Broken Road (27 page)

“What do you say?”
 

“Renae, I don’t know that I can just leave like that.
 
I’d have to talk to Louis. . .”

“Riley, I’m not suggesting we elope to Vegas.
 
I’m just suggesting a little road trip, that’s all. I’m sure Louis will be fine with it.
 
You’re not a prisoner.
 
You can come and go as you please.
 
I promise I’ll look after you.
 
Whatever it is, I’m sure I can handle it.” She smiled and Riley thought about the last episode he’d had.
 
It had been about a month since the last really bad one. He cringed inwardly just thinking about her seeing him go through something like that again.

“Come on, soldier.
 
What do you say? Road trip or gunshot wedding?” She asked and Riley felt a stab of pain in his gut at the last words.
 

“Exactly where are we going?” he asked.

“South Dakota”

“South Dakota.”
 
He repeated.

“Sure. Doreen’s always talking about how wonderful it is up there. She and Elmer take their summer vacations up there all the time. I’ve never been. So, let’s go.” Riley looked uncertain. “Riley, we can take a trip to one of this country’s most beautiful states or we can stay here. Do you
want
to go to the wedding reception? ”

“No!” he answered emphatically.

 
“Have you ever been to South Dakota?” She asked wiping the counter.

“No. I’ve only been overseas.”
 

“Well, then we have a lot in common, don’t we? Except for the overseas part.” She said smiling and untied her apron
 
“From what Doreen tells me it’s a long trip.”

“Long trip?”

“Honestly, Riley.
 
Are you going to keep repeating every other word I say?
 
Or, are you
 
going to get and up and go back to the farmhouse with me to get your stuff?”
 
She asked impatiently.
 
He was quiet for a moment and he weighed his options.
   

“I’ll go with you. Thanks for the offer.”

“Sure.” She said and walked back to the kitchen.
 
After a few minutes she came out with her purse in one hand and her keys in the other. He got up and followed her to the door.
 

“See you in a week, honey. And don’t worry we’ll make do.”
 
Doreen called out to Brenda.
 

“See you later, Doreen.” Brenda called back, pushing the door open and stepping out into the parking lot. Riley followed and soon they were in her car heading back to the farmhouse. As they rode back Riley remained quiet until he stuck a hand in his jacket pocket and felt the small box he’d been carrying around for the last few days.
 

“Hey, before we go home would you mind making one stop? It’s in Broken Bow.” He asked.

“Where do you want to go?” She asked. He was nervous. Would he finally go through with it he wondered?
 
How many times in the last two days had he been so close to asking for a ride to go through with it?
 
His hand tightened around the box.
 

“Riley?”
 

“Bailey’s on fourth.” He said.
 
Brenda raised an eyebrow.

“The pawn shop?” she said.
 
He nodded.

“I’ve got to check on something.”

“What?” she asked.
 

“Something my grandpa left with them before died.”
 
He hated lying to her.

“Sure.” She said and didn’t ask him anything else about it.
 
He was grateful for that. They drove the 17 miles in silence into Broken Bow. Once they pulled up to the shop Riley got out.
 

“I’ll just be a minute, okay?”

“Okay.” She said as he closed the car door and turned to walk into the pawnshop.
 
He took a deep breath and fingered the sharp, square sides of the box in his pocket. He walked in and headed to the main counter.
 
There was a heavy set man, balding with thick glasses, wearing a worn out tan t-shirt with a faded Nebraska logo leaning against the back counter.
 
Riley dug into his pocket and pulled out the box, setting on the glass counter in front of him.
 
The box was small, delicate and covered in soft, black velvet.
 
The man behind the counter came up and picked up the box.
 

“You have something you need me to look at?” The man asked.

“Yes.” Riley responded and forced himself to look away as the man opened the small box and took out what was inside.
 

“Well, that’s a very pretty set.” The man said fingering the delicate gold band with the small diamond sparkling under the fluorescent lights above them.
 

“Yeah.” Riley said in almost a whisper.

“You sure you want to sell it?” The man asked examining it more closely.
 
A thousand different emotions passed through Riley as he struggled for a moment to answer the man’s question.
 
After a moment had passed he finally answered him.

“I’m sure.”
 

“Okay, then, “The man replied, “give me a minute to get a closer look and I’ll come back with a number.”

