Izan and Mist

Chapter 5 (Mist): Show Up

"Izan, what's with the tent?" Light had already popped inside the tent and was unzipping all of the coverings over the mesh windows. "Are you planning to live here for a while?"

He grinned at me. "Much as I love you, Mist, I'm not going to camp in your parents' front yard to make a point. No, when I drove off yesterday, I passed your dad and Light coming back in the truck and he stopped me. Asked if I wanted to help him out around the farm today."

"And you said yes?"

"I told him I didn't think you'd feel comfortable with that since you were thinking about breaking up with me."

"I did break up with you."

He ignored my assertion. "So he said he thought some work on the farm would help realign my priorities."

"He told you to realign your priorities?" I was skeptical for many reasons, but mostly because my dad never interfered.

"Well, yeah. He said that I needed to think about what I wanted in life. Who I wanted in my life."

"Dad said that?" My father never told people what to do. He was definitely a live-and-let-live type, even more so than my mother.

"Yeah, Mist, he said that. So he told me to show up early this morning and he'd have work for me to do. I had today off from the restaurant, so I figured he might be right."

"So, what's with the tent?"

Izan shrugged. "He said it needed airing out. Something about your grandfather and four of his buddies going on a camping trip."

It was possible. Grampa and his cronies were always off doing something. "And then what else does Dad have for you to do?"

"We're going to work the land next, he said." Izan looked at me closely. "I'm not even sure what that means. Is that bad?"

"No," I said. "It's a lot of hard, dirty work but Dad always says working the land helps to ground him -- and he doesn't even mean that in a punny sense."

"And then he said we had to get your mother's garden plot ready."

Light came running up. "I want to help!"

I looked at my little brother and smiled. He was old enough to think farming was a chore by now, but he seemed to love it, so he might just take over the farm from my dad someday. Light followed my father everywhere. Mom even had a hard time getting him to his homeschool group on the commune because he wanted to be outside with Dad all the time and fought sitting in the classroom. If Mom ever had a child who required her patience, it was Light.

"Go ask Mom if you can, Light."

He dashed off happily, yelling for Mom.

Izan had moved closer to me. "Mist, when I finish helping your Dad, can we talk?"

"There's not really a reason to, Izan. We kind of covered it all earlier."

"Mist, you're my Mist and there's every reason to talk. We didn't even come close to talking about everything we need to."

Oh, he was playing dirty, calling my name like that in his low, coaxing voice. He knew I loved when he spoke to me like that. The thought of never hearing that again hurt, but I refused to let my feelings for this man control me.

"I won't be here," I told him, refusing to give in to his persuasions. "I'm heading back to my apartment so I can take care of some things. I didn't work much the last few days so I need to get caught up."

My dad called to Izan just as Light came tearing out of the house and yelled for Izan to hurry up.

"I'll stop by when I'm done."

I didn't respond, just stomped into the house. "Mom!" I called.

"In here, Mist," she answered from the laundry room. I walked over and leaned against the door frame.

"What does Dad think he's doing? Why did he ask Izan to help with farm chores today? What good does he think that'll do?"

Mom looked over at me, working on a grass stain on Light's jeans. "Did you ask your father?"

"Mom, I just found out and then he called Izan to help him. I know Dad didn't think of this on his own."

"Actually, honey, he did. We didn't know why you'd come home, but we talked about it and guessed, and things not being right with you and Izan seemed like the obvious conclusion. Your eyes told us your heart was hurting, which didn't sit well with your father. You know how he is."

"Yeah, I do! He's hands off, so I'm still finding it hard to believe he came up with this plan to help Izan realign his priorities on his own."

"Honey, I don't know what to tell you. It wasn't my idea. All your dad said to me last night was that when he was about to pass Izan on the road, he thought the universe had them meet right at that moment, so he took it as a sign and he went with it."

"I like it better when Dad stays out of things," I said sulkily.

Mom reached over and kissed my cheek. "Your father is a very smart man. If he saw a sign, he's not going to ignore it."

"Well, feel free to ignore all future signs where Izan's concerned. I don't need to be involved in a love triangle."

"You won't be," she promised me in that firm tone she used to emphasize her words. Right away, my heart felt lighter. What was it about the bullshit promises from a parent that could make you believe everything would work out for the best?

Is it going to be OK?

Yes, honey, it's going to be just fine.

"I'm heading back to my apartment as soon as I pack up."

"Lots of work?" she asked knowingly.

"Yep. Got some more orders in so I really need to focus."

"It's been good seeing you, Mist." She looked at me like she was still having a hard time believing her little girl was grown and had a place of her own. "You'll get through this."

"I know. But imagine how you'd feel if you and dad had fallen through."

"It would've been horrible but we would have gotten through it. Just like you will. Whether it's with Izan or not remains to be seen."

"Mom!"

"I'm sorry, honey. Your grandmother said she didn't have the sense that you two are done yet, so I'm just going off what she said when she saw you."

"Yet," I said bitterly. "She said we're not done yet."

"Yet can have many interpretations, Mist. Now, in the near future or forever. By the way, I put a sodalite stone on your bed so make sure you take it with you. Your grandmother brought it over early this morning for you."

That was interesting. Sodalite was good for many things, but it was especially good for supporting communication and putting thoughts into words. Maybe if she got Izan a dump truck full of it, that might help him communicate his thoughts to me, something he hadn't done a stellar job of so far in our relationship.

I headed off to pack, my mind torn between wondering how Izan was doing and what I needed to do when I got back to my apartment. Half an hour later, after I loaded my suitcase and art supplies into the car, I hugged Mom goodbye, promised I'd call when I got back to my place, and drove off.

The trip home didn't take too long, and all afternoon, I kept expecting Izan to appear at my door. As the evening turned into night, I kept waiting for him to show up for this talk he thought we needed.

He never did stop by that night.