Secrets Behind Those Eyes (4 page)

“The dude who was a closet case gay
guy? He had that dickhead friend, Bobby or Brandon,
right?”

“Yep. As a matter of fact we ran into
those two dicks as we were leaving. It got interesting. Scarlet
punched Brandon in the jaw. Let’s just say I think the reason she
and Dustin broke up is because he and Brandon aren’t doing such a
great job of keeping it all in the closet anymore. She didn’t
really elaborate,” I tell him.

“Damn. Some people. Well, enough of
the Bay Street Soap Opera. What do you want to do
today?”

“Let’s go shoot some pool or
something.”

“How about we go to one of the ranges
and shoot some rounds?” he suggests.

I shrug. “Works for me. Let’s
go.”

~*~*~

Pulling up to the worksite, I see
Scarlet walking across the front yard. I call out to her. “Hey,
nice hat.”

She smirks. “Thanks. Usually I don’t
do the color yellow but since the inspector was coming by, I
figured why not.”

“Has he already been and
gone?”

“He’s in the house with Gus right now
doing the walkthrough,” she says.

“So what’s on the agenda for the rest
of the week?”

“Well, tomorrow is my last day, but I
think just finishing up landscaping and cleaning up the
inside.”

“So you’ll be out of my hair after
tomorrow, huh?”

“Yep.”

“What are your plans for the rest of
the summer?” I ask.

“I have to get my crap together for
SCAD. I really need to find my own car and I’ve got a bunch of
graphics work to catch up on for my brother’s band. Oh, yeah. I
also need to find a new job because I can’t work for Dustin’s
family anymore.”

“What did you do for them?”

“I helped out in his Dad’s office
doing invoices and general paperwork. I’m going to need something
in the evening anyway with school.”

I shrug. “If I hear of anything, I’ll
let you know.”

She smiles. “Thanks I
appreciate it.”

I watch her walk back
across the yard into the house.
Damn. I
could watch her ass all day long.

~*~*~

After leaving my last day
at the jobsite, I’m head to visit my Nana Pearl. She’s probably the
coolest eighty-year-old I know. She smokes Pall Mall’s
like a chimney and drinks a shot of homemade
moonshine every night before bed. She cusses like a sailor and
keeps a .45 revolver in her chair side table.

Turning off of the
pavement onto her gravel driveway, I look at the gorgeous cotton
fields across the property. Her plantation
style
house was built in the early 1900’s, but the land it’s on has been
in our family since the early 1800’s. My dad and I only live just a
quarter mile down the road from her but I haven’t been taking much
time to stop and see her. She is going to crawl
my ass when I walk
through the door.

I don’t even make it up the back steps
before I hear her. “Damn a’ mighty, look what crawled out from
under a rock.”

“Hey Nana.” I lean over to give her a
hug and kiss. “How’ve you been?”

“Well, I woke up this morning. So
that’s a plus when you get to be my age. Then down at the senior
center Thomas Fitzgerald and William Beck want to court me, but I
don’t know if they can keep up with me. They are nearly
ninety.”

“Nana, you’re eighty; that’s not too
far from ninety.”

“Honey, when you get to be my age, ten
years seems like twenty. None of us know if we’ll reach breakfast
tomorrow and the older they are, the less chance they have of
reaching it. I might be crazy, but I’m not accepting a date from a
gentleman caller who may not make it to see daylight with
me.”

I laugh, shaking my head, and flop
down in a rocking chair. “You are crazy, Nana. I’m not sure I like
the idea of gentlemen callers staying with you until daylight.” I
start rocking slowly. “Sorry I haven’t been by lately. I had to do
some community service.”

“I know; your daddy told me. I was
wondering if you’d lost your damn mind driving that fast. Then I
figured out you were just that stupid. I wish you’d find a nice
girl like me and settle down.”

