Reagan
“I swore I’d never come back here.” Casey slams the car door shut, resting his arms
on the roof as he lowers his sunglasses down over his eyes. “Thought I was done
with small town life,” he sighs as he glances up and down Buick Main Street. “Thought
you were, too.” He looks at me as I lean back against the car, crossing my
arms.
I was. He’s right.
“Thought this was the last
place you’d want to come back to.”
I reach for my own
sunglasses, sliding them on, shielding my tired eyes from the low afternoon
sun.
“Jesus, Reagan, are you
even listening to me?”
“I’ve done nothing but listen to you since we got in the
fucking car.”
He looks at me, and I’m
guessing he’s scowling, it’s hard to tell, seeing as we’re both wearing dark
glasses.
“You’ve done nothing but
bitch this whole damn journey.”
“Your idea, Reagan. Not
mine. I don’t see why we had to leave Nashville in the first place.”
“You were killing your
career, Casey. That’s why we had to
leave Nashville. You heard what Waylan said, if you don’t take a break…”
“Waylan knows shit.”
“Waylan knows you. And he’s right, you were turning
into an asshole, and it wasn’t pretty.”
He turns around and leans
back against the car.
“Treating me like I’m some
kinda idiot who don’t know what they’re doing, that ain’t right, Reagan.”
“It’s for your own good. I’m
only looking out for you. You might be an asshole but you’re a talented
asshole, and I’m not gonna stand around and watch you throw your life away.”
“Hey, you forgetting who you’re
talking to here?”
“And don’t be throwing all
that big brother shit at me again. That only works when you act like one.”
“Fuck! Reagan, come on…”
I light up a cigarette,
taking a drag before I hand it to Casey.
“And you’re right, by the
way.”
Casey frowns and hands the
cigarette back to me. “About what?”
“This is the last place I
wanted to come back to.” I throw the half-smoked cigarette onto the ground and
stamp down on it. “But, last I heard, he’s not around anymore, so…” I leave
that sentence hanging, and I feel Casey’s hand slip into mine, squeezing it
tight. “Come on. Let’s go grab something to eat. If we’re really doing this we
might as well start getting reacquainted with the old hometown.”
Travis
It’s
been too damn hot today. I’ve spent most of my time carrying water to the
horses, making sure no one’s going thirsty, this heat, it’s verging on brutal! It’s
also meant that everything’s taken way longer to get done than I’d planned, I
can’t expect everyone to work through this heat without at least slowing down.
I ain’t got time for any cowboy to be dropping out on me.
“Hey, Travis!”
“You’re late, Jackson.” I
tip another bucket of water into the trough. “Where you been?”
“Dealing with the cattle.
Didn’t Blue tell you?”
Maybe he did. Blue Skillet’s
one of those foremen ranches like ours fight for, he knows his shit. He don’t
get distracted like I do, mainly ’cause he wants to be here.
I nudge my hat back a
little as I gather some of the empty buckets together. “Everything OK with the
cattle?”
“The cattle are fine. What
about you?”
I look at my brother. “What
about me?”
“Are you OK?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re making no secret of
the fact you resent being here, Travis. And sometimes it rubs off on everyone
else, you want that kind of shit being talked about in the bunkhouse?”
I narrow my eyes and hold
Jackson’s gaze. But I don’t say nothing.
“Dad wanted us to run this ranch
together. You know that.”
“Yeah, well, Dad ain’t here
no more. And I never made him no promises. He always knew my reluctance to come
back here, that’s why he forced me to come home. Never did forgive me for
walking away from this place.”
“No one forced you to come back.”
“As good as. Guilt-tripping
was his thing, remember?” I drop the buckets at my brother’s feet. “Horses need
more water. And I got other shit to do.”
“You gonna be back for
dinner?”
I start to walk away, but
Jackson grabs my arm, he stops me, and I look down at his hand gripping my
wrist. “You wanna let go of that?”
“You can’t do this forever,
Travis. We gotta live here, together, under the same roof –”
“It’s a big enough house,
Jackson. We don’t need to cross paths all that often.”
We lock eyes, but I’m not
getting into this, not again. Not now.
“I’ll grab something to eat
in town. Don’t forget the horses, now.”
Reagan
“You
not eating that?”
Casey pushes his plate
toward me, his head down as he checks his phone. Again. “Knock yourself out.”
I pick up his half-eaten cheeseburger
and take a huge bite, wiping my mouth with a paper napkin as I watch my brother’s
expression change to another scowl. He’s been doing a lot of that lately.
