by L. A. Fiore
Arissa reached for a glass, needed to ease the sudden dryness in her throat.
“When she first arrived she was kind of a duck out of water, the big city girl adapting to a small town,” Millie recalled.
“I understand that,” Arissa mumbled.
“No, you were different. You eased into it seamlessly. It was harder for her to adapt, but she did.” Millie paused before she added, “She did for him.”
“Yeah, immersed herself into the town. Started the Blazing Days of Summer Fair that’s still going strong, and coming up soon. Was instrumental in getting Elmer and Sal their spot outside of Dehlia’s.” Maureen grinned remembering.
“That’s right, she did do that,” Hya added.
“Even got Hank to agree to a calendar featuring the sheriff and fire departments,” Maureen said, waving herself as she did. “He was February, her birthday month.”
“Got boxes of those in my bedroom,” Hya said. “Bought them out.”
Arissa didn’t want to hear anymore, but she had asked. What was clear, Phoebe and Hank were making a life here, just like she was with him now, and just like now, Catherine intervened and drove them apart.
“We need to find her,” Arissa said, filling her glass and taking a long sip. “She may have moved on, but I think we all know you don’t move on from a man like Hank. And hearing this…” She wiped at her eyes thinking of Hank and Phoebe in his house, the plans they surely made, the family they probably wanted. She felt even more like an outsider, a placeholder. “We need to visit her.”
There was sympathy in Maureen’s voice when she asked, “Are you sure?”
Arissa placed the glass down a little too hard. “It’s like I’ve stepped into her shoes, and I cannot tell you how awful that feels. I’m not giving up, and I’m not throwing in the towel. I intend to love him every second I’ve got him, intend to fight for us. I want to bring Phoebe back because I want him to choose me. I want him to have the choice and I want him to choose me.”
“Thatta girl,” Hya whooted. “A good old fashioned love triangle. Alright so let’s fucking find her.”
“How?” I asked.
“Well, she did start Bingo at the church too. And those old geezers know everything, so I say we start there,” Hya offered. “It’s every day at four.”
Arissa polished off her glass of wine. “Bingo it is.
* * *
“Thanks, Ma,” Hank muttered when his mom pushed the plate across the island toward him. A ham sandwich with American cheese sat next to a pile of chips but he had no appetite whatsoever. Not to hurt his mom’s feelings, Hank picked up the sandwich and took a bite. The familiar taste awakened his taste buds, remembering sitting in the lunchroom at Summerville elementary school.
Catherine wiped the counter down, her eyes trained on her son. “You look tired, Honey,” she said softly.
Hank ignored his mom’s comment and pushed the plate aside. Catherine stopped her swirls of the rag on the counter and asked worriedly, “Is the sandwich okay?”
“It’s great, Ma.” He took a gulp of the sweet tea and asked, “Why didn’t you ever let me go on any school trips?”
The blood drained from her face for a second before she moved to the other counter. “Oh, Honey, you wouldn’t have enjoyed them anyway.”
“How do you know?” Hank questioned.
“Honey,” Catherine tossed the rag in the sink and leaned against the counter. “Sitting on a bus for hours with sweaty kids or ice cream sundaes at Dehlia’s for breakfast.” She put a hand on her hip. “What sounds better to you?”
Hank slid off the stool, standing firm he said, “Sitting on a bus for hours with sweaty kids my own age.”
Catherine took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “What’s with the third degree, Hank Henry?” But before Hank had a chance to reply, Catherine accused, “It’s that woman, isn’t it?”
But this time it wasn’t the woman in his life. It was a woman that walked the streets of Summerville for years that had him questioning his mom. “Why didn’t we ever go on vacation?” He shot at her.
“We didn’t have the money,” she answered quickly and turned toward the sink, flipping on the water and rinsing the rag. “Really, Hank, we have to rehash the past?” She kept her eyes on the water pouring from the faucet. “Every time a woman enters your life we have problems. No one can just let it alone—”
Hank cut his mom off. “Let what alone, Ma?”
His mom abruptly turned, water from her hands flying along the counter. “Our happiness, Hank.” Catherine stared at her son. Her Hank, who she cherished, lived for…her eyes burned with unshed tears.
Hank crossed the kitchen to her. “Ma,” he said softly and took her into his arms. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he whispered.
Catherine wrapped her arms around her son’s waist, held him tightly and said, “I just wanted to protect you, Hank, to always make sure you were cared for, loved. That’s all I ever wanted and—”
“Ma,” he called gently. “Okay. Okay.” Hank pulled back from his mom and kissed her forehead. “I get it.”
A half an hour later when Hank folded into his truck, he tossed the brown paper bag with his sandwich in it onto the passenger seat. And as he drove back to the station, he wondered when had it all started to turn to shit. Finally he had everything he could ask for, caring, loving parents and the love of a great woman he could see a future with. No, not just see it, but also wanted. It felt all too familiar, like he rode this ride before. The only thing about this time, the pain he felt was tenfold, which was why Hank hadn’t confronted Arissa that morning about what Hya had shared with him. He had just gotten her, the thought of losing her… he couldn’t let his mind wander there, he just couldn’t.
