Living Off the Grid

Two days later, she was on her way to Seattle. Her GPS showed it was exactly 285 miles to Lock's home or more accurately, his parents' home. That meant a five-hour drive if she stopped once for gas and the traffic cooperated.

Lock had told his parents about her the next day, and just as he'd predicted, they asked a lot of questions, but once he assured them he loved this 'girl' they couldn't wait to meet her. Not that they still didn't have concerns. They'd just raised their son to understand his life was his to live just as any choices he made were his responsibility.

He shared the good news with Jessica, but even so, her tummy was doing flips or somersaults or something as she pulled into their driveway. Her age suddenly seemed like the biggest liability in her life as she wondered what his parents, and more specifically, his mother, really thought of her. She already trusted Lock, but she still found it hard to imagine they wouldn't have deep, serious concerns about a 40-year old woman with their 23-year old son. And yet she was already so crazy in love with him, all that mattered was being with him.

As she got out of the car at around 6pm, all three of them came outside at once.

"Sorry! We don't want you to think we're ganging up on you. We just couldn't wait to meet you!" Lock's mother said.

"Hi, I'm Janet," she told Jessica with outstretched arms.

"Hi, Janet! I'm Jessica," she said as she accepted the warm embrace.

Her husband waited patiently then extended his hand.

"Welcome, Jessica. I'm Kevin. Yes, Kevin James. Like the comedian only without the millions of dollars."

Jessica laughed then ignored his hand and hugged him instead. She could tell already they really did seem to accept her, and now she could focus on the person who really mattered.

"We'll go back inside while you and Lock say hello," his father said.

"It was very nice meeting both of you," she said in reply as Lock stood there waiting his turn.

"Hi," he said once they were kind of alone.

"Hi," she said sweetly. "I missed you."

He put his arms around her and held for a good long while and said, "I missed you, too. A lot."

"It was less than three days, but it seemed like an eternity."

"I know. I had a really hard time focusing on work when all I wanted was to be with you."

"I love you," she said when the hug ended.

"I love you, too," he said then kissed her softly. "Come on. Dinner's gonna be ready soon."

If there were any reservations or tension, Kevin and Janet were doing an amazing job of not letting it show. Jessica felt completely at ease and at home as they ate and talked and got acquainted. They were kind and sympathetic when Norm's passing came up, and seemed interested, but only politely so, when the topic of living off the grid arose.

"We don't really get it," Kevin said. "But if it's what Lock wants, we support it."

There was no reason for feeling it, but Jessica couldn't help but think that might well be their attitude concerning her whirlwind romance with their son. She quickly forget about that shortly after thinking it, and for nearly three hours, the four of them talked about a wide range of other things, as well.

Around 9pm, Lock said, "Mom? Dad? I think we'll be going now."

There was no 'look', no probing questions, and no hint of any concern as Janet said, "It was so good to meet you, Jessica."

Jessica thanked her for dinner then said goodnight to Kevin before walking out with Lock who was carrying a clothing bag and a shaving kit with him.

As badly as Jessica wanted to make love with Lock, she knew she had to share something with him first.

"Lock? Can we discuss something?" she asked once they got to their room.

"Uh-oh. You're not tired of me already, are you?" he asked when she got serious.

"Noooo!" she said dragging out the word. "I love being with you."

"Then what's so important?" he asked as he put his arms around her.

"There's something I haven't told you. Something you need to know."

"Sound serious," he said. "Should I sit down?"

"It's not bad," Jessica explained. "It's just something I didn't want to mention until I was sure you cared about me—for me."

"I won't joke about you secretly having a child as that wouldn't be funny after what you told me, but I can't think of anything else that could be so important."

He sat there for a second then a sense of fear hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Oh, my God. Are you...are you sick? Please, please don't tell me you're going to..."

"No. No! Nothing like that," she told him with a smile. "No, I'm fine."

"Whew! Okay, then I think I can handle anything else," he told her as she sat next to him.

He put his arm around her and said, "Okay. Shoot."

"Well, you remember when you joked about me having a spare hundred grand laying around?"

"Yeeeesss," he said.

"Well, I...kind of do," she confessed.

