Colorado 03 Lady Luck (53 page)

I, of course, on a lunch break bought the
big, round, glass vase I had my eye on at the Carnal Country Store
and the proprietress thanked me profusely for buying it saying,
“Sugar, that thing has been on my shelf for a year and a half.
Ranchers and bikers do not have an eye for glass vases. But I
thought it was pretty. I gotta learn, if it don’t have an antler or
a skull on it, I’m screwed.”

I was happy to take it off her hands and
happier that she’d marked it down fifty percent.

The vase looked perfect in the middle of the
table.

The next Thursday, Ty’s day off but I was
back at work, I came home and it had two dozen blush and cream
roses in it.

That was my husband. He did bling of all
kinds, some of it didn’t shine as bright but that didn’t mean it
wasn’t awesome.

Outside of the time I spent with Ty,
reacquainting myself with friends, getting back to work, unpacking
and sorting our home, I spent my time getting my shit sorted. I
went to the DMV and got a Colorado driver’s license and plates for
my new (red with wide, black racing stripes running up the hood,
roof and down the back, 2012, fucking gorgeous) Charger. I’d
already had my mail forwarded from Dallas but I put another forward
on it when I left, sending it to Ella. I again changed that. I also
got on-line and changed all my information with anyone who carried
it. I’d closed my bank account in Dallas when I was there but
opened one in Carnal. And Ty put money in it so I could pay off my
credit cards which I did.

I did all this because I would do all this
(eventually) but I did this as a matter of priority because Ty
asked me to make certain that “those assclowns got no shit to fuck
with you with”.

I saw the wisdom of this advice and didn’t
delay.

Bessie had politely declined our offer but
did not decline keeping the cash I earned from my Charger, cash I
left behind with her. She promised me, once she got on her feet,
she’d pay me back. I let her promise me that and when she tried to
pay me back, I would decline. I knew she’d take care of me for
free, I knew she’d take care of me no matter what but I needed to
give her that. It didn’t cover what I owed her for pulling me
together after I fell apart but then again, nothing would. But it
would be something.

Then she left Panama City Beach and headed
to Miami. She’d never been there but she heard it was a fun place
to be and was going to check it out. The last word I had from her
(which was yesterday) was that she liked it, wanted to give it a
shot and was currently looking for a job.

I had mixed feelings about this. Dallas was
a one day, very long haul from Carnal. Miami was a lot fucking
further. But she’d been in a shit situation and unhappy almost as
long as I had been with Ronnie. It was good she was making this
change and if she liked Miami then I would like Miami for her.

And anyway, it would be fun when Ty and I
could visit her there.

Things had changed for Ty and I and when I
say that I mean for the better. There was nothing between us now,
it was out there, open, talked about. He shared more, I got to
listen more. Day to day, he relaxed more, he smiled more, he
laughed more and my man was fucking funny so I laughed more too.
We’d weathered one hell of a storm but we did not come out with
nicks and dents. We came out tougher, stronger, closer.

But even though home life was good,
great,
the
best
, the sun shining
all the time not only because it was August in Colorado but because
there were no clouds over our life, Carnal was
different.

There were clouds over Carnal, big, black,
threatening thunderclouds. Everyone felt them, everyone was being
cautious, quiet, braced and waiting for that first crack of thunder
and bolt of lightning, hoping they weren’t too close when it
struck.

Although the news travelled slow, the murder
of Misty Keaton, allegedly by Officer Rowdy Crabtree, sent low,
buzzing shockwaves through the town.

I thought Ty would at least receive
suspicious glances but this did not happen. Ty had been gone awhile
but Ty was well-known, well-known enough that folks knew that was
not his style.

But the town was humming with gossip and
at the salon, as it had a tendency to be at salons, that hum was
fast, furious and
prolific
.

