Glen Tate - 299 Days - The 17th Irregulars

“I’ll go up to the Grange now and volunteer,” Kellie said, impulsively grabbing her car keys.

“Whoa,” Sheila said. “Gas. There’s no gas to just drive around. Remember? You need to walk. It’s only about a mile.”

“Sure,” Kellie said. “Sounds good, Mom.” It was another shocking statement from the rebel child.

“I gotta change,” Kellie said. Kellie got in her sexiest shorts and tight fitting tank top and put on some makeup.

Kellie came out and Sheila said, “You look fabulous. You’ll be the most beautiful kitchen helper there.” Kellie realized she was being obvious about her true intentions with the kitchen helping, but loved that her mom was in on it. Kellie hugged her mom. She hadn’t done that in a couple of years.

Kellie started walking, which was something she hadn’t done in so long. She was accustomed to driving anywhere and everywhere.

Before the Collapse, Kellie had a job in Frederickson at a local supermarket, Martin’s. Her job sucked, but she was one of the few her age who had one during the horrible economy. Being beautiful might have had something to do with that; customers liked having a pretty girl around. She’d been working there part-time in high school and then, after she graduated two years ago, she went full time.

Her mom wanted her to go college, but Kellie didn’t see any point to it. There were no jobs and the economy was terrible. She didn’t feel like going to college only to graduate with tens of thousands of dollars of loan debt and no job prospects. .

Now, the economy was virtually non-existent. She quit going to her job in Frederickson when gas hit $12 a gallon and there was way too much crime in town. When it became obvious that life as they had known it was essentially over, Kellie started worrying about her future. Would she just sit at home and eat that awful deer meat, which is all they had? She couldn’t drive anywhere and be with her friends. Her little brother was so annoying. She needed a life.

Then the truck went by and that boy smiled at her. That’s what she needed; a new and wonderful life could be hers if she could only get that boy. And he was so cute and new and exciting. It would be perfect. Everything would be perfect.

Kellie walked up to the Grange and received a warm welcome from the ladies in the kitchen. They were happy to have a new volunteer and put her straight to work.

It was dinner time and people started coming in for dinner. Kellie saw a big Asian guy with a gun wearing those contractor-looking clothes. She realized that the Team must be there, and her heart stopped when they walked in. She looked quickly to see if he—the boy who smiled at her—was with them. Sure enough, there he was. He looked great all sweaty and dirty with all those guns and all that gear.

She decided to be forward. He probably was getting lots of offers from other girls, so she needed to snag this guy.

Kellie walked right up to him and said, in her sexiest voice, “Is there anything you’d like?” and winked. That was pretty obvious.

The other guys laughed and teased Wes, but he was just silent, staring at this beautiful woman who obviously liked him. Wes was a proper Southern gentleman. Courtship was a subtle dance where he was from. But, then again, a gorgeous woman was coming on to him. There was no harm in that. Subtle wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

“Hi,” is all Wes could manage. The guys laughed at him for that, too. “I’m Wes,” he managed to add.

Wes stuck out his hand. She shook it with a soft and gentle shake and kept staring him in the eye with her most seductive look, which was intoxicatingly powerful. No guy could resist it.

“I’m Kellie and I just wanted to meet you,” she said. Their handshake was still going; they were basically holding hands now. They were just staring at each other.

The guys quit laughing at Wes. They realized that this was a very serious moment for him and this hot girl. They were happy for him. Wes had apparently snagged a great girl and they didn’t want to ruin that. They were silent for a few seconds, waiting for Wes to say something.

“You asked what I’d like,” Wes finally said. “I’d like you to join me for dinner, ma’am,” he said in his Southern accent. There. He’d put some subtle courting back into this encounter.

Kellie smiled a huge smile. She started to hug him, but caught herself. It was too early for that. She needed to let this play out a little more, even though she wanted to hug him. A lot.

The Southern gentleman in Wes took over. “I will be serving you tonight, ma’am,” he said, in what could be a reference to dinner…or whatever else might happen later that night. He left to wash up and then went into the kitchen to get a plate of food for Kellie. The guys moved around so Kellie had a seat next to Wes, of course.

At dinner, Wes and Kellie had the most amazing conversation. They talked about everything. Wes found out that Kellie lived with her mom and younger brother. Her dad had left them a few years ago, which was a good thing since he regularly hit Kellie and her mom. They were still worried that he would come back, although they heard he was in jail. They also knew that the jails had been emptied.

Wes sensed that this was one of the reasons Kellie was so attracted to him. She wanted a man to protect her from any bad people who might come, like her dad. This bothered Wes. He didn’t like the sexist idea that a woman needed a man for protection. He had been raised that men and women were equal. Well, they are, he thought. But why deny that this woman is looking for something if he had it? Kellie wanting to feel safe was not a terrible thing. Everyone wanted to feel safe. Wes desired it, too. He wanted to be with the Team since he was so much safer with them around.

Wes realized that he, too, was attracted to her for a sense of safety and protection. It wasn’t safety and protection from bad people, though. It was a sense of safety and protection that he could provide for someone. He could help Kellie by making her safe. He could help her. He could make her life spectacular. He wanted to do that. He wanted to be the best boyfriend ever, or maybe the best husband, if life provided him that opportunity.

Whoa. It was way too early to be thinking about that, he said to himself. Then he took it all in. The conversation, how fabulous she looked, how he had been put in this place at this time with her. He just knew this was it. He’d met the woman he’d be with for the rest of his life.

One by one, the rest of the Team finished dinner and were taking their plates into the kitchen. They were talking with the Grange ladies and others while all the other diners were finishing their meals. But not Wes and Kellie. They just sat there, talking and laughing, until their butts got numb on the picnic table benches in the Grange.

“Hey, Wes, you comin’?” Ryan asked, which startled Wes back to reality.

“Oh. Yeah,” Wes said. “Wait. Goin’ where?”

“Back to the ranch,” Bobby said, referring to the yellow cabin.

Wes looked back at Kellie. He didn’t want to leave her, but Kellie didn’t want to be the only girl out at the cabin, either. She wanted to be the most popular girl at Pierce Point by inviting her friends to meet these guys.

“I have some friends who would like to meet the other guys,” she said with another wink.

“Female friends, I’m hoping,” Wes said with a smile.

Kellie nodded slowly and said, “Some girls you guys will like to meet.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint your friends,” Wes said. Could this be going any better?

“Why don’t you tell my colleagues about your friends?”

“Can I bring some of my friends over to meet you guys back at the ranch?” Kellie asked the Team.