We didn’t say anything for a long moment. I slipped her hand in mine, wanting her to know I was here. Lending her what strength I could. Hoping she knew she didn’t have to go through this alone.
She never needed to be alone again.
“It’s over,” she said, her voice almost breathless. Turning, she met my gaze. “Gibs, it’s really over.”
I brushed the hair back from her face. “Yeah, honey. It’s over.”
Tears broke free from the corners of her eyes. I pulled her against me and held her tight. Held her while she cried. While her body shuddered with relief, releasing some of the fear and anxiety she’d held onto for so long.
“Thank you,” she said into my chest. “Thank you for saving me.”
“Beautiful girl.” I kissed her head. “Thank you for coming home. You’re the one who saved me.”
43
GIBSON
For the last thirteen years, Bootleg Springs had been famous for two things: Bootlegging and the disappearance of Callie Kendall.
To those of us who lived here, it was known for a lot more. For gossip that traveled as quick as the leaves changed in fall. For nosy, meddling neighbors who were always getting in each other’s business. For resisting change, and not letting go of the past. For people who knew your name and your history.
And for people who stood up, and showed up, for each other. No matter what.
After Judge Kendall’s arrest, and Imogen Kendall’s not-so-tragic end, Bootleg Springs showed up.
They gave us a full day, which was more than I’d expected. We’d gone home that night, after the authorities had arrived on the scene—checked us for injuries and taken our statements. Callie was a bit banged up, but for the most part we were fine. All Callie had wanted was to climb back in bed with me and shut out the world. I’d been more than happy to oblige.
We’d both needed time to recover. To process what had happened. And the next day had dawned bright and beautiful. Or maybe that had just been my girl, smiling at me.
Food showed up on our doorstep, but family and friends had left us alone—mostly. They had assurances that we were fine and seemed to understand that we needed this. Scarlett hadn’t been able to help herself. She’d stopped by once, only for a few minutes, saying she just needed to see us for herself.
In the peace and quiet of my acres of sweet solitude—now shared by the love of my life and our one-eyed dog—we’d rested.
Today, we’d reemerged. And Bootleg was ready.
Because what did good West Virginia folk do when one of their own had been through a crisis? They fed them. And in this case, it wasn’t just me and Callie who’d been through the shit. Granted, we’d probably seen the worst of it. But all us Bodines had been through the ringer this last year or so. The whole town had.
So Bootleg Springs showed up.
Gin Rickey Park was once again buzzing with people. But this time, it looked more like a hoe-down or a town-wide picnic. Lines of tables held enough food to feed at least twice the population of Bootleg. Someone had made FOUND posters with Callie’s old photo on them. Papered them all over the park, along with multicolored balloons.
Kids darted around the grown-ups’ legs and a few old-timers engaged in a friendly—if a little wheezy—debate about the best way to trap a possum. Granny Louisa and Estelle had Devlin cornered by the food tables, fussing over him like… well, like grandmas. A group of women, including Leah Mae and Shelby, clustered together beneath a tree. Callie said they were talking about some new book they’d all been reading.
We sat on a red and white checkered blanket my sister had spread out on the grass. Callie and I shared a big plate of baked macaroni and cheese while Cash sat next to Callie’s feet, gnawing on a bone.
Sheriff Tucker walked by and tipped his hat to me. I nodded. A good man, the sheriff. He and I’d had our run-ins when I was young, but even then, he’d been fair and helped my family out as much as he could. Now, I owed that man a lot. I was glad he was in charge of protecting our town.
He’d let Darren the lab tech return to his home in New York. Now that the FBI had taken over, Darren’s fate was in their hands. It’d be up to them to determine the price he’d pay for taking that bribe. With the way he’d cooperated, I had a feeling they’d go easy on him. Seemed fair enough to me.
The lab he worked for had determined the real identity of the remains. A young woman who’d gone missing about a hundred miles from where her body was found, a year and a half before Callie. It wasn’t the news that her family had been hoping for, but at least they had closure.
