Up in the middle of nowh.., p.13
Up in the Middle of Nowhere, page 13
“I’m really proud of you, honey,” she praised with an exhausted grin. The corners of Nova’s mouth quirked up in response. “Ready to head back?” Tessa asked, already knowing the answer. She unzipped the backpack and dispersed their shoes and socks. When she lifted the backpack to rest it on her shoulders to begin the hike back to the car, it surprised her when Nova tugged it away and put it on her own instead.
“There might be hope for you after all,” Tessa teased, ruffling Nova’s hair and pulling her sheepish daughter in for a hug.
Lighter, they walked back the way they came, dodging groups and small families. The path down the mountain was much easier, and they chatted about mundane things.
“How about some ice cream?” Tessa asked as they descended, the ninety-degree heat making pools of sweat trickle down their backs. Their t-shirts were soaked with a pungent mixture of water and sweat and clung to their bellies.
“I’m down,” Nova said with a small smile.
“Considering I turned our two-mile hike into over four miles, I think we’ve earned it. We’ll find an ice cream shop in Sevierville and then head to the next treehouse.”
Nova was relieved, and a genuine smile spread across her face when she realized her forced time in nature was over and there was ice cream on the way.
Tessa followed the GPS instructions to TripAdvisor’s top local ice cream parlor, Cruz Farm Ice Cream. Driving the Jeep out of the pristine natural setting of the Great Smoky Mountains was a sharp contrast to the town of Sevierville, Tennessee. It was only two miles outside the national park, but the second biggest tourist trap she’d ever laid eyes on.
“This is the Vegas of the south.” Tessa was in awe as she drove down the strip where both sides were covered in arcades and go-kart establishments. They drove by the curious upside-down building that housed WonderWorks. Further down, Nova pointed out a massive King Kong statue standing on top of the Hollywood sign that housed a wax museum. The town was a mecca of overdeveloped family entertainment. Bright, eye-popping colors screamed up and down every surface, clamoring for visitors’ attention and dollars. It was a land of over-exaggeration and make-believe, and the kind of commercialized travel destination Tessa usually avoided at all costs.
At several stop lights, she shivered at the sight of zip-line towers where riders dangled precariously over the concrete jungle.
She pointed to one platform, the highest on the strip, and said, “That’s my worst nightmare.”
“How’s that any different from climbing the rocks at Laurel Falls?”
“It’s night and day different! For one, if you fall off that contraption, you’re dead.”
“They wear safety harnesses, Mom,” Nova explained and held up her arm where a plum colored bruise was developing amid several scrapes and scratches as evidence to the contrary. “As you can see, it wasn’t exactly a soft landing at the falls.” She leaned forward and glanced up at the platform intrigued. “Looks like such a rush! I’d totally take my chances.”
The light turned green, and Tessa hit the gas, happy to put the platforms in the rearview mirror. She finally pulled into the packed parking lot at Cruz Farm Ice Cream, noticing a line of customers reaching outside the door.
“Ugh.” Nova was annoyed seeing all the people waiting.
“Trust me, a line is a good thing. Come on, I bet it moves fast.”
It did and within ten minutes, they made it to the register where the largest menu of soft-serve flavors awaited them. Delicious combinations like sweet cream and strawberry sorbet and stranger ones like sweet potato. The shop was like stepping back in time. Red and white checkered decor dominated the space, with red vinyl swiveling stools perched on one end of a long Formica table. The girls working the shop were dressed in red and white checkered aprons with their hair in fifties-style sweeping ponytails. Nova ordered her go-to chocolate soft serve with gummy butterflies, and Tessa ordered a Salty Cow in a dish. She savored her salted caramel and creamy chocolate ice cream with a smile on her face, listening to Nova’s munching sounds as she enjoyed her cone. When they finished, she pulled up the address of the next treehouse on her GPS.
“Ready?” she asked, happy to see that Nova’s energy was restored, and she was in better spirits due to the influx of sugar. “The next treehouse is only fifteen minutes from here at a place called Treetopia.”
