by Lilly Wilde
Jimmy steps in front of me, blocking my path. “Let ’em be, Branch. Just let ’em be.”
I pull my gaze from my parents and glare at Jimmy. “So all of a sudden you’re Team Curtis and Mary?”
“Haven’t I always looked out for you? Why would I stop now?”
“Then why are you encouraging this?” I ask, gesturing toward my parents. “What are you doing?”
“Still looking out for you,” he replies, his voice filled with empathy and understanding. “You may not see that right now, but in time you will.”
Jimmy’s girls and their friends take the short jump from the dock to the boat, and Jimmy and I move out of earshot toward the cabin.
“Jimmy, I’m barely processing what I’ve learned already. What’s next? How much more shit will I have to put up with?” I ask, in a hushed tone.
“Curtis came to me after you and I talked.”
I exhale a sigh and shove my fingers through my hair. “Oh, yeah? And what load of bull did he dump on you this time?”
“In a nutshell, he told me he still loves Mary.”
I fall quiet, restraining the ire and staring at the lake, watching as a smaller boat sails past us. “He’s a fucking liar and a cheater. Why would you believe a word that comes out of his mouth?”
Jimmy leans in and whispers, “The man was in tears, Branch. And I ain’t talking about the random tear down a cheek. He was full-out crying.”
I turn back to face Jimmy. “Why now? Why not way back then when we needed him? Regardless of how much shit Mama put him through. Why give up on someone you love as much as he claims to love Mama? And don’t get me started on her.” I shake my head, disgusted by Mama’s behavior. “She made my dad public enemy number one for over half my life and now she goes and pulls this shit. Did I tell you that she slapped me? She fucking slapped me because I called Dad out on his bullshit!”
“Branch, we both know they’ve made some mistakes they can’t come back from, but it looks like they’re finally trying to get their acts together. No one said it was gonna be easy, but to fight whatever they’re trying to fix only makes it that much harder on you. I thought you got that. I thought you’d decided to be the bigger person.”
“Fuck that. I’m tired of being the bigger person. Mama has relied on me for everything. Every fucking thing. Do you have any idea what that does to a kid?” I ask, the anger already taking hold of me. “Or how it fucks with my head even now? I’m the one who’s been here for years, but dear old Dad swoops in for one day and she’s on her back and then slapping the shit out of me for demanding he have more respect for her than that. She always said it was me and her against the world. Me and her! But she throws all those years out the window in one afternoon for some dick she’s basically sharing with her best friend.”
Jimmy shakes his head, his brown eyes revealing that same depth of compassion he’s displayed over the years for the scorned boy who’s become a man. “Branch, I know you’re pissed and I know it’s tearing you up inside, but don’t say things like that about your parents.”
“You know what? Fuck this. I’m outta here.” I turn on a heel to abandon ship but come face-to-face with Ragan and Cecelia. What the hell are they doing here?
I whip around at Jimmy. “What are you trying to do to me, man?”
Jimmy holds up his hands in defense. “Take it up with the wife. She thought it would be good to get the girls together again. Tess liked playing with Cecelia, but Loretta doubted Ragan would let her come alone.”
Not wanting to step toward my parents, Jimmy, or Ragan, I feel that burn again, as if my insides are about to explode. I need to get the hell away from all of them. Before I make a step either way, Ragan’s little girl is running toward me. She comes to a stop and tugs at my pant leg. I look down at her. The flames that swept through me are somehow instantly smothered by the innocence of her smile.
I reach down and lift her into my arms. “Hey, pretty girl.”
“Hi, Branch,” she says and extends her arms around my neck.
“Are you here for more ice cream?” I whisper.
She pulls back and looks at me, her head bobbing up and down.
“Come on, CeeCee,” Tess yells.
Cecelia pushes away from me, a signal for me to release her. And I comply. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she and Tess are off, squealing and laughing.
Jimmy tips his head toward Ragan. “Glad you could make it.”
