In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country, Chapter 1 [First Access] (Patreon)

Hey all! I'm very happy to introduce you to an all-new multi-chapter serialized story that will be published weekly for all patrons. Starting next month, I'll be making this story available to the public, but you'll already be multiple chapters deep into it as they just start it. I hope you enjoy it, and as always, I welcome your feedback!

“How, exactly, did you say you knew this woman again?” It felt silly to be asking this question now, considering that I had known about the trip for a month and that we were two hours into a six hour drive there. But it still seemed peculiar to me. Lily and I had been married for five years, and courted for a few years before that. And in all this time, I had very little recollection of a Madison.

“Madison used to be my best friend,” Lily responded with a sigh. “I told you this. In high school we were inseparable.”

“And you just...lost touch?”

“Well sure,” she said with a shrug as she drove. “It happens. We had different goals in life. I wanted to live in the city and work in the press. Eat sushi. Drink expensive cocktails. She wanted to be a mother.”

“You do eat a lot of sushi,” I teased. “I’m glad to see you’ve cut down on the expensive cocktails.”

“It was nice to reconnect with her online,” she said, sidestepping my attempt for humor. “I miss her. It’ll be good to see her again.”

I felt like a third wheel, and we hadn’t even arrived yet. However, it was with Lily and Maddy’s insistence that I tag along. I was assured that it was a big farm, with a lake, some trails and tons of fresh food. If nothing else, I didn’t want to turn down the chance to unwind a little in the country.

I gazed out the window for a while, watching billboards for car dealerships blur by. I found myself dwelling on something Lily had said.

“You said that Madison wanted to pursue having a family?”

“Yeah,” Lily said.

“But...you told me before that she lives by herself out in the country now, right?

“Well, not by herself. She just doesn’t have a family.”

It was a strange distinction, but it was also the first time that I knew there’d be someone else at the house besides the two of us and Madison.

“Who else lives with her, then?”

“Another woman. Her name is...Kate? I think. I honestly don’t know much about her.”

I nodded, but I felt my stomach twist a little. It was a silly thing, but I began worrying about being more self-conscious than I was going to be already. There was something about women in general, especially women I didn’t know, that just made me clam up. It was nothing short of a miracle that I had married a woman at all, let alone one as fantastic as Lily.

The rest of the drive was as much of a slog as the first half had been, though the scenery slowly grew more rural. There were less billboards and rest stops and more decaying farmhouses and pastures full of cows. My anxiety had melted away a little too - there was something about the country air that set my mind at ease and made it a little easier to digest the fact that there were now two strange women I’d have to make a good impression towards.

“This is it,” Lilly said, pointing to a small dirt road that branched off the cracked and broken highway we had been on for the last 30 minutes. Given the lack of a street sign, I assumed it was a driveway, but if that was the case, it was the longest driveway I’d ever been on before. I imagined 5 or 6 city blocks fitting between the highway and the house in the time it took us to traverse the winding dirt path.

Arriving at our destination, my mouth was agape at just how perfect everything seemed. The gorgeous old farmhouse with its wraparound porch. The old barn atop the knoll behind it, overlooking the sprawling lake and its dock. The pasture rolling into an orchard, separated by an aged fence. It was picturesque.

A woman stood outside the house. Her dark hair tucked back beneath a thick headband. She even wore overalls and chunky leather boots. The entire experience felt like I had accidentally stumbled into a romantic comedy that took place on a farm.

“Well well well,” the woman said with a joyful look on her face. “Look at what the wind blew in.”

We stepped out of the car, the hours of traveling with only a single stop for food taking its toll on our cramped and sore bodies. We both stretched and unfolded our limbs. A deep breath of clean fresh air did wonders for my body and my spirit though; as if it had just rewound time to before we even got into the car.

By the time I walked around the car, Lily and the woman were embracing tightly - I could see tears of happiness rolling down her face. After a few minutes of this, with me awkwardly trying to split my attention between their reunion and the beautiful sights of the farm, they finally released each other.

“Oh...I should introduce you,” Lily said, straightening out her glasses and sheepishly running a hand through her curly blonde hair. “Madison, this is my husband Henry.”

Madison stepped forward, and took my outstretched hand in hers. I hadn’t expected such strength in her slender figure, but she gave my hand a firm shake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said. I wanted to add, I’ve heard a lot about you, but that wasn’t even true.

“You’re taking good care of my friend here?” Her hands were on her hips.

“Well...I…”

“Calm down, buddy, I’m just teasing you.” She gave me a playful punch to the arm. “Lily wouldn’t waste her time with some ding dong.”

