Justified

by Jay Crownover

  “This is fancy punch,” Casey said. “It’s got sherbet in it.”

  He brought the tiny crystal cup up to his lips, holding up his pinky as he did so, and took a dainty sip. And then he suddenly jerked forward, spilling the rest all over his tie.

  A little boy had grabbed his arm. “Casey!”

  Casey remained completely calm. “Hey, there, Dalton.”

  A woman was right behind the child, apologizing. “I’m so sorry. Dalton, get down.”

  Jessica smiled at Dalton, and when he smiled back, she realized she was looking into a little face that shone just as bright as Hope’s. Like Hope, the child had Down syndrome.

  “I hate this tie,” Casey said. “He did me a favor.”

  Then he picked Dalton up and set him on his lap. “Marissa, do you remember Jessica?”

  “Marissa Mayes?” Jessica asked. “Oh my goodness! Hi!”

  “Of course I remember!” Marissa squealed. “I recognized you as soon as you walked into the chapel. And I’m Marissa Reed now. I married Bobby.”

  Bobby Reed had been the high school quarterback, and Marissa had been a cheerleader with Jessica. It warmed her heart to know they’d gotten married and were still together. “How is Bobby?”

  “He’s doing great. Wait until he hears you’re back in town!”

  Jessica wasn’t going to be around long enough to socialize, but she didn’t bother saying so. It would be nice, though, to catch up with old friends.

  “Is Dalton yours?”

  “Sure is,” Marissa said proudly.

  “He’s a handsome young man,” Jessica said, and Marissa beamed even more.

  “What brings you to Big V?” Marissa asked. “Surely not Miss Mavis’s funeral?”

  Casey looked at Jessica intently, as if that was the burning question of the day.

  “I’m here for the funeral,” Jessica said simply, knowing that her answer only added to the confusion.

  As she looked at Marissa’s curious face, ten million different stories suddenly crashed into her brain—fun stories—and surprisingly, she wanted to rehash them all. Remember that time we toilet-papered Coach Reiner’s house? Remember when I helped you sneak into Bobby’s bedroom window but we picked the wrong one and you ended up staring at his mom in her nightgown?

  “JD!” Marissa shouted, earning glares from a nearby table of elderlies. “JD, come see who’s here!”

  Marissa’s older brother, JD Mayes, strolled through the crowd with his plate of jiggly food. And even though they were indoors, he wore his signature white Stetson. Some things never changed.

  JD’s eyes widened at the sight of her. “Jess!”

  He rushed over and gave her a warm hug.

  Hubba-hubba. The cowboy still had it. He’d taken Jessica for many spins around the dance floor back in the day. They’d even held hands once in the movie theater. But that was as far as it had gone, because Jessica had only had eyes for one cowboy: Casey Long.

  * * *

  It felt like a high school reunion, watching JD, Marissa, and Jessica talk about old times. Casey couldn’t help but grin. Jessica had been a good student—class valedictorian—and a cheerleader. Casey had been more of a troublemaker. Only two things had mattered to him: Jess and bull riding. Other than that, it had been all speeding tickets, underage drinking, disrespect for authority (he still had that issue if the authority hadn’t earned it), and a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas. His crooked uncle had taken care of the speeding tickets and the underage drinking—all fixed with a wave of the magic Long wand. But the only thing that could get him to say yes, sir or no, ma’am to assholes was the threat of not being able to rodeo.

  Jess had seen something in him that no one else had. She’d gotten him to pay more attention to his grades, even though he hadn’t planned on going to college. He’d wanted to make her proud; to be the kind of boy she wouldn’t be ashamed of. She’d been an angel, and as he listened to her chat with Dalton about his toy tractors, he figured she probably still was.

  “Hey, Earth to Casey,” JD said, giving him an elbow.

  He’d been daydreaming. “Sorry. What was that?”

  “I just told Jess about the charity rodeo tomorrow. She says she can’t make it, but I think all she needs is a little encouragement. Dalton, here, is doing his part…”

  Dalton put his hands together like he was praying, and with his tongue poking out from where his two front teeth should be, he said, “Pwease.”

