The Perfect Cast

by T. K. Chapin

  Arriving at Bo’s, Jess noticed the herd of sheep that was fenced off on the left side of the property. It appeared to just be a little patch of land, with the sheep and a turquoise colored double wide. Pulling into the dirt driveway, they parked in front of the trailer and got out.

  Jess had changed into a pair of jeans, a purple blouse and a pair of sandals. Stepping out of the truck, she peered over at the sheep in the field.

  “What do people do with sheep?”

  “Bo and his brother shave them for the wool.”

  Jess nodded as she grabbed onto Levi’s hand. He smiled as he felt the warmth of the butterflies stir in his stomach. Leading her around the back of the trailer, they came to the barbeque. Bo was barbequing hot dogs and burgers, while his brother Frank was setting up a volleyball net.

  “Hey Levi, I thought you were busy today.”

  “Plans changed. This is Jess.” Bo wiped his hand off on his apron and shook her hand.

  “Nice to meet you, so you’re Levi’s flavor of the month, eh?”

  Levi was mortified and smacked him in the shoulder. “Don’t, dude.”

  Jess tilted her head, glancing over at Levi, “I guess…” She released her hand away from his.

  “Hi, I’m Cindy, Bo’s wife… Do you want to come help me cut up the veggies inside?” Cindy asked.

  “I’d love to,” Jess said, following her in through the slider of the trailer.

  “I can’t believe you said that, man,” Levi said to Bo. “She’s going to think I have a bunch of lady friends and I’m some sort of player.”

  Bo laughed as he flipped the burgers. “I doubt that man. Plus, aren’t you taking off to Nashville?”

  “Yeah, I am, but so what? I don’t want her to think poorly of me. I like her a lot.”

  Bo shook his head. “You’ve liked all the girls you’ve been with a lot. This one isn’t special; she’s just another gal, Levi. You let your mind get far too wrapped up on one girl. But every time something happens… you seem to move on and get over it.”

  Bo was right, Levi had had multiple girlfriends since Dawn, his high school sweetheart, and every girl he thought was the one. Levi felt like Jess wasn’t like the others; he felt there was more to it this time, but then again, he thought that with all the others, also.

  Chapter 24 ~ Roy

  Hearing the phone ring, Roy got up from his Lazy Boy recliner. Just as he was getting to the phone, he felt a jolt of pain shoot through his chest, stopping him dead in his tracks. Grabbing his chest, he tried to get his breathing under control. Suddenly the patio door opened and in came Jess. As he stood upright to hide his pain, the phone clicked over to the voicemail system.

  “Hey Roy, it’s me, Levi. I wanted to call and let you know I won’t be around for the next couple weeks. I can work on that barn roof once I get back. Take care.”

  Beep.

  “That doesn’t seem like Levi…” Roy said glancing over at Jess.

  “Henry and I can help with the chores around the farm. It’ll be okay.”

  Roy nodded as another pain shot through his chest. Along with the pain, fear shot through him as he worried what Jess and Henry might say to their mother if they were to find out. Excusing himself from Jess, he went into his bedroom that was in the back of the farmhouse, past the bathroom.

  Shutting the door behind him, he leaned his forehead against the door and prayed. Please Lord… Help me. My Grandkids have just gotten here. I can’t be laid up again. Walking over to the left side of the bed, he sat down and looked at the picture of Lucille. Picking it up, he rubbed his thumb across the glass frame as a tear seeped out of his eye and landed on her face.

  “Why’d you have to go? You’d be proud of Jess; she’s turning out to be a fine young lady… she’s a bit of a firecracker, though.” Roy laughed and smiled as more tears fell. “Then again, she takes after her Mother and Grandmother.”

  Lying down on his side of the bed, he laid the picture on the pillow next to him, and began to relax. Letting out a deep breath as he lay on his back, he felt the pains subside.

  Just as he was about to fall asleep, the phone rang again. Leaning over to the nightstand, he grabbed the corded phone and brought it to his ear. It was a pleasant surprise to hear Peter on the other end.

