I’d run out of gas on the side of the road with absolutely no money left in my bank account. My sporadic road trip was just that - completely and utterly sporadic. I’d thrown a few things in the back of my old Mustang and just headed the old girl west. What I hadn’t done was make sure I had the finances for my travels.
My phone died somewhere in the middle of Arkansas and I’d left the charger back in North Carolina. The snacks I’d packed had been depleted in Tennessee. I’d grown tired of sleeping in my car the first half of Texas.
I’d gotten off the interstate in Arkansas to enjoy the scenery and crossed over to Texas in the same way, on back roads. Going through the small towns had been stunning, until I found myself on the side of the road, stranded with not another soul in sight.
I’d just passed the sign for Burden when the damn car sputtered to a stop. I looked around and rolled my shoulders. The outskirts of Big Bend National Park had spectacular views. Burden was at the bottom of the far west side of Texas, on the Mexican border. I’d driven far off the beaten path for a chance to see Big Bend and now, here I was, stranded in what was potentially a ghost town.
I wasn’t entirely sure it was abandoned, since I didn’t actually know the first thing about Burden, Texas. I think I remembered seeing it on the road atlas I’d studied at a gas station outside of Austin. But, I’d driven through several ghost towns that had also been listed on the atlas, so the prospects of Burden actually being inhabited was somewhere around fifty-fifty.
Anxiety started to wear at the edges of my consciousness. I snatched my backpack from the trunk and tossed it over my shoulder. I’d hike through the park and hope to find a park ranger. Hiking the last thirty miles into Big Bend hadn’t been my plan, but then again, I didn’t exactly have a plan. And besides, this trip just might be my very last taste of freedom. The last chance I had to throw caution to the wind. My final hurrah as it were.
It was May, so not the hottest month of the year, but the daytime temperature was still in the high nineties. I’d dressed in simple, loose cotton shorts that morning that stopped just below my ass and a spaghetti strapped tank top. My clothes were perfect for the weather. My flip flops sucked for hiking. No matter, I tied my hair out of my face with a bandana and marched on.
This might be an unexpected hiccup, but I wasn’t one to let something like this get me down. Sure, it sucked to break down. Even more so outside a place called Burden, a place that was probably just some rugged land with a few abandoned adobe style structures on it. But, technically I was still on the road, which had been the point of leaving in the first place. To experience an adventure. I wanted to see everything. I wanted to spend as long as I could seeing everything.
It had nothing to do with me running scared from the marriage proposal my boyfriend had sprung on me. Nope. Nothing at all.
Summer hadn’t taken over yet and wildflowers were still blooming on each side of the road. As I walked, the blooms charmed me and I couldn’t help but smile. Green grass blew in the hot breeze. In the distance, the road dipped and I lost sight of whatever it was that I was walking towards. Only when I got closer, could I see the town spread out in the valley below.
Burden looked like a perfect little town. I could see enough movement to convince me that it wasn’t an abandoned ghost town. Awesome luck!
With a pep in my step, and my flip-flops slapping the soles of my feet, I headed towards this little slice of salvation. The first structure I came across was a large log cabin style place. A rustic wooden sign mounted over the door read ‘The Cave’. I peeked in the window, and the sight of neon beer signs made me feel like I’d won the lottery. Looks like I wasn’t gonna die from heat stroke or dehydration out in the middle of Nowhere, Texas after all.
A few cars dotted the side lot, enough to indicate that the establishment was open. I stepped up onto the wide porch that wrapped around both sides of the cabin, and as I did, I felt an air of familiarity swirl around me and waft its way over my senses. An intimacy settled over me and I stood still for a second to try to make sense of it. I’d never been to Texas before, what was it about The Cave that felt so incredibly like déjà vu?
Worn planks of wood stretched out under my feet and creaked when I shifted my weight back and forth. I caught the slight whine of an old country song, along with the aroma of pine and grilled steak which elicited a loud growl from my stomach. I had no business feeling homesick for a place like this one, but there it was. I was feeling homesick for a place I’d never been.