Catherine watched out the window until she couldn’t see her son’s SUV anymore. With calculated steps, she went to the cordless phone sitting on the docking station. Picking it up, she dialed the phone number.
“Hi.”
“He’s asking questions about his childhood,” Catherine informed her husband.
Henry laid the cards down on the table and told the men he needed a minute. Stepping outside of Moe’s, he glanced to see if anyone was within earshot. When all was clear he whispered, “We knew this day would come, Cath.”
Catherine took an unsteady breath, holding back the tears she asked, “Should we tell him, Henry?”
“For Christ sakes, Catherine, he’s the law,” he grated out quietly. “We can’t.” Henry looked up and down Main Street before he told his wife. “Just do what you know you need to.”
“Okay, Darling,” Catherine said softly and wiped the tear from her cheek that had escaped her eye. She hung the phone up wishing her husband good luck in his poker game and got to work on making their lives quiet again.
* * *
Arissa followed the others into the church, and found open seats at the crowded tables. She was voluntarily sabotaging her relationship with Hank, was hunting down his ex with the intent of possibly getting them back together. She should have her head examined. A part of her wanted to do what Maureen had suggested and leave the past in the past, but she knew, for her, Phoebe would always be there, a ghost in the room. And maybe that had been Catherine’s plan all along, to make Arissa second guess what she had with Hank. Bringing Phoebe back, might backfire, but at least Hank would be making the choice and not his fucking underhanded mother. And if he did choose Phoebe, Arissa would be heading back to Charleston because watching the man she loved living the life she wanted with another, she couldn’t do that.
She found herself next to Mrs. Penny Wallaby. Lost her husband over a decade ago, spent her time in her gardens. From how loud she spoke, Arissa was guessing the woman was hard of hearing. Her eyes were cloudy with cataracts and her glasses were so thick she could probably see distant constellations with
no trouble. She turned those coke bottles on Arissa, looked her up and down and shouted, “You’re the new girl, works at that magazine.” She pushed her glasses up on her nose. “You should come out to the house and check out my dinner plate dahlias. You’ve never seen anything like them.”
“I will,” Arissa said, reaching for her marker as the announcer started calling off numbers.
Another long stare. “I heard you’re dating the sheriff.” And said loud enough to gain the attention of people sitting tables away, as heads swiveled in their direction.
Her heart twisted but she answered simply, “I am.”
“He’s a good boy,” Penny said. “Good sheriff too.”
Arissa couldn’t stop the smile because the young and old loved him.
“Thought he was going to get hitched with that other one,” Penny said, eyeing Arissa. “You’re prettier.”
There was still a chance he might and that thought had her pressing the marker so hard on the card she almost snapped it in two.
“You gonna break his heart like she did?”
Arissa felt those words as her stomach twisted. “No.”
She seemed to ponder Arissa’s answer before she said, “Good.” Then hollered, “Speak up, Darren!”
“She left in an awfully big hurry,” Penny said, shaking her head. “Some women just don’t know what they have.” She pointed a long boney finger at a woman across the table from her. “Like Nancy.” She shook her head again. “Clueless.” Those eyes returned to Arissa. “You gonna take our sheriff out of Summerville? Big city girl like you is going to get bored here.”
“No, I like the quiet. The city was getting to be too much for me.”
“Hmmm,” she said skeptically. “I suppose we’ll see, though, you’d have to get past his mother.” She cackled. “That’s not going to be easy. Talk about a mama and her cub.” Penny adjusted her glasses. “Didn’t even let him go into the city to get his presidential scholarship award. It was a big deal, he was even written up in the local paper, and man did she have a fit about that.” She pulled herself back on track and added, “Too afraid of the big city and all the dangers. Having lived there herself, I guess she’d know better.”
It wasn’t the information she wanted, but Arissa grabbed onto that. She tried to sound conversational when she asked, “Oh, she lived in the city?”
“Yeah, came here when Hank was just a babe. Good place to raise a kid.” Penny crossed off another number. “They took to the place too, fixtures. Not surprising that their son became the sheriff.”
Arissa looked for an opening, and then just created one when she asked, “I heard Phoebe was the one to start the bingo game.”
Penny’s expression shifted. “She did, didn’t she? Maybe not so bad an egg.”
“You said she left in a hurry, any idea where she went?”
“Probably back to the city.”
“Charleston?”
Penny focused on Arissa, her eyes narrowing slightly before she asked, “Why you asking?”
Years of having to think on her toes had her replying smoothly, “The fair is coming up. She was the founder. I was thinking it would be nice to invite her back for it.”
A long pause before Penny said, “Hmmm.” But she didn’t focus on Arissa for long when she jumped from her seat and screamed, “Bingo!”
Arissa walked to the back of the church where the refreshments were set up. Hya was there, stuffing a donut in her mouth and talking around it. “You bump into me one more time you nearsighted twat, and you’re going to have a close encounter with my cane.” She brandished the said weapon for emphasis.