“Sure.” Riley said and felt the last of the strings that held him to his former life snap as he watched the man take Misty’s engagement ring away.

They were traveling 363 miles. He had committed himself to riding for 6 hours and 3 minutes with a woman he’d only met weeks ago, the day Louis had brought him back to Bess from the hospital. He had many second thoughts, especially after leaving the pawn shop.

“You’re going to love South Dakota.” She chirped as she clicked her seat belt on and motioned for him to do the same.
 
She turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life.
 

“Hey, cheer up.
 
We’re going be out of here in just a minute.” She said and pulled out of the parking lot.
 
But he couldn’t really bring himself to cheer up about it especially as they passed right by the Broken Bow First Christian Church.
 
The sign out front, usually reserved for scripture quotes had an announcement:

COLE/LANGSTON WEDDING 2PM SAT

Riley’s heart sank as he read the words. She seemed to notice the sign too and sped up.
 
They rode in silence until they made it out of town.
 
Riley looked out the window, watching everything go by, cars, buildings, cattle, silos, trees.
 
He wondered how many months he had longed for these familiar landmarks while he was in the desert.
 
How many nights had he dreamed of driving past them but in the opposite direction?
 
So much had changed, but not for the better.
 
The trip had just begun, but with each mile he put between himself and any thoughts of the wedding, it seemed like he could breath a little better.
 
It still hurt, but he could breathe.
 
He found himself leaning against the window and before long he’d fallen asleep.
 
After a while he woke up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
 
As he did, he realized it had gotten pretty dark.
 

“I’m sorry.” He said trying to stretch.
 

“Don’t worry about it.” She said and turned the radio up.
 
She must have turned it down so he could sleep.
 

“What time is it?”

“It’s almost 8.” She answered.

“I’m really good company, aren’t I?”

“Nothing I didn’t expect.
 
You aren’t exactly a Chatty Cathy when you’re awake.” She was smiling.

“Guess not.” He said.

“I figured we could make a stop to get quick a bite to eat, gas up.
 

“That’s fine.”

“Great.”

“How are you feeling?
 
You’re not exactly an open book, you know.
 
So I feel like I have to ask just to make sure.”

“You want to take a look in my eyes?” he teased.

“I’m not sure I’d be able to tell even if I did.
 
Is that part of the military training they give you guys?
 
Or are you a gambling man?
 
You know, the poker face and all?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wow. Don’t overwhelm me with the information.”
 
She teased again.

“I’m not trying to be difficult.
 
I just don’t know.
 
I don’t go around staring at my face-taking notes about it.”

“Maybe you should, then you’d realize how intimidating you come off sometimes.”

“Intimidating?” he asked incredulously.

“Sure.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“ Doreen told me you weren’t always like that.”

“You were talking about me at the café?” he sounded uncomfortable

“No. I wasn’t.” She lied feeling ashamed of herself. “Those folks think a lot of you and your grandpa, that’s all.
 
They were worried about you. Although, some of the stories they were telling made you out to be quite the local hell raiser. To be honest, you and your friends were quite the wild bunch according to some people.
 
I’m surprised you guys didn’t get picked up more by the Sheriff.”

“We did,” Riley admitted, “but he would just drive us back home and give us a stern talking to.”
 
The thought almost brought a smile to his face but she could see that he fought hard to bury it deep inside.

“Nice.” She said. The memories she talked about had to do with Brandon and the better years of Riley’s life.
 
Back when he had a best friend and a brother.
 
Brenda could sense the change in him, so she decided to change the subject.

“So where do you feel like eating?” she asked brightly.

“I’m not picky.” He said.

“All right, then how about some place up the road that looks decent? There should be one according to the GPS. There’s a gas station nearby too.”

“Sounds fine to me.” He answered and they rode in silence again.

10 miles up there was still no restaurant to be found but there was a little place where they stopped for gas, bought some sandwiches and started on the road again.
 

“I’m feeling a little tired but I really want to make it there by midnight or 1 at the latest.
 
You still okay?”

“Yeah.
 
I’m just sorry I can’t help drive.”

“Don’t worry.
 
I probably wouldn’t let you drive even if you could.
 
I’m kind of a control freak when it comes to driving.
 
I’m not a good passenger-trust me.
 
It’s better this way.”

“Good to know.
 
Anything else I should know before we go any farther?”

“Nothing you need to know just yet.
 
