came around the table and hugged me. I squeezed her back. She smelled like vanilla, and for a half second I thought that I was hugging my mom. I hadn't been hugged by a mother for a very, very long time.
She kissed the top of my head. "Come and visit me when you have a minute. Maybe when Jimmy goes on a business trip. I'll take you around."
"I will." I looked at her and smiled. "You know I will. Safe travels."
"Bye, sweetheart."
I watched her walk out of the door. I heard her car's engine turn on, and I knew that Jimmy and I were going to be alone in this awkward, empty space.
I shuddered. I cleaned up my plate and fork, and I put away the silver dome. I wanted to go upstairs.
I went back to my suitcase and pulled out my laptop. My homepage was my direct line to the school. I messaged my supervisor to tell her that I was living in Wisconsin now. With that message, I was slicing away a bond to my old life. At my wedding, my friends said that they would visit me, but I knew that it was a lot to ask to have them visit rural Wisconsin.
Maybe it would be better if they knew what they were getting into.
Pictures
Amelia
I took my phone and went outside. I immediately regretted it. Diana hadn't had on a sweater, but I definitely needed it. I went straight back into the house and stole one of Jimmy's coats from the coat rack. He had a dozen of them anyway. I went and put it on. I used my camera to take shots first of the house. Then I walked out and went exploring on the grounds. I wished that Diana had stayed long enough for me to get acquainted with my new home. It had been hers for a much longer period, years instead of hours.
I had no idea where Jimmy was.
I went back to the other house. It was only a little way out of the main house. If I hadn’t stuck to the old farmhouse, I would not have been so surprised by the appearance of the mansion when Jimmy bro
ught me home as his bride.
My breath was visible in the air, so it was still below freezing, but I liked the bracing cold. I had to be careful to breathe through my nose so I didn’t trigger my asthma. It made my skin feel weird, but it felt good to be warm inside of my coat while the wide world was hushed and white with snow.
I walked back to the old farmhouse. I opened the door. It wasn’t locked. Maybe there was nothing to steal. There was nothing inside that was of high value besides the books, and what thief in rural Wisconsin would think to steal the first editions from the Fox family? The inside was in better condition than the outside, of course. Without Jimmy inside, it was more of a house than a home. Still, I could see from the worn wooden step next to one of the doors that this house had been a lovely home when the Fox family was simply just another set of hardworking Wisconsin farmers.
I walked out to the barn, which I had never seen before. My cheeks heated in the cold air, thinking of how I had hidden from the reality of Wisconsin farm life inside of the old farmhouse. It had been snowing, true, but I had never even tried to see what I did not want to. Andrew always told me, “You must see the world as it is and not how you would wish it to be.”
I walked to the barn. Unlike the house, it was locked. I looked in through one of the old windows. I could see that one of the walls of the barn had a gigantic LED screen, five times bigger than the TV that we had at home. And my father loved his football, so our TV was pretty big. That screen was on another level. I guessed that he had considered it a ‘business expense’.
There was one of those extra-expensive ergonomic chairs that looked really weird but were way more comfortable. There was a stationary bike. I saw one of those complicated weight machines, like a Bowflex, but upscale instead of something that you bought off of TV. I guessed that working out while working was a good way to keep his body toned. I saw a big refrigerator in the corner and a little coffee bar. I walked around the barn to look through different windows, but that was pretty much it.