“Me too. It’s an unseasonably nice day.”
“You know what they say about Georgia weather,” he says, looking over Ragan’s head. “I need to go help the wife.” He’s gone before either of us can reply.
“And then there were two,” I say and step closer to Ragan.
“Hey, Branch,” she says, her voice meek, almost bashful, and so unlike the Ragan I’m accustomed to.
“Sup, sugar.”
“Sorry about the other night,” she says, shaking her head. “I was dealing with… some crap from my past.”
I shrug. “Happens to the best of us.” I glance at my parents and grit my teeth.
“And I just wanted to say thanks for the—”
“Don’t mention it,” I say, looking down at her, knowing she’s referring to my tip.
Her lips part to say more, but I cut her off again when I see Christina. “Hey, I’ll catch up with you later,” I say and leave her standing alone.
“Why is Mama here?” I ask, grasping Christina’s arm, pulling her away from the others.
When she meets the anger in my expression, her smile fades. “I didn’t know it would be a problem. Mary said Jimmy was like family to you.”
“And because of that, you didn’t think to run this by me?”
“I… uh,” she starts, confusion crossing her face. “I’ve taken Mary out before, so I figured this was okay.”
“I don’t pay you to figure out shit. I pay you to do as you’re told. Shit like this, I need to know about—you got it?”
“I’m sorry. I haven’t seen Mary this excited in, well, ever. And I thought a day on the lake would be good for her.” Her voice drops to a low whisper. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Fuck. She looks scared shitless. I exhale a sigh and attempt to suppress what’s still trying to build. “It’s all right. But anything other than medical visits or errands, run it by me first. At least while I’m here.”
“While you’re here? So you’re getting ready to leave Blue Ridge?” she asks, not bothering to hide the disappointment in her voice. “I was hoping for a chance to get to know you better.”
Get to know me better? Ha, that’s code for please, fuck me. My eyes roam over her tight little body. As usual, she doesn’t disappoint. She’s wearing a low-cut V-neck T-shirt that outlines the curves of her breasts and painted-on skinny jeans. And by painted on, I mean form-fitting ripped jeans that expose so much skin, you can’t help but want to rip away the remainder of the denim to get to what’s underneath. My gaze shifts to the cloth that barely covers her tits and I watch as her nipples tighten into pebbles. Why haven’t I fucked her yet? Because it’s too close to home, Branch. Too close to what matters most. But hell, why should I give a fuck now? I nearly smile when I think about Mama’s request that I keep Little Branch away from Christina. But then I remember that my Mama and I are not my Mama and I anymore. So it looks like little Miss Christina is about to get a very large Branch.
I lean in close and whisper, “I won’t be gentle.”
“Who says I want you to be?” she challenges, stepping closer to me.
Before I respond, I hear the laughter of the one guy who will make a day with Curtis and Mary almost bearable. And he isn’t alone. My boys!
“Is this why you’ve been ignoring our calls?” Matt asks, moving his eyes appreciatively over Christina. “I’m Matt.” He reaches for her hand and places it to his lips with a kiss.
“Don’t be an ass,” I say and disconnect their hands. After introducing the guys to Chris
tina, we grab some beers, head to the upper deck, and flip on the music.
“Isn’t that the waitress from that diner you can’t seem to stay away from?” Matt asks when he spots Ragan.
“Yeah, that’s her,” I say. “Why?”
“I don’t know how I didn’t notice before, but she’s pretty hot.” He takes a sip of his beer.
“Oh, yeah?” I ask, attempting nonchalance.
“Hell, yeah,” he says and makes a step in her direction.
My hand clutches his shoulder, holding him in place. “Stay away from her.” The words come out as a warning, escaping my lips before I know it.
Matt eyes me, and I know he senses something is off, but I also know he won’t challenge me. “No problem, bro.”
