Southern Comfort

by Ciana Stone

  "So?" Katie asked when Analise finished.

  "So? What do you mean so?"

  "I mean what's the issue? You’ve been online buddies for over a year now, Analise. He knows you're traveling and he invited you to a festival. Not to his house or his bed, but to something where there will be millions of people there and—

  "Millions? In a place called Cotton Creek?"

  "Okay, you're right. Not millions, but at least hundreds and the point is, if you say yes and show up, he's gonna see you so what's the big deal."

  "He called me pretty."

  "Well you are, dummy."

  Analise sighed, forgot about dinner and flopped down on the small sofa. "Well, I don't feel like it."

  "Ah honey, you're just letting the rat bastard back in your head."

  "No, no, I'm not. Rick never called me ugly or anything. He just … he just ignored me for the most part. At least after the first few years. The last few … well I don't know if he even realized I was around unless he needed something."

  "And that's part of the reason you’re better off without him. But back to you. You're really pretty Analise. You have a nice figure, not all wrinkly and scrawny and your hair still looks good so all in all you've got nothing to worry about Besides, what does he look like?"

  "I don't have a clue."

  "Exactly. He could look like a barrel with the middle hoop busted out."

  Analise laughed. Katie had a country way of phrasing things. "Yeah, you're right. So, how should I respond?"

  "I don't know. Just don't obsess about it, okay?"

  "I'll try not to."

  "Okay, so how long are you going to be in New Orleans?"

  "A week maybe? I want to see as much as I can while I'm here."

  "And then?"

  "Then Galveston, Corpus Christie and San Antonio. I decided to go to that conference and registered this morning. Think I could crash with you a couple of days after that?"

  "You know you can. And I'm so glad you decided to go to the conference. It'll be fun. You want to drive here and leave your RV and ride with me?"

  "That'd be great."

  "So…you going to take him up on his invitation?"

  Analise leaned back and closed her eyes. "I don't know. I'll sleep on it."

  "Okay. Oops, there went the bell on the stove. Gotta scoot. Call me in the morning. Love you!”

  "I will and love you too."

  Analise put the phone down on the couch beside her. Katie was right. She and Riley were friends and their friendship wasn't based on looks. Heck, if she really thought about it, it was founded on her asking him a million questions.

  Thus far there hadn't been a lot of quid pro quo in the friendship. Unless you count the recipes she'd given him for simple meals. Apparently he wasn't much of a cook.

  Still, she was reading way too much into all of this. Pushing herself up, she got focused on finishing her meal and sat down at the small table to eat. She opened a video on her Kindle and watched it as she ate. The messenger app popped open with a personal message.

  It was a private message on her author fan page on Facebook. A little spark of nervousness hit her until she realized it wasn’t Riley. She didn’t get a lot of personal messages through her author page, so curiosity had her opening it. As he read her eyes widened.

  Hi. You don't know me but I live in Cotton Creek and am a friend of Riley Morgan's. I know you are too and I thought you might enjoy this. Sorry the video is so bad. The bar was really crowded so you probably can't see him, but that's him singing. He's not bad.

  Oh, I read your new book. It was good. Colt sounded a lot like Riley.

  Have a good night.

  Cody Sweet

  Analise clicked on the link and her browser opened on a YouTube video. She could see a crowd of people in what looked like an old bar. At the far side of the room there were men on a wooden stage. Two of them were seated, each holding instruments. A third man was at the drums and at the front of the stage two men stood at the microphone, one heavyset and the other tall and lanky.

  She couldn't make out their features, and people kept moving in front of the camera, but she could hear the music despite the crowd. She listened and then listened again. Which one was Riley? Was he the stocky guy or the lanky one?

  Whoever he was, he was part of music that brought a smile to her face. When she finally turned it off, she sat at the table, staring at the phone. Who was Cody Sweet and why would she send this? Male or female? Probably female because of the reference to the book. Not many men read romances.

