by SK Thomas
“So, what do you have for sightseeing?” I asked.
“You’re joking right?” he chuckled.
“Not really?” I said in an unsure voice.
“Nothing, there’s a bar that serves food, post office, a gas station and motel. The neighboring town about thirty minutes away has a grocery store and coffee shop. That’s it in a nutshell.”
“Not exactly what I had hoped for.”
“Tell me, why are you really here?” he asked.
I took a minute to digest that question before answering, “I guess a fresh start, getting away from too many memories. Jack picked this place out, maybe he knew you spent some time in Tupelo.”
“Fair enough, but I must warn you this is the sticks and could very well end up being counterproductive. You’ll have too much time to think.”
“No matter where I’m at that issue is going to be the same. This place is no different than Tupelo and back in Barrington there happens to be trouble hanging around.”
“I would’ve never guessed, so not much has changed then.” He stated chuckling.
“I suppose not.” I said with a scowl on my face thinking of Carl.
“So is Jack the new distraction?” He asked with a hint of mischief in his voice.
“Just a friend, someone who promised John he’d look after me until I got back on my feet.”
“Why don’t you turn here and we’ll go into the bar to get a drink.”
As we entered the bar the first thing I noticed was the drab, dingy environment that reeked of cigarette smoke. Local people were firmly planted on faux leather stools drinking and watching the most recent football game. The bartender acknowledged Father Clayton as soon as we walked in.
“Tony, can we get two sodas over here and a bowl of nuts?”
“Sure thing Father Clayton, I’ll be right over.”
“You come here often?” I asked him.
“Just once in a while to pick up a burger. I usually call in the order, manage to get a brisk walk for pick up and take it home. Most people don’t like the idea of me in a bar but when it’s the only food establishment in town, I have no choice. Like I said before, let them talk.”
I glanced back to see them eyeballing us like we were a main attraction at the local zoo. “This is why I have disdain for small town living.” I assured him. Getting tired of being the freak show I said, “Hey, Tony is it? Bring your nuts over here with our sodas, let’s go.”
Tony gave an unofficial dirty look in my direction but soon after brought our order to us. Once I had a few handfuls I bellowed, “Tony, you have some stale, salty nuts.” The guys at the bar laughed and jabbed at him, it worked in distracting their attention from us.
“See what happens, I bring you to a bar and you taste some other guys nuts. “Naughty girl indeed.” He prodded.
“Father Clayton, did that really just come out of your mouth?”
“I’m a priest, not anywhere near a saint.” He confirmed.
“I suppose people get that confused, there’s no way I’d walk a mile in your shoes. No thank you, sir.”
“You know what I really can’t stand? I do a service, it’s my job and then later people send gifts of appreciation or presents for extra thanks, maybe a nice note. I wish people would leave well enough alone. I’m just doing what any other priest would do and I have to live this job nonstop. It’s not like I can go home somewhere else or have another life, this is it. Am I even allowed a day off, a time to be cranky or even to be human? It’s debatable.”
“I think people assume your confiding with other clergy.”
“But they’re just as busy and needed as me, it’s difficult.”
“Colin, I mean Father Clayton, we need to make a pact. I’m here for a short amount of time and outside the loop of the general population, we should be able to confide in one another. You need me just as much as I need you. Is it a deal?”
He hesitated until he admitted, “Sounds like something I might like.”
We both smiled and studied each other not sure if either one of us could trust the other. We had a deal whether we wanted it or not.
Chapter 3 – Where Are We Again?
Back at the motel I marched straight to my room, plopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. There’s no room service, no fast food to get a quick bite and no civilization. This motel lacked a lot to be desired and like the bar was a dingy, dirty mess. Jack showed up at my door while I still tried to fathom how we were going to stay more than a night or two.
“How’d it go?” Jack asked.
“Unusual, yet somewhat usual. What information should I be getting?”
“Again, you’re on a need to know basis, don’t ask. Just tell me what happened as close to word for word as you can.”
I explained the meeting as best I could.
“You mean to tell me you already got him to let down his guard and move beyond the priest façade?”
“Yeah, I guess. Wait, what do you mean by façade?”
“Never mind, he’ll confide in you because you’re both in the same boat. This is working out better than I could have imagined and exactly why you need to be kept in the dark. We’ll have this case done in no time.”
It became essential to change the subject tiring of his ego fast. “What about dinner?”
“The woman who runs the motel offered to cook for us tonight.”
“Have you seen our rooms?” I asked hungry and irritated. “They’re not exactly clean and tidy, yet you’re fine with the fact that she’s cooking for us?”
“She’s our only option, unless you want to eat grease mixed with even more breaded grease every day at the local watering hole. We’re going to meet her as soon as we’re done here. Let’s see if she’s as good a cook as she is a cleaning lady.”
“That comment immediately made me nauseous.” He laughed uncontrollably, but I really felt sick.
