“Yes, ma’am. On most nights. Except for Sundays and Mondays.” He gave her a grin and leaned against the counter. His stance helped her relax a little more.
“But don’t get used to him being around for much longer, Miss Aggie,” Hilly said, closing her book and tossing it on the small table nearby. “He’s leaving us in about a month to become a deputy.”
“Aw, now, Hilly,”—he dipped his head as his cheeks turned pink—“Don’t go bragging about it just yet. I might not even pass the exam.”
“Yes, you will! You’re as smart as a tack, Bean! You’ve got it in the bag.” Pushing her seat back to stand, Hilly turned to gaze at her instead. “All right, sweetie. You need to pass your exam right now. Will you accompany me into the ladies’ room? It won’t take but five minutes, I promise.”
“O-okay. Um...what will happen in there?”
“Nothing bad, I promise. Now, you’ll have to get undressed, but we’ll get a gown on you in a jiffy. This is for our safety and for yours.”
“I have to get undressed?”
“It’s not going to be as terrible as you think, honey. I’ve raised five kids and four of them are girls. I’ll make it as comfortable for you as I can.”
Though she did not like the idea of having to get undressed in front of a complete stranger, she knew she had to do it. The only way she was going to get better was by being here, and being better meant she could live a normal, happy life with Jeb.
It’s all she wanted.
“All right then,”—she nodded—“I guess I’m ready.”
“Good girl,” Hilly said, rounding the counter and holding a hand out towards her. “Come along, then.”
She started towards Hilly, but then stopped and looked to Bean again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your real name.”
“I didn’t have a chance to say it,” he said, giving her another smile. “It’s Cody, ma’am. My name’s Cody.”
It took a second for it to click in her mind, but when it did, she couldn’t help but smile a little. So that’s why he’d looked so familiar to Jeb.
Maybe, just maybe, being in this place could help Jeb heal a little, too.
“Cody,” she echoed, nodding. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
With that, she followed Hilly into the ladies’ bathroom.
She was ready.
—————
Jeb – Three Months Later
Being without Aggie, save for the two days a week they were allowed to see one another during visiting hours, was definitely a test the Lord was putting him through.
He had no issue remaining faithful to her or anything like that, but it was hard falling asleep alone, and waking up alone. He missed having her soft body in his arms. He missed kissing her, hearing her laugh, and seeing her sweet face on a daily basis.
Being without her was like waiting for his birthday or Christmas morning; he knew the day was coming, but it couldn’t arrive soon enough.
Plus, she was a gift he wanted to unwrap as often as possible.
Fall had truly snuck up on him this time. It seemed like one day it had been hot, sunny, and beautiful, and then suddenly became cold, wet, and dreary within the blink of an eye. He wasn’t even sure he could call the weather they were having ‘fall’ at all; it sure felt like winter already.
And winter meant he’d have to spend most of his time indoors, coming up with new things to do to keep himself from getting bored. Having too much time on his hands meant he’d think about her nonstop—that was a recipe for misery.
He marked the days off on his calendar, too. Every morning he woke up, had a cup of coffee, checked his phone to see if she’d called yet, and then grabbed the red sharpie off the counter to mark a big ‘X’ on the date. It only became enjoyable when he realized they were down to 24-hours and counting.
It was almost time to bring his baby home.
So much had changed since she committed herself to the hospital; Tula had been elected as Prairie Town’s new mayor, Lydia and Byron were closer than ever, and there was a new deputy in town.
The last person he’d expected to see again was Cody Boyd. Their last encounter had tortured his conscience for years, and now, they ran into each other almost daily. Their reunion had been somewhat humorous, actually.
When the deputy’s siren yelped from behind, he groaned inwardly and pulled over. Rolling to a stop, he put the car in park and rolled the window down, dreading it; he didn’t necessarily have a good track record with deputies in Prairie Town.
But he was surprised when a familiar face leaned down to greet him.