They got back into the Jeep and followed GPS’s directions. Nova was quiet in the seat next to her, and the route was winding and filled with lots of turns, forcing Tessa to concentrate. Reaching the final turn into the driveway at Treetopia, Tessa hesitated. It was a hairpin turn on a gravel road with such a steep incline she briefly wondered if her Jeep could climb it. Saying a little Hail Mary, she pressed the pedal down, giving the car enough gas to pop up the steep driveway and then higher up the mountain where the treehouse awaited. The Jeep climbed straight up, finally reaching a small parking pull-out where the copper-colored tin roof of the Bark Treehouse was visible from the road. Tessa parked the Jeep with an exhausted grimace, noting the considerable walking distance from the Jeep to the treehouse.
“Looks like we’re going to have to walk a ways,” she said. “Let’s grab what we can, and when it cools down, we’ll come back for the rest.”
Too worn out to argue after the events of the day, Nova grabbed two backpacks and dragged a cooler behind her. They wandered down a long path until the trees opened up, and they got their first proper look at the Bark Treehouse.
“Wow.” Tessa stopped, looking at it for the first time. The exterior was an octagon shape and covered in dark brown bark siding that mimicked the trees surrounding it. Huge windows let in light on four of the eight sides, and a tin roof circled a living tree that shot out of the top like a cowlick. Surrounding the treehouse was a wraparound deck that housed glider rockers and a charcoal grill.
“It’s like a Hobbit house,” Nova remarked, and Tessa didn’t disagree. Beyond the treehouse, the mountains of Sevierville were a stunning green backdrop where plumes of bluish smoke were visible in the mountain ranges underneath a bright blue sky.
“See that?” Tessa pointed out, “The blue smoke is a visual phenomenon created by the combination of high humidity and organic compounds emitted on summer days. It’s how the Smokies got their name.”
“That’s great, Mom, but please tell me this house has air conditioning.”
The heat index was over a hundred and ten, and they were both drenched in sweat and smelling pretty ripe by the time they landed at the front door.
“It does.”
“Praise Jesus!” Nova joked, raising her hands to the sky like a television evangelist.
Tessa unlocked the handmade wooden door. It was constructed of logs and shaped like a gothic church window. She pushed it open with her forearm and was shocked when there were only a few centimeters of clearance between it and the kitchen countertop. Stepping inside, her feet hit the astroturf that carpeted the entire first floor.
“That’s an odd choice,” Tessa remarked, feeling the scratch of it tickle the tips of her sandal-encased toes.
In the center of the treehouse, a living tree was covered in rough-hewn cedar and grew up through the center of the ceiling between two skylights.
Tessa followed Nova up a very steep set of narrow stairs that led to a loft with a queen-size bed. The rest of the loft contained a lounging area around the tree that was made of a web of bungee cords fastened to the perimeter.
“Cool!” Nova enthused as she stepped out onto the bungee surface and then lay down. Tessa followed her out onto it, feeling jittery as the cords sank with her additional weight. The treehouse was drenched in natural light from the huge windows that ringed it and the skylights that exposed the cerulean blue sky.
“We’ll get a taste of tiny house living here,” Tessa exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to try it!”
Nova smirked. “You want to try everything.”
“Guilty.” Tessa shrugged. “At only a hundred and ten square feet, this is the smallest treehouse we’ll stay in. I booked them in a sequence, so each one gets better as the trip goes on.” Nova pulled out a yoga mat and unrolled it on the suspended bungee floor to lie on. “It’s pretty neat, though, huh?”
“Yeah, not bad.”
Eager to get settled into their tiny space, Tessa walked down the stairs and around the tree to the kitchen to check out the amenities. It was tucked into the inside of the curved wall and was a pie-shaped minuscule nine square feet. The bathroom was around the tree on the bottom floor, complete with a rounded shower and toilet, with a tacky romantic heart design carved into the faux wood toilet seat. There were two narrow reclining chairs and a wall-mounted TV that Nova turned on immediately while Tessa tried to figure out how to turn on the air conditioner.
Already logged into someone’s Netflix account, Nova said, “Let's see what Adam’s taste is like.” She flipped through his previously watched list before landing on Schitt’s Creek. After long showers with plentiful hot water, Tessa and Nova binged half of the first season before calling it an early night and climbing back up the steep stairs to the bed.