Her name is Luann and she looked to be about fortyish, long brown hair and light skin. She would not stop talking while I wondered if most people in this town were lonely. Yet another reason I don’t like small towns, but remarkably enough she could cook.
“I think you’ve missed your calling, you should open a restaurant around here.” I offered.
“I would love to, but don’t have the money.” She replied.
“How’d you get into the motel business?”
“My daddy, I took it over when he retired and have run it ever since.”
“So you wouldn’t want to sell it and set up a restaurant?”
“I’m the only motel in town, there’s already a place to eat. I’m happy the way things are. Besides I meet way more interesting people here than Tony does at his bar.”
The rest of the evening was spent helping her clean dishes while she told stories of unusual people that had stayed with her over the years. Jack and I took pleasure in the entertainment and welcomed the opportunity to enjoy time away from our main priority. She was a distraction taking our minds away from the past and our current stresses to give us time to just be ourselves. It made me think about the past with Max and John knowing I could’ve never been myself and then fast forwarding to the investigation we’re on now, always playing a role or acting in some way. “When will I be able to be myself and figure out what I want?” It seemed like a long, painful thought that started to make my head throb. Abruptly, my phone went off surprising all of us. I recognized the number from caller ID, “Hello Alice. Good to hear from you.”
“Hey, where are you? I just went by your house.”
“Let me call you back in a couple of minutes.” I said staring Jack down in frustration as I hung up the phone.
“Oh, what did I do now?” Jack asked knowing my expressions all too well.
“Nothing, we’ll talk about it later.” I thanked Luann for dinner and excused myself for the night before hurrying back to my room.
“Alice?”
“Yeah, where are you?”
“Jack
didn’t tell you?”
“Obviously not, why would I go to your house if I knew you weren’t going to be there?”
“Right, stupid question.”
“So what gives?”
“We’re on another investigation that just happens to be taking place in the middle of nowhere. Jack set it up and thought it would be good to get away. He reminded me of how I’m part of this business too.”
“What? When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know. Jack says it’s on a need to know basis. It’s surprising I even have cell service. You should’ve seen us jump when you called.”
“Shit Melissa, this doesn’t sound good.”
“Listen, after everything we went through before, I can trust Jack. He’s proven he has my best interest at stake.”
“I understand why you believe him, but are you really ready?”
“Why don’t you come visit us?”
“I can’t, Maci and my parents need me. I’ve been through enough adventure and frankly I’m over it.”
“We can plan to see each other when I get back to Barrington then.”
“Can I get an idea where you’re at? I need to know for my own piece of mind, give me something.”
“I’ll text the directions to your phone. We’re only a couple hours away.”
“Take care of yourself and don’t let Jack get carried away.”
“I think we’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, famous last words.”
“Don’t jinx me like that!”
“I’m kidding.” Alice disconnected the call and immediately began to worry. She had a bad feeling about this, just like the time John blindly led them into his web of deceit wondering if now Jack was pulling the same stunt. Both of them had aged too quickly during their time with Max and now when Alice thought things had finally calmed down, Melissa is running off again. “I am her best friend.” Alice said aloud. “What are you up to, Jack? Why are you dragging my best friend into this bullshit again?”
Chapter 4 – Out of the Blue
The next morning I promptly rang for Jack’s room, “What’s happening today? Don’t make me sit around all day with my thumb up my you know where.”
“We’re getting out of here for a while. Luann told me about this neighboring town a half hour away. We could pick up some snacks, grab a quick bite and check out the area. They might have things were used to, like modern things.”
“Sure, let’s go.” As I hung up the phone I had to chuckle at the idea of Jack being here for only a couple of days and already missing his modern conveniences. It wasn’t like we were out in the woods sleeping under the stars, eating beans cooked over the campfire with no way to get across a river and then got saturated in cold, wet clothes because we walked across in waist deep rapids. We were far from that scenario, but it has seemed a little brutal so far and Jack was already cracking.
We got comfortable and settled in for the little journey. Jack wouldn’t shut up as he chatted about Luann most of the way while filling in the quiet times with comments about the landscape. A boring ass ride in a nutshell, thankfully it would only last thirty minutes or so.
“Father Clayton mentioned this town yesterday.” I acknowledged. “I also had an interesting conversation with Alice, in case you care. She’s concerned.”
“About what, did she say?”
“She stopped over at my house expecting me to be there. How could you not let her know where we were?” I asked.
“She’s not my friend, nor is it my responsibility.”
Even though we were all connected through these crazy experiences, Jack was right. He and Alice never really became friends or even acquaintances. They agree to disagree, but for now are consistently bound together in one way or another because of me. “I’ll give you that, but she worries I’m getting into another investigation too soon. She thinks I should’ve taken more time.”
“You need this little adventure to take your mind off your worries, you chose this.” He reminded.