It had to be a mind trick. That was it. My mind was finding comfort anywhere that wasn’t back home. Anywhere that wasn’t filled with chaotic, plaguing thoughts and fears. Yep. This was simply a town that didn’t threaten my piece of mind, a town where I could pretend that I had no problems or worries. Except an empty bank account and an empty gas tank.
I shrugged my backpack higher on my shoulder and pushed through the front door. The Cave was surprisingly dark for midday. Natural lighting from the windows lit the front of the place, casting long streaks of light across wooden tables and chairs and leaving the untouched areas in shadow. Old chandeliers hung from the ceiling, unlit, and a large jukebox took up part of the corner opposite the bar.
Several pairs of eyes looked up when I came in, but almost immediately lost interest in me. Except one pair. The bartender stared at me and used his knuckle to lift his hat a bit. His lips curled in a friendly smile after a few seconds so I made my way over to him.
“New in town?” He was older, probably in his mid-fifties, and had a surprisingly gentle voice. I kinda liked him already. He looked the part of a rough and tumble bartender in a Texas border town, but his demeanor instantly put me at ease.
“Yeah. I was driving through to Big Bend and ran out of gas. Luckily, this place was close.”
He narrowed his eyes and looked at me thoughtfully. “Most people don’t drive this way ‘round for Big Bend. Hell, most people don’t have the time to. You always pick the longest way ‘round to somethin’?”
I laughed through my nose, thinking not just of my entire trip, but my entire life. “I guess so.”
“So, you just needin’ some gas?”
A lanky kid in a chef’s coat shuffled past carrying a giant steak. I tried hard not to stare. I put a hand to my stomach to muffle the grumblings and had to focus my eyes on the surface of the bar top to get my thoughts together again.
“Actually, I need some kind of temp job. Do you know anywhere around here that could use some help?”
“Thought you was just driving through?”
I shrugged. “I was. Until I ran out of gas... and out of money for gas.”
He gave me a questioning look. “Not many folks get in their car and travel the long way around places without knowing they got enough gas to get where they’re going.”
“Yeah. Umm… I didn’t really have a destination in mind when I got in the car. It was just one of those last-minute things.”
He shifted his weight, leaned against the bar, and studied me through narrowed eyes.
“You got a boyfriend chasing you down?”
My stomach clenched. “Doubt it.”
“The law after you?”
I grinned then and shook my head. “Not even a little bit.”
“You on any kind of drugs that make you crazy enough to get in your car and drive without gas money to get where you’re goin’?”
“Nope. It’s all natural.”
“Then you’re hired. Had a waitress quit on me last night and I could use the help.”
The feeling of familiarity crept back over me, and something else, belonging.
“You’re serious?”
He nodded and held his hand out to me. “I’m Abram. Assistant manager. You ever waitressed or bartended before?”
“Yes sir, a time or two,” I slid my hand into his, “Allie.”
CHAPTER 3: Allie
Abram made a big deal out of feeding me before I began working. I wanted to be
all reticent and act like I wasn’t starving half to death, but I couldn’t do it and voraciously scarfed down the burger and fries he brought out to me. After I downed a tall glass of ice water, I came around to his side of the bar.
I’d worked in bars since I was sixteen. I was one of those girls who’d developed early and looked older than she was, so I got away with it in the dive bars on the outskirts of Charlotte. I made quick work of my first task which was mentally cataloguing where everything was located, then set out to make sure Abram would not be sorry he’d offered me the job.
I was overwhelmed with the unusual feeling of belonging. I didn’t know what it meant, but I wasn’t going to argue with fate, and right then and there, I felt like I’d been guided by the unseen hand of destiny to The Cave, deep in southwest Texas. For how long, who knew?
