by Ashlee Price
As the weekend rolled around and Elna came down from the city, Scott found himself unable to be around them all. There was a family dinner that night, one that he was expected to attend, but in the end, he didn’t want to go. It wasn’t like he could blame them for all of it, but Scott felt like if it wasn’t for all of the external pressure, him and Lisa would still be together.
They had been happy how it was, or he had been anyways and all he wanted was Lisa back. The idea of having to go into the ranch house and explain himself or explain why she wasn’t there was too much to think about. He hadn’t told anyone what had happened. It was almost embarrassing to him and he didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want people to tell him that it would be okay, that he would find someone else. Scott didn’t want to be okay and the longer he was without her, the more that he realized he wasn’t ever going to be okay.
There had been several times throughout the week that he had picked up the phone, even dialed her number, only to hang up again before he pushed send. What would he even say to her if she did answer? Scott wasn’t so sure that she would answer for him and instead of finding out if she would or not, he wallowed in his own sadness for a while. It was all he could do.
When his phone rang suddenly, there was the moment of hope that it would be her, but he should have known better. Why would she call him after he had hurt her? Instead it was Gemma, not his favorite person at the present moment.
“What Gemma?”
“Well hello to you too. Are you coming in for dinner?”
“I don’t think I am going to make it Gemma.”
“Why?”
“I just don’t feel like being around the family right now.”
There was a silence on the other end. “You need to come by. You can’t stay out there forever and you know how mom is with family dinner on Sundays.”
He didn’t want to go in, but he knew that he had to. Scott was still mad about how things had turned out with Lisa and he couldn’t help but blame them for it partially. They were just fine until all of the wedding stuff started to go through the family. Lisa and he were happy as they were; now she was gone and he was left thinking of how things used to be.
“I will be in there. It’s not like you guys can do any worse to me now.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve talked to Lisa?”
Another silence. “Yeah she called me a couple of days ago after I called her for almost a week straight. I don’t know what happened between you guys…”
“You and mom. That is what happened. Why couldn’t you guys leave well enough alone?”
Gemma felt bad about everything, but she still held out that it would somehow work out. She kept telling herself that her brother just needed a kick up the backside to get it in his head that he needed to marry her. What she hadn’t expected was for Lisa to go out on a date. She was moving on and Gemma didn’t think that he even knew about it and she was certainly not going to be the one to tell him.
“I’m sorry okay? You know I didn’t want you guys to split up. I wanted you two to be happy.”
“We were.” It hit Scott then how much he had been happy with her and though he had never thought of marriage before, it didn’t mean that he didn’t love her or even that he wanted someone else.
“I got to get off of here. I will be down that way in a while.” He hung up before she could say anything else. He loved his sister and his mother, but he was sick of their meddling because it never turned out well for him.
***
“Did you talk to your brother?”
Gemma nodded, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to relay any of the information to Elna. “Yes, he will be down in a little while.”
“Did you tell him about how Lisa dated Tony from the feed store?”
She shook her head. “He is pissed at us and I don’t think he is ready to hear that Lisa has moved on. Oh mom, do you think we totally ruined things between them?”
Elna wasn’t sure and she had much of the same fears as her only daughter. While they had been trying to help everything, it seemed like they had made a royal mess of it and neither one of them knew what to do about it. “No, just watch and see Gemma. I told you that it was going to work out. Lisa loves Scott and she isn’t going anywhere. She is just trying to feel something again. And Scott, well maybe he needs to lose her to know how much he loves her. Guys are like that sometimes.”
Gemma wasn’t so sure but her mother had always had a way of pulling the strings when she wanted something to happen. The fact that she was letting it play out that way made Gemma nervous, but she had to trust that she knew what she was doing. “I hope you are right. I hate when Scott is mad at me. He was the only one of us that could stay mad for so long.”
Elna nodded and even though she had her own concerns, she wasn’t going to feed into it. Confidence covered most of her worries. If she was worried, then everyone was. “Why don’t you set the table for me dear? I am sure everything will work out.”
She watched her daughter go into the other room and she hoped her words were right. There was something about Scott and Lisa that had always seemed to be perfect. The very fact that Lisa had waited so long, attested to the fact that they were meant to be together. No one else would have put up with him for so long. Lisa had to love her son and Elna knew that love conquered all in the end.
Chapter 6
Dinner was strained and though Elna tried to get Scott into the conversation, it was clear that he was mad at them. He was made at her in particular, as well as his sister Gemma for their female prodding. He wouldn’t say anything to them that would tell them so, but he didn’t have to. Scott had an expressive face and it was clear to all that he was not happy with what was going on. Lisa had called Gemma about what happened and though Scott hadn’t said a word about it, the whole family knew what was going on. It was the way of them and there was nothing that happened in the Callahan tribe that everyone didn’t quickly find out about.