It was Cody.
“Afternoon, Jeb. You in a hurry today?”
“A bit,” he replied cautiously, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel cautiously. “Was I speeding or something?”
“Nope. I just wanted to talk to you.” Lifting his sunglasses up to rest atop his head, Cody grinned. “You avoided me every time you came to visit your girl, and you avoid me every time you see me on the road. Tell me something, Jeb; why the silent treatment?”
“What do you mean?” He figured acting clueless about it was better than admitting the truth. Cody had never mentioned anything about the incident with the Rose boys when he was visiting with Aggie, but if he ever brought it up, especially now that he was a deputy, it was no telling what hell he’d put him through to get his revenge.
“You know what I mean. Don’t insult my intelligence here, Mack. I know when something’s not kosher. What’s this about?”
Releasing a deep, exaggerated sigh, he allowed his hand to slide away from the steering wheel and seek sanctuary on the back of his neck. Closing one eye and peering at Cody with the other, he pursed his lips together.
“I...well, man, to be honest, I’m still feeling really guilty about stuff that happened when we were kids.”
Cody’s eyebrows pinched together as he took a step back and cocked his head to the side. “What?”
“You know...” He shrugged and nodded his head to the right, as if somehow signaling to the past. “That thing that happened when we were kids.”
Cody chuckled and placed a hand on his hip. “Care to step out of the vehicle, Jeb?”
Aw, hell, he thought.
Doing as Cody asked, he got out of his truck and shut the door, then he leaned against it and glanced at him.
“So, a lot of stuff happened when we were kids,” Cody said, lifting his hat off his head to rake his fingers through his bright red hair. “I don’t care to remember half the stuff from back then anyway. What ‘thing’ are you referring to?”
He was left with no choice. He knew he had to tell Cody or, like every other deputy in town, he’d get on his bad side and risk being put in jail again. To be honest, he’d had his fill of jail cells for the rest of his life. Sure, Devin had definitely helped the problem to go away...recently...but no one could blame him for being paranoid, right?
So he once again traveled back down memory lane, apologizing repeatedly for walking away when the Rose boys showed up.
“I really would go back and change it if I could. I’m sorry,” he said, dropping his head to stare at his boots. “That was really shitty of me.”
“So, wait. Back up,” Cody said, laughing.
Well, that wasn’t the reaction he’d been expecting...
“You think that I left Prairie Town because the Rose boys beat me up?”
“Yeah...”
“And they told everybody they beat me up?”
“Yes.”
“And you actually believed that?”
He blinked in confusion and then turned his head a little, frowning. “Uh, yeah?”
Slapping a hand against his knee, Cody doubled over and released a deep, hearty belly laugh. It was the type of laugh a person sometimes got carried away with and it was hard to stop.
All he could do was watch him in puzzlement, unsure of what was so damn funny about being beaten up by the Roses—he sure hadn’t ever enjoyed it.
&
nbsp; “Damn it, Jeb. That’s hilarious,” Cody said when he finally calmed down. Smiling from ear to ear, he shook his head and rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe those jackasses lied and said they beat me up.”
“So, that’s not how it happened?”
“Shit no, that’s not how it happened. After you walked by, they jumped me, but that was their mistake.” Slipping his hands into the back pockets of his uniform slacks, he smirked. “I’ve been a black belt in Taekwondo since I was eleven.”
His jaw dropped. “Say what?”
“Yep. Those Rose boys really had no idea what hit ‘em until it was too late. Speaking of which, do you know any kids around here who might be interested in learning martial arts? I’m going to be opening my own place next year if I can find the right investor.”
“Uh...sure. But let me get this straight: you kicked their asses?”
“That’s what I said, right? They crawled home crying for their mama, I’m sure.” Cody snickered and adjusted his hat, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Is that what’s been bothering you all these years? You thought you got me beat up or something?”
“Well...yeah.”