Scowling.
“You expecting a message or
something?”
“Kayla promised she’d text
me.”
I take another bite of
burger. “I don’t know what’s worse, you sticking your dick in anything that
shows you the slightest bit of interest, or your unhealthy obsession with a
fame-hungry gold-digger.” He’s ignoring me, on purpose. “You’re better off
without her.”
That gets his attention,
his head shooting up, his eyes meeting mine. He’s still scowling. “I seriously can’t
believe you’re still eating. Where the fuck you putting it all?”
I just shrug and scoop up a
handful of fries.
“And you don’t know Kayla
like I do.”
“There are lots of people
who know Kayla like you do,” I mutter, sinking a long draft of soda.
“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, come on, Casey. Kayla
Dane’s a professional hanger-on. She seeks out men like you like a pig
snuffling truffles, flashing that perky smile of hers – and those just-as-perky
tits – and ’cause y’all think with your dicks she’s got you right where she
wants you before you can say Country Music Hall of Fame.”
“She ain’t like that,
Reagan.”
I take another bite of
burger, my eyes fixed on my brother as he rubs the back of his neck, his eyes
dropping down to his phone.
“Besides, you ain’t exactly
in a position to be giving me relationship advice, are you?”
“What happened with me and
Chase, that was a whole different situation, and you know it.”
He just raises an eyebrow,
and I have to bite my tongue. My extremely short-lived marriage to Chase Denny
ended because he wasn’t happy with the amount of time I was spending with my
brother, amongst other things. Said our relationship wasn’t right. We were too
close. He saw Casey as a threat, to what I have no idea, but men like Chase,
they expect their women to be by their sides whenever they need them to be, and
I should’ve seen that from the start. Marrying a member of a biker gang, that hadn’t
been my smartest move. But Chase had been different. Dangerous. Unpredictable.
Everything I’d needed at the time. He helped me become the woman I am now, but that’s
the only thing I’m grateful to him for.
“I wouldn’t hold your
breath waiting for that text, Casey, OK? She’ll already be on to her next
victim.”
“You’re seriously pissing
me off now.”
“I’m hitting a nerve, that’s
why. I’m telling you the truth, something you don’t want to hear. You’re not
providing her with the kind of headlines she’s looking for right now, is all.
She doesn’t want a boyfriend who’s taking a few months out, that doesn’t work
for her. She needs to be out there, front and center of everything, she needs
to be noticed. You’re no use to her anymore. You need to get your head around
that, Bro.”
“You’re sounding like a
right bitch, Reagan, you know that?”
“Yeah, well, maybe that’s
what I am now. Maybe that’s what this place made me.”
I sit back and look around
me, this diner’s all-too familiar to me. To all of us who grew up here in
Buick. It was our regular hang-out, while we waited to be old enough to finally
hit the couple of bars this small town used to boast. It may have more now, I don’t
know. I haven’t been back here in a while but, from what I’ve seen so far, this
place hasn’t changed all that much. This diner’s pretty much the same, for
starters. Might’ve had a lick of paint, new flooring, the counter’s been
replaced, but apart from that, it’s the same. It’s the place where we forged
friendships, had first dates, copied homework in a hurry as we ate bacon and
eggs before school. It’s where I first talked to him. The man who’d eventually break my heart, the low-down cheating
piece of shit.
“Only ’cause you let it.”
Casey’s voice drags me back
from those thoughts, and I look at him. “I needed to get tough, Casey. Couldn’t
stay that girl I was when I left here.”
He smiles slightly, finally
putting his phone down. “No one can accuse you of being that girl no more, that’s
for sure. Ain’t no one even recognized you yet.”
“That’s the way I’d like it
to stay.”
He stretches out, places
his hands behind his head, a wide grin on his face. “Yeah, well, I doubt I’m gonna be able to stay incognito, I
mean, I’m a big star now. The returning hero. Local boy made good.”
“Local boy who’s come home
’cause he can’t behave himself playing the big-shot country music star.”
“Like I said, such a bitch.”
“Bite me.”
“Casey? Casey Crowder? Is
that you…?”
I turn my head to see Reba
Maynard standing by our booth, her hands clasped together in front of her
still-very-ample stack. She always did know how to work those tits of hers.
“It’s him,” I mutter under
my breath before I shove the last of Casey’s burger into my mouth. She’s not looking
at me anyway, her eyes are focused on no one but my brother. Nothing much
changed there, then.
“Why didn’t you let us know
you were paying us a visit? I mean, we haven’t seen you around here in over
five years. We could’ve arranged a party.”