“Let’s not go that far,” Lily teased, and the two girls started laughing together.

It was surreal to me - there was this almost immediate rapport and connection between the two of them, as if no time had even passed. Maybe that wasn’t unheard of between old friends, but considering that I barely knew who this woman was, Lily herself suddenly seemed more mysterious to me.

“I just got some water on the stove. Can I get you a cup of tea?” Madison asked.

“That sounds perfect actually,” Lily replied. “Henry?”

“No tea for me, thank you.” I was only half-listening - I kept finding myself distracted by how gorgeous the farm itself was.

“Why don’t we go in and get some tea. I can help you bring in your bags in a few minutes. Henry, why don’t you go take a walk around the farm? I promise, you can’t get lost - you can see the house from just about anywhere on the property.”

“Are there animals up in the barn?” I asked, pointing to the big barn on the hill.

“The tractor is in there, and mostly supplies. And hay. If you’re looking for animals, we have some goats and chickens down that way.” Madison pointed down another hill towards some smaller buildings. I could see the fenced-in chicken coop next to it. “The goats are probably all over the place this time of day, but you might catch a lazy one taking a nap in there. Oh, and Kat might be around somewhere.”

“Aww,” I said. “What’s the kitty’s name?”

Madison laughed. “No, sorry, not a cat. Kat. She lives here too.”

I blushed a little, feeling stupid for asking the question, though neither seemed to dwell on the moment long.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Lily said, “Kat is your...roommate?”

“Well, sure, I guess,” Madison said with a shrug. “My partner.”

“Ohhh! Gosh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were…”

“Oh it’s not a big deal,” Madison replied with a casual shrug. “I didn’t know either. And then one day you see a cute girl and you think to yourself, ‘I’m going to make her sit on my face.’”

The girls laughed again, as I found myself blushing. It was a cute sentiment, but I wasn’t sure what to do with that information. I excused myself and made my way down the hill towards the small barn, catching moments of loud laughter behind me as the two girls reacquainted further.

Good for her, I thought. Good for them. I was genuinely happy they reconnected. And I was happy to be on this farm.

I could see a goat or two out in the field as I approached the building. The closer I got, the stronger the scent of the animals got. It wasn’t offensive - I had been on farms and around animals before. But between the goats and chickens, a thick “farm scent,” for lack of a better word, permeated the air here. I pondered whether or not I liked it more than the scent of old garbage and the exhaust of city streets.

Taking a step into the barn, I saw a number of stalls lined up on either side, each having cute wooden plaques with the name of their current resident. Trudy. George. Batman. Penelope. Bethany. Carlos Santana. Pretty good goat names.

“Hello?” I said aloud. “Any goats in here? Trudy? Batman? Carlos?”

I heard something moving behind one of the short walls towards the end of the stalls. I walked towards it slowly, assuming it was an animal. Still - it seemed weird for it to be an animal, considering that it sounded like it was coming from an area that wasn’t a part of the stalls themselves. Had I discovered a rogue goat or chicken?

I crept past the stalls, and as I rounded the corner to where I heard the sounds, I was surprised by seeing...a head full of ginger colored hair.

“Oh! Uhm…” the red head seemed to have stashed herself away in this small space, and she was...squatting? I couldn’t really tell what it was she was doing. Whatever it was, her face had turned beet red and she practically leaped to her feet.

“I’m so sorry to have startled you!” I said, worried I had given the girl a heart attack. “Madison said I could come down and look at the barn and…”

“O-of course,” she said, a sheepish smile showing on her blushed face. “I...I’m Kat. You must be Lily’s husband?”

“Yeah,” I said, offering my hand again. She shook it, a gentler and more timid grasp of my hand.

“All the goats are out in the field now,” she said. “Y-you could still go out and walk around and see them if you want to.”

“I can come back later,” I said with a shrug. She seemed distracted. Perhaps interrupted. I felt bad that I had barged into the barn without warning. “I can go head back up to the house for now, I was just being nosey…”

“Well, uhm, yeah, you’re welcome to hang around if you want. I was just...uh...doing some chores. But...I’ll see you around, yeah?”

“Sounds good! Nice to meet you.”

“Same,” she said bashfully. As quickly as she popped up from the corner of the barn, she fled out a side door.

It was a strange interaction - perhaps most strange because for all my worrying about being awkward, I hadn’t been the awkward one. I took one last look in the small cubby between the last stall and the barn’s wall where Kat had been - curious to see what she might have been working on - but there didn’t seem to be anything of note. Nothing broken. No tools. Just a small space between walls. I shrugged, heading back up to the house.