  Jess laughed, and it flowed through Casey’s chest like a bubbling brook.

  Anything that would keep Jess in Big Verde longer was a good thing. He was dying to question her, to find out why she and her mom had left Big Verde in such haste. Had her mother hated him that much? “Yeah, you should come to the rodeo, Jess. JD and I are competing in the team roping—”

  “Wait,” Jess interrupted. “On the same team?”

  JD laughed. “Yeah, we’re the current Tri-County champs, believe it, or not.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Jess said.

  Casey was pretty sure that the last time Jess had seen him and JD together, JD had had him in a headlock while Mr. Preston, the principal, had been shouting at them to break it up.

  “We kick ass,” Casey said. JD gave him a fist bump, and then Dalton insisted on fist bumping everyone within his immediate reach while muttering kick ass.

  “Thanks so much,” Marissa said with an eye roll.

  JD gave a small salute with a wink.

  “You don’t ride bulls anymore?” Jessica asked.

  Casey flinched. Painful subject. “I suffered an injury a while back.”

  Exactly twelve years ago when I got on a bull not caring whether I lived or died because the girl I loved left without saying a word.

  “Damn near died,” JD said.

  Jessica’s eyes widened, and she reached out with her hand to…touch his face? He wouldn’t know, because she yanked it back just as quickly. His skin yearned for the feel of her fingertips, and he fought the urge to lean toward her.

  “But you’re okay, now, right?”

  His brain struggled to make out what she’d said. JD lifted the brim of his hat and raised an eyebrow in question. Are you going to answer her?

  Casey cleared his throat. “Yeah. My back kinks up occasionally. I just don’t care to be thrown and rolled by a fifteen-hundred-pound asshole bull again. Broke a few bones.”

  Seven, to be exact.

  “Asshole bull!” Dalton shouted with glee.

  “Dalton, that’s football talk. We don’t say asshole unless there’s a game’s on,” Marissa chided.

  “Hey, Dalton, why don’t you tell Jess about Hope House? Maybe she’ll want to come to the rodeo if you do.”

  Jessica’s head snapped up, eyes wide as saucers. “Hope House? What’s that?”

  Why did Jess look so curious? Or was it sad? Or maybe it was happy. Her mercurial eyes seemed to display every single emotion on the spectrum.

  “Hope House is fun,” Dalton said.

  “It’s a place where special kids and adults get to hang out,” Casey said. “They do all sorts of stuff. They train for the Special Olympics, and we even teach a few of them how to rodeo.”

  “Dalton is a mutton buster,” Marissa said, referring to the children’s rodeo activity of clinging to the back of a running sheep like your life depended on it.

  “Who started Hope House?” Jess asked.

  “Aunt Mavis,” Casey said. “It’s one of the reasons so many folks have turned out to honor her. She was a great woman. Gruff on the outside, maybe, but a heart of gold.”

  Chapter Five

  The lobby of the Village Château was cool and calm. The heavy dark furniture Jessica remembered from the last time she’d been here—the graduation party thrown for Casey by the Longs—was gone. Now it was muted neutral tones and local Hill Country art.

  She took the stairs to the second floor where their suite was. With the exception of the grand ballroom, wh
ich still sported thick, brocade carpeting, sparkling chandeliers, and a gigantic, ornate fireplace, the general air of the establishment was way less formal. It was really nice. Comfortable. And the aromas wafting up from the Château’s restaurant were divine. Her stomach growled. Gelatin salads could carry a girl only so far.

  She walked down the hall to room 204 and started to insert her key. But the door jerked open before she had a chance.

  “I got my head under the water,” Hope squealed. Then she threw her arms around Jessica.

  “Good for you! See? I told you it was no big deal.”

  With Hope attached, Jessica entered the room to find Carmen lying on the bed, blue hair still wet, looking utterly exhausted. “Oh, it was a big deal, all right,” Carmen said.

  “And I went down the slide!” Hope said. “I went all the way under.”

  Hope had an irrational fear of getting her face wet. Ride a roller coaster? No problem. Trampoline? You bet. Blow bubbles in the water? Not so much. So, this was big news.