“He doesn’t want a party,
Reba. He hasn’t been a good boy, he doesn’t deserve any rewards.”
Casey shoots me another
scowl from across the table but I just shrug. And drink more soda. And still
Reba hasn’t even acknowledged me.
“Why? What you been doing?”
Reba asks Casey, her hands now on her hips, her head cocked as she looks at my
brother. “You been getting yourself involved with the kinda women you got no
place going near?”
I watch as Casey’s face
breaks into an even wider grin, his eyes fixed firmly on Reba. Well, on parts
of Reba, anyway, and I roll my eyes. Seriously? He’s still got the hots for
this cheap piece of Buick ass? I mean, come on! I bet she’s still putting it
out there like she did when we were all in High School. Got her into a ton of
trouble then, I’d be surprised if it hasn’t got her into more trouble since. I still
can’t see a wedding ring on her finger, let’s put it that way.
“What can I say, Reba. They
come flocking, and I ain’t one to disappoint.”
She giggles like the
ridiculous schoolgirl she’d once been, and I watch Casey lap it up, Jesus, do
men ever grow up?
“OK. We need to make a
move, Casey. You want to wind this little reunion up now?”
Finally, Reba turns her
head to look at me, and the frown that crosses her face tells me everything I
need to know. I really have changed. I left Buick a very different woman to the
one who’s now returned.
“Reagan?”
Her brows are almost
meeting in the middle as she stares me down, her eyes flitting across my face,
down over my shoulders and arms, scanning the ink that now covers them.
“Yeah. It’s me.”
“You look… different, to
the last time I saw you.”
Which was a little over
five years ago. And she’s right, I do look
different.
“And you look exactly the
same. But I gotta say, Reba, those five years have been extremely kind to you.”
Her brows knit even closer
together, if that’s possible, as she tries to work out whether that was a
compliment or not. It was. Kind of.
“Come on, Casey. We gotta
go.”
“What’s the hurry?” Reba
turns her attention back to Casey, sliding her doubtlessly firm ass down next
to him. “Surely you can spare a few more minutes for a little catch-up? I mean,
we haven’t seen you back in Buick since you hit the big time. So many people
will be just dying to see you… I can hardly believe I’m sitting right next to a
hot-shot country music star! How long are you staying in Buick for? You gotta
be here long enough for us all to get together, like old times –”
“I already told you, Reba,
he isn’t here to party,” I cut in, checking my watch. Jed’ll be wondering where
we are.
Reba looks at me again, her
big blue eyes all wide, and slightly patronizing, but then, she never did like
me. And I’m guessing that hasn’t
changed much, either.
“Actually, Reagan, while we’re
on the subject of returning town folk, you won’t have heard about Travis
Harlow, will you?”
I feel my fingers grip the
edge of my seat, and I swallow hard, but I’m hoping my expression is still
impassive: still working that ‘don’t give a shit’ stare.
“What about him?” Casey
asks, and I throw him a look. Why’d he have to ask that?
Reba’s face breaks into a
slow smile, her eyes still locked on mine, the bitch is enjoying this. She
still hasn’t forgiven me for steering Casey out the way of her clutches all
those years ago. “He’s back. Here, in Buick, living up at the ranch with Anna
Mae and Jackson.”
I ignore her, throw Casey
another look, and this time he gets it.
“We really do have to go
now, Reba,” Casey sighs, finally making a move. “But it’s been real nice seeing
you again.”
Reba’s eyes linger on mine
for a second or two longer, she’s still waiting for a response. She isn’t
getting one. And when she finally realizes that, she turns her attention back
to my brother.
“You too, Casey. Don’t be a
stranger now, y’hear?”
He just smiles at her,
grabs his hat and follows me outside, back to the car.
“She’s still the same pain
in the ass she always was.” I open the driver’s door and climb inside, slamming
it shut.
“To be fair, Reagan, you
never really gave her a chance, did you? Back then, or now.”
I glare at him, is he for
real? “Seriously? You didn’t see what she was doing there?”
“Isn’t it better, you
knowing? I mean, what if you’d just –?”
“I’m not doing this, Casey.”
“This town ain’t suddenly
become twice the size, Reagan. You ain’t gonna be able to avoid seeing him, if
he really is back.”
“Why’d she have to be such
a bitch about it, huh?”
“’Cause she knows just
mentioning his name is gonna get a reaction from you.”
“Yeah, well, she isn’t
getting one.”
“But I am.”