"I think I sort of assumed you'd have some amount of money considering how you both sold real estate and sold your home. It's no big deal."

"Okay, but what if I had, you know, even more money than that...laying around?"

He took his arm away, turned sideways, and said, "Honey? I don't care how much or how little you have. You could have millions or hundreds, but if you weren't the amazing woman you are, I wouldn't be interested. Money only matters to the extent you can use it for things you want. But I don't love you because of money, and I can assure you the amount won't matter."

Lock saw her getting emotional again and said, "Hey. Don't cry, okay? I'm still going to pay for dinner whenever we go out."

Too emotional to laugh, she shook her head then tried to blink her tears away before replying.

"I...I honestly thought I might never fall in love again. I think I'd even convinced myself that would be okay."

She looked right at him then said, "But you changed all that, Lock. You made me feel again and care again, and...and love again."

"I'm glad," he told her quietly.

"You're everything I hoped for in those rare moments when I dared to dream I just might find someone else who could make me loved and safe and...beautiful."

"You are," he told her.

"All that matters is I know you mean that when you say it, and that you love me for who I am."

"I do, you know."

"I do. And I love you for who you are, sweetheart," she told him with all the sincerity she could muster. "And it doesn't hurt that you're really cute, either."

"And well hung, right?" he said trying not to smile.

Jessica laughed immediately, and that let him know whatever she'd been so concerned about no longer mattered.

"Well, I won't complain about that," she told him. "In fact, I've been fantasizing about you since you left, 'Your Hungness'."

Lock chuckled as Jessica looked down where a growing bulge was appearing in his pants and said, "Yes. That would be it. Right there!"

"Well, it's obviously very glad to see you," he told her before standing her up then gently pushing her onto the bed.

She pulled him down on top of her then said, "Make love to me, honey. Please?"

After the loving, they talked about the schedule at Lock's firm.

"We got the project," he told her. "I found out earlier today but wanted to wait and tell you in person."

"That's great!" Jessica told him.

"And I'm getting the lead."

"Lock, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you. And we're getting a very rare four-day weekend for the 4th of July. So I was thinking maybe we could..."

"Go to Montana?" Jessica said with so much excitement it startled him.

"Yeah, but if you don't want to go..." he teased.

"I can't wait to go! Is the property still for sale?"

"As of this morning it was," he told her.

"I can't wait to see it!, either."

He slid out of bed, grabbed his laptop and booted it up.

"Behold the property!" he said as he clicked on a folder of photos he'd taken when he was there. He'd also made a fairly long video which they watched together.

"It's so quiet and serene," Jessica said. "It's perfect. I love it!"

"As long as you're there to share it with me, it will be perfect," he told her.

He saw her getting misty eyed again, but she got ahold of herself before she cried.

"Sorry. I'm just not used to having someone care so much about me," she said.

"Well, you do now, and that's not going to change," Lock told her.

"Yeah, until I'm old and wrinkled, and..."

"I got news for you, kiddo," Lock said. "You're already old."

She made a big huff and said, "Oh, yeah? I'll show you old!"

She pulled him on top of her and made love to him with all the passion she had.

After a few moments of quiet she said, "I'm glad we can laugh about it, but that does scare me, Lock. When you're 35, five years younger than I already am, I'll be...well, I'll be really, really old."

"No, you'll be really, really beautiful," he told her.

"You're just saying that," she said pretending it didn't matter.

"No, you're just assuming I can't possibly mean that. Jessica. I love you and I'll always love you. If Norm was still alive, he'd still love you when you turned 50 or 60, right?"

"Yes, but that's different. He was nearly three years older than me."

"Oh, so the other's person's relative age is the only reason for loving someone meaning youth, relatively speaking, is the only reason for loving another person. Is that what you're implying, my love?"

"What? No. Of course not. But when you're nearly the same age it's..."

"I see. So if you'll love me when I get older, why wouldn't I love you, too, as you get older?"

"I hate when you get logical with me," she said even though she felt much better. "Even when it doesn't really even make sense."

"I'm easy to hate," he told her.

When she laughed, he did, too.

"Come here, gorgeous," he said as he pulled her on top of him. "You are gorgeous, you know? And you always will be to me."