She hadn’t shared a bed with Nova since she was little, when Nova would take up residence in the cozy space between her legs and rest her head on Tessa’s belly as a pillow while they watched SpongeBob SquarePants. “Mommy’s wegs!” she’d declare before plopping down with a sippy cup filled with milk and her favorite blanket. It was a sweet memory that hadn’t surfaced in years, and the rediscovery of it made her surge with warmth.
Nova fell asleep almost instantly. The moonlight flooded in from the skylight above them and traced her daughter’s features. Tessa reached out and tucked a stray hair behind her cheek, and an exhausted Nova didn’t even move. Tessa felt joy bloom in her heart as she drifted off to sleep, grateful for this precious time with her daughter.
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning, Tessa was thrilled to see a real single-cup coffee maker nestled into the triangle-shaped alcove of the kitchen. She brewed a cup in the dark and then took it out onto the deck outside, where the sky was just beginning to lighten with the imminent sunrise. An almost full moon disappeared, and the stars dissolved into the clear light of day. She sipped the coffee slowly, savoring the sound of rushing water that could be seen from her perch in the trees. Knowing that Nova was going to sleep in, she made another cup and stood outside. Her mug said, “Adventure is Calling.” She hoisted it up and took a photo of her hand holding the cup with the Smokies in their full glory behind it and texted it to Kristie.
Kristie: Gorgeous! Super jelly. How’s it going?
Tessa: Pretty decent, actually. We’re both still alive.
Kristie: I would consider that a win. Can’t wait to hear all about it.
She studied the photo and thought about sending it to Jason, a habit she’d developed during their two years together. The time away was both good and bad because it gave her time to reflect and decide. It was always harder to be objective and understand her own feelings in his presence. With a heavy sigh, she tucked the phone back into her pocket and kept the photo to herself. She didn’t want to pull their issues into this experience and distract her from her purpose. It had been a two-steps-forward, three-steps-back start, but she felt they’d made some progress yesterday. Even baby steps were steps forward.
She took another sip of coffee as a sweet little hummingbird zinged by, its wings flapping so fast they were a blur. It was covered in lime green feathers, and shimmering iridescent markings ran up its back. The bird darted over to the trumpet flower vine clinging to the gigantic tree closest to the treehouse as Tessa watched.
Tessa did some stretches and yoga poses on the deck while waiting for Nova to make an appearance and then attempted twenty minutes of meditation. It was a futile exercise where her busy mind darted from topic to topic like the hummingbird she’d just seen buzzing from bloom to bloom. A few hours later, Nova finally appeared, her face creased with sleep and her eyes half opened.
“Breakfast?” she asked, and Nova nodded. In the tiny kitchen on a hot plate, she scrambled four eggs and cooked thick slices of peppery bacon.
“I thought we’d go find the river,” Tessa mentioned. “I can see it from the deck.” If Nova was annoyed, she hid it well. Nova rubbed her feet back and forth on the astroturf.
“There’s one thing this stuff is good for…” She sighed in pleasure as she continued to brush her ankles faster against the rough green surface, looking blissed out, the way a dog does when you scratch under its chin. “Itching my bug bites.”
“You know, you’ve been delicious to biting insects since you were tiny,” Tessa remembered, never one to pass up a quick jaunt down memory lane. “Your skin would swell up with pink welts as big as my fist.”
“Lucky me.” She itched faster. “I’ve got bug bites on top of bug bites.” Tessa walked over to inspect and noticed a growing network of insect bites crawling up Nova’s legs. “I’ve got just the thing.” From her backpack, she pulled out an after-bite stick. “Rub this on them.”
“I don’t need it,” Nova replied. “I’m tough.”
“Oh? Like you didn’t need sunscreen the other day?” Tessa shot back, pointing to the still-red upper thighs and calves that were now also covered in pink splotches. Her own ankles were riddled, too, so she bent down to rub the stick on them, relishing a comforting, warming sensation that quickly tamed the itching. “It helps.” She waved the white stick in the air. “Last chance.”
