by Carter Ashby
Rye kept his hand on Cora’s back as he led them upstairs. It was a possessive gesture, but he couldn’t help feeling like she was his to possess. The primal urge to protect and provide had reared up full force in Rye’s system.
Candace greeted them at the door. She was taller than Cora and had brown hair that was lighter than her brothers’. She hugged Cash. “You stay away too long. I’ve missed you!”
“Aw. Missed you too, sis.”
Then she hugged Rye. She stepped back and smiled at Cora. She looked from Cora back to Rye again. “A girlfriend? An honest-to-goodness girlfriend?”
“The real deal,” Rye said. He pulled Cora in tight. “This is Cora. Cora, my sister, Candace.”
Candace shook her hand and beamed at her. “I am so glad to meet you. He would not shut up about you on the phone!”
Rye grinned, too happy to be embarrassed. Cora said, “You mean he talks? Mostly, for me, he just sits around looking pretty.”
Candace laughed. “You’ll get used to it. All of the men in this family tend to be quieter than not. But once you realize you don’t actually want their opinions on things, you learn to appreciate it.”
“Nice, Candace,” Rye muttered.
Cora laughed, though.
Rye’s niece and nephew, Paisley and Trevor, ran in to greet them. It was always a struggle just getting in the door, what with the rush of greeting and affection, but at last they managed to make it up the stairs and into the living room. Cash immediately fell to the floor to wrestle with Trevor. Rye wanted to stay on the loveseat snuggled next to his woman, but Paisley insisted on bringing out the costume jewelry. She gave a necklace each to Cora and Rye and then decided Uncle Rye needed a tiara as well.
Cora laughed and reached for some big, pearl clip-on earrings in Paisley’s jewelry case. “I think these would look darling, don’t you?” she asked.
Paisley squealed and proceeded to clip them on Uncle Rye’s ears.
Rye gave Cora a glare, but she was too busy laughing to care.
“So pretty, isn’t he?” Cora asked.
“Uh-huh,” Paisley said. “I got a tutu that will go perfect with this shirt, Uncle Rye.” She hopped off his lap and ran to her room.
“No tutu, Paisley!” he shouted. “I’m not wearing a tutu!”
Cora pulled out her cell phone and snapped a picture. She was going to take another one, but he started grabbing for her phone. “Delete it,” he said. “Delete it right now.”
“Can’t do it.” She giggled and scooted backward. When he came after her, she turned to flee, but he caught her ankle, and she hit the floor, face-down. He was on top of her, the next moment. She laughed as she kept a death grip on her phone while he tried to tickle her until she dropped it, thinking, not for the first time, how great it was to have a girl he could wrestle with.
She lost the battle, and he kept her pressed to the floor while he deleted the photo off of her phone. “I don’t know who you were afraid I’d show,” she laughed.
“I just don’t want you looking at it and laughing at me behind my back.” He stood and helped her to her feet, dragging her back to the couch.
“The image is permanently imprinted on my brain,” Cora said. “You can’t delete that.”
Paisley came back with pink sunglasses. She must not have been able to locate the tutu. She put the sunglasses on him. He gave Cora a look that dared her to laugh. “When you have a niece this cute, you’ll stop laughing.”
Cora did stop laughing, then, and just gazed at him. Rye wasn’t sure what he’d said, but he hoped it was a good thing.
Cash had taken notice. “She’s trussing you up with a baby carrier and diaper bag in her fantasies, now, you know that Rye?”
Rye looked at Cora again. “Is that so, boss? You getting ideas in your head?”
She only blushed and looked away.
“Uncle Rye, will you come to my tea party on my birthday?” Paisley asked.
“I’d love to,” he said.
Candace came in, then, and served coffee. She sent the kids downstairs to play. Cora helped Rye divest himself of his princess gear. They held hands while sipping coffee.
“Mom’s on her way,” said Candace, settling into an armchair. “And Dad’s coming with her.”
Rye tensed. “Why?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Rye. He wants a relationship with his sons, I’d guess. Scott’s coming too.”
