by Mary Leo
The jukebox played “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton, and the ambiance was exactly what Joel had expected: authentic Old West complete with a large painting of a nude woman lounging on a bright pink chaise. A wisp of white fabric barely covered the important parts.
The bartender, a sizable man well over six feet tall wearing a large cowboy hat and a friendly smile, dropped off his drinks. “You the one livin’ on the Double S with Polly?”
“Sure am,” Joel told him, feeling somewhat defensive. He had no idea if this mountain of a man would lash out at him for his past sins or welcome him to the town. He was hoping for the latter.
“Heard you’ve been fixin’ the place up.”
“You heard right. It’s a real challenge, I’ll say that much for it.”
“Sorry to hear about your wife, Sarah. Only met her a couple times when she was out for the summers. Spunky little thing. Heard you and she have a daughter... Emma?”
Joel nodded as his defensiveness lightened. “Yep. She’s a little spitfire, like her mom.”
“I’m Milo Gump,” the big man said, reaching his brawny hand across the bar. “Proprietor of this here establishment.”
“Joel Darwood.”
Joel felt a bit reluctant to reach out his battered and scraped hand, but he did it anyway. The big man must have noticed the wince on Joel’s face when their hands met, and let go almost immediately.
“Welcome,” Milo said, as a friendly smile creased his lips. “Your first drinks are on the house.”
“Thanks,” Joel told him, truly thankful for the gesture.
“Does that go for me as well?” the familiar voice said from behind Joel as he turned to see Callie. Her clothes were still dusty, and her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, but she looked to be all in one piece.
“Sure does, sweetheart,” Milo said, looking happy to see her. “Your usual?”
“Yes, please,” she said, and motioned to the stool next to Joel. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.”
She carefully straddled the stool, obviously in pain, carefully lifting her left arm and resting it on the bar.
“You okay? That was some tumble.”
“My ego’s in shreds and I’ve got some bruises, but fortunately nothing’s broken or cracked. Haven’t fallen off a horse since I was a kid.”
Joel drank down his whiskey, then took a couple pulls from his beer, contemplating the situation. When he put the bottle back down on the bar, he held out his scraped hands.
“I’ve got a few scrapes and bruises myself.”
She cringed, then looked away. “Ranch life seems to be taking its toll. Was that from something specific or just general repairs?”
“General repairs and a little ego letting.”
Milo came over and put down in front of her a bottle of the same kind of beer that Joel was drinking, then left to take care of another customer at the other end of the bar.
Callie picked up her beer and held it out. “Here’s to crushed egos.”
They clinked bottles and, for a moment, Joel hoped that maybe she’d softened her anger toward him.
“Callie, look, I just want to say...”
She held up a hand. “Save it. Just because I pulled up a bar stool next to you doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you. Coco and I were on our way home when I spotted you walking in here. The only reason I stopped in is because I saw you standing on the other side of the fence when the EMTs were checking me out. You looked concerned, and I wanted to assure you that I’m fine and my fall had nothing to do with you.”
The statement caught him by surprise.
“I never thought it had...but now that you mention it...did it?”
She drank more of her beer, then placed the bottle back down on the bar a little too hard. “No, it did not,” she said, but he had a feeling she wasn’t being honest. “I fell because I took the turn too sharply for the weight of the flag. That’s all there was to it. Nothing more.”
“If you say so.”
“I do,” she said, staring into his eyes. He stared right back, and in that moment he spotted something else, something she was trying to hide, a deep sadness, maybe for Sarah, or maybe for the hurt he’d caused her so many years ago.
She continued, “And I also wanted to tell you that as long as we’re going to have to live in this same small town, I’d rather you never mention any of the details of our relationship to anyone. It’s none of their business.”
“I assumed everyone already knew about us.”
“There’s some speculation, but as far as I know, no one knows the facts and I’d like to keep it that way.”
He was all for it. “Not a problem.”
“Good, and as far as you and I go, the less we see each other, the better. We can’t be friends, Joel, not when so much has happened between us.”
He wasn’t so sure he wanted to agree with that, but just then he didn’t seem to have a choice. “Whatever you want, but I’d still like to explain a few things.”
“It won’t change how I feel.”
“Maybe not, but at least you’ll know why I acted the way I did.”
“Like a complete ass?”
“Callie, I never meant to hurt you.”
“Really? That’s your excuse?”
“No. I just mean there were circumstances beyond my control.”
“Oh, so none of it was your fault. Perfect. You’re still the same Joel from college, the guy who could never take responsibility for his actions.”
“I’m not saying that.”
“It sure sounds like that’s exactly what you’re saying.”
“You’ve got it all wrong. Just let me explain what happened and why it happened, and if you still hate me, then fine. But at least you’ll have heard my side of the story.”
She tried to slip off the stool, slowly, as her sister Coco approached. Fortunately, that silly little dog was nowhere around. He could tell Callie was in a lot of pain, and he reached out to help her, but she pulled away.
“I think I already know your side.”
“No. You don’t. Whatever Sarah told you couldn’t have been the truth. She wasn’t capable of telling the truth...not even to you.”