“I’m only nineteen; it’s not time to
settle down. I’m not even ready to move out of dad’s house and,
considering you are wanting callers to stay with you until
daylight, I’m not sure I’d consider you a nice girl.”

“You’re full of shit, Ryder Grayton
Abbott. I know you don’t date nice girls; hell, your business is
all over this town. Don’t think I don’t know about that little
hussy Lacey Whitfield being in the car with you that night. The
cops got there and she was still topless, drunk, and passed out.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not so old fashioned that I think you
should wait ‘til marriage. Hell, your granddaddy and me didn’t
wait, but I knew it was him; he was the one. Now there have been a
few gentlemen since then.”

I throw my hands up. “Damn, Nana, I
don’t want to know about your sex life.”

She grabs my arm. “Do you really think
I want to hear about yours every time I go to the beauty parlor?
Hmm. The latest conquest’s mama or grandmamma telling me how you’re
a male whore. Hmm?”

“I get it. I get it. I’m sorry if
you’ve been embarrassed by my craziness. I seem to be the failure
and disappointment in this family,” I say.

“You’re not an embarrassment or a
disappointment. I just wish you’d pull that beautiful head out of
your ass. As for being crazy, honey, this is the South; we’re all a
little crazy and we don’t hide it down here. We parade it around
and offer it a glass of sweet tea.”

I chuckle and sit back in my chair.
“Next time you’re down at the beauty parlor and those ladies start
talking, tell them if I weren’t so good at it, they wouldn’t be
talking about it.”

She pops me on the arm and we both
bust out laughing. “Damn you, boy.”

“I’m just telling the truth and you
know it.”

“Just like your granddaddy
was.”

“Awesome?” I ask.

“No. A cocky bastard. But I loved him
just like I love you.”

Chapter 5

Scarlet

The sun is setting when I walk into
Bay Street Blues Bar to talk to my brother. As I walk in, I’m
greeted by a couple of the regulars, as well as Dottie. She’s been
the bartender here for over twenty years. “Hey guys,” I
say.

Dottie smiles. “Hey, college girl. You
waitin’ on Gable?”

“Yes, ma’am. He asked me to meet him
here, said he needed to talk with me about something.”

“And I’m here,” Gable calls out as he
walks through the door.

I spin around. “Hey, big
brother.”

“Hey, kid. Come over here. I’ve got
some stuff to go over with you.”

“Okay.” I walk over and sit down at a
table. “Shoot. What’s going on? You’re kinda freakin’ me
out.”

“Well, a guy came in here and offered
my band the opportunity to go on a small tour with some other up
and coming groups. I’m going to be leaving for a little
while.”

I sigh. “How long is a little
while?”

“Six months. I’ll have a few days off
around Christmas and then go back to touring.”

“Six months? Gable, we’ve never been
apart from each other for more than a week. What am I going to
do?”

“Scar, you are going to be so busy
with school and work that you’ll hardly notice.”

“What did Dottie say?” I
ask.

“Well, she cussed a little but
overall, she’s happy. I’ve also talked with Mom about it and she’s
happy, too.”

I nod, fighting back tears. “So I
guess I was the one you were the most worried about?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be fine; don’t worry about
me.”

“Look at it this way. You’ll have full
access to the car while I’m gone and you’ll have more time to save
toward your own.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

He puts his hand on top of mine. “Hey,
you are going to be fine. Are you still planning on going to visit
Cade and Daria when their new baby gets here?”

“Yes. Daria keeps me
posted on her doctor appointments and stuff. It’ll probably be
around fall break in October
.”

“Is it strange how we hit it off with
Cade?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No, we have
something in common besides DNA. We both got screwed over by our
father.”

He nods. “True. Oh, I did want to say
that the guy who recruited us for the tour loved your
artwork.”

“Really. Wow, that’s kinda
cool.”

“Maybe if we hit it big, it’ll get
your name out there.”

“Yeah, that would be cool. So when are
you leaving?”