“Fuck this, Candace. You’re ambushing us, here.”
“I’m not doing any such thing! And watch your language in my house. What if the children heard you?”
He dropped his head back against the sofa cushions. “I do not want to talk to him. We needed to talk to you and Mom; that’s all.”
“Well, you’ll have to tell him to leave, then.”
Cash was putting toys back into a basket Candace kept near the entertainment center. “This is my thing,” Cash said. “If Dad and Scott want to be here, then I’m okay with that.”
Rye just shook his head. Cora squeezed closer to him. And then the front door opened, and their mom came in, looking like Candace thirty years in the future. Rye stood and waited while Cash hugged her. He took his turn then introduced her. “Mom, this is my girlfriend. Cora, this is Mom.”
“Hi, Mom,” Cora said.
Mom beamed and brought Cora into a snug embrace. “Oh, you’re absolutely perfect. I knew you would be. He admires you so much, you know.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Cora said.
“You just rest assured, you’ve got him wrapped around your little finger.” She took Cora by the arm and turned towards the two men who’d come in behind her. “This is my husband, Jeff. Jeff, this is Rye’s girl. Oh, and this is Scott.”
Cora shook hands with Rye’s dad who bobbed his head shyly. Scott gave her a tight smile. They both looked just as nervous as could be. Jeff held his ball cap in his hands in front of him and twisted it. Cora looked back at Rye, who had his arms folded over his chest and a stone cold expression.
“Son,” Jeff said, by way of greeting. “Good to see you.”
Rye didn’t have an answer for him. He certainly didn’t feel the same way. Cash stepped in. “Hey, Pop.”
They hugged, but then Cash stepped back. He seemed uncertain about approaching Scott. So Scott broke the ice and held out his arms. “What, no love for your big brother?”
Cash beamed and threw his arms around Scott. The kids came in, briefly, to greet their grandpa and uncle but then Candace shuffled them off to her bedroom to let the TV babysit them. Everyone sat around the living room, and once the coffee was served, Cash spoke. “I didn’t mean this to be a big formal thing. I just wanted to let you all know that Davis Acton won his appeal. As of Monday morning, he’s a free man.”
There were varying levels of response.
“He’s only been in for three years,” Mom said. “How is this possible?”
Cash had apparently said all he was capable of saying. So he looked to Rye, his eyes pleading him to take over.
Rye took a breath. He relaxed and draped his arm over Cora’s shoulders. “They decided that the sentencing was too harsh based on the evidence they had. The evidence proved rape, but they knocked it down a felony class and let him go with time served. I guess because he didn’t have any prior record. I don’t really know. But we just wanted you guys to know he was out. Probably won’t affect any of us. It’s just kind of a big deal for Cash.”
“I’m glad you told us,” Candace said.
“Cash, sweetheart, are you all right?” Mom asked.
Cash rolled his eyes. “I’m fine, Mom.”
“And what about your boyfriend? How is he handling all of this?”
Cash shot Rye a look. “Who told you I have a boyfriend?”
“Rye did.”
“Well, I don’t.” He glanced at Cora but quickly looked away.
“I’m sorry,” Rye said. “Bad semantics on my part. I should have said the guy he’s been sleep
ing with on a regular basis for the past two months. Boyfriend is just what came out of my mouth, is all.”
“Shut up,” Cash snarled.
“Adam, the non-boyfriend, hasn’t managed to get cleared for this classified information. So he doesn’t know,” Rye said.
“Oh,” Mom said. “Well you should tell him, sweetheart,” she said to Cash. “It really is in his best interest to know.”
“Yeah, well, that’s my decision, Mom. I think I’m done with him anyway.”
Rye felt Cora stiffen at his side.
“So anyway,” Rye said. “That’s what we came up to tell you. And it was a good excuse to see the kids.” He gave Cora’s arm a comforting squeeze. She rested her head on his chest and her hand on his abdomen.
“I’m glad you came,” Mom said. “Will you be staying the night?”
“We’ve got a room.”