  “Maybe I should let Carmen take you swimming more often.”

  Carmen lifted her head. “Maybe Carmen wouldn’t survive that.”

  Ha! Carmen could look as pitiful as she wanted, but she and Hope were thick as thieves. They both loved to cook. They both loved to eat. And they neither one cared what anybody thought.

  “Hey,” Jessica said, sitting on the bed. “Thanks. You know there aren’t many people I trust to watch Hope. In fact, I think there might just be, you know, the one people.”

  Carmen grinned slightly and narrowed her eyes. “Yeah. You owe me.”

  There was no way to get a smooshy you’re welcome out of Carmen. Her real-life persona was pretty much the same as her television one. In your face. Loud. Colorful. And though she minced garlic at vision-blurring speed, she did not mince words.

  Hope faked a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Carmen’s tired and cranky.”

  “I’m not the only one,” Carmen replied. “Why don’t you go watch some more television and relax?”

  “You’re trying to get rid of me,” Hope said.

  Jessica laughed. Woe to the person who underestimated Hope because of her Down syndrome.

  “You’re right. I am. Your sister and I need to talk.”

  “But you’ve been talking,” Hope whined.

  “Retreat to the dungeon,” Carmen ordered. “We’ll get dinner in an hour.”

  Hope clapped her hands and smacked her lips. “Yum. Can we eat in the room?”

  “You bet.”

  Hope happily went into the other room and closed the door.

  “You were gone longer than expected,” Carmen said.

  “I went to the reception after the funeral.”

  Carmen sat up. “You did?”

  “Yeah. It was kind of fun.”

  “That’s what they say about funerals. Fun times.”

  “It’s just that I saw some old friends. It was nice.”

  “That’s a little more normal.”

  Normal. What was that supposed to feel like? She hadn’t felt “normal” since learning her mom was undocumented. It had turned her world upside down. There’d been no stability or security after that. Of course, there’d never been any, but she hadn’t known it. After learning the truth, she’d lived in fear of a traffic ticket or auto accident. Of literally anything and everything that could end up separating their family. And that included sharing their secret with anyone. So, they hadn’t.

  Except for Mavis.

  Now that her mom was dead, there was no longer anything to fear. But living without a noose around your neck was hard to get used to. The noose felt…loosened. Not gone. That was why she hadn’t been able to leave Hope back in Houston, even though Carmen could have taken just as good care of her there.

  If at all possible, Hope went where Jessica went.

  “I saw Casey,” she whispered.

  Carmen’s eyes widened. She smirked, like a blue-haired elf. “Did you talk to him?”

  “Yes. Quite a bit, actually. He’s the sheriff now.”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “No, he really is. He pulled me over for running a red light. Did you know you don’t have proof of insurance in your car?”

  Carmen rolled her eyes. “How long has it been since you’ve been laid?”

  “Carmen!”

  “Well?”

  Jessica went to the window. The lagoon-shaped pool, complete with slide and waterfall, brought back the memory of Casey’s graduation party. It had been a luau theme, and the pool hadn’t been so fancy. Just a plain rectangular lap pool. But to Jessica, a kid who’d grown up swimming in the Rio Verde, it had seemed magical and romantic. There had been floating candles and little paper boats, and then afterward, she and Casey had…

  It had been too long since she’d been laid.

  Carmen joined her at the window. “So that’s where the magic happened, huh? By the pool?”

  “Well, not right by the pool,” Jessica said. She pointed to the right, where a fire pit blazed. “There used to be a thick clump of palm trees. Casey had laid out a blanket.” The blush crept in. “We had a bottle of champagne he’d lifted from the Château’s restaurant.”

  She’d never tasted champagne before. The bubbles had made her sneeze.

  “That’s so romantic.” Carmen sighed. Then she grinned. “But was the sex awful? The first time is usually nothing to write home about.”

  A couple sat down on the lounge in front of the fire pit and snuggled.