  “You didn’t look so well today, Roy.”

  “I’m fine. I’m just getting old!” Roy suddenly felt another pain surge through his chest. “…Actually… I’ve been having some health problems…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve been having these awful chest pains off and on. It’s what kept me from Church those weeks I missed.”

  “I knew about the chest pain… What’s your doctor say?”

  Silence filled the conversation, as Roy hadn’t been to the doctor even once. “I haven’t been to him.”

  “Why in tarnation not? You know we’re in our early seventies now; we can’t play around with our health. Especially chest pains!”

  “I know that. I’m just…”

  “Scared?”

  “A little bit, yeah.”

  “I know the feeling. Seems like the last few years I’m just happy opening my eyes in the morning and knowing I got at least one more day left.”

  “I don’t feel old inside…”

  “I don’t either Roy. It’s just one of those weird things, I guess.”

  Jess knocked on the door of Roy’s bedroom. Peeking in, she smiled and said, “I didn’t mean to disturb you… I just wanted to let you know that Henry and I were going to go for a walk up on the hill.”

  “Hold on Peter,” Roy said, setting the phone down on his chest. “That’s fine. Thanks for letting me know.”

  “Are you okay?” Jess asked. Roy nodded and smiled at her.

  “Okay, we’ll be back in a bit.” Jess shut the door and Roy picked the phone back up.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “You need to go see your doctor. Are you still seeing Dr. Woods?”

  “No, I go to Murtle now, he’s over off Francis.”

  “Why’d you change?”

  “Dr. Woods was treating Lucille; I got tired of him asking how I was handling everything. He’s bit of a nosey guy.” Roy had a bad run-in with doctor Woods last year. Roy had come in for a routine checkup and had bumped his head in the root cellar. When the doctor questioned Roy about it, Roy explained that he had just bumped his head, but the doctor begun prying deeper into the matter and questioned if it was related to losing Lucille. Roy knew then it was time to change doctors.

  “I see. Well you best get in there. I worry about you.”

  “Thanks, I will.”

  Roy hung up the phone and dozed off to sleep. The rest was much needed, with the long day he already had had. A nap would put him around six o’clock and just in time to prepare dinner.

  Chapter 25 ~ Jess

  Climbing over the white fence that lined the property along the side with the chicken coop, Jess helped Henry over. Walking through the field past the cows, Jess and Henry became hot from the sun beaming down on them in the late afternoon.

  “Let’s stop for a minute before we jump the barbed wire,” Henry said coming to a stop. There was a slight incline from the field up to the barbed-wire fence that was grassy. Taking a seat, Henry pulled out a couple bottles of water from his back pack. Handing one to Jess, he sat down and looked at the cows in the field. “What do you think Dad’s doing?”

  Jess was surprised by the question. “What made you think of that?”

  “I don’t know… I just miss him.”

  “I do too,” Jess sat down next to Henry and grabbed a water bottle from him. Taking a drink, she continued. “I don’t know what he’s doing… but I’m sure he’s thinking about us.”

  After relaxing for a few minutes as they watched the herd of cattle grazing in the field, they both got up and hopped the fence, beginning the journey along the steep and rocky terrain to the top of the hill. Using the sturdy rocks to brace them
selves along the way, they made it to the top and looked down over the valley. They could see the entire farm from up top and also the neighbors along both sides and even down the road. Jess smiled as she took it all in.

  “That’s pretty cool,” Henry said glancing over at Jess.

  “It’s quite beautiful…” she replied. Her eyes traced along the road in front of her grandpa’s farm, and spotted Levi’s property off in the distance up the road. She wondered what Levi was up to and if he was thinking about her. She had such a wonderful time with him; she just hoped he was making the right choice going to Nashville.

  “Where’s that lunch box thing you were talking about?” Henry asked, breaking her train of thought.

  Turning around, she saw Henry looking around curiously at the various big rocks scattered along the top of the hill. “It’s this one,” Jess said walking over to a particular rock. She and Reese had scratched lines into the top of the rock after losing it one of the summers long ago. After spending most of an afternoon looking for it, they elected to make the markings so they’d never lose it again.