You can handle that can’t you?
 
Being on a need-to-know basis only?”

“Yes,mam.” He said

“Good man.”

“But, if you don’t mind, can I ask you just one question?”

“I don’t know depends on what it is.”

“I was just wondering when your boyfriend’s ever going to show up and actually do any of the work?”

“My
boyfriend
?” Brenda had been able to keep Riley from asking too much about this by changing the subject but being stuck in a car for hours made it difficult to keep from answering his questions.

“Isn’t that where you run off to when you go into town with your computer tablet?” Riley asked.
   

“What are you talking about?”
 

“Is he your boyfriend, the person you go into town to contact?” he asked finally.
 

She felt the sadness permeate her whole body. If he only knew it was her kids, Shane’s kids, she wondered what he would say or do.
 

“Why are you asking?”
 
she said

“No reason.
 
Just wondering how he’s going to feel about you living with some guy he’s never met.”
 
He teased but her eyes were filling up with tears and she wasn’t sure she would be able to stop them from overflowing.

“I didn’t mean it that way. . .” he said apologetically.

“There is no
he-
no boyfriend.”
No husband.
She thought feeling sad and empty.

“Then, who?”
 

“It’s a
girl
friend.”

“Oh.”
 
He said awkwardly.

“She’s the friend who recently suffered the death in her family.” Brenda said quietly and willed the lump in
 
her throat to recede.

“The one who sent you out here? But she’s in Tennessee.”
 

“Yeah.”

“But the house is in Nebraska?”

“It belongs. . .
belonged
,” She corrected herself, “to her husband’s side of the family.”

“It was her husband who died?”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Not an accident? I’m sorry sometimes I forget things.”

“War.” She said and watched for his reaction. The questions stopped and they rode in silence again.

“Hey, there’s a sign for the motel Doreen recommended. We’re getting closer.” She said changing the subject and after another hour or so they arrived at the motel and she ran in and got them two rooms next to each other.

“See you tomorrow, bright and early? Doreen gave me a list as long as my arm for sightseeing.” She said as she turned her key in the lock.
 

“Yeah, see you in the morning.” He said and opened the door to his room.
 
Riley set down his duffel bag on the twin bed and yawned.
 
He was tired.
 
He was glad, maybe tonight he would finally be able to close his eyes and forget everything.
 
Everything.
 
Wouldn’t that be a blessing, he thought.
 
He decided to take a shower and let the hot water cover his body, relieving some of the stress.
 
His mind wandered as stood there under the pulsing water trying not to think about Misty, Brandon, and the wedding that should have been his.
 
He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned against the shower wall. It was too much to take in. He thought he had lost his mind when he first heard himself agree to go on this road trip with Renae the waitress.
South Dakota!
What was he thinking?
 
He was thinking that he wanted to run away, disappear and go somewhere where no one recognized him, knew what had happened to him or cared.
 
When Renae had suggested leaving town he couldn’t help but be interested in the idea.
 
He felt better when he was with her.
 
She rarely pressed him to talk about things he didn’t want to talk about.
 
She might tease him about being a little too quiet at time or not being as open as she was with him about herself and her life.
 
But he felt the sincerity in her voice when she talked to him.
 
He felt that she genuinely cared about what he thought, what he wanted even if he was pretty bad at verbalizing it.
 
It didn’t hurt that she was pretty too.
 
Sometimes, when he was listening to her talk, she became so animated that a wisp of her short brown hair came loose from where she had sprayed it down and he had to suppress the urge to reach out and tuck the two stray strands behind her ear.
 
It bothered him that he had thoughts about her like that. Wasn’t he still trying to get over Misty?
 
He seriously doubted that would happen anytime soon.
 
The pain was raw and the wound seemed to reopen each time he had a fresh thought about her.
 
But he couldn’t deny that Renae’s presence was comforting.
 
He felt a little more at peace when he was with her, if that was possible. He shut off the water, stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel.
 
He wasn’t sure what to make of the feelings he had about Renae, but it wasn’t anything he had to figure out that night so he let it go.
 
After drying off, he pulled a pair of sweatpants out of his duffel bag and put them on before getting into bed. Who knew what tomorrow had in store for him on this crazy adventure, he thought, and surprisingly he drifted off to sleep without fearing the nightmares that were usually waiting for him to close his eyes.