I hug her, the woman who raised an amazingly strong son who I’m relentlessly falling in love with shared her story with me, and now we’re both a blubbering mess in the middle of a parking lot.
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. Talking about Bobby, it still gets to me. Wolf didn’t understand for the longest time why I refused to date or move on. I’m willing to bet he does now.” We part from our hug. Mrs. Julia is waving her hands at her face, trying to dry her tears, while I’m using the back of my hand on mine.
“Don’t apologize ever. To have a love like that, it has to be the greatest of all time.” I’m sure she’s right when it comes to Wolf and me. The bond and connection we’ve formed already, there’s no way our hearts can deny it.
“Oh, anyway. Let’s go see what kind of damage we can do.” She pulls herself together, struts inside the store like she was made to take control. What did I tell you, that woman is so damn strong. I only hope that I’ll be half as strong as she is if I ever have to go through something like that.
Eleven
Wolf
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” I tell Creed, a friend I’ve known for a couple of years now. He only comes in when he’s passing through, a lineman by trade, but on his down time you can find him at a rodeo. The man has balls of steel to get on a broncing buck at his age. At the age of thirty-two, there is no way in hell you’d see me doing that. Fucking crazy is what he is.
“Hey, man.” I walk towards him, shaking his hand and pulling him in for a one-armed hug. “Yeah. Figured I’d stop by before I get back home. Taking a job working locally from now on. You’ll probably see less of me unless you actually get out of this place more.”
“Who says I don’t get away from the island? If you were home more, you’d see that I was at my place a fuck of a lot more lately.” I’m home more than ever now, and the bar isn’t suffering from it either.
“No shit? Well, then, maybe I’ll see you more.” I walk back around to the bar while he takes a seat on an empty stool.
“Yep, that will happen when you find a woman like Reese.” His eyes perk up.
“You found someone who’s got you settling down? Congrats, man.” I hand him a bottle of Coors, popping the cap open.
“She’s one of a kind. What has you working locally now? Getting tired of traveling so much?” I ask. It’ll be nice as hell to have him back home.
“Rhett’s sister, Laney, called me. Apparently, their dad is retired, reluctantly, but it left them in a bind. Leaving Rhett to do a majority of the work. Laney was bawling her eyes out. So, here I am, but if you’re home more, I’m sure I’ll see you around.” Creed, Rhett, and I live in the same area, Rhett’s family owning a bigger spread than Creed and me.
“Laney called you, huh?” I poke the bear, knowing full well there was a reason he went to work traveling the entire fucking state, leaving his own small ranch and hiring a hand to take care of his livestock.
“Don’t start. I’m not coming back for her. Only trying to be neighborly and lend a helping hand.” Creed is so full of shit, but now isn’t the time to give him shit, not with the way he’s looking like the weight of the world is on his shoulders.
“Let me know if I can help. Reese and I are home more often than not. I’m pretty sure she’ll be here permanently once summer is over,” I offer.
“I appreciate that. Might help Laney to have a friend around too.” That I can attest to. I might even see if my mom would be interested in doing a girl’s day with Reese too. I know today she and Reese are out shopping, which if I know my mom, they’ll both come back exhausted and with a car full of bags.
“No problem.” We shoot the shit for a little bit. He tells me some of the stories of the crazy people who were cussing a blue streak when their power wasn’t turned on right away or if they were transferring lines over. I don’t know how he kept his cool while doing such a dangerous job, and in the heat at that. Creed is the type of person to let shit slide down his back, not tackling anything, until he’s at his limit, then all hell breaks loose, and I have a feeling once he’s home for a few days, we’ll all be in for one hell of a surprise, including Rhett.