I look at him again, and it’s
only now that I’m aware of how tightly my fingers are gripping the steering
wheel.
“Maybe we should just head
back to Nashville.”
I shake my head and start
up the car. “Oh no. No. This isn’t some excuse for you to avoid what we’ve come
here to do.”
“Yeah, but, now you know…”
“I’m fine. Things are
different now, remember? I’m different.
And Travis Harlow, he’s nothing to me. Not anymore.”
But he used to be
something.
He used to be everything…
Travis
“Steak,
eggs, two rounds of French toast and a coffee, please, Della.”
“They not feeding you up at
the ranch?”
“No one makes French toast
like you do.” I flash Della my biggest grin and she smiles right back at me.
“You always were a smooth
talker, Travis Harlow. Just like your daddy, God rest his soul.”
Della Givens has been a
stalwart of Grady’s Diner for as long
as any of us can remember. She and her husband Grady know everyone in this
town, they’ve ran this place forever, watched me and every other kid ’round
here grow up, get jobs, move on with our lives. Or fuck ’em up, we ain’t all
been success stories.
“You looking after yourself
properly?” Della asks as she writes down my order. “I know you’re all grown-up
now, but it’s still hard, losing your mama, and then your daddy like that.”
“I’m doing just fine, Della.
Getting used to being back here, is all.”
She tucks her notepad into
the pocket of her apron, slides her pen behind her ear and fixes me with a look,
cocking her head slightly. “And how’s it working out, being back at
Homesteads?”
“The ranch has a lot of
space. And that’s something we all still need.”
Della keeps her eyes on
mine for a couple of beats, and I know what she’s thinking, but she got no
need. I really am doing just fine. I don’t need people’s sympathy, don’t need
their concern. The situation we got, it ain’t the best. And it’s not one I would’ve
chosen, but sometimes you gotta do what’s necessary. Suck it up, deal with shit
like a grown-up.
“OK, son. I’ll go get your
food now, ’stead of standing here nagging you.”
I throw Della another smile
as she gives my shoulder a kindly squeeze. She never stops being that mother
figure we all grew up with, but we all know she only does it ’cause she cares.
I sit back in my booth and
pull out my paper. I finally got myself a few minutes peace, and I’m making the
most of it.
“Travis Harlow, your timing
couldn’t’ve been worse.”
I sigh quietly and look up
to see Reba Maynard hovering by my booth, arms crossed tightly over her chest.
“What’re you talking about,
Reba?”
I’m really not in the mood
for this. It’s been a long, far-too-hot day, and right now I just want food and
some time alone.
“You’ll never guess who’s
back in town?”
And I’m really not
in the mood for guessing games. So I just raise my eyebrows and fix Reba with a
look that tells her I ain’t guessing shit.
“Reagan Crowder. Her and
Casey, they were in here not ten minutes ago.”
I keep my eyes fixed on
her, ’cause I know what she’s looking for here. I know what she wants, and she ain’t
getting it.
“They’re back, and I don’t
know why, she dragged Casey outta here before I could find out –”
“Maybe it ain’t none of
your business, you ever thought about that?”
“If they’re trying to keep
something private, this is the wrong place to come back to, don’t you think?”
Can’t argue with her there.
“You not got somewhere you need to be, Reba?”
“Hey, don’t be shooting the
messenger. I’m only telling you what I thought you should know.”
“Well, you’ve told me. Your
work here is done.”
“You’re still an asshole,
Travis Harlow, you know that?”
“I know. But thanks for
reminding me.”
I pull my hat down over my
eyes, and Reba gets the message.
“You OK, Travis?”
I look up as Della arrives
with the coffee.
“Did you know Reagan’s back
in Buick?”
Her expression tells me she
had no clue.
“Reba just told me, Reagan
and Casey, they were in here. About ten minutes ago.”
“I had no idea… I’ve only
just started my shift. Does she know why
they’re back?”
“Claims she didn’t have
time to find anything out, but I’m sure that ain’t gonna stop her from trying.”
“I only spoke to Jed
yesterday. He never mentioned they were coming home.”
“Then it ain’t none of our
business.”
“Be good to see them both,
though. It’s been a while, and Casey’s all famous now…”
Della stops talking, looks
at me, and I don’t need her sympathy. I don’t need any of that crap.
“I never thought I’d see
her again, Della. Never thought she’d come back.”
“You never thought you’d come back.” Della raises an eyebrow, and I
frown. But she’s right. “Your order’s ready. I’ll go get your food.”
But I think I just lost my
appetite.
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