“Ah. I see. I guess that makes sense. But,”—he thrust his hand forward and smiled—“As you can see, I’m all right. I can handle myself. No permanent damage was done to me, and here I am again.”
He grabbed his hand and shook it, still a little dumbfounded. “But...you moved away after that.”
“My mother just retired from the navy a few years ago, Jeb. I didn’t have a choice but to move. She was transferred to Hawaii and what kid would say no to that? Not I, sir.”
Okay, so that made a little more sense.
“I sure feel stupid now,” he admitted, releasing his hand and allowing his own to drop back to his side. “I really thought I had something to do with it. The kids in school were such dicks. Everybody thought you were...”
He quickly shut his mouth and frowned. If he had learned anything since his sister’s return, it was that speaking about things that were meant to be private business was rude. And quite frankly, it wasn’t his ‘business’ anyway.
“Gay?” Cody finished the sentence for him.
“Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t. I’m not. I mean,”—he shrugged—“I’m really not into labels. We’re not groceries. Who I am, what I do, or whom I sleep with is my concern and no one else’s.”
“I agree one-hundred percent.” His ears were on fire as he glanced at the road nervously. “My bad.”
“No need for that, Jeb. I just wanted to clear the air and see what was wrong with you. I know you were having a hard time during school, but I didn’t figure you’d ignore me when I came back. It just seemed very uncharacteristic of you. Are you doing all right? Things going okay with Aggie?”
“Everything’s fine,” he insisted, relaxing a little as Aggie came to mind. “She’s good. She’s getting better.”
“That’s good. I’m glad to hear it. I sort of miss the ward. It was a good job, but I’d like to think I’m doing what I was called to do. For now, anyway.”
“Being a deputy is your calling, huh?” He fought the urge to roll his eyes and sighed instead. “Well, maybe you can help get that place cleaned up a bit. There are some men there who abuse the badge.”
“Don’t even worry about that. Most of those old farts will be out of a job soon enough. I hear the new mayor is really going to crack down on them.”
“Tula’s great like that.”
“And she’s attractive. That doesn’t hurt anything. Hey, would you—”
“Attention all units: Just received a call for a possible 10-56 at 204 Maplewood Lane. Caller advised their neighbor has been shouting at passing vehicles for the last fifteen minutes and he’s staggering around in his front yard; Caller is concerned he may walk into the street and get hurt. Again, the address is 2-0-4 Maplewood Lane. Please respond.”
With a roll of his eyes, Cody lifted a finger into the air as he reached for the radio mic attached to his shoulder with the other hand. Sighing, he pushed the talk button. “This is unit 317. I’ll be 10-19.”
“10-4, Unit 317,” the dispatcher replied. “Good luck.”
While he wasn’t entirely familiar with most police codes, Jeb had picked up on a few during his many run-ins with Devin’s previous hooligans. He knew that 10-56 meant someone was drunk—something he’d been accused of once, and nearly put behind bars for. Even though it wasn’t true, Devin’s goons had tried to take him down for it anyway.
Dicks.
“Well, I hate to run, Mack, but this call needs my attention. I better get out there before Old Man Wallace makes a fool of himself today.”
“No problem,” he said, nodding in understanding. “I’m sure they keep you pretty busy.”
“Nah, not too bad. Prairie Town’s a pretty decent place to be. There isn’t too much that goes on that I can’t handle.” Cody grinned mischievously and thrust his hand out once more. “Have a good one, okay? I’ll see you around.”
“See you, Cody.”
And that was the start of a new, and pretty entertaining, friendship. Being buds with a deputy, something he hadn’t done before, did have its perks. In the back of his mind, he knew it wasn’t something to brag about, but sometimes he’d go five miles over the speed limit downtown when he knew Cody was on duty.
It gave him the big head, he’d admit; being able to get away with small things was pretty awesome. But the bigger picture included a town that was on the mend. They had come along way since the tornados came through, and with Tula as their mayor, everything was going to be a lot different.