They stared into each other’s eyes, and for a split second he thought she would listen, that she wanted to listen. He had a glimpse of the old Callaghan. The girl he could talk to for hours about his hopes and dreams, the girl who would confide in him, who trusted him with her heart. It was then that he noticed the long scrape on her chin. He knew she was going to really feel that fall in the morning, and wanted to help make sure she didn’t do any more damage as she tried to slip off the stool.
He reached out again and this time she allowed him to help her. This time, instead of moving off the stool, she steadied herself on it, as if she was ready to listen.
“We should go,” Coco urged. “It’s getting late, and you need to lie down.”
“You’re right,” she told her sister, moving slowly away from Joel’s touch.
“Let me give you a hand,” Coco said, as she took hold of Callie’s arm and assisted her off the stool. A grimace flashed over Callie’s face for a moment, then it was gone.
“I’m tired. Let’s go home,” Callie told her as she reached in her pants pocket.
“Callie, please. Let’s meet again and talk,” Joel said, his voice low and insistent.
She pulled three dollars from her pocket, tossed them on the bar, then turned to Joel. “It’s over, Joel. It was over a long time ago. At this point, I’m sure there’s nothing you can say that can change that.”
Then Coco slid her arm around Callie’s waist, and Joel watched as the two women walked out of the bar.
“Seems like you’ve got your w
ork cut out for you,” Milo Gump said from behind the bar.
“And then some,” Joel agreed.
He ordered another round.
* * *
CALLIE LEANED UP against the headboard, wearing a long-sleeved gray T-shirt and bright pink capri pj bottoms. She still lived at home with her parents, and slept in the same bedroom she’d once shared with Kayla, the youngest of her sisters. Punky dozed on a cushion on a white rocking chair in the corner of the room, next to a window. Her three sisters, Kenzie, Kayla and Coco—all dressed in their own version of the same type of pj’s—sat around her on her queen-size bed, while their mom, Mildred, wearing the bright blue fuzzy robe over the matching pj’s their dad had given her last Christmas, put down a white tray holding herbal tea and all the fixings, homemade blueberry scones, a thick pad of butter and fresh cream from Bridget’s Dairy Farm down the road.
“Mom, I’m fine. Really. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” Callie said while still trying to get comfortable. Her hip still ached despite the mild pain pills she’d taken at the arena. And her upper arm was now beginning to turn blue. Even the scrape on her chin burned.
“You’re my daughter. It’s what I do,” her mom answered, then she pulled a desk chair up closer to the bed and sat down with a sigh.
Callie knew her mom was tired, but she also knew she couldn’t rest until she was sure all her peeps were warm and safe.
Kayla, the youngest of Callie’s sisters, had decided to spend the night along with her one-year-old son, Hunter, who had only recently started walking. The women in the family always gathered to support one of their own. The sisters, along with their mom, fawned over whichever of them was hurting until that sister or their mom was back on her feet. Falling off of Apple Sammy apparently warranted that reaction.
“You sure know how to get the attention of an audience,” Kenzie said, smiling, blue eyes sparkling, curly sable hair clipped on the top of her head, as she poured golden tea into a mug, then broke off a chunk of scone and handed both to Callie. She couldn’t wait to take a sip of the hot liquid. Her throat still felt dry, as if she hadn’t quite gotten all the dirt out of her mouth from when she hit the ground.
Kenzie, with her no-nonsense attitude, had taken charge of the situation with the paramedics after Callie’s fall. She and Coco had made certain they examined her completely, and even then Kenzie had wanted Callie to go to the hospital. Callie refused. She hadn’t fallen on her head and nothing was broken, so a trip to the hospital seemed unnecessary.
Still, Callie knew that Kenzie would be sleeping next to her tonight, just to make sure she was breathing.
“I think she had it planned the whole time,” Coco teased as she handed her mom a mug of tea with lots of honey, exactly the way she liked it. “Just like she did when she was in second grade and jumped off the swing to get some boy’s attention and nearly broke her ankle in the process.”
“It was Georgie Marlow and he never even looked over,” Callie said. “Believe me, I learned my lesson after that.”
“You could’ve fooled me,” Kenzie quipped, then took a big bite of a scone, moaning over the taste. Their mom made the best scones ever. Nothing compared, not even the ones from Holy Rollers in town.
Their mom said, “Darling, you have to admit, it appears as though you’re either consciously or unconsciously trying to get Joel Darwood to notice you...despite your telling us you don’t want anything to do with him.”
“Or why else would you have stopped by Belly Up tonight when you spotted him going inside?” Coco added.
“Traitor,” Callie mumbled.
“You followed Joel into Belly Up? Oh, this is bad,” Kayla quipped, wearing a sly smirk, as the light caught in her amber-colored eyes. Her shoulder-length blond-streaked hair was pulled back in a ponytail while she took off her makeup with a baby wipe, a beauty trick she swore by.
Callie had hoped Coco would have kept their stop at Belly Up a secret, at least for tonight, but very little was sacred in this family. Even Callie had done her share of ratting out.