"Well, one thing's for sure. You'll always be young and gorgeous to me."

He flipped her over causing her to laugh then made love to her again and neither of them mentioned age again the rest of the night.

The next morning Lock asked Jessica what she planned to do while he was at work.

"I was trying not to think about that," she told him.

"Well, my mom sent me a text letting you know she'd love to have some company today while my dad's at work."

"Your mom is really nice," Jessica said not wanting to let Lock get up and get ready.

"So is yours," he said hoping it sounded sincere.

"I do love her, but she's, well...an acquired taste. Your mom, on the other hand, is just a very pleasant, easygoing person."

"Yeah, she's pretty great. And so are you. So why not spend some time with her? Maybe go out to lunch or something. Just don't talk 'off the grid' too much with her, okay?"

Jessica laughed then told him, "I honestly didn't think about that all night."

"Yeah, it's really strange how the one thing I thought I wanted more than anything else has taken a distant second to the one thing...the one person...I now want more than anyone or anything."

"It's amazing how something so important can fade so quickly into the background. Don't get me wrong, I still love the idea," she said. "I just love you more."

"Same here. Like I said, as long as you're doing it with me, the 'it' isn't so important."

"And yet if not for our mutual interest in the same rather unusual subject, we'd never have met."

"I don't even want to think about that," Lock told her.

He lay beside her for another minute or so then said, "I really need to get up and get ready to go to work."

"Want some company in the shower?" she asked with a smile.

"You're...insatiable!" he teased.

"Is that a 'yes'?"

He stood up, took her hand, and said, "Yeah. I guess," as though it was some terrible burden.

Just seconds later they were laughing and kissing and...doing it again...as the warm water streamed down over their bodies.

"Can you let your mom know I'll be stopping by?" Jessica asked as Lock was getting dressed.

"Sure. I'll text her right now."

As he kissed her goodbye, Jessica said, "I could get used to this."

"It's not exactly living off the grid, you know."

"That's not what I meant, but...okay," Jessica said sweetly as she put her arms around his neck. "And may I say you look very nice."

"Again, not exactly off-the-grid attire, but jeans are frowned upon at the office."

"Well, you look even more handsome in a button-down shirt with nice pants and and shoes."

For the first time since he met her, Lock wondered if perhaps living off the grid was what he really wanted. He also couldn't help but wonder if Jessica still wanted it as badly as she claimed, too.

"Do you want me to make reservations for Montana?" she asked just before he left.

"Oh, right. Um, sure. Yeah, let's do that," he said forgetting about his short-lived doubts.

As Lock spent his day gearing up for the big project he'd be leading, Jessica spent her day having lunch with Janet then doing some shopping, something she hadn't done much of in a very long time.

Since Norm's death, what shopping Jessica did do was mostly limited to the things she had to have, and she did as much of that online as she could. She'd forgotten how much fun it could be to spend a few hours looking around stores just to see what looked interesting or fun. Jessica bought several new things for herself and a couple of dress shirts for Lock.

On the way back to Janet's, they chatted about how much they enjoyed their time together. And then Janet asked Jessica the inevitable question about living off the grid.

"Do you think you and Lock might be trying that anytime soon?"

"Well, we're going to look at some land in Montana over the 4th of July weekend," Jessica said hoping he'd mentioned that.

"Lock did mention that. He told us he planned on going back a second time. I guess I kind of thought that with this being a follow-on trip he might be buying this time."

"I think Lock wants to know how I feel about the property, you know? He showed me the photos and the video, but he really wants me to see it before we decide."

Janet didn't ask 'we?' as she knew exactly what Jessica meant.

"That makes sense," Janet told her then left it at that.

Since the 4th was literally upon them that weekend, Jessica stayed in Seattle, spending most of her days with Janet and her evenings with Lock or Lock and his parents, enjoying every minute of her time with them.

She was amazed at how accepting they were of her, and a part of her wished her own mom, who was texting her many times each day (with many of them queries about when she coming home), could be more like them. She knew that wasn't possible or even fair, and she had to keep in mind her mother had told her this was her life to live. Even so, the heavy hand of unspoken judgment was always lurking right below the surface. That made her even more sad as every day she spent with Lock and his family only made her love them even more, and she yearned for her mom to love him, too.