  On impulse she clicked on Cody’s profile name. When the page loaded she sat back in her chair. Cody was definitely a female. A beautiful one. Analise cruised through the page but there were no other photos on it aside from horses and a couple of shots that look like they’d been taken in the bar.

  Just what kind of friend was this Cody?

  Analise accessed the message app again to respond.

  Hi Cody,

  First, thank you for taking the time to read my book. I hope you enjoyed it.

  I was surprised to get your message. Yes, Riley and I are friends. Well, Facebook friends. We've never actually met. He's been a great help to me when I have questions about ranching, horses and that sort of thing

  The music was great and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it with me and for your message.

  Best,

  Ana Lise

  She hesitated for a moment. Should she use her real name. Ana Lise was what she published under, but Riley knew her real name. She changed it to Analise and then hit send. Rather than just sitting there, waiting to see if there would be another message, she cleaned up and then showered and got ready for bed. She checked the phone and didn't see a message so put the phone on the charger, double checked to make sure the doors were locked and climbed into bed.

  The problem was, she wasn't sleepy. Her mind kept jumping from her texts with Riley to the message from his friend Cody to the music she heard. Which man in the video was Riley? Was he tall or stocky?

  Her hands moved up in the dark to cover her face. His friend Cody had recognized Riley in Analise's fictional character Colt? Had she been that obvious, and did Cody realize that Analise had fashioned a man with the physical appearance she found appealing and then assigned him all of the qualities she liked in Riley?

  That thought tortured her for a good hour until she threw off her bedcovers, got up to get her Kindle and then went back to bed. She searched through her library and selected an old Western. It was one of her favorites and she’d watched it more times than she could count.

  When the hero of the film came on screen she smiled. Nate Bridges. God, she'd had such a crush on that man. Tall and lean, he had warm brown hair that tended to curl just a bit at the ends when he wore it long. His eyes were hazel but could appear blue if he had on a blue shirt and his smile could light up not just a room but a continent.

  Analise snuggled into a more comfortable position and let herself get lost in the movie. Before long her eyes started to get heavy and she drifted off into a dream where she was the damsel being rescued by the rough and rowdy desperado with a heart of gold.

  Chapter Five

  Riley stepped out onto the front porch with a steaming mug of coffee in his hand. After nearly two months of drought, last night a storm had rolled through that rocked the house. According to the local news, more than a couple of tornados had spawned from the storm.

  There were no reports yet on damage or loss of life. Power had gone out and the generator supplied just enough juice to keep the refrigerator and freezer running and his phone charged. It wasn’t the first night he'd spent without lights or the company of the television and probably wouldn't be the last.

  Cody had texted to check on him and let him know she was okay. He'd also heard from Analise. She was in Galveston and from the sounds of it, enjoying sightseeing. She also mentioned that she'd been taking time to work on the wooden chest she had bought befor
e she left New Jersey. On days she didn’t feel like sightseeing, she'd work on it.

  He smiled at the thought. She was dead set on finishing that thing and doing a good job. He admired anyone who saw a task through to the end, and liked that she seemed to be one of those people.

  From where he sat, he looked out over his land. There appeared to be some branches down, but it didn't look like there was damage to any of the structures. He'd count himself lucky that there hadn't been any tornados in his neck of the woods.

  His phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. before answering..

  "Morning, Cody. Everything okay out your way?

  "Yeah. Had a tree come down across one of the fences, but we don't have anything in that section of pasture so it can wait. How 'bout you?"

  "Everything's fine. You hear from your mama this morning?"

  "Yep. They're fine. But Otis has a mess. Twister took off half his roof."

  Riley grimaced. Otis Caskey ran the local barbershop and a nicer man never walked the planet. His wife Pearl ran a cash register at the local grocery. They made ends meet but weren't what you'd call affluent.

  "Anyone over there helping Otis?"

  "Part of why I called. Soon as I get this tree taken care of I'm headed over. Dad's on his way now, along with Jimmy and Frank Odel. Frank's closing the feed store for the day. You think you can pitch in?”