Scott didn’t say much to anyone, excusing himself early. He went to bed like he had done for a week, alone and missing Lisa. Again, he tried to call her, but again he couldn’t go through with it. It felt too much like begging and it had been him that had ended it. He wanted her back, knowing that she still wanted to get married. What if that was the only way to get her back?
He lay awake for hours thinking about it and at first light he got up and went to the other side of town where her house was. Scott waited outside for several minutes in his truck before he went up to the door. It was several minutes before he heard anything in the house and then a sleepy-eyed Lisa came to the door.
“Scott? What are you doing here?”
“I had to see you.”
“You should have called.”
“I never did before.”
“Yeah well things are different. You made it clear that you didn’t want to be with me anymore, so why are you here?”
Scott looked down at the boots he could barely see in the darkness. It wasn’t even light out yet and it was clear that he had woken her up. “I was just wanting to see you, Lisa. It has been over a week and I am lost without you.”
He heard a male voice from the other room, asking Lisa to come to bed. Scott’s dark brown eyes looked back at Lisa and the guilt on her face. “Sorry to bother you, Lisa. I didn’t realize that you would be able to move on so fast after all these years.”
“Biological clock, tick, tick. You didn’t leave me much time.” She was trying hard not to feel like she had cheated on him. He had gotten rid of her, she kept reminding herself. It wasn’t like she had dumped him and moved on. If he didn’t want her, why did it matter if someone else did?
There was anger in his eyes and Lisa remembered his temper. Scott looked like he was going to lose it and push pass her into the house. He kept eying the dark space behind her. She wasn’t sure if he was looking for the guy to see who it was or if he wanted to come in and see for himself. He
was capable of either one and she moved to bar the door from him.
“I think you should go, Scott.”
“Yeah, I think I should. This is a small town, Lisa, and I will find out who it is.” His tone was threatening and she knew that he meant it. He would never do anything to her, but to a man, Scott was a scary prospect. What she didn’t get was why he was even there? Why was he acting like he cared when he had just as quickly broken up with her? For a man that she thought she knew so well, there was still so much that she didn’t understand about him. But the rage and anger in his eyes, she understood that.
As she watched him walk away, her heart broke a little more and the man in question came up behind her. “Hey baby, are you coming back to bed?”
She sighed and returned the kiss of David. He was a nice man and not too bad in bed, but there was something missing. There was something that couldn’t be duplicated because he just wasn’t Scott. If she had thought she had lost him before, she knew now that he would never come back. He was gone forever and Lisa wasn’t ready for that.
***
“Did you know Gemma?”
Gemma recognized her brother’s voice and sat up in bed. “Know what?”
“Did you know that Lisa was with someone else?”
Gemma sighed to herself and wished that he hadn’t found out so soon. She wasn’t stupid enough to ask him how he found out. It didn’t matter, he knew and she had known for almost a week. “You dumped her, Scott, after five years. What did you expect to happen?”
She wasn’t answering his question, but her lack of an answer made it clear to him that she had known. “I wish you would have told me, Gemma.”
“Why? What does it matter? You did a good thing letting her go, Scott.”
He made a frustrated noise on the other side of the phone. “Because I just went over there like an idiot to find some guy there with her.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. Wouldn’t have minded a heads-up, Gemma.”
“Scott, she has a right to move on. You left her. Don’t want to marry her, why wouldn’t you just let her go? Don’t you want her to be happy?”
He did want her to be happy, but he hadn’t thought that it would be without him. Scott just wasn’t ready to move on, but it appeared that Lisa was. “I do, Gemma, but…”
“Why did you go over there at this time in the day?”
“Because I can’t stop thinking about her.” It was just as simple as that and Scott then realized that he had made a huge mistake and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Well, I am sorry, Scott. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings if you found out. I figured you would find out eventually, though I didn’t know you would be going down to her house.”
“Who is it?”
There was a pause. Gemma knew better than to tell her brother anything. He had a temper on him that was worse than all of the other brothers combined and she didn’t want him to make any more rash decisions.
“Tell me Gemma.”
“I don’t want to, Scott. I know how you are and you can’t go around town beating guys up because they are dating your ex. That isn’t right and you know it. You have to let her go.”
Scott didn’t want to hear it and after he asked a couple more times, she still refused and he hung up in anger.
“Is everything okay love?”
She nodded that it was. “Yeah it was just Scott freaking out. Go back to sleep baby.”
Gemma felt him laying down next to her and pulling her in towards his warm body. She had a moment of need, but it was gone and he was back to sleep next to her. She stayed up for another hour until the sun was fully lighting the sky. There was nothing else that she could do, but her heart went out to her brother. Gemma really hoped her mom was right about everything working out and she couldn’t help but feel guilty about it all. Were they doing the right thing?