  Reaching beside the rock, Jess moved a smaller rock out of the way and pulled back the dirt and debris to reveal a Power Ranger lunch box. Henry let out a shout of excitement as his eyes landed on it.

  A stream of memories rushed through Jess’s mind as she sat down with her back against the rock. She and Reese got along better with each other than with any of the other cousins. They fished, walked the hills, talked and did everything together when they were small. After their grandma Lucille passed on, Reese’s mom and dad picked up and moved their entire family to Michigan. She never saw him again after the funeral.

  Pulling out the slammer Pog from the lunch box, she held it in her hand and rubbed it with her thumb.

  “What’s that?” Henry asked, grabbing at it.

  “You don’t know what Pogs are? Oh that’s right… You’re too young. They were big when our cousin Reese was growing up but it lost popularity as the years went on. He taught it to me, it’s a pretty fun game.”

  “How do you play?”

  “Umm… We only have a slammer, so that won’t really work. We’d need actual Pogs. I’ll show you someday if we ever get any.”

  “Is that a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card?” Henry asked grabbing at one of the baseball cards.

  “Sure is.” Reese took some of his dad’s baseball cards to add to the treasure collection. Ken Griffey Jr. was a big deal to his dad and he knew it had to be something cool; that was all they knew at the time, tossing it in. “He took that from Uncle Scotty’s collection. That duct-tape box that was always falling apart in their garage.”

  “I don’t remember ever going over there… I was pretty young back then.”

  “Yeah…” Jess looked over the hill’s side, and back into the valley. She felt such a strong longing for her childhood, her grandmother and all the memories she had made through the years growing up and visiting the farm. She especially missed her father, Where was he? Why isn’t he ever calling? “Have you talked to Mom at all?”

  “Yep… she’s called a couple times to check in on us. She’s got a fundraiser thing going on tonight.”

  “For the needy children?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  Jess nodded. Putting the lunch box back in its spot beside the rock, they began their trek back down the hill. As they came back down, they saw an unfamiliar truck pull into the driveway. It was all silver, with big giant wheels and a shiny grill.

  Being careful as they quickly made their way down, Jess cupped her eyes to try to see who it was. She wasn’t able to tell from the distance, but the man had stepped out of the truck and began looking around in the garage and barn. Who is that? She wondered.

  As they came into the field at the base of the hill, Jess saw it was her father, Brandon. “It’s Dad!” Jess said taking off in a sprint across the field. Her heart began to race as she quickened each step.

  “Jess!” Henry shouted, exasperated from yards back. Stopping, she turned to Henry in annoyance.

  “Come on Henry! Just run, it’s Dad! He’s here!” Jess shouted back at Henry.

  Henry slowed his pace as he came to Jess. “I’m… I know… I just… My legs are tired!”

  “Well I don’t want to wait. You can catch up!” Jess said, turning back to continue her sprint. He had come for her like she always knew he would.

  Her dad, standing in the driveway, spotted her running and started running towards her. Jumping the fence he ran quickly across the field to meet her. Lifting her up into his arms, he ran his hands through her hair and hugged her tightly.

  That smell she knew as Dad covered him from head to toe. It was so familiar, so comforting and just made everything seem so much better. “I’ve missed you so much!” Jess said as she hugged him.

  “I’ve missed you too kiddo.” Suddenly Brandon darted past her. Turning, she saw Henry had collapsed a few yards back. Running back to them, Jess began to become anxious and worried.

  “What happened?” Jess asked.

  Brandon looked up at her. “I think he collapsed from the heat…”

  “Heat exhaustion?”

  “I don’t know. We need to get him inside.” Scooping up his son in his arms, Brandon quickly made his way across the field, through the front yard and into the farmhouse.

  Setting him down onto the couch in the living room, Brandon turned to Jess. “Go get a fan, a washcloth and some water.”