  "You know it. What can I bring?"

  "Extra hands if you can spare 'em."

  "I'll bring the kid with me."

  "Thanks. See you there."

  Riley's next call was to Bobby who answered on the first ring. "How 'bout taking a ride to town with me, Bobby? Otis got some damage to his roof in the storm and we're gonna help him out."

  "I'll be in the truck in three minutes."

  A smile crossed Riley's face. Bobby might have more questions than a round of Jeopardy but the boy had heart. He went back inside to put his coffee mug in the sink, but as an afterthought, dug out two of those metal travel cups and filled them with coffee. He dumped several spoons of sugar into one for Bobby.

  After cramming his hat on his head and getting his keys, he carried both cups outside. Sure enough, Bobby was standing beside Riley's truck.

  "Coffee?" Riley handed him the one laced with sugar.

  "Thank you, sir."

  "My pleasure." Riley climbed in the truck and started it as Bobby hurried around to get into the passenger's side.

  "Mr. Odel's place a mess?"

  "Don't know. Cody called and said half the roof got torn off by a twister."

  "That was one hell of a storm wasn't it? We were lucky. Buckets of rain though. But I guess that's good, huh?"

  "We need all the rain we can get, but a downpour like that isn't exactly friendly to crops. Can beat 'em down pretty bad."

  "I didn't think about that. Folks around here depend a lot on those crops, don't they?"

  "Yeah, Bobby, they do. It's what makes 'em a living."

  "So what happens if their crops get wiped out? How do they survive?"

  Riley cut a look over at him. "They either get by on what they have saved, or by the kindness of family and friends, or they don’t make it."

  Bobby nodded and looked out of the window for a while. "I don't like to think of folks losing their homes."

  "Neither do I."

  "But you help them out, Mr. Morgan. I know you do. Cody told me how you helped her family when her dad got hurt, and how you helped old Mr. Eastman when he broke his hip and couldn't work his cotton farm."

  "I've been luckier than some so I try and pay it forward a bit. Besides, it's what you do when you're part of a community. You help each other out."

  "That's how I want to be. One day I want to have my own place. Maybe raise some cotton, have some cows. Live a good life and help folks out."

  "That's a nice goal, Bobby. Real nice."

  "And I want to compete in the rodeo."

  Riley smiled at him. "That's what I hear. Roping, right?"

  "Yes, sir. Cody's been teaching me."

  "She's says you have potential."

  Bobby grinned. "She's real nice. Say, do you think she's too old for me?"

  Riley nearly choked on his coffee. "As in to date?"

  "Yeah."

  "Well, yes, I do. Bobby. You're what, twenty-two?"

  "Yes sir. Twenty-three in March."

  "Right and she's – she’s a few years older Besides, I don't think Cody's looking for a fella.”

  "Oh." Bobby nodded. "Now it make sense. I wondered why I never saw her with any men. Funny though, I wouldn't have thought she was a lesbian."

  This time Riley spewed coffee, choked and wheezed for a bit. When he finally caught his breath he spoke. "She's not a lesbian."

  "Oh! Oh, when you said she's not looking for a fella I thought you meant—"

  "I just meant she's not looking to get involved with anyone."

  "Oh. Oh, okay. Well, maybe one day she will be. And who knows, one day when I've won all these ribbons and belt buckles and I'm one of those guys that people say ‘hey, look, that's Bobby Daniels, rodeo champion ‘ – maybe then she'd think twice."

  Riley just shook his head, "Well, you never know do you, Bobby?"

  "No, sir you never do."

  Riley smiled. In some ways he envied Bobby. There was a time when he had the dreams of youth, the ‘pie-in-the-sky dreams’ as his father called them. And look what happened. His dreams had come true. He'd found fame and fortune and what had it netted him? He'd spent half a life chasing skirts and being chased, of making insane amounts of money and wasting most of it and here he was, back where he'd started. Those dreams of his youth had been realized and tarnished by his own bad choices.