Throughout the day, I barely acknowledge Ragan, but our eyes meet enough to carry on a conversation that should happen but never does. I catch her watching me with Christina, who conveniently fell into my lap on more than one occasion. And I catch her watching me fuck off with the fellas, but she doesn’t approach me, nor do I go to her.
As the sun lowers on the horizon, the boat U-turns and the under-deck lighting flips on, illuminating the dark water with a blueish glow while the pontoon’s interior is brightened by the iridescent bulbs that hang overhead. Their dim firefly lights seem to deepen the pulse of the music traveling over the speaker system.
By now, the slow burn incited by Curtis and Mary is fleeting. It’s the alcohol. I’ve had more than my share but still I indulge. As my beer tally rises, my better judgment moves to the recesses of my mind, and my attention is diverted from Christina to Ragan and back to Christina again.
She keeps a watchful eye on Mama while still doing her best to keep me on a string, making it clear to anyone who gets too close that she’s the evening’s conquest. I find it amusing that she thinks she actually has it like that, but I don’t object. I let her have her fun. But Ragan watches that, too. I read women well enough to recognize the eye of jealousy, so I know she doesn’t like what she sees.
I slide Christina from my lap and head down to the lower deck for more beer. I hit the last step, and one of the two people I’d managed to avoid till now is standing in front of me. My first instinct is to punch him square in the face.
“I’m sorry,” Dad says, his words catching me off guard.
I don’t reply. I can’t. My focus is on not letting him get another rise out of me.
“I know you’ve gotten my messages. How long are you going to avoid me?”
“For as long as you were out of my life. And that doesn’t even begin to make us even.”
“Can I have a few minutes?” he asks.
“We have nothing to talk about.”
“I’ve come so close to having you back in my life. Please, son.”
Looks as if I’m gonna join Mama and Dad on that trip to Crazyville, because I actually want to hear what he thinks he can possibly say to make any of this shit right. Opening the door to the cabin, I step inside and he follows.
I lean against the wet bar with my legs and arms crossed. “So talk.”
“I know everything is a mess, but I’m taking steps to set things right,” he says, in a rush.
“Like what? Fucking one desperate woman instead of two?”
“Branch, don’t,” he starts and takes a deep breath, obviously forcing himself to ignore my jab. “I want to be with your mother.”
“What about Charlene?”
He shakes his head and lets out a sigh. “That relationship.” He shakes his head again. “It never should have happened.”
“But it did. Of all the women, why her? Why Mama’s best friend?”
“It wasn’t planned if that’s what you’re thinking. That day when Mary had pushed my last button, I was sitting in the driveway trying to come up with something I hadn’t already tried that would get through to her. Sometime later, Charlene pulled up, saw me in the car, got in, and we started talking. She told me if I wanted her couch for a couple of nights, it was mine. Those couple of nights became a week, and that’s when she offered her spare room. And I took it. Figured it would give me some time to sort stuff out. Let Mary cool off.”
“How did that work out for you?” I ask, knowing full well it didn’t.
“You know Mary. Once she gets something in her head, she runs with it. When a neighbor told her I was living with Charlene, Mary did a little recon of her own. But everything she saw was circumstantial—there was nothing sexual between Charlene and me. Not in the least. Day after day, I tried to talk to your mama, but she wouldn’t hear me out. She’d become erratic and accusatory, so I’d leave. And then one day, your mama called Charlene who verified I’d been staying with her, but before Charlene could tell her the whole story, Mary called her a backstabbing whore and hung up. From there, Mary drew her own conclusions.”
“And you let her. Guess you figured it was best to wait a decade or so to straighten that out.”
He looks down as if ashamed. “I’m not gonna lie. The peace and quiet at Charlene’s looked a lot better than what I had going on at home. And the longer I stayed, the more convinced Mary became that I was sleeping with Charlene.”
“What did you expect? And if it was all so innocent, how did CJ come into the picture? Immaculate conception?”
“After a while, it just happened,” he says, his voice low. “There was no discussion. We fell into being a couple.”
