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CHAPTER 12
Cash
Dusk fell over the horizon as I stepped onto my porch and locked my door.
“Evenin’.” I nodded to Miss Shaw who was standing outside of her hair salon Pretty in Peach as I walked to my truck and adjusted the strap of my duffle bag on my shoulder.
“Evenin’.” She stopped sweeping and leaned against the broom in her hand as I loaded my bag into the back of my truck next to my fishing gear. “Where ya headed?”
“I’m headin’ up to see my mom.”
She clicked her tongue on the top of her mouth. “I still don’t know why she decided to move up north. It’s a cryin’ shame, if ya ask me. Lord knows anything she coulda ever needed is right here.”
Most people stayed in Firefly their entire lives. My mom was not one of those people. She was out of here within a month of my dad passing after a three-year battle with cancer. She hadn’t been back since.
I think that Firefly held too many memories for her. Some were good, but others weren’t.
“You know what I think, I think that Yankee got into her head.”
“That Yankee” was Mitch her new husband. He and my mother shared a whirlwind romance after meeting online in a support group for people with terminally ill spouses. His wife passed a year before my father had but people still referred to the situation as my mom shacking up with a married man. When the gossip made it up to where she lives, she said, “Well, I guess I am, but he’s my husband.”
I still felt guilty that I hadn’t been around when my dad was sick but thankfully Billy had stepped up. He’d made sure that she had everything she’d needed. He’d stopped by and visited damn near daily and checked on my old man. He’d brought groceries, and even set up times for her to get out of the house by sitting with my dad.
He’d been there for my family when I couldn’t be and he’d never asked for anything in return. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. He had asked for something. He’d asked for me to stay away from his sister. That was the only thing Billy had ever asked of me and I couldn’t even seem to do that.
Miss Shaw lifted her arm in exasperation. “First Billy and Reagan take off…”
They went on a honeymoon,I thought to myself.
“And now you and Cheyenne.”
“Cheyenne?” I stilled at the back of my truck.
I had no idea what she was talking about, but I could tell from her expression that she thought she had a juicy piece of gossip.
“I wasn’t born yesterday.” Her green eyes twinkled as she said, “You’re goin’ up to see your mama and she’s takin’ off on a road trip. Timin’ sure is convenient, that’s all I’m sayin’.”
I shook my head. “Why do you think that Cheyenne is going on a road trip?”
This was the first I was hearing about it.
Why would you have heard about it? You haven’t spoken to her in two weeks.
“She was in today so I could do a trial run on her, you know she’s gonna be my model for the hair show comin’ up. I noticed that she was on her phone lookin’ up routes to Nashville, but I didn’t say anything because you know me, I try to stay out of other folks’ business.”
Right.
“But then when I asked if she could come back in on Thursday for another session, she told me she was going out of town. I asked why, and she said she just decided to take a road trip.” Miss Shaw leaned forward and whispered. “But don’t you worry now, no one’s gonna hear about your road trip from me.” She winked as she mimed zipping her lips, locking, and throwing away the key.
“Miss Shaw, I don’t know anything about Cheyenne going to Nashville.”
“Sure ya don’t.” Her face scrunched indicating she was playing along with what I was saying.
“I don’t,” I assured her calmly.
“Right. And when I asked her if this road trip had anything to do with someone special, I’m sure it wasn’t you she was smiling about.”
It sure as fuck wasn’t.