Kevin drove them to the airport and waited until they were through security before going home with the understanding they could call or text him anytime for any reason.

After finding their seats, Jessica said, "I am so excited about seeing the land!"

"Me, too," Lock said as he took her hand. "It was pretty cold the last time I was there so this should be absolutely amazing."

The weather was forecast to be clear and warm both days they'd be at the site, and Lock had rented a four-wheel drive Jeep to take them there. They were also renting some camping gear from a store in town so this would give them the opportunity to kind of get a feel for what it would be like living life off the grid.

The plane landed right on time and their 'car' was waiting for them just as was the owner of the store who had everything they'd requested laid out for them.

"That's some beautiful country up there," the store owner told them as he rang up the total.

Lock agreed and mentioned he'd been up there once before.

"Okay. So you know how bad the mosquitos and deer flies can be then," he said as a statement of fact rather than a question.

"Wait," Jessica said. "How bad are they?"

"I didn't have any problems with them, but I was there in early October," Lock told her.

"Oh, they're all gone by then. Too cold for 'em," the bearded, older man said. "But from June through August you can saddle them babies up and ride 'em. Yeah, if you don't have nets and repellent, I'd strongly recommend you get 'em before you go."

Lock saw the look on Jessica's face then told the man he'd like a couple of nets to cover their cots as well as several cans of the strongest repellent they had.

"I'd also take a bug zapper with me if I was you. I ain't tryin' to make money off you, kids. I just know whereof I speak."

Jessica's fears were slightly lessened at having just been called a kid, but she was still very concerned.

"Are these the kinds of mosquitos you can get malaria from?" she asked having no idea.

"Oh, no. Not around here. Just nasty little bites. Hundreds of 'em if you don't take precautions, but the skeeters are nothin' compared to the deer flies. Them things pack a real wallop, lemme tell ya!"

He helped them load everything into the Jeep then wished them well.

"You kids be careful. There ain't a doctor anywhere from here to there and it's a good 40 miles up to where you're goin'."

"We will," Lock told him. "And thank you for your help."

Jessica didn't say anything for several minutes and Lock asked if she was okay just before they left the last paved road.

"Oh. Sure. I'm fine," she told him with a weak smile.

The thought of being bitten was one thing. Being bitten constantly was another and was one thing she'd never thought of. She just assumed 'bugs' were a minor annoyance one could tolerate or ignore, and that would mostly be true once the house was built and for the other nine months of the year regardless of whether they were indoors or outside.

The first road they took after leaving the blacktop was flat and level but just not paved. Even so, they were able to travel along at about 45mph without bouncing around too much. Twenty-five miles later, their GPS told them they were close to where they needed to turn and head north, the going got quite a bit rougher.

Fifteen miles down that road, which was really just a trail, they came upon their first obstacle which was a fallen pine tree laying across the road. Lock had an axe and a saw and asked Jessica which one she preferred.

"You chop, I'll saw," she said.

"I guess we better 'lather up'," Lock said.

They each grabbed a can of mosquito repellent and covered all their exposed skin then stepped outside. It was already warm and bit humid and before they could get the tools out, 'bugs' were swarming around.

By the time they started chopping and sawing, Jessica learned what a 'deer fly' was as they attacked relentlessly causing her to have to stop and swat them every few seconds. They were in addition to the mosquitos which had also found them and were doing what mosquitos—do extracting blood—in spite of the repellent.

In about twenty minutes, the tree was lopped off near the smaller end covering the trail, and they were able to drag it out of the way.

"Thank God!" Jessica said when they got back inside the vehicle.

"Air, please!" she said as she checked herself for bites.

"He wasn't kidding, was he?" Lock said as he fired up the engine and drove around the jagged end of the fallen pine tree.

It was around 3pm when they finally got to the property, and from the Jeep it looked even more spectacular than it did in Lock's photos. Jessica could see the river that was on the far side of it and couldn't wait get out and walk around. They sprayed more repellent on themselves then got out and headed for the water.