“I’d prefer not to. I apologize. I was trying not to bother you.”
“I’m pretty sure finding out who stabbed you and wrote hate mail to me wouldn’t be bothering me. And, while we’re at it, why do the police know nothing about the news report that says they have a suspect?”
“Because they didn’t have one…until now.”
“What?”
“It was a false report for about two hours. Now, it’s true.”
“Let me guess, you’re behind that, too.”
Shane pursed her lips, but didn’t say anything.
Haley shook her head. “How does he put up with you?”
“Funny, I asked Rich the same thing about you.”
Haley rolled her eyes and laughed as she walked out of the room. “Oh, for god’s sake. I’m going to shoot that old horse one day!” she yelled.
Shane got up and followed her path, finding Haley in the middle of the living room, watching Wilson eat the flowers that were growing in the pot on the pool deck. She couldn’t help laughing.
“Come on, let’s take him back over to the pasture,” Haley said, grabbing a carrot from the kitchen and walking towards the back door.
Shane followed reluctantly.
“Wilson, you’re a pain in the ass, you know that?” Haley called, walking out of the screened patio and onto the pool deck.
Spying the carrot, the large horse moseyed over to her and neighed loudly.
“Oh, you want this? Stop eating my damn flowers!”
“I’m not a horse whisperer, but I think you might want to try a different approach,” Shane muttered.
Haley looked at her with a raised brow, then she stepped onto the patio table, called the horse closer, enticing him with the carrot, before climbing onto his bare back. “You want to go for a ride?”
“Um…don’t you need a saddle?”
“He’s a hundred years old. I doubt he can walk fast enough, much less run. Come on, climb up behind me.”
“What will I hold on to?”
“Me, silly,” Haley laughed.
Great. I’m going to die. Shane sighed and mimicked the way Haley had gotten onto the horse.
“Come on, Wilson. Let’s go home!” Haley said, clicking her mouth and giving him a light kick with her heels. She grabbed his mane to steady herself and steer him as he began a slow trot back across the field.
Shane held onto Haley with one hand on either side of her waist. It felt good to be close to her, but at the same time, it was hell. They were sitting so close, their legs were touching, and her crotch was against Haley’s butt. She hadn’t meant to sit up against her, but the natural curvature of the animal’s back had put them in that position.
***
Haley wanted to wrap those warms arms completely around her waist and lean back into the body behind her as they rode slowly towards the large red barn. However, she knew better. With the case hopefully nearing its end, Shane would be leaving soon. There was no sense in complicating things any further. In fact, she was looking forward to getting her life back on track. With the threats gone, she could go back to normalcy. It was hard to remember what that even was anymore, the last couple of months had been such a hiatus.
“Wilson, you ol’ fool. I wondered where you’d gotten off to,” Marvin said, shaking his head. “Haley Jo, what in the world are you doing up there?” he snickered.
“I figured it serves him right for eating my flowers again.”
“I don’t reckon he’s learned his lesson. All he wants is that carrot you’re toting.” Marvin opened the door to the barn and led the horse over to a ladder. “Come on, Wilson. They have to get down.”
Shane climbed down first, then Haley followed.
“Deputy, it’s good to see you again,” he said, tipping his hat.
“You as well,” she replied.
Haley gave him a big hug.
“You might as well go see Emma Jean since you’re over here. She just finished a green apple pie. Believe me when I say you’ll want a slice.” He grinned.
Chapter 36
Shane’s fork grazed lightly against Haley’s as she went for another bite of their shared slice of pie. A thin grin spread across her face as Haley raised a brow in challenge over the last little bit. Emma Jean leaned against the counter, wiping her hands on a dishtowel with roosters printed on the front of it, while silently watching the exchange.
Intimacy was foreign to Haley, so witnessing how much she’d let Shane into her life, warmed Emma Jean’s heart. She wasn’t overly religious, but believed enough to say a silent prayer for God to keep Shane in Haley’s life.
Haley got up from the table and took their empty plate and forks to the sink as Shane’s cell phone rang. The curtains were open to a large window, allowing a full view of the acreage shared between the properties.
“You look like your momma with that sunlight on your face,” Emma Jean said, squeezing her hand. She’d seen her smile fade the moment Shane answered the call.
“I miss them both so much.”
“I know you do, honey.”
“We need to get back to your house. The detectives are back,” Shane said, standing and pushing her chair in. “Ms. Emma Jean, that was the best apple pie I’ve ever had,” she added with a smile.
“I believe you’re gonna make me swoon,” Emma Jean teased. “She’s a keeper,” she whispered to Haley as she hugged her.
Haley laughed softly.
***
“I didn’t expect to see you back so soon,” Shane said, stepping into the living room.
Both of the detectives sat on one couch, and Dennis was across from them on the other.
“Do either you know this man?” Detective Kenny asked, showing Shane and Haley a picture of a white male in his late fifties.
“He looks familiar. Was he on the list I gave you?” Shane asked.