“And you were both okay with that? You cheating and her sleeping with her best friend’s husband?”
“It wasn’t like that. I lost a wife and she lost a friend. We attempted to comfort each other and one thing led to another. And Charlene knew—she knew I still loved Mary, but she was willing to take what little of me I could give her at the time. And to be honest, being around her made me feel as though I still had a part of Mary. As the years ticked by, my feelings for Mary didn’t change and I wanted to tell Charlene that my heart was still with someone else. But how could I tell her that? Who wants to hear that type of shit, Branch? That I was using her to fill a void? I couldn’t do it.”
I shake my head. “And now, years later—after God knows how many hours of therapy, not to mention the abandonment and relationship issues you’ve caused—you want to step up to the plate and finally be a man?”
Dad steps forward, the unrestrained emotion evident in his gaze. “Look, son. There’s only so much of your disrespect I’m gonna take.”
I don’t falter, staring him directly in the eyes with the same unharnessed fervor, daring him to take a step closer. For long moments, we engage in an unspoken challenge until he finally lets out a breath and continues.
“I’ve always wanted to step up to the plate, as you phrase it. But I couldn’t make someone do something they refused to do, dammit,” he says, his voice cracking. “You know how Mary can be when she’s off her meds, don’t you? Well, imagine her not medicated, angry, and vengeful. That’s what I was dealing with.”
He takes a few paces toward me, but I step to the side.
“Things are different now. We know how to keep Mary being Mary,” he says. “And I’ve told Charlene everything. She was hurt—as to be expected. But she said she’s known all along that she’d only filled a small corner of my heart. She said she wants to see me happy. And I want the same for her. Maybe now, we can all have that.”
Having decided I’ve heard enough, my eyes lock with his as I cock my head to the side. “So everyone is falling in line except me. Well, if you were hoping this talk would change anything, it did. I’m even more convinced that you’re a piece of shit.”
Hurt flashes in his eyes as his shoulders drop.
“Thanks for the chat, Pops,” I say and leave him in the cabin staring after me.
“Goodbye, Cecelia.”
“Ice cream tomorrow,” she whispers.
I look at Ragan. “That’s up to your mom.”
“Come on, sweetie, it’s time to go. Say goodbye to Branch,” Ragan says, reaching
for her daughter.
It’s as if she can’t get away from me fast enough. I pass Cecelia to her and say, “I overheard you telling Loretta you have the early shift tomorrow. The part Jimmy ordered arrives in the morning, so your car should be ready by late afternoon. I’ll pick you up for work.”
“That’s okay, I don’t—”
“I’m picking you up,” I say with an air of authority that catches her off guard.
Before either of us says another word, Christina saunters over, not bothering to acknowledge Ragan. “Branch, I’ll get your mom settled at home and then we have that really hard game to finish.” Christina grasps my hand, urging me to follow her, but I pull back. The only woman’s hand I’ve ever held is Mama’s.
As I step away from Ragan, something pulls at me and I glance over my shoulder. Although she was in a rush to place distance between the two of us, Ragan has yet to move. She stands in place, staring after me. And even though each step takes me farther away, it feels like a part of me is still standing there with her and Cecelia.
THE END
BRANCH AND RAGAN’S STORY CONTINUES
IN THE SEQUEL
Salvaged Hearts
No Longer Broken Duet
Book Two
A Snippet from Salvaged Hearts
“Hold the ball like this… with your fingers bent like so.” Branch holds the football in front of me and then rotates it three hundred and sixty degrees. “See?”
“Yeah.”
“And when you throw it, don’t just toss it any kind of way,” he says and grins down at me. “Throw with a purpose. Have a target.”
“Okay.” Maybe I should make him my target. “I’ve got it.”
“Good. And lose the attitude. We can’t let a group of pre-teens kick our asses.”
“But it’s six of them,” Hayley says.
“I more than make up for the whole lot of ‘em, but you guys have to do something.”