While Jack kept yapping, I wasn’t so sure I chose it as much as I needed to get the hell out of Barrington. At the same time, I couldn’t help but take Alice’s words of caution into consideration. I was definitely caught in the middle of these two more than I’d like to admit.
“The coffee place is on the corner here, looks like heaven to me. C’mon, we have to get something other than what we can get at the motel like a double espresso soy mocha latte with some sweet latte art topping off the whole drink.”
I couldn’t help but smile, “A little perspective please, I mean it’s only been a couple of days.”
“A couple of days too long for a caffeine junkie like me, regular black coffee not cutting it in my world.”
Upon entering the establishment, I couldn’t help but notice this feeling of emptiness being accompanied by a strange, overwhelming silence. As we looked around there was no one. Perplexed and unsure what to do, we checked out the condiment nook and nosed around the cash register seeing if anyone would show their faces. “This place is in desperate need of a good surge of energy and a hard shot of life blasted into it.” Jack admitted.
“What kind of twilight zone did we walk into?” I questioned.
Jack shook his head when we heard a voice speaking from behind the counter, “Welcome, what can we get for the two of you?”
“Coffee?” Jack said moving his attention from me over to the gentleman speaking.
“Yes, but what kind? We’re your typical coffee house with all different brews and concoctions you can think of.”
Once the order was taken and some of the shock wore off Jack politely asked, “Pretty quiet in here. Is it usually like this?”
“We have a morning rush and an evening gathering of customers. The business just opened a couple months ago, so we’re still trying to win people over. These small areas tend to think our prices are too high for coffee, but the younger generations love it. It’s the older crowds we’re still working on.”
“Ah well, you’ll probably see me in here a lot. I live on this stuff.”
“That’s music to my ears, you live around here?”
“Just visiting, but we’ll be around for a while.”
“We hope to see you back as many times as you like and if there’s something you don’t see on the menu, tell us and we’ll try to cater best we can.”
“See there, my anxiety is already melting away.” Jack quipped with a wink. I smiled and nodded still not ready to let my worries go yet.
Finding a seat was the least of our problems considering we were the only customers there. “So, what do you think Jack, which table?”
“I’ll let you do the honors of picking out a good one.” He said in his mockery.
“Well, a window seat without too much sun beating down on us and a bonus view of the parking lot it is then.” I pulled the chair out from under the table when an ear piercing screech filled the café like nails on a chalkboard as I scraped it across the floor. Jack shot of glare my way with a disappointed frown, but it was better than deafening silence which had been our other choice. Being the gentleman he can sometimes be Jack delivered our order table side, but in typical male tradition he forgot to get me a plastic to go cup and lid so I can take it with upon leaving. I glanced to the counter and it sat empty again. “Where the hell did that guy go?”
“I have no idea, but this is an amazing blend.” Jack stated as he sipped savoring each black gold mouthful. I, on the other hand, kept an eye on the register not sure what to expect next as my anxiety level crept higher and higher.
“Good day.” Someone whispered from behind forcing a knee jerk reaction causing me to spill coffee on my pants when I immediately placed the accent. I abruptly turned around to confirm my initial thought.
“Father, for some reason I didn’t expect to see you here.” I admitted sheepishly perturbed by his actions.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“Not at all, I mean, it
’s the coffee winding me up.” I excused.
“Again, I apologize. I have some members of the congregation in the hospital. One was an all-nighter, so I dropped in for a pick me up. Who’s the caffeine addict between the two of you?”
“That would be me, Father.” Jack interrupted.
“Wait, you have a coffee already? I’ve been searching for someone and can’t find a soul since we last ordered.” I questioned.
“Yes, I can’t get enough of this brew.” Father Clayton expressed.
“And you got that here?” I asked curious.
“I came in the front door and went to the counter to order just like everyone else, they are prompt.”
“Everyone else, there were others?”
“Not today, but I meant other times when I have stopped by.” Father Clayton said glancing at me as if I was daft because he wasn’t seeing the problem.
“Did you see us sitting here when you ordered your coffee?” I asked.
“I did come over to talk to you, did I not?” He offered unapologetically.
Baffled, I shot a look over to Jack knowing full well we had been the only ones here.
“So Jack, are you just here for coffee?” Father Clayton asked.
“We thought we’d pick up a few items, do some looking around and generally get an idea of what we have to work with.” Jack said.
“Sounds good, hope you both enjoy the day. Melissa, can I talk to you alone?”
I followed still trying to piece together what just happened when I felt his arm feeling its way around my shoulder pulling me in close, “Will I see you later tonight for another session?”
My eyes grew big as he stood much too close when I whispered back, “Unless you’re too tired, I don’t want to intrude, we can reschedule.”
“Nonsense, after a couple cups of this stuff I’ll probably be up all night again anyway. Come by tonight, I insist.”