“In a hotel? Oh, no. Please come stay with us. There’s no reason you should pay a small fortune to stay in a cramped little room when you could come sleep in your own bed.”
Rye dropped his head back and laughed. Cash said, “It’s okay, Mom, really. I think we’ll head back pretty early in the morning.”
“Sweetheart, we haven’t seen you in ages. Just stay with us, and I’ll fix a nice big breakfast in the morning.”
Cash lifted his brows and looked at Rye. Rye shook his head. Cash made a puppy dog face. Still, Rye shook his head.
So Mom pounced on Cora. “You want to see where Rye grew up, don’t you? And my biscuits and gravy are famous county-wide.”
So now Cora looked up at Rye. “I wouldn’t mind….”
Rye gave her a look of absolute disgust. “Sorry, babe. You can go if you want, but I’ll be awful lonely in that hotel room without you.”
“Well I’m going,” Cash said. “I’ve had nothing but microwave meals and your shit-for-cooking for the past ten years.”
Rye just looked at him, expressionless. “You’re welcome.”
“Let’s go,” said Cora. “Let’s stay with your mom.”
Rye wondered if he hadn’t fully conveyed to her the depth of his disgust with his father. He tried to tell her with his eyes that he needed her to back off. But then, Jeff said, “We’d love to have you, son.”
Rye’s gaze went cold when he swung it on Jeff. “Oh, you would? You’d love to have us over? We’re welcome in your home now?”
Jeff looked down at his hands.
“Let me spare you the trouble, Dad. Fuck you. And fuck you, Scott. How fucking dare you both come in here and act like we’re still family? Cash wants to forgive you for no good reason, that’s his business, but I want nothing to do with either of you.”
“Rye, please!” Mom cried.
Rye stood. “Candace, I’m sorry sweetie. Give the kids a hug for me. Come on, Cora.” She let him pull her to her feet. “Cash, you coming?”
“Nah. I’m going home for the night.”
“Fine, Judas. I’ll pick you up in the morning,” Rye said. Then he dragged Cora out the door and into the cool night. The sun had set an hour ago, but it was still fairly warm. She dug her heels in when they got close to the car.
“Rye, are you sure?” she asked.
He turned to her, held her by the shoulders, and rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sure I wanna go check into our room and fool around for a while.”
“It’s just…he’s your father.”
He closed his eyes and smiled patiently. “I know you’re concerned, and I appreciate it, but I got this. Right now, I just wanna get my hands on you for a while. So how about it?”
She tilted her head back and kissed him. “Okay,” she said. Suddenly, her lips turned up in a wicked grin. “Maybe we could play a game,” she said seductively.
His heart rate kicked up with a wash of lust. “Yeah? What kind of a game?”
“Maybe…something with costumes?”
“Yeah?” he stepped back and looked her up and down, warming her all over. “Sounds good, Cora. What do you have in mind?”
“Mmm. I’m thinking you…naked…in a tutu and a pink feather boa…”
He grabbed her sides and dug his fingers in, tickling her. She threw her head back and laughed. She backed up until she bumped into the hood of her car. He wrestled with her and tickled her. “You’re a ruthless tease, you know that?” he said and tickled her some more.
But then the door to the house opened. He helped her to her feet and turned to see his dad standing there.
“Hey, Rye,” Jeff said. “I thought maybe we could talk.”
Rye ran his hand up and down Cora’s back. “I’m not really interested,” he said.
“Well, then, let me say what I gotta say and you can go on hating me for the rest of your life if you want.”
Rye sighed and turned to Cora. She smiled and kissed him. “I’ll wait inside,” she said.
Rye and Jeff both watched her disappear back up the stairs and into the house. Jeff turned back to Rye. “Great girl you got there.”
Rye found a stick of gum in his pocket, unwrapped it and proceeded to chew.
“I always did like a woman you could wrestle with a little,” Jeff said.
Rye looked up at the sky. “What do you want, Dad?”
“I want to apologize. I know it’s long overdue, but…”
“I ain’t the one you gotta apologize to.”