Callie took another sip of her tea. It soothed her tight throat and helped clear her head. “I told you, I was merely trying to thank him for his concern after I fell.”
“What concern?” her mom asked.
“He was there, standing on the other side of the fence while the paramedics were taking care of me.”
“Are you sure? I never saw him,” Kenzie countered.
Callie nodded, and a pain shot up her face from her chin. She sat back and waited until it subsided.
“Take your time, sweetie,” Coco told her. “You’re going to hurt for a few days. Go easy on yourself. Try to relax and take this.”
Coco handed her a little white pill that she’d dumped in her hand from a small container. “It’s a pain reliever. It’s very mild and will help you sleep.”
“Is this something you give to your animals?” Callie asked, trying to give back what she was getting, and smiled.
“No. It’s over-the-counter for humans and something I know that works. I’ve taken it myself.”
Callie took the pill with a sip of her tea. Just swallowing the medicine seemed to help. She cupped her now swollen chin with her hand and said, “Believe me, Joel was there. He left right after you guys came over.”
“That was big of him.” Her mom still held deep resentments for Joel that Callie didn’t think she would ever get over. Mess with one of her kids, and you have Mildred Grant to deal with. Forever.
“He did more than Georgie Marlow,” Kenzie said as she settled up against the headboard next to Callie, then gently stroked Callie’s hair, moving it behind an ear. “Have to give him credit for that.”
“Seems to me it all depends on what Callie here thinks about Joel Darwood,” their mom said. “Obviously, she doesn’t detest him as much as she used to, or she wouldn’t be falling all over herself to get him to notice her. With all the riding you’ve done on this ranch, a spill like that could only mean one thing.”
“And what’s that?” Callie mumbled, not wanting to move her mouth.
“You know perfectly well what it means.”
Callie leaned forward, despite the ache in her hip. “Mom, I told you it doesn’t mean anything. I lost focus and didn’t compensate for the weight of the flag when I led Apple Sammy in the turn.”
“Ah, but why did you lose focus?” Coco asked, taunting Callie. “You’ve run that flag hundreds of times and have never fallen. What’s really going on?”
No way did Callie want to admit she’d just spotted Joel in the stands and the mere sight of him gave her a visceral reaction she couldn’t explain.
“Yeah, and what’s the real reason why you stopped at Belly Up tonight? ’Cause I’m not buying that you wanted to thank Joel for his concern. There’s more to this,” Kenzie said while trying to sound sympathetic.
Callie and her sisters had always been close and protective of one another. Back when the whole miserable mess happened between Callie, Sarah and Joel, Callie had decided not to tell them the whole story right away, mostly because she was so hurt by his sleeping with her best friend after what she thought was a silly argument they would resolve. As it turned out, they never resolved anything.
Instead, Joel, who had always been adamant about not wanting to be tied down by marriage and children, couldn’t wait to get his brand-new pregnant girlfriend, Callie’s traitorous best friend, to the altar.
When Callie finally spilled the truth to her family, Joel had already driven off with Sarah to live what had obviously been a happy life together.
“When I was mad at Jimmy right after we broke up, all I wanted was an apology and for him to tell me he loved me,” Kayla said. “Once he did that, I knew we could work it out. Is that it? Are you waiting for an apology from Joel?”
Kayl
a had kept her own pregnancy a secret for several months, until one night right before Christmas during their dad’s birthday party, when Jimmy had come calling to profess his undying love and apologize for any wrongdoing on his part.
“It’s going to take more than an apology, and, well, to be honest,” Callie admitted, “I don’t know what I want from Joel Darwood. He wants to give me his version of what happened.”
“You mean you’ve never heard his version?” their mom asked, sitting up in her chair, blue eyes peering over the reading glasses perched on the tip of her nose, graying hair pulled up on top of her head with a clip, just like Kenzie’s.
Callie nodded. “I didn’t want to talk to him back then. I saw no reason for it. Sarah told me everything I needed to know, and besides, he never tried to contact me.”
“And you believed her?” Kayla asked, sounding incredulous. “But you always knew Sarah lied.”
“Not to me...at least I never thought she had.”
“And what do you think now, sweetheart? Now that you can look back and see Sarah for who she was...what do you think of what she told you now?” Her mom had a way with using her words to make Callie see the true meaning behind them.
“Now I really don’t know what to think.”
“That sounds promising,” Coco said. “For the past six years we’ve watched you essentially lock your heart away and throw away the key. You’ve rarely dated, even when we’ve come up with some pretty good candidates.”
“Oh, like that Garrison guy with the braces and bad breath? Or maybe I should have stuck it out with Billy-Bob from Jackson who had an unusually close relationship with his pet cow?”
Her sisters chuckled and agreed. “You had to give him credit. At least Brenda was a blue-ribbon cow,” Kenzie teased. “Besides, I had no idea the guy was so into his cow. He seemed normal when I met him at the bovine auction.”
“How about Mike Pyke? He seemed like a normal, nice guy,” Kayla offered.