Scarlett and Cassidy were across from us, picking at the food on their plates, chatting about Scarlett and Devlin’s house. Jenny walked by with Jimmy Bob. Caught my eye and gave me a warm smile, which I returned.
Bowie sat down next to Cassidy, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek. She proceeded to grab a brownie off his plate.
“Hey.” He picked up a second one. “That’s why I grabbed two.”
“Where’s Jameson? And Jonah?” Scarlett asked.
Bowie looked around. “Jonah’s over there with his happy-hour class members. They’re trying to get him to take his shirt off and do push-ups. And Jameson’s up there.” He pointed.
My brother was lounging on a thick tree branch, just above Leah Mae and Shelby’s circle. He has his hat pulled down over his eyes and one leg dangled.
My family was all here. And none of us were alone anymore. The Bodines—and the Tucker girls, for that matter—were settling down. Who would have thought? Wasn’t too long ago, it seemed like none of us knew how.
“This is amazing,” Callie said, taking a bite of the baked mac and cheese. She shifted her position and groaned a little. “I also need to join one of Jonah’s workout classes or I’m going to gain a million pounds. Everything around here involves food.”
“She’s not wrong,” George said. He had a plate piled high and a half-eaten piece of cornbread in his hand.
Bowie gave George’s stack of food the side-eye.
“What?” George asked, his mouth full of cornbread. “It’s my cheat day.”
June looked up from her book. “There is data that suggests temporary increases in caloric intake can be beneficial.”
“See?” George grinned at June. “Thanks, June Bug.”
“I love fall,” Scarlett said, taking a deep breath. “It always feels like a fresh start. Seems especially appropriate now, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” Callie said. “The air gets cooler, the leaves change. The world gets ready to go to sleep for a little while. Feels like a time of renewal.”
“Mom always liked fall,” I said.
Scarlett smiled at me. “She sure did.”
“What’s going on over there?” Callie asked.
On the outskirts of the park, Misty Lynn’s two bleached-out clones stood next to her car, both sobbing hysterically. Misty Lynn hugged one, then the other, making a dramatic show of wiping the mascara that ran down her cheeks. She’d caked thick makeup over the black and blue bruising Callie had given her. The makeup made it look worse, like she’d contracted a disease that made her skin flake off.
“Oh, Misty Lynn’s making noise about moving out of Bootleg,” Scarlett said. “Said she’s gonna follow her mama and become an actress. Jimmy Bob tried to talk sense into her. Even Jenny had a go. I’m sure you can guess how that went.”
“Good riddance,” I said. “This place’ll be a hell of a lot nicer without her around.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Scarlett said. “But I doubt she’ll stay gone. She’ll realize her mama’s a waitress, not an actress, and following that hot mess of a woman ain’t gonna get her anywhere.”
Cassidy shook her head. “She’s just trying to save face after Callie delivered some Bootleg Justice.”
“Not nearly enough, if you ask me,” Scarlett said.
I grunted my agreement.
“I don’t know.” Callie tilted her head, watching Misty L
ynn attempting—and failing, since no one was paying much attention to her—to make a scene. “Even if she moves away, she’ll be back sometimes to see her dad. I think her having to see Gibson live a happy life with another woman is the best Bootleg Justice of all.”
Scarlett grinned. “Does this mean you’re staying?”
Slipping my arm around her, I pulled her closer. “Damn straight she’s staying.”
She smiled at me, laughing softly. “Of course I’m staying. I’m home.”
Scarlett sniffed loudly and suddenly burst into tears. I flinched backward, wincing. What in the hell was she doing?
“Oh, Scar, what’s wrong?” Cassidy asked.
“I’m just so happy for my brother,” she said through her sobs. “For all of us. Look at us, Cass. You’re married to Bowie and Jameson’s wedding isn’t far off. I still can’t marry Devlin till I’m thirty, but after that, he best be putting a ring on my finger. And my newest older brother is with an awesome girl, and someday they’ll be raising babies right here in Bootleg. Only they won’t fight all the time and Jonah won’t be drunk. And now Gibson is with Callie and I swear to god, Cass, it’s just too much.”