Arissa grabbed her cane and muttered, “We’re trying to keep a low profile.”
Hya’s expression was comical. “Not possible for me to keep a low profile.” But she dropped her voice when she added, “Talk to Sally Baker, woman is a windbag, but she knows every little thing. Phoebe is in Charleston, but she said something else that caught my attention.”
“I’m listening.”
“Her memory ain’t so great but she made the comment that Catherine and Henry once won a vacation. A cruise. They didn’t take it.”
Arissa chewed on her nail. “That’s not so odd.”
“No, but then why the hell did they try for it if they weren’t going to go?”
Arissa glanced around the room before turning back to Hya. “I don’t know.”
“I do.”
That got Arissa’s attention. “Why?”
“Because they gifted the cruise to someone.”
Arissa didn’t hide her confusion. “Who?”
“Phoebe, but she didn’t take the bait,” Hya said. “Tickets were never picked up.”
“So they tried to lure her away with a bribe,” Arissa said disgustedly.
“Looks that way.”
So how the hell had they gotten to her? What did they do that had Phoebe running from Hank? Arissa couldn’t imagine them doing anything to her that would make her run but then with the taste she’d gotten of Catherine, who knew what she was capable of?
As if their conversation conjured him, Arissa’s cell vibrated in her pocket. Reaching for it, it was Hank. Hya gave her a look then said, “Good luck.” She turned, drew in a deep breath and shouted, “You cheat again, Frankie Dee, and you and Bertha are going to get really intimate, you hear me!”
Just seeing his name brought that warmth she knew now was love. And she did love him, enough to let him go, but for now she was his and she had no intention of wasting a single second. “Hey, Sheriff.”
Hank let that sit and warm the coldness he had in his gut all day. “Hey, pretty girl. Whatcha up to?” He tried, tried so hard to be cold toward her but he couldn’t. She was digging into his life behind his back, clear deception, but he fell to his knees every time she looked at him or he heard her voice.
Looking for your ex so she can steal my happily ever after. “The girls and I are at bingo.”
“Come again?”
“Hya was feeling lucky,” Arissa said, turning her focus on Hya who was reaching across the table, her fingers wrapped around an elderly man’s neck. “Though you might be getting a call in a few minutes.” She pulled the phone away from her mouth. “Hya, let the man breathe!” To Hank she asked, “Is it a felony or misdemeanor to squeeze the breath from a cheater?”
Hank drew in a breath through his nose. Nope, it didn’t calm the nerve called the Belles that crawled up his neck. “First things first, Baby, if I wanted a Bell I wouldn’t be dating you. Second, I do not, and I mean I do not wanna know what the Belles do to other humans when I am not around. It’s better for my blood pressure that I don’t, you get me?”
Despite the cloud that had been over her all day, hearing Hank’s voice eased the anxiety and brought a smile, the begrudging affection she heard for the Belles, while watching Hya in action, she’d stumbled onto something extraordinary here and was smart enough to savor every second she had it. “Okay, but then don’t look at Frankie Dee funny cause he’s going to have a big bump on his forehead for the foreseeable future.” She winced when Hya’s cane made contact again, exhaled and added, “And on the back of his head too.”
“Frankie Dee cheats at fucking everything, serves him right. Now, you gonna come meet your man at the station at five so he can take his girl for a beer before we grill steaks tonight?”
There was that warmth again, moving through her. She was his girl. Wanted to always be but she’d take whatever time she had with him. “I’m leaving now,” she said softly then added, “I am your girl. I hope you know how much I love being your girl.”
Hank’s voice was deep, low when he replied, “Love you being my girl. See you soon.” He didn’t wait for Arissa to answer because he wanted to leave her last words what they were because they were perfect to him.
13
The baby blue halter sundress hugged her body, accentuating her curves. Arissa’s eyes dropped to his mouth when he licked his lips. It was then Hank wished he hadn’t taken off in a rush that morning. No, he should have gotten his taste of her before he started his day because if he did, today wouldn’t have been a shit day. Having the day, being able to spend it in his office catching up on paperwork, gave him the chance to think about all that had gone down in the past few weeks.
They collided, their intense chemistry had them both moving quicker than either of them expected. Hank had never let his feelings be known to anyone this early on but he was an adult, a man who knew what he wanted, how he felt, so why hide it behind dinners, talks, and weeks of the dating shit routine. That also had him thinking, yes, they knew a lot about each other in a short time but not the feelings that weren’t just surface deep, the ones you learn through months of dating. They still had that to learn about each other, so in actuality, he couldn’t be upset that she was asking about him. He might have even done the same if the shoe was on the other foot, and it was he who moved to her small town. And Summerville residents loved to gossip, tell stories and that’s exactly what they were giving to her. With those thoughts, Hank cleared the clouds from his mind and let the rays of sunshine that was Arissa Haywood shine through once again.
He rose from his chair, file in hand and opened his door. “Rob?” he called.
“Yo,” Rob shouted back, turning in his chair.
Hank held up the folder. “Got the Emerson file you were looking for.”
Rob started toward him, took it from Hank and muttered, “Thanks.”