“I don’t know,” Haley said, shaking her head. “I’ve signed thousands of autographs.”
“His name is Roger Dowell. He was the pastor at Lord and Savior Church, not far from here.”
Haley’s shoulders sank. “I know that church…and him,” she mumbled as memories of her mother’s passing came flooding back to her.
“I’m afraid he was found dead this morning of an apparent suicide,” Detective Hill stated.
“Oh my God, that’s horrible,” Haley gasped.
“There’s more,” Detective Kenny added. “He was hanging above the altar with his bible opened to James Chapter 4. Two lines were underlined in red. ‘So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin,’ and ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ We also found other evidence that I am not at liberty to discuss because it is still an open investigation, but it appears Mr. Dowell was your letter writer. I’m fairly sure he was your attacker as well,” he added, looking at Shane.
“I…” Haley held her hand to her chest. “I don’t know what to say. Excuse me.”
Shane watched her wipe away tears as she left the room.
“You’re certain this was him?” Shane asked.
Detective Kenny nodded.
“Coward,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“We should have our investigation completed by the end of the week at the latest. I may need to speak with you again. Will you be here…or?”
“Uh…no. Since he’s…I guess my work here is done.” She looked at Dennis and cleared her throat. “I’ll be heading back to Memphis.”
“Okay, well we have your contact information. Like I said, it’s pretty cut and dry. I’ll send you a final report once the case is closed.”
“Thank you,” she said, walking him out. “It’s over,” she mumbled to Dennis after shutting the door.
“Yep,” he sighed. “Do you want me to book you on a flight with me?”
“No. My car is here. I’ll need to drive it back.”
>
“We can ship it if you want.”
Shane shook her head. “I’ll be fine. It’s not that bad of a drive.”
“Okay.”
“You know, you can ride back with me, if you want.”
“I’m going to try to leave tonight. I need to get back to the office.”
She nodded. “I’ll be on the road first thing in the morning.”
“You did a lot of good here. This case…”
“It was something else,” she said.
“Yeah it was.” He held out his hand, which she shook. “I guess I owe you a bonus now.”
“Big…huge…break the bank,” she replied with a grin.
He laughed as he started up the stairs.
“Hey, Dennis. I’m driving back to Memphis, but I have to catch a flight to Phoenix right after.”
“I figured.” He nodded. “Are you coming back?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Fair enough,” he said, continuing up to his room.
***
Haley came out of her room to say goodbye to Dennis when he left two hours later. She thanked him for everything and gave him a genuine hug, promising to give him tickets if she ever played in Memphis. Then, she walked into the den.
“My mother was the piano player for Lord and Savior,” she began as she sat down on the comfortably worn couch.
Shane sat beside her.
“She spent every morning there, rehearsing with choir, or just playing music. She went to service on Wednesday evenings, then was back again on Sunday. The church made her feel at peace. She loved my father with everything she had, and called me her gift from God. She often told him God was the only other man she’d ever let into her heart,” she said as she began to lose a few tears. “He wasn’t a religious man, but we went with her on Sundays, at least when I was little. He stopped going when work on the cattle ranch became too much for him to take off. When he stopped, so did I. He said, ‘You’re old enough to decide on your own.’ I was maybe ten. I still went with her in the mornings that I didn’t have school, once my chores were done, of course. That’s when we sat and played the piano together for hours. By then, Deacon Randy had become Pastor Randy. I remember him always being around when we were there, sort of hovering nearby, pretending to be working. I’m pretty sure he was in love with her. He may have even told her so, because she cut back to just working with the choir when I became a teenager.”
Haley paused, staring off into space like she was in another place. Shane moved to grab her hand, but refrained herself as she continued.
“I remember walking in on them arguing one Wednesday evening. He was going on and on about my singing at the Hillbilly. I was probably thirteen at the time. Anyway, a year and a half later, she got sick with cancer and died six months later.”
“I’m so sorry,” Shane said.
“Thank you. My father and I didn’t know what to do. He began working sun up to sun down seven days a week. I turned to the church, in particular, Pastor Randy, for help with my grief. That place was such a huge part of her life, I thought if I let it surround me, I might feel closer to her. But, after a week of going there every day, I told Pastor Randy that I thought I might be gay. I should’ve just went to my dad, but he was so lost, I wasn’t sure how he’d take it. Pastor Randy preached at me for over an hour about how much of an abomination I was and so on. I knew my mother would not have felt that way. Instead of helping me grieve and find myself, so to speak, he pushed me away from the only thing I had left of her. The light that my mother shined on that place went dark that day. I never went back,” Haley sighed and shook her head as she wiped the wet tears from her cheek. “My father had a pulmonary embolism while out on the ranch a year later. He’d had minor surgery on his knee two weeks before and wasn’t supposed to be working. We were able to get him to the hospital, but it had been serious enough to cause cardiac arrest, and he’d gone several minutes without blood or oxygen to his brain. After he’d been in a coma for a week, I begged Emma Jean and Marvin to pull the plug. I was about to turn sixteen, but still too young to make the decision on his life. I knew my father wouldn’t want to live that way. He was better off going to my mother. I knew that’s where he wanted to be. He loved me with everything he had, but she was his soul mate. Anyway, I held his hand while they turned off the machine, the same way he and I held hers as she took her last breath. Emma Jean and Marvin got me through the rest of high school and then college. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
Shane gave in and grabbed her hand. Words weren’t enough in that moment, even if she could find the ones she was searching for. She had no idea what that kind of grief was like. Both of her parents were alive and well, and probably sitting at the country club in that exact moment. Her heart broke for Haley and everything she’d been through. The fact that the very same pastor who adored her mother, shunned her, then tried to kill her, simply blew Shane’s mind.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dump all of that on you.” Her eyes met Shane’s sincerely as her lips formed a thin smile that quickly faded away.