Cassidy wrapped her arms around Scarlett and patted her back. “There, there, Scarlett Rose.” She glanced at Callie. “Scarlett can hold her liquor like none other, but sometimes her feelings get a bit too big for her little body to contain.”
Bowie laughed and stood. “I’ll go get Devlin in case you need backup.”
She beamed at him. “Thanks, my sexy husband.”
“You’re quite welcome, my beautiful wife.”
“Y’all are so cute,” Scarlett wailed.
I shook my head at my sister, but I kinda knew how she felt.
Cash was tuckered out from half the town playing with him. He scooted over and put his head in Callie’s lap. Little guy looked like he was in dog heaven. Not that I blamed him. If my head had been in Callie’s lap, with her fingers running through my hair, I’d have looked that happy too.
I leaned over and whispered a few kisses across her cheek. “Hey, honey.”
She turned and met my lips with hers. “Hey.”
“Do you mind waiting here for a bit? There’s something I need to go do.”
“Of course not. But is everything all right?”
I kissed her again. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
“Okay,” she said with a smile. “We’ll be here waiting for you.”
“I know you will.”
* * *
The Bootleg Springs Cemetery was on the outskirts of town behind a rickety old fence that had once been white. Generations of Bootleg residents had been laid to rest here. Some had grand headstones marking their resting places. Others had simple grave markers made of concrete or stone.
I walked up the path that I hadn’t set foot on since we’d buried my dad. Before he’d died, I’d come out here once in a while to lay a flower on my mom’s grave. But since Dad’s casket had been added to the family plot, I hadn’t been back.
Today I didn’t have flowers for my mama. I had a more important reason for coming.
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I stopped and stared at the names on the grave markers. Jonah Daniel Bodine. Constance Faith Bodine. Small rectangles of concrete in the grass with names and dates. That was it. That was what was left.
“I know you thought I ruined your life,” I said aloud. “Having me changed everything for you, in ways you never wanted. And I gotta say, taking it out on me, on a kid, was a shitty way to handle it. I didn’t ask to be born, and I sure as shit didn’t ask for y’all as teenage parents.”
Taking a deep breath, I paused. “I can’t stand here and say you did the best you could, because you didn’t. But I’m done being angry about it. Maybe Scarlett’s had it right all this time. Maybe it’s better to keep the good stuff in here.” I tapped my chest. “And let the bad stuff go.
“I ain’t perfect, not by a long stretch. And there’s probably a fair bit I don’t know about y’all that made you who you are. There’s a lot of both of you in me, whether I like it or not. But I’m not going to get anywhere if I stay chained to the past.
“Y’all let one turning point in your life, having me, halt everything. Full stop. Y’all never got past it. That resentment you carried colored everything you did from there on out. But hell if I haven’t been doing the same damn thing. I let the yelling and the fighting and the anger stop me in my tracks. I’ve been living there, wallowing in it, my whole life. But no more. I ain’t standing here fixin’ to forgive you for you. I’m forgiving you for me.”
I paused again, rubbing my chin, my chest blooming with emotion. I sniffed it back and cleared my throat.
“Tucked in there, among all the bullshit you put us through, was some good stuff. I can admit that now. That’s what I’m going to take with me. As for the rest, I gotta let it go. Me wishing things had been different for all of us won’t change the past. All I can do is make a better life for myself and the people around me. For my family. I’m my own man and I get to choose who I am.
“Dad, thank you for saving Callie that night. Mom, thank you for helping him. Thank you for risking yourselves to protect an innocent girl. I wish it hadn’t led to more loss and pain. But I know if you were here now, you’d be proud of her.
“You were right to hide it from me. I might have done something stupid and gone to prison for it. So Dad, you did two good things for your son. You protected me from myself. And when you saved Callie, it meant she’d be around to come home and save me. She’s the reason I’m standing here—the reason I have it in me to make peace with y’all.