“Okay.” Even Nova’s teenage stubbornness had its limits. She pulled the tube from Tessa’s hand and began to rub it in.
“Wow, that bruise doubled overnight.” Tessa pointed at Nova’s forearm where a dark purple bruise covered a six-inch span. It was the first point of contact with the ground when she’d face-planted yesterday.
“At least I didn’t hurt the pretty.” Nova smirked, circling her hand to indicate her face and then following it up with a couple of dramatic eyelash flutters that made Tessa chuckle.
After breakfast and before Nova could turn on the TV, she said, “Let’s go!” and Nova groaned. Tessa gathered up a backpack and some drinks and walked out into the thick humidity, climbing down the steep drive to find an entrance to the river below. After walking around aimlessly and finding nothing but dead ends, Tessa had to admit defeat.
Vacation rentals chewed up the edges of the river, and it was all private property. Nova was mortified by her suggestion to cross someone’s yard to access the river. “I guess it’s not meant to be,” Tessa mused as she shielded Nova’s thin body from an oncoming semi-truck. The road was winding and dangerous with no shoulder. One curve was especially treacherous, forcing them to walk into the blind spot of oncoming traffic. If a morning commuter was glancing down at their phone at the wrong time, Tessa was sure they’d become roadkill. It was a relief when they finally reached the less-trafficked lane that led back up to the treehouse.
“Can I have a free day today?” Nova asked. Their calves were burning from the climb, and they were both soaked in sweat and exhausted from the effort of the slow but intense walk back.
Tessa mulled her request over. She didn’t want this trip to be pure torture for Nova, so she compromised. “It’s your vacation, too, and the first one we’ve taken in a long time.” Nova’s eyes bloomed with hope. Tessa decided instead of making every moment a meaningful interaction, she would try to carve out pockets of them, allowing Nova some down time to decompress. “Okay,” Tessa agreed.
Nova let out a whoop and disappeared inside to watch more episodes of Schitt’s Creek and gobble down fistfuls of fluorescent orange Flaming Hot Cheetos.
Up in the loft, Tessa rolled out the yoga mat on the bungee platform and brought out her kindle to read. About an hour into her book, the episode of Schitt’s Creek Nova was watching below got her full attention. In it, Johnny and Moira were lamenting the fact that even though they’d lived with their grown children, Alexis and David, they didn’t really know them. Tessa bolted upright on the mat and became engrossed in the show and smiled. This was the exact reason she’d wanted to take this trip with Nova. The episode felt like a serendipitous Easter egg the universe planted for her to discover. Seeing it as a sign, she resolved to get the card game out that night.
Nova was noticeably less irritated that evening after a long day of lounging in front of the TV. “Let’s build the fire,” Tessa suggested, and Nova helped her build a decent teepee from the firewood. She crumpled a piece of newspaper into a ball with her fist before lighting it, and minutes later, the fire roared to life. In the tiny kitchen, Tessa formed patties from ground beef and added buns, cheese, sliced onion, and ruby red tomatoes she’d purchased from a roadside stand. The meat sizzled on the grates, and a few minutes later, the hamburgers were ready.
“What kind of S’mores should we make tonight?” she asked after the burgers were eaten.
“Samoa?” Nova suggested.
“I like your style, kid. Can you go inside and get the marshmallows and the box of cookies? If we’re feeling really crazy, we can add a few Hershey Nibs to the mix.”
“Wow!” Nova waved her hands in the air side-to-side, jazz hands style. “Look who’s living on the edge now!”
Tessa laughed. They ate quietly as the sun dropped behind the mountain. Its last rays needled through the trees tinting every branch with shimmering golden light. “Isn’t it pretty?” she asked Nova.
“Yeah,” she agreed as she speared the first marshmallow to make a S’more and handed Tessa the other stick. Tessa poked the metal through a soft marshmallow center and began turning it patiently in the fire like it was a rotisserie. Across from her, Nova’s instantly burst into flame.
“Agh! I ruined it. How do you do that?” Nova asked a few minutes later when a perfectly toasted marshmallow rested at the end of Tessa’s stick.