Therefore I learned, not surprisingly, that
Misty was not well-liked. No one had much against her five plus
years ago, though she was known as a gold-digger intent on making a
good marriage. But public opinion of her plummeted when she lied
about Ty’s alibi then took another significant drop when she
married Chace Keaton. This was because many guessed the connection
and, to my surprise, I learned that many liked Chace and didn’t
like him saddled with the likes of Misty. When she married a town
cop who happened to be in line for a large inheritance, she
instantly decided her shit didn’t stink and let everyone know she
felt that way and they should too. This behavior was further
frowned upon. After that, what was left of her popularity took a
nosedive but she didn’t care much seeing as she had a hot guy in
her bed, his ring on her finger and his Daddy’s fortune on the way,
all she had to do was wait for the old man to die.

Through salon gossip, I also learned that
this didn’t work out for her as she had planned. From the
beginning, Chace made it blindingly and
publicly
apparent that he was not blissfully married. He
put up with her. He went through the motions. But he didn’t like
either. And because he could barely stomach the sight of his wife,
when he needed to get him a little somethin’ somethin’, he went
elsewhere and did this openly.

By the time Misty Keaton had walked into
Carnal Spa that day I met her, she’d spent five years living with a
man who could barely stand the sight of her, didn’t hide that and
cheated on her repeatedly and blatantly. Salon buzz said that, as
year slid into year and Chace didn’t come to heel, Misty became
more and more beaten. Salon buzz said that, even though she was
what she was and did what she did, she actually loved her husband
and his continued hatred of her was wearing her down. Salon buzz
said that even before Ty was released, Misty was rethinking her
actions. Salon buzz said that Misty was coming to the conclusion
that Chace’s Daddy’s millions weren’t worth that. And salon buzz
said that Misty bought it because the authority knew this and
needed to assure she didn’t do something they wouldn’t like
much.

And salon buzz said that Rowdy was set up
to take the fall mostly because he was an asshole. In a long line
of local cops that people did not like or trust, Rowdy stood out
prominent because he was not only the dick I knew him to be but
a
serious
dick. He
used the authority his position provided him as a weapon, his badge
and uniform as a shield. He regularly and randomly fucked with
citizens of Carnal and he did this for shits and
giggles.

Although no one believed Rowdy took Misty
Keaton to Harker’s Wood, shot her and left his weapon, primarily
because he had no motive to do this and wasn’t stupid enough to
leave that kind of evidence seeing as he
was
a cop, just a dirty one, still, no one really
cared if he went down for it.

“What comes around, goes around,” Avril
stated, smiling gleefully and leaning against the high front of my
reception desk, in for a mani/pedi and also gossip.

But underneath all this gossip and
speculation, there was fear. A woman was dead. No one liked her
much but that was pretty extreme. Whoever was spooked was seriously
spooked and the citizens of Carnal were worried about what was
next.

As for me, it was difficult to admit, but I
felt a sense of calm settle over me as all this gossip filtered
into my brain.

While my husband was serving a sentence for
a crime he didn’t commit and, to that day, after I went to sleep,
he got up and jacked up the AC so high I woke up with a frozen nose
every morning and he did this because the heat, stench and feel of
that place had beat into his bones and he needed that cool, clean
air to beat it back, I liked knowing that Misty wasn’t living the
dream she’d lied her way into.

Sure, I couldn’t say I wanted her dead. But
I could say I felt that maybe there was justice at work out there
in the universe knowing she’d lived her own version of five years
of hell.

And it made me feel better that, if she’d
lived, she wouldn’t have what Ty and I had.

So she’d betrayed him and used him and when
he was down, she stepped right on him to haul herself up to what
she thought was the next level of life and bought herself misery,
heartbreak and, eventually, being dragged to a wood in the middle
of the night and shot to death.

She definitely deserved misery and
heartbreak, if not being murdered, so I felt that yes, maybe there
was justice at work out there.

And I just hoped it kept working so my man
could eventually
really
breathe
free and live with a clear name.