It was all going to be better.
Glancing at the time displayed on his truck’s radio, he couldn’t help but smile as he realized Aggie would soon be in his arms—hopefully for good.
He’d seen a change in her. Her shoulders seemed lighter; whatever had been weighing her down was gone. Her doctor, Doctor Fierro, was one of the good ones. He was incredibly understanding, patient, and kind. Aggie often spoke of him with high regard, and even said she’d like to invite him to dinner once she was released, if only to say thank you for everything he’d done for her.
God, he couldn’t wait for her to be home. He had so many surprises planned for her, and the best one was—
His cellphone began ringing and Laney’s ringtone blared over the soft melody he’d been listening to on the stereo. Keeping his eyes on the road, he felt around to find it, and then he lifted it to his ear.
“Hello, middle sister. What’s up?”
“Hey, little brother. Are you on your way? Benji’s getting really frustrated with these decorations and we need some Jolly Green Giant help.”
“I’m almost there, Laney.” He chuckled. “I’m stopping off to get some donuts first though. Any special requests?”
“Oooh, donuts!” She squealed. “He’s getting donuts, Ben. What kind do you want?”
He could hear Benji mumbling in the background, and he tried to imagine the displeased look on his face as he got tangled up in whatever ‘decorations’ they were attempting to fight.
“Cream-filled ones,” she said after a moment. “And would you get me a strawberry glazed one? Those are the best.”
“Anything for the bride-to-be,” he replied. “Is anybody else there yet?”
“Not yet, no. Lydia and Callum should be getting here soon though, and Kelly and her crew can’t make it until after five; Nick and Devin had to go to Raleigh for a project.”
“And Tula?”
“She said she can’t make any promises, but she’ll try her very best. A deadline’s coming up and you know how she gets with those. Honest to God, I don’t know how she’s going to juggle being a mayor, a mom, and a bestselling romance author on top of it all.”
“She’ll do it,” he said confidently. “Tula’s Wonder Woman or something.”
“Yeah, I wish I could be more
like her.” Laney sighed. “Have you heard from Aggie yet?”
“Not yet, but she’ll call.” His heart skipped a beat at the thought; he lived for her phone calls.
“Good! And have you heard anything else from—”
“I gotta get this other call, Laney. It’s Callum.”
“Oh, okay. Well, we’ll see you when you get here. Don’t forget my strawberry donut!”
“I won’t,” he snickered. “Heaven forbid I forget your donut, Sis. I’ll see you soon.”
Quickly clicking over, he released an anxious breath. “Hey, Cal. Any news on when that big surprise will be arriving...?”
Chapter 19
Ags
“Are you ready, Miss Aggie?”
Staring at her reflection in the small bathroom mirror of the equally small bedroom she’d been staying in for the past three months, she took a deep breath and nodded.
“I am,” she replied, running her fingers through her brown hair. For the first time in years, it was its natural color. She wasn’t sure if she loved or hated it; being the natural her was sort of terrifying.
Hilly appeared behind her, a big smile on her lips. “They’re all here, honey. Your boyfriend brought you flowers again—lilies this time.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Jeb had brought flowers for her to every single visit. It was a shame they ever had to die.
Our love will never die, she reminded herself. He’s crazy for me.
‘Crazy’ was probably a poor choice in words given the circumstances, but she knew in her heart of hearts he wouldn’t give up on her, and his faith had given her incredible strength. It was desperately needed to make it through her recovery.
Being locked away from the world for 90 days hadn’t necessarily been her idea of a good time. Being away from her friends, especially Jeb, had often times made her question if her decision had been a good one. But now, as she stood staring at her reflection on the day she was to say goodbye to these bland four walls, she knew she had done the right thing.
The voice in her head was gone. Agnes was no more.
The weight of guilt and shame she had been carrying on her shoulders since the tender age of nine was gone, too.
One of These Days (Prairie Town Book 4) Page 23