  “No, it was actually nice. I mean, I didn’t have a mind-blowing orgasm. Or any orgasm. I doubt I even knew what one was. But Casey was sweet and took his time…”

  Her voice faded as the memory took over. Casey had more than taken his time. He’d explored her body with intense curiosity and a blush-rendering thoroughness. All of the things that had been only hinted at during make-out sessions on the couch or in the back row of the movie theater had come to fruition.

  Later, as they’d lain in the shadows of the palms in the moonlight, he’d confessed it had been his first time. And that he loved her.

  Jess, you’re my first. And I want you to be my last. Promise we’ll be together forever.

  She’d promised.

  She turned away from the window. It was time to let it go. She’d paid her respects to Mavis. She’d seen a few friends, and it had been pleasant. Now she just had to lie low at the Château—harder than if they’d stayed at the Big Verde Motor Inn—and visit the lawyer on Monday.

  “Are you going to see him again?” Carmen asked.

  “I don’t think so. I went into the ladies’ room, and when I came out, people said he’d taken off. Something about cattle being loose on the highway.”

  “Lame,” Carmen said.

  “Well, not really,” Jessica said, feeling suddenly defensive. “That’s actually a dangerous situation.”

  Carmen snorted. “If you say so.”

  Jessica had been bitterly disappointed by Casey’s hasty departure. There was so much she’d wanted to ask him, but what would be the point? It was probably best to hide out the rest of the weekend.

  As if reading her mind, Carmen said, “So are we allowed to leave the premises of the hotel this weekend? Or are we trapped here while you hide from Sheriff Long?”

  “Which Sheriff Long would you be referring to?” Jessica asked. “The Sheriff Long who pulled me over this morning? Or the former Sheriff Long who happens to be Hope’s daddy? Because I’m hiding from them both.”

  “Sheriff Long is my daddy?”

  Carmen gasped. Jessica’s throat closed up. They both turned to face Hope, who stood in the doorway. How long had she been there?

  * * *

  Casey sat on a fancy chair that was too small for his large frame and stared into his beer. He was dazed. The clinking plates, laughter, and conversations around him were muted, as if he wore earmuffs.

  One funeral reception should have been enough. But now he had to suffer
through a private family gathering at the Village Château. Mavis would have hated all the fuss.

  Someone poked him in the arm. “You all right, pardner?”

  JD gazed at him with concern.

  “I’m just sad about Aunt Mavis,” Casey said, but really, he was completely distracted with thoughts of Jessica. He’d had to leave the fellowship hall without even saying good-bye, much less getting any answers.

  “Liar,” JD said.

  “Pardon?”

  “It’s not Mavis you’re missing.”

  “Why are you even here? This is a private gathering for family only,” Casey said. “And I am sad about Mavis.”

  “I know you are. But that’s not why you’re moping around. And I think we’re related in some way or other.”

  He was not moping. Although seeing as how he was crammed into this chair in a corner, staring out the window with a warm beer in one hand and a plate of untouched food in the other, he could see how a fella might think he was.

  Dammit. It had been twelve years. He should be over this teenage shit by now. But seeing Jess had brought on a rush of emotions he couldn’t quite sort out. They’d talked about getting married, for Christ’s sake. She’d just needed to get her mama to come around. Then they were going to live happily ever after. Stupid teenage stuff.

  But it had seemed real.

  He took a sip of beer but had trouble getting it to go down.

  “Unless there are two red Porsches in Big Verde, she’s right here at the Village Château,” JD said.

  Casey’s heart sped up. “Are you sure? I figured she’d gone back to Houston right after the funeral.”

  “I didn’t hear her say she was going to do that,” JD said. “I heard you ask her if she was sticking around long, and she said she wasn’t. That’s pretty vague. Maybe she’s heading back tomorrow.”

  Casey’s heart started pounding again. Like nearly out of his chest.

  “I think I’ll head to the bar for a drink,” he said.

  You could see the lobby of the hotel from the restaurant’s bar. She’d have to come down eventually, even if it was tomorrow morning…

  “There’s an open bar right here,” JD said with a grin, nodding at the bartender doling out booze in the corner of the room. “But you go do whatever it is you’ve got to do.”