“Not sure what else I have to say, except despite yourself, y’all made a bunch of damn good kids.” I chuckled, shaking my head. “Bowie is a good man, all the way down to his bones. He’s the guy I’m gonna look to when I wonder about how to be a good husband and father someday. He sets the standard.
“Jameson’s got so much hidden under that quiet demeanor. All that artistic shit ain’t just creativity. It’s goddamn love and it’s fucking beautiful to see.
“You never really knew your son, Jonah. He has your name and I’d like to think he’s a bit like the man you could have been, had things been different. He cares deep. No matter the circumstances of his birth, I’m glad he’s in the world.
“And your baby girl, Scarlett Rose. Shit, she’s a force of nature, but hell if that girl doesn’t know how to live. She’s a big splash of color and light in our lives and her loyalty is unshakable. Mama, you’d be so proud of her. Honestly, I think you’d be proud of all of us. And maybe you are, I don’t know.
“I wish you could see what your life together really accomplished. Maybe it wasn’t a career in music, traveling the world. But I think it was something a lot bigger and more important than that. You created a family. A dysfunctional, sometimes fucked-up family, but a good one anyway. Full of the best people I know and a hell of a lot of love. If that’s the legacy I get to leave when I’m gone, I’ll have had a life worth living.”
Looking down at the grass, I took another deep breath. I didn’t know what I believed about death and the afterlife. So I wasn’t sure if me speaking up now made a lick of difference. I doubted they could hear me.
But I wasn’t really here for them anyway.
Satisfied, I left. Took my truck back to the park where my girl and my faithful one-eyed dog were waiting for me. Kinda like an old country song, only without the sad ending.
Maybe I’d just have to write one of my own.
44
CALLIE
The air was getting cooler, but the town-wide party was still going strong. Someone started stringing up lights between the trees. Music played from the big speakers we’d used for my press conference and an impromptu square dance competition was in full swing.
Gibson strolled back across the grass. He was still ruggedly handsome, with those sharp cheekbones, square bearded jaw, and broad shoulders. But there was
something different. The nearly-perpetual furrow in his brow was smooth and his icy blue eyes were clear—almost sparkling.
Cash woke from his nap, his tail already wagging, and jumped up to greet his daddy.
“Hey, buddy.” He crouched down to rough him up a little. Cash rolled onto his back so Gibson could rub his tummy.
“Hey, you,” I said, smiling at him.
“Hey, yourself.” He leaned over and kissed me.
Cash jumped between us, trying to lick both our mouths at once.
Gibson laughed, sputtering. “Down, boy.”
“You look happy,” I said.
He sat down next to me, and Cash settled in his lap. “Happiest guy in the world.”
I was, too. I’d never—not once in my life—felt so peaceful. So calm and assured. I could be myself, without fear. The people who’d hurt me would never hurt another person again.
I’d run away from this very town, seeking freedom. Returning here, I’d finally found it. Freedom, and so much more.
I’d found community and family. These were my people. Every last one of these moonshine-drinking, hooting, hollering, gossiping, food-delivering people. They’d always included and accepted me. And since I’d come back, they’d taken that to a whole new level. They’d shown me the kind of love you only read about in stories—the ones with nice, happy endings.
The kind of love that could overpower even the worst sort of evil.
And I’d found Gibson Bodine. A man who’d always had a little piece of my heart. Who’d been kind and decent to me. Made me feel safe and happy at a time when I’d desperately needed it. Who’d loved and protected me. Fought for me with everything he had.
I wasn’t sure if I deserved all that, but I was going to spend the rest of my life loving him. Hoping it was enough.
An old Volkswagen van pulled up on the street on the edge of the park—where Misty Lynn had been before she’d left. That was odd. It seemed like the whole town was here already. And that looked a lot like…
Highball Rush: Bootleg Springs Book 6 Page 34