“We’re mostly a ‘shot and a beer’ establishment, but we do get our cocktail people. You know any recipes?”
I grinned. “Try me.”
He slid a glass down to me and nodded to it. “Long Island.”
It took me a bit longer than it normally would, since I was still getting used to the bar, but I had the drink back in his hand in less than a minute and a half.
He took a long swig and nodded. “I think you’ll do.”
Abram had kind eyes and he seemed to take an instant liking to me. We talked about the tables, the food, and how he’d pay me. The atmosphere was easy and laid back. Abram made a specific point of warning me about ‘fraternizing’, as he put it, with the owner’s friends.
“Avoid those idiots. Thorn has a strict rule about employees dating his buddies. They’re not exactly the love them and keep them type, if you know what I mean. Sons-of-bitches cost me the last three waitresses.”
I looked toward the table where he was pointing and rolled my eyes. “Not interested, I can assure you,” I muttered. I had enough going on, as it was. The last thing I need was more complications.
Abram raised his arms to the air and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to the ceiling. “Any plans on where you’ll be staying?”
I shrugged. “I’ve been sleeping in my car, so I figured I’d keep doing that. I just need to find a place to shower and I’ll be good. I don’t require much.”
He looked thoughtful but didn’t say anything. Instead, he nodded towards a big, burly guy who’d just entered. “Here you go. Your first customer.”
I turned an easy smile on the man arriving at the bar. “Hey, there. What can I get you?”
His eyes slid to Abram and then to me again. “Well, well, what do we have here?”
“Name’s Allie. Now, what’ll it be?”
The man’s face suddenly split into a wide grin. “I think you got a feisty one, Abe.”
I read the man as a beer guy so I reached under the counter and grabbed a bottle. “Domestic?”
His eyes lit up and he took the bottle from me. “She even guessed my beer. I think this one’s a keeper.”
“Would you like anything to eat?”
He leaned forward. “Can you guess that, too, little lady?”
I rolled my eyes and slipped the order pad from my apron. “I’m all out of guesses. What’ll you have?”
Another couple of minutes passed with him teasing me instead of giving me his order. As soon as another patron entered, I tore the top sheet off my pad and slapped it onto the bar in front of the burly guy who’d introduced himself as Big Bob. “Well, Bob, when you figure out what you want, you write it down. Don’t seem like you’re in any hurry, so I’ll just grab it on the way back around.”
I heard Abram snort and Big Bob grunt. Big Bob seemed harmless, like he just wanted to play and flirt a bit, but I’d been working in bars for a little over ten years. I’d learned which men to shut down and which ones to let carry on. Big Bob had to be shut down or he’d take it as far as he could.
I got the new customer’s order and carried it back to the kitchen. The chef, Brady, nodded to me to let me know he got it. When I got back to the bar, Big Bob had scribbled across the order sheet. I rewrote his chicken scratch underneath, clearer, and smiled my friendliest waitress grin at him.
“Thank you. I’ll get it out to you soon.”
The afternoon continued on like that. I learned the who’s who of the regulars, which patrons to keep an eye on, and oriented myself with the bar. In short, the afternoon flew by and before I knew it, it was already dinnertime. People filled the bar for their meals and then stayed to drink.
“Is it always this busy on a random Thursday night?”
Abram looked up from pouring a drink. “Yup. Pretty much. This is the only place in town that serves food. It’s the only bar, too, so every day is busy.”
“Wow. The owner is a genius. When will I meet him?”
“Thorn? He should be in any time. He had a long night.” There was something in the way Abram said it that made me think it wasn’t only work that’d occupied the boss’s long night.
I ran another round of food to a table and collected a few tabs at the bar before returning to the conversation with Abram. “So, the owner, Thorn, he’s a lot like his buddies, then?”
Abram seemed surprised and then thoughtful. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he snickered. “I guess so. You’re fast on your toes, aren’t you? You sure you’ll want to move on eventually? I could use someone like you around here on a permanent basis.”