“The end of the week,” he
says.

“Damn, that’s soon.”

“I know it is kinda soon.
But I’ll be back before you know it. So have you found a job
yet?”

“Um, yeah. I’m going to be waiting
tables.”

“That’s cool. Where at? The Pirate
House or Moon River? Some place like that?” he asks.

“No, none of them had any openings.
I’m working just outside of town. Between here and Richmond
Hill.”

“What restaurants are between here and
Richmond Hill? There’s just bars.” He throws his hands up. “Wait,
no. You are not waiting tables in a dive bar.”

“It’s just until something at one of
the restaurants opens up. It’s one of the more decent bars. It’s
not like Swampy Tonk or anything. It’s called Silver Moon. It’s
clean and the bouncer walks all of us to our cars at night.” I’m
lying to Gable about how nice and clean the place is, but he’d shit
if he knew how dumpy it was.

“Just until something around here
opens up right?”

“Yes. I promise.”

He nods. “Okay, then. Just be careful.
I love you, kid. I don’t want to see anything happen to
you.”

“I know. I love you, too.” I give him
a big hug. “I’m going to miss you.”

~*~*~

The past week has flown
by. Gable left yesterday and now I’m getting ready for my first
night at my new job. Looking at myself in the mirror, I check out
the
little denim shorts and tight black t-shirt with
Silver Moon
strategically written across my chest. I’m not totally
excited about the uniform but it’s only temporary. I’ve got to find
something closer anyway.

An hour later, I walk into the bar and
Danny, the owner, looks at me. I feel his eyes roaming over my
body. I feel nauseous. “Looks like I did a good job picking out the
new waitress.”

The other bartender, Lana, slaps him
on the arm. “Shut up, Danny. You’ll freak her out and I’m not ready
to train another girl. She’s at least had some waitress
experience.” She puts her bar rag down. “Hey, Scarlet, how are you
doing? Don’t let this asshole worry you. He just owns the place; I
run it.”

“Okay. So how long before it picks up
in here?”

“A couple of hours. Tonight is quarter
draft night, so it’ll be crazy around here from eight to ten. Then
it’ll slack back off.”

I nod. “Okay.” I put my apron on
around my waist. “Just point me in the right direction.”

By nine-thirty, it’s
packed like sardines in this place. The smoke is so thick it feels
like I could cut it. As I lean over clearing off a table. I feel a
hand on my ass
.
“Hey, baby. I need another beer.”

I pull away. “Sure, that was a Miller
Lite, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Is there anything else y’all need?” I
ask.

“Not unless I can talk you into going
home with me tonight.”

“Sorry. I’m in a
relationship.”

“Aw, come on now, honey. He doesn’t
have to know.”

“Yeah, but I would.” I turn and walk
off to grab his beer. He needs to keep his damn hands off of me. If
I didn’t need this damn job, I would’ve punched that asshole. I get
his beer and walk back over to him. “All right. Here ya
go.”

He slaps me on the ass again, and then
grabs and squeezes it. “You sure you won’t cheat on that boyfriend
of yours?”

A deep voice comes from behind me. “I
don’t think her boyfriend would like that.” I spin around to see a
familiar face and he gives me a wink. “Hey, Scarlet, baby. Is your
shift about over?”

I smile. “No, hon, I have a couple of
hours left.”

“Okay, well, I’ll be over there
waiting on you.”

I look back down at the drunk and he
shakes his head. “Damn lucky son of a bitch.”

As I turn to walk away, he grabs my
hand again. “Hey, if you ever want a real man, let me
know.”

“Yeah. Thanks but no
thanks.”

Chapter 6

Ryder

I’ve been out at one of our farms all
day helping Judd’s dad work on some of the equipment, since Judd’s
not here. When I decided to stop in at Silver Moon to cool off and
grab a beer, she was the last person I expected to see. My pants
instantly tighten as I watch her move in those little shorts and
that top.