“It’s okay.”
“I’m still in shock,” she muttered, shaking her head and squeezing her hand before letting go of it.
“I can’t imagine how you must feel.”
“Angry. People of the church are supposed to be the savior, the only true person you can trust, but time and time again they fail the world. It’s sad, really. And, I’m angry that he had the audacity to come after me because he was a hypocritical, hateful piece of shit. If the coward wasn’t already dead, I’m pretty sure I’d kill him myself!”
“I can’t fault you there, and I don’t think anyone else would either. He deserved a lot more than he got. That’s for sure.”
“If he didn’t go to Hell, my father has a boot on his neck right about now. That, I can guarantee.”
Shane watched her smile once more, a little more sincerely this time.
“Anyway, I guess you have some packing to do,” Haley said, looking at her.
“Yeah.” Shane nodded.
“I’m sure Rich will be calling with news from the label about the tour before the sun rises in the morning, if not sooner.”
“No rest for the weary?” Shane mumbled.
“More like no rest for the wicked.” Haley grinned and patted her knee as she stood up.
Shane watched her walk down the hall towards the music room, before heading up the stairs to pack her suitcase.
Chapter 37
Haley sat at her piano wearing a worn Aerosmith t-shirt and an old pair of jeans, her fingers barely touching the ivory keys as she stared motionless. Thoughts of Shane and their time together over the past two months, rolled around in her head. She remembered her body feeling like it was on fire when Shane’s foggy gray eyes traced a lazy path from her feet up to her head. She’d wanted to kiss her and slap her at the same time in that moment, as well as many others as the days and weeks passed. They’d shared so little with each other, yet so much of each other.
As her finger began softly playing a familiar melody, Haley found herself drowning in the lyrics of Hallelujah as she casually sang. She had no idea why, but in that moment, those words were everything she felt. It was love. It was hate. It was sadness. It was…the end. And it hurt like hell.
Feeling a presence, Haley opened her eyes. Shane was standing next to the piano. Her fingers slipped off the keys, her hands landing in her lap. She’d been too enthralled in the emotional rollercoaster the song had sent her on, to notice the few tears that had streaked her cheek.
***
Shane didn’t have to go down the stairs to hear Haley. The melody of the piano mixed with her sultry, twanging voice, filled the house. She set her fully packed bag on the floor next to the bed and padded quietly down to the first level, stopping just outside the open door to the music room. She’d never heard Haley sound so raw…almost vulnerable. It took her bre
ath away. Realizing it was tears in her voice, Shane leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. Her heart broke for the woman in the other room and the pain she kept buried deep inside. Shane couldn’t help feeling responsible for some of it.
When the last hallelujah faded away to nothing but soft piano strokes, Shane rose to her feet and walked into the room.
“Come with me,” she said, holding her hand out to Haley.
Haley cleared her throat and stood up, taking her hand. “Where are we going?”
“For a drive.”
Unsure of what was going on, Haley simply nodded. She’d been on an emotional whirlwind for the past twenty-four hours. Getting out of the house and clearing her mind sounded like a wonderful idea.
***
Shane’s classic Corvette purred like a caged tiger when she started the engine. She revved it a few times to clear out the carburetor since it had been sitting for a few weeks. Then, she shifted into reverse and eased it out of the garage.
With the top down, Haley was able to enjoy the late afternoon rays of sunlight warming her skin. She breathed in the fresh, woodland air as they drove down the driveway and out onto the main road.
It didn’t take Shane long to open the throttle on the muscle car, sending them careening down the two-lane road as she shifted through the gears. She’d missed the roar of the engine and the wind on her face. She grinned when she caught a glimpse of Haley smiling from ear to ear like a little kid.
“This thing hauls ass,” Haley said.
“What?” Shane questioned, turning down the rock n’ roll song that was blaring on the radio.
“This thing hauls ass!” Haley exclaimed, just before she threw her arms up and screamed like she was on a rollercoaster ride.
Shane laughed.
Great White’s song Once Bitten Twice Shy came on the radio and Haley reached over, turning the volume back up as she sang along.
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