“Yes, you are. Cash and I, we started healing a couple years back. It’s been rough. He was angry. I know I deserved all his anger and more. But I love my boy, and I’m glad he’s beginning to forgive me. I’m hoping you’ll do the same.”
Rye finally looked at him, fully knowing he was glaring like a petulant child. He wished he could be more menacing, but this was his old man. It just didn’t seem possible. “I’ll keep it in mind,” he said. Which he thought was more than generous.
Jeff sighed and leaned back against the stairway banister. “I was born in a different generation, son…”
“Don’t give me that bullshit!” Rye surprised himself with the sudden surge of anger. “I don’t care what your kid says or does, you keep loving him anyway! What kind of sick fuck turns his own kid out of the house? Let alone during a time of confusion and distress. Do you have any fucking idea how hard things have been for Cash? What he’s been through? He needed you, and you spat in his face. I just can’t get over that, Dad. I can’t stop seeing that in my head. So maybe I can work on forgiving you, but I can’t sit in the same room with you without wanting to punch the living shit out of you.”
Jeff’s eyes looked a little red around the rims, but it was difficult to tell with just the porch light. “I…I sure understand all that. I do. I hate thinking of how I acted. He was my boy, and if you want the truth, I always felt closer with him than with you or Scott. I guess cause he was the baby, I don’t know. At the time, well, I thought I’d raised all of you right. I thought we’d made it past anything like that. I know it’s wrong and foolish, but having a gay son…well, that was my worst nightmare. When he came to us, I just felt…I felt betrayed by God. And I thought maybe it wasn’t real. Maybe there was something wrong with him.”
“There’s nothing wrong with him.”
“I know. I know that, Rye. I do. But at the time, I was just confused and…and scared and angry. I know it was wrong, and I regret that day more than anything else in my life. Both for how I treated Cash and for how I treated you.”
Rye hated that he was starting to feel pangs of compassion. He didn’t want to forgive this man. He’d set his dad up as the villain in his life for ten years, now, and all of a sudden the monster was becoming human right before his eyes.
“I know you’d be too young to recall, but your mother and I never hit any of you kids. Not even spankings. We never raised a hand to y’uns. We just couldn’t countenance it. That fight, Rye…,” he stopped and looked away. “God, I’m so sorry, son. I was so angry. Angry enough to turn one son away and to use my fists on another.”
“Ain’t no excuse for me. Ain’t no excuse for fighting with my boy.”
Rye shrugged and looked away. “It’s done.”
“Yeah. It’s done. I wish it wasn’t, but it is.”
Rye looked down at his feet. The night, here, was noisy, being in town. There were highway sounds and the occasional car passing by. Finally, Rye sighed. And with the breath went a weight he didn’t know he’d been carrying. “I guess if you’re making amends with Cash, that’s really the most important thing.”
Jeff nodded. “I want to make amends with you, too, Rye.”
Rye wanted to hang on to his grudge. He felt justified in doing it. But there was also something in him that kept him from fully rejecting his father’s repentance. The same something that made him march down to the river to get his bitter and degraded soul washed clean. Maybe this was a part of that cleansing. He blew out a breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t want you to think you just get to apologize and suddenly have my trust—”
“I don’t, son. I know it’ll take time. But if you’ll just let me try.”
Rye nodded as he dug the toe of his boot into the driveway. “Yeah, all right. I can do that.”
“Good,” Jeff said, visibly relieved. “Good. Thank you. And I know Scott is sorry, too.”
“Scott can go fuck himself.”
Jeff laughed.
Rye looked up at him, startled. But then he laughed, too.
Jeff shook his head. “You draw your lines hard, son. It’s a good quality. I appreciate the forgiveness that much more.”
Rye studied his dad for a long moment. Then he stepped forward and held out his hand. Jeff shook it and thanked him once more.
“I don’t suppose you’ll reconsider coming over,” Jeff said. “It’d mean so much to your mother. And it’d give Scott a chance to make his own apology.”
Rye mulled it over. “I don’t know,” he said.
“If you need some time…”
“It’s not that. It’s just…there’s Cora. You know?”