  And the saddest part was he didn't seem to have any more dreams.

  *****

  Analise smiled as she read the text from Cody. It was odd, but since that first message Cody had sent her, they had been messaging and texting every day. It had been a month since that first text and now Analise felt like she'd made a new friend.

  Cody was much younger, but what a spirited and independent woman she was. She seemed so self-confident and comfortable in her own skin and could laugh at her own short-comings.

  Like not being able to cook. Analise had literally laughed out loud reading about Cody's attempt to make a Beef Wellington for her sisters, Riley and some guy named Bobby. It had been such a disaster that they ended up roasting hotdogs over an open fire and eating them sans buns with cold canned beans.

  Despite the cooking fiasco, it sounded like fun to Analise and she admired Cody's ability to bounce back and not let it get her down.

  Can't wait to meet you in person. She typed as she got out of the hotel elevator on her floor. Headed to my room to shower and change. Big formal dress dinner tonight and I found a really pretty dress at a local shop.

  Send pictures! Was the response she received. And have fun!

  Will do! Analise replied and inserted the keycard into her room's door. She looked up as she stepped into the room and froze. The room was in shambles. Her belongings were scattered all over the floor, along with the bedcovers. Analise just stood there and stared in disbelief for a few seconds before panic set in. Her eyes darted one direction and then another. Was there someone still in the room? Her heart hammered in her chest.

  Careful not to make a sound she eased to the bathroom door. The room was empty. Analise crept into the bedroom. Like the bathroom it was empty. Relief washed through her until a thought dawned.

  Her laptop!

  One glance told her it was no longer on the small table in the corner. Her eyes darted to the armoire containing the television and then to the dresser. Nothing. With rising panic she threw herself onto her hands and knees and started sorting through the mess on the floor.

  Ten minutes later, having gone through the entire room, piling sheets and bed pillows back onto the bed and tossing clothing into her travel case in the clo
set, she admitted defeat. Her laptop and Kindle were not in the room!

  There was nothing else to do but pick up the hotel phone and call the manager. She did just that. Ten minutes that seemed like an hour later, a manager arrived.

  "Mrs. Becke, I understand you have a problem?"

  "Yes, you might call it that. I returned to my room just –" She checked the clock on the nightstand. "Just twenty minutes ago and found my room trashed. My belongings and the bed clothes were all over the floor and the drawers, my luggage and even the bathroom have been searched and things scattered.”

  He took a look around the room, peeked into the bathroom and then the closet. “So, your clothes were not in the closet when you returned?”

  "No, they were on the floor. I picked everything up. And my laptop and my Kindle are missing."

  "I see. I'm very sorry for this, Mrs. Becke. That is the reason we provide room safes. It’s a shame you didn’t take advantage of it. Are you sure you didn't leave the laptop and Kindle somewhere else in the hotel? I noticed you were registered for the convention."

  Until that moment, Analise had been on the verge of tears. His comment about the safe came across a bit condescending and rankled her. “I shouldn’t have to put things in a safe to keep them from getting stolen. And no. I didn't have them with me. I was working on a book this morning and left it right there." She pointed to the table in the corner of the room.

  "Yes, I see. Well, as I said, I am very sorry and will definitely look into this right away. I will have security look over the video surveillance from the hallway. Unfortunately we have no other vacancies, so I’m unable to switch your room. Of course we can contact the police if you wish. And naturally the front desk will issue you a new keycard immediately.I do suggest you contact your insurance carrier – providing you had the items insured."

  Analise wanted to smack him. He acted as if she'd just reported a tube of lipstick had been stolen and his entire demeanor was supercilious "Well, insurance is hardly going to cover the cost of my book files that were on that laptop."

  "Yes, I do understand but you did, of course, have a backup."

  Suddenly she wanted to kiss the man. Why had she been in such a panic? Her files were all on her One Drive cloud storage as well as backed up on DropBox and she had a backup subscription that automatically backed up her entire system and files every day.