The Z Contingency

Chapter 27

Even though she had started out very excited that they would be spending their first vacation together; that it might give them a chance to work on their relationship, Natalie had been regretting her decision to invite Tyler to come along practically from the first moment they had set out for Blue Ridge. Since it was her idea, she didn't mind taking her car, and she enjoyed driving her cute new red Mini Cooper with a white hardtop. It wasn't exactly a long drive; only about an hour and a half, but he could have offered to drive part way, instead of declaring "no way I'm going to be seen driving a chick car." She was also steamed that he couldn't even be bothered to stay awake and keep her company. Instead, the only conversation Natalie got was a "wake me when we get there, babe" before Tyler dozed off for a nap.

Natalie took the exit from the highway into a small rural Georgia town. "Wake up! We're here." She shoved Tyler hard to wake him up. "This is Blue Ridge."

Tyler looked around skeptically, and then turned to Natalie. "You grew up here?"

"Born and raised," she answered proudly.

"This place is tiny. It must have been really boring growing up here," Tyler said in a tone that most people reserved to statements like "I'm sorry for your loss."

"There's lots of stuff to do around here," Natalie responded defensively. "There's a lake near by, and we're near the southern end of the Appalachian Trail. I used to spent all my summers hiking as much of the A.T. as I could." Natalie pulled into the driveway of a ranch style home surrounded by various oaks and maples shading the house. In the understory of the tall shade trees were a number of eastern dogwoods, some with a few pink or white blossoms still in bloom. "This is it," she announced. "This is where I grew up. We're having dinner with my parents," she said, quickly adding, "but I rented a cabin so you wouldn't feel uncomfortable staying here," before the groan could escape Tyler's mouth.

"Oh good." Tyler said with relief as he pulled himself up out of her Mini.

"We will be visiting with them at least a few times while we're in the area." Natalie grabbed his hand, and pulled him along up to the front door. "The rest of the time, we can hike some of the local trails as a warmup before tackling the A.T., and maybe do some horseback riding, go on scenic drives, and visit the local wineries," she said hopefully. In the back of her mind, she still held out hope for a romantic getaway.

Natalie opened the door with the spare key she still kept on her keychain, and walked into the large family room. It was a wood-paneled room furnished with leather seats and rough-hewn oak tables, and had a massive brick fireplace taking up the entire side wall at one end of the room. "Mom! Dad! We're here!" she called out.

Tyler walked over to the fireplace, and looked at the photos lining the mantel. One was of a young girl with delicate features, fair skin, and long wispy blond hair, standing between two coarse-looking boys with dark complexions and dark hair. "Is this you?" he asked, and Natalie nodded. "Who are these guys? Are they family? They don't look anything like you."

"They're my brothers," she replied. Then, before he could make some crass remark about the possibility of different parentage, she quickly explained that her older brothers were probably both short, squat, and burly from starting weight training too young." Tyler admired her tall, willowy, figure, and nodded. "The dark skin and dark hair come from our grandmother's side. She's half Cherokee, and looks a lot like them." Natalie went on to describe how she was different from her brothers in other ways too - they liked to do; she preferred to think. They liked sports; she loved books. On the other hand, she explained that she was also very much like her brothers in that she was very good with her hands; she knew her way around the engine bay of her family's many vehicles just as well as her brothers did, and could fix anything they could.