  Jess ran into the kitchen and grabbed the fan. Going through the cupboards, she grabbed a washcloth and found the biggest cup she could find. Wetting the washcloth and filling the cup with water, she hurried back into the living room.

  “You’re okay now son… Your Poppa’s right here.” Looking up at Jess as she walked into the room, he smiled and thanked her. He put the washcloth on Henry’s head, gave him a drink and set the fan to blow on him. She put her hand on her dad’s shoulder, causing him to stand up and turn to her. “I know you have a lot of questions right now...”

  “I do… but Henry’s…”

  “He’s okay now. He just needs to rest.”

  “Brandon,” Grandpa said with a stern and angered look from the dining room. His face was red and his eyes were narrowed at Jess’s dad. Jess hadn’t seen him angry at all on her trip so far, but she knew her grandpa had a long-standing beef with her dad.

  “Grandpa… chill, okay?” Jess said. “He’s our dad, and we love him.”

  Roy looked over at Jess and then back over at Brandon. “We’ll talk later. But we will be talking.”

  Brandon looked quickly over at Jess and then up at Roy. “I agree we should talk. Now, can I spend some time with my family?”

  Roy nodded and proceeded out through the living room onto the patio, slamming the door furiously behind him.

  Chapter 26 ~ Roy

  Roy’s jaw clenched as the door slammed behind him. His anger was red hot and he immediately felt condemnation for the hatred he felt towards Brandon. He couldn’t make it quick enough down the path on the hill to the root cellar.

  Quickly entering the root cellar, he closed the door behind him. As the door shut, he felt relief come through his veins and his racing heart began to slow. Flipping on the light switch, he sat down on the bench.

  “Why God? Why did he have to show up now?” Roy asked.

  Roy knew that those kids needed their dad, but he couldn’t help but feel anger for what Brandon did to his daughter. Tiffany deserved a man who loved her and God, and showed it daily, not some smooth talker who was never around and was cheating on her.

  “I never liked him… and that affair with a stupid coffee girl… How could one man be so stupid?”

  Roy had his answer pressed on his mind before he had finished asking. He knew he wasn’t any better than Brandon. He had his own issues with Lucille when they were younger. It wasn’t an affair quite like Brandon’s; his mistress was the bottle.

  Roy’s frustration dissi
pated as he continued praying. Checking the time, he saw it was time to feed Rose. He figured Jess might be busy with her dad, so he’d take care of it. Walking out from the root cellar, Roy journeyed up the driveway to the barn.

  While he was feeding the calf, Brandon came into the barn. Leaning over the stall, Brandon tried handing Roy a beer.

  Roy shook his head. “I don’t drink. Where are the kids?”

  “You sure did when I knew you… Jess is helping Henry with his tablet; it was having some issues.” Roy stood up and walked over to grab more milk replacer from the bucket.

  “Drinking is not me anymore. I’ve done some growing up.”

  “Whatever, Roy, you can trick my kids into thinking God means a bunch to you now, but I’m no fool, I’ve known you for a long time.” Brandon leaned back, shaking his beer at Roy. “I’m foolproof.”

  “Yeah, is that why you’re drunk and not with your coffee gal?”

  Brandon stood up straight and leaned over the stall. “Tiff told you about it, huh? She just couldn’t keep her lips sealed.”

  “Why wouldn’t she confide in me? I’m her father, and you abandoned her, Jess and Henry.”

  “Well I’m here now. And I want to make it right.”

  “Are you going to tell them the truth?”

  Brandon stretched out his arms upwards as he seemed to become uncomfortable with the truth. “I don’t know… I figured Tiff would have said something by now… but they were pretty happy to see me, so it makes sense she didn’t. I think we can see how the summer turns out.”

  “You know her as much as I do; she wouldn’t tell the kids a word. She had hoped you’d come around. What do you mean see how the summer goes? Does that mean you’re just taking them back to Seattle?”

  Brandon laughed. “No, I don’t have a place in Seattle; I moved out and let Tiff take it back after I went down to Cancun with Tess.”