I left the tees where they lay and headed
out to the mailbox thinking about what I was going to do the rest
of my day. It was late morning and considering I got up at an
ungodly hour to shower with Ty, after he left, I’d cleaned the
house and done the laundry. Then I’d gussied up to go into town. We
needed some groceries. I wanted to stop by La-La Land to get a
latte and maybe something for dessert because Shambles made the
best of everything sweet, Ty had a sweet tooth and he’d told me the
day before that he’d been home now for months but had yet to wander
into La-La Land and I felt it a moral imperative to introduce him
to their goods which were
good.
I
was also thinking of going to the mall and getting some fabric to
make curtains for the guest bedroom. There were horizontal blinds
in there but the room needed color, the walls were an eggshell
white but it was utilitarian. Maybe I’d head to the hardware store
and get some paint chips. In fact, Ty and my room could use some
work. I’d get some paint chips for that room too.

I was thinking all this as I got the mail
and brought it back. When I started sifting through and opening
mail, my head was filled with possible colors, color combos, maybe
a new comforter cover and sheets for Ty and my bed, not to mention,
looking into filling our room a bit by setting up a reading area
because winter would be on the mountains soon and I’d need it when
I lost my deck.

So I wasn’t paying attention to what I was
doing until I slid my finger into the side of an envelope, tore it
open, pulled out and unfolded a tri-folded sheet of paper, turned
it over, saw it was handwritten, looked at the salutation then the
closing signature and went still.

I realized my error right away. I’d opened
Ty’s mail accidentally.

But I couldn’t stop myself from reading
it.

Ty,

I did wrong, I did bad and I know I’m going
to pay.

But before I do, I have to do right.

I sent this to a girlfriend of mine in
Maryland. I told her, if anything happens to me, to put it in the
mail to you. I also sent her some other things. They’ll go to other
people.

And they say that I lied about not being
with you that weekend. They explain that Arnie came to me asking me
for a favor and that I’d be compensated. I won’t say how and the
other stuff won’t say how either. That doesn’t matter and it would
hurt another good man who got caught in the net.

I’ve done enough of that.

But in that stuff I said straight out that I
lied and Arnie Fuller asked me to do it and compensated me for
doing it. I was with you that weekend, all weekend. You didn’t
attend a poker game and you didn’t kill a man because that whole
time you were with me.

I would say I’m sorry but I expect you don’t
care if I am. I would explain why I did what I did but I expect you
don’t care why either.

But I will say that I’m glad you’re happy. I
met your wife and saw her with you at the garage so I know that to
be true. I talked to Stella and she said you’re doing great and
moving on. You were always a strong guy and I guess I figured you’d
make it and I wasn’t wrong.

I still wish I didn’t do what I did to you
and not just because I have to write this letter and what it means
that you’re reading it. I’ve been thinking about it for years, five
years, and I thought it would be worth it but it wasn’t.

I hope what I’ve done will be enough to
clear your name and right the wrongs done to you.

And that’s it, I guess. There isn’t much
more to say.

I made a lot of mistakes in my life, you
were always a good guy and the biggest mistake I ever made was
doing what I did to you.

I hope you live free and happy.

Misty

By the time I was done reading it, I didn’t
know how I managed it because my hand was shaking so hard.

But I managed it and when I was done I
managed to move across the kitchen to the side counter by the
stairs to get to my purse and grab my phone. Then I managed to find
Ty’s number, hit go and put it to my ear.

Three rings then, “Mama.”

“Ty,” I breathed, moving back to the letter
and then I couldn’t figure out what to say.

“
What?
” he barked in my ear, I jumped at his harsh tone
and realized he’d mistaken mine.

“No, no, it’s not bad, baby, it’s not…” I
sucked in breath. “Okay, now, listen. I was thinking about paint
chips and curtains and going to La-La Land to get you some dessert
for tonight and so I wasn’t –”

“Babe,” he bit off, clipped and
impatient.