Chapter 7
Scott didn’t go back to the ranch later in the morning. He didn’t want to go back and he wasn’t in the mood to do any work. Scott was still trying to wrap his brain around what had happened and though Gemma was right, he shouldn’t care who it was that Lisa was with, he did. It was something that ate at his insides and he just had to know. There was someone next to her and doing the things that he had done to her and it was driving him crazy.
He turned off his phone after it wouldn’t stop ringing. First it was Henri that called, and then Gemma and then Elna. He ignored them all and sat at the small bar drinking. It wasn’t enough that it was only noon and he was already plastered, but it wasn’t enough. He still remembered the voice behind her telling her to come back to bed and his rage took over.
“Scott, I think you have had enough. Do you want me to call one of your brothers to come and get you?” Ralph had never seen the youngest brother so drunk, so early. It had been a long time since he had seen him in such a state.
“I’m fine, give me another.”
Ralph didn’t want to, his pudgy face showed the concern that everyone seemed to have for him lately. He was sick of everyone feeling sorry for him. Did Ralph know too? “Have you seen Lisa this week?”
He nodded, but knew that it was not a good time to talk about her. Everyone knew that they were together, thus everyone knew when they broke up. It was a small town and Ralph wasn’t so stupid as to get him riled up. It wasn’t the first time that Scott had torn up his bar and he didn’t want a repeat. Sure the family would pay for the damage, but it took several days to clean up from his last fight.
“Yea, I have seen her a couple of times. She has been coming in her sad like. I was sorry to hear that you two broke up. I always thought you would be together always. You guys seemed perfect for each other.”
Scott nodded. He realized more than anything that she was the one for him, but Lisa had moved on. “She already has someone else and I want to know who it is.”
Ralph moved back and shook his head like he didn’t know. He knew that Scott would find out it was David from the feed store, but he was not going to be the poor soul to tell him. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Scott, everyone has a rebound. That is what people do to forget about other people. She loved you and she is just trying to get over you.”
Scott knew it was true. He had never questioned how she felt about him because he didn’t have to. Lisa had always been there for him and they had shared everything together. But now that she was gone, it felt like half of him was missing and he took down the shot with the thought.
“Last one, Scott, and then I am getting you some coffee.”
Scott didn’t want coffee, but even he knew that he had had enough to drink. The only problem was that he hadn’t forgotten about her. After all that was going on, all of the alcohol in his system, he was still thinking about her without restraint. Scott didn’t think he was ever going to be able to get over Lisa. He hadn’t thought any of it through and the last thing he was thinking about was moving on with another woman. He didn’t want someone else to forget about her. There was no one to compare to her and Scott had made the worst mistake of his life.
Ralph went to the back to brew some coffee and when he got back out, he was happy that Scott was still there. After he got a cup in front of him, he called down to the ranch and had Marcel come down and get him. The man was hoping that the big brother would be able to help him see that his destructive behavior was not going to do him any good.
Marcel arrived a few minutes after he called. The family was starting to worry about Scott, but Scott wasn’t so worried about everyone else.
“Come on bro, let’s go home.” He touched his arm and the man pulled away. Scott was drunk and never had been good at holding his liquor. He just wanted to forget everything in the bottom of the bottle. His plan of action was working fine and the last thing he wanted to do was talk about it. Talking about it wasn’t going to make anything better.
“I’m good here Marcel. Why don’t you go home to that pretty little wife of yours?”
Scott didn’t want to hear it. The coffee wasn’t what he wanted and he tried to lean against the counter to get the bottle of whiskey that he had been drinking from. He had nearly finished the bottle himself and he wasn’t done. It was still light out and Scott wasn’t ready to stop until he was out. He had always been one extreme to the next and Marcel had seen this before when their father had died. Scott had been in his teens and had gone over the deep end.
Now was just the same. He could see the same look in his eyes that told him that his brother didn’t care what happened. It was not a good place for Scott to be in. The last time he had been like that, jail is what finally slowed him down. The Callahan money got rid of the problem, but he was older now and if he did something really stupid, there may be no way for them to save him the next time. Marcel knew that he had to get him home before he started wreaking havoc in the town. Everyone knew why he was acting out and most knew who Lisa was now dating. It wouldn’t be long before Scott found out as well.
“Scott, come on. Don’t make me drag you out of here.”
He just kind of sneered at him, sure that Marcel wasn’t big enough to do such a thing. “Go on brother. You have a wife to get home too.”
Marcel closed his eyes. He had always had a short fuse when it came to Scott’s rebellion, but even he knew that the man was hurting and he felt bad for him. There was no time for it though. The rest of the patrons would be in soon and Marcel wanted to get him out of there before anyone else could see him like that. He knew that Scott would be embarrassed the next day or he would wake up in jail because he had started a fight with someone.
“You either come with me or I am going to call mom.”
Scott looked over at him. “You can’t be serious.”