I shrugged. “I’ll stick around for a few days and then see.”
“Me and the wife have a travel trailer that we use once a year to go up to Colorado. Keep it over at a spot not too far from here.” He looked up from pouring a beer and met my eyes. “You’re welcome to use it. There are hookups there for water and everything.”
I stopped what I was doing and turned to face him full on. “You’re serious?”
He nodded. “No one should be sleeping in their car out here. The weather is crazy. Wouldn’t want my best new employee freezing to death or getting washed away by a flash flood.”
I threw my arms around him in a tight hug and then slunk back to where I’d been, like it never happened. “Thank you, Abram. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’ll have to stay until closing with me so I can take you over to it and help get y’all set up.”
“That’s perfect, Abram. Turns out my schedule is completely clear. The only thing on the agenda for today is work.”
He patted my shoulder as he moved past. “Work the bar for a while, would you? Boss just got in. I’ve got to bend his ear real quick.”
I waved him away and grabbed a clean rag to wipe down the bar while I had a lag in orders. I had a sudden attack of nervous flutters filling my stomach for some unknown reason. Maybe it was because I was about to meet my new boss. Odd, I wasn’t the nervous type. That must be it, though, a little insecurity that perhaps my boss wouldn’t be pleased with Abram’s choice.
No worries, I’d win him over if I had to.
CHAPTER 4: Hawthorne
I had the mother’s mother of all headaches. Half was a hangover from drinking the night before and half was from a morning of pure hell. There was a reason I didn’t sleep with the same woman more than once. Yet, I’d broken my own rule with the little blonde last night, simply because she was there and she was easy, and I’d paid a high price for it. When will I learn? Easy is never easy.
I woke up to her cooking breakfast in my kitchen. My completely barren kitchen. I still didn’t know where she’d found the shit to cook for us. When I told her I had errands to run, she was annoyed and said she thought we were going to spend the day together. I had no clue where she got that idea from, but I, polite as can be, told her that I was busy and that we most certainly were not spending the day together. That got me a plate of eggs flung at my head. She’d seemed so sweet while we were throwing back shots of whiskey.
After she hollered all sorts of obscenities at me for a while, she insisted on using my shower and then taking off with one of my favorite s
hirts. Annoyance bubbled up in me at the recent memory, but I kept it in check. It was my own fault.
Instead of my usual morning run through the woods and breakfast at Wyatt’s mom’s place, I’d spent the morning cleaning up over-easy eggs and trying to get a psycho chick out of my house. Which was another mistake. I never brought women back to my place.
So far, the day had been a total train wreck.
There’d also been a nagging tingling at the back of my neck all day. I figured it was bear not getting a chance to get out and run, but I wasn’t sure. Something had me on edge, that much was for sure. What I needed was to shift and roam the woods, maybe find a berry bush to sit beside and snack off of.
Duty called, though. I had to meet and greet the new girl Abram had texted me about. I parked around the back of the bar and entered that way. Brady was at the chef station, his gloved hands working on battering a couple of pieces of fish.
“All good back here?”
Brady grinned and nodded. “Going smooth, Boss. The new girl is fucking awesome.”
I took a deep breath in, trying to sniff her out. What I scented had me grabbing the counter next to me. My dick was instantly rock hard, trying to bust free of my jeans.
What. The. Hell?
I isolated out the scents of everyone I knew. It wasn’t hard in a town the size of Burden. My nose locked in on hers almost instantly. She smelled like flowers and something wilder. Freer. Something that reminded me of shifting at the top of a mountain, experiencing a tidal wave of fresh, sweet freedom.
“You okay, Boss?”
I cleared my throat and kept my body arched in so he wouldn’t see the tent in my pants. “Sure.”
Abram came through the doorway just then. “About time you dragged yourself in here. You okay?”
I grunted. Okay was relative. “Fine.”
Bears of Burden: THORN Page 2