Fourth to Run

by Carys Jones

  “No thanks, I won’t be staying long.”

  Betty nodded and looked to Aiden who also shook his head.

  “I’m alright, thanks, Betty.”

  The office door shut once more as Betty disappeared behind it and Buck casually leaned back in his chair, relaxing as if he were at home.

  “So you came here just to see how I’m doing?” Aiden asked, his tone making his disbelief evident.

  “Yes.” Sheriff Fern gave a lazy smile and then rolled his eyes and straightened. “Fine, you got me worried.”

  “I’ve got you worried? How?”

  “Because I know your type. You’re sensitive and emotional and like a cheap matchstick; liable to snap at any given moment.”

  Aiden’s eyebrows shot up as he felt affronted.

  “You telling me that the memories of that night don’t weigh heavy on your mind?” Buck asked, leaning forward and lowering his voice.

  Aiden thought of the countless hours he’d spent re-living those fatal moments and bristled.

  “I’m here because loose lips sink ships. I need you to stay strong, Connelly. And from the looks of ya, you’re already falling apart.”

  Clearing his throat, Aiden readjusted his tone and did his best to appear cool and composed.

  “I’m honestly fine about what happened,” Aiden unconvincingly reassured the Sheriff. “It’s actually something else which is troubling me.”

  Buck folded his arms and leaned back, gazing expectantly at him.

  Aiden sighed as the burden of his concerns over Guy Chambers fought to be released. Normally he’d share such anxieties with Edmond, usually over an Irish coffee. The kind-hearted man would offer some sage advice with a warm smile but Edmond was gone, all that remained of him was the memory of his jovial laugh which Aiden sorely missed.

  “Well?” Buck prompted impatiently.

  “I’m just concerned about my wife,” Aiden admitted, surprisingly relieved to be able to talk about it, even if it was to Buck. It felt strange to disclose such feelings to Buck, especially since they’d previously been such fervent enemies. But Aiden felt that a tentative alliance was developing between them; to his own astonishment he was actually starting to trust the bitter old man.

  “How so?” If Buck didn’t care, he was doing a great job of pretending that he did.

  “She’s dating an old friend of mine.”

  “I see.” Buck’s eyes widened with interest.

  “He works for the FBI, he’s actually the one who gave me the tip-off which led me to Mexico.”

  “Wait a minute!” Buck extended a hand towards Aiden and shook his head. “So, you’re telling me that your wife is shacking up with some old friend of yours. And this same friend told you to go down to Mexico?”

  “They’re not shacking up together,” Aiden said defensively. “But yes.”

  Buck gave a sharp, bitter laugh. The sound grated against Aiden like nails crudely scratched down a chalk board.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “He’s no friend to you,” Buck scoffed.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Jesus, Connelly!” Buck held his head in his hands in despair. “For an educated man you sure are stupid.”

  Aiden’s face began to burn with a mixture of shame and anger.

  “This friend is involved with your wife. This friend told you to go down to Mexico, which you did, only to be tailed home by two hired guns. And this schmuck works for the FBI? Connelly, he knew what he was doing. He set you up. He was hoping that you’d sign your own death warrant in following his bogus lead.”

  Aiden blanched. He didn’t know what to say. Buck had just vocalized everything he’d been fearing. What if it was true? What if Guy had set him up?

  “He must really like your wife and want you out of the picture.” Buck scratched a hand down his leathery cheek.

  “No.” Aiden shook his head, desperate for it not to be true. Guy Chambers was his friend, they’d known each other since college. Aiden had defended Guy, had helped him sever all ties with his ex and his child.

  “He isn’t like that,” Aiden concluded with certainty. “He’s not a family man. The last thing he’d want is to be tied down with a wife and family.”

  “People change.” Buck shrugged. “You want my advice? Stay clear of this friend of yours and don’t follow anymore of his leads.”

  “Why do you even care what I do?” Aiden asked sullenly. Buck had been trying to run Aiden out of Avalon ever since he’d first arrived. Why would he now care about his well-being?

  “Friends seem a bit thin on the ground for you at the moment.” Buck stood up and glanced longingly towards the door. “If I were you I’d take what I can get and be grateful.”

  “So we’re friends now?” The words were out of Aiden’s mouth before he could stop them, heavily laced with disbelief.

  Buck sighed as he stared walking towards the door. He placed one hand on the handle and then looked back at Aiden.

  “Can I trust you to stay quiet, Connelly? Because right now we share a secret. But it’s far easier to keep a secret between two if one of them is dead.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “I’m asking if you can keep your shit together.” Buck spat back, angrily tightening his grip upon the door.

  “Yes.” Aiden nodded and clenched his jaw. “I can keep my shit together.”

  “Good.” Buck opened the door and inch and then stopped. “Because if this faux friend of yours is really after you, we’re not out of the woods yet,” he added grimly. Then he opened the door fully and coolly walked out of the office.

  *

  Isla wasn’t sure what to make of her date with Guy. Throughout the show he’d worn a steely expression and had barely said a word to her on the drive home. Had she done something wrong?

  She racked her mind but couldn’t think of anything. She’d thought that everything was going well between them. Feeling deflated, she left the cab and wandered up to her apartment. She paid the sitter and went to check in on Meegan, surprised to find the little girl wide awake in her crib.

  “Meegs, why are you awake?” Isla whispered to her daughter, flicking on the light. Meegan blinked against the brightness and then awkwardly wobbled up on to her feet, using the bars of the crib for support.

  “Diaper,” she told her mother.

  “You need your diaper changing?” Isla asked reluctantly. The last thing she wanted to do was round off her evening with a smelly diaper change. If Aiden were there he’d swiftly step in, he was good like that. He’d probably also chastise Isla for not being stricter with the potty training. Isla was trying but sadly Meegan had inherited her mother’s sense of defiance and so far the training hadn’t been going well.

  “Poop!” Meegan bounced from foot to foot, looking widely at Isla.

  “You’ve pooped?” Isla sighed. “Fine, okay. Let Mommy get out of her nice clothes and then I’ll change you.”

  “Diaper!” Meegan shouted, her chubby cheeks beginning to bloom bright red.

  “Meegs, just wait a moment,” Isla insisted.

  “Poop, poop, poop!” Meegan screamed shrilly, tears erupted from her eyes like watery fireworks. She leaned her little head back and began to wail.

  “Fine,” Isla leaned down into the crib and scooped her daughter up and carried her over to the changing table. Once she was air borne, Meegan instantly ceased crying.

  “You’re becoming a right little madam, you know that?” Isla muttered as she began the thankless task of a dirty diaper change.

  Meegan was giggling beneath her and kicking her legs about when Isla felt her cell phone tremble in her jacket pocket. She considered ignoring it but conceded at the last moment and answered the call. With her free hand she continued to clean Meegan up.

  “Hi,” Isla answered breathlessly, not having had chance to check who was calling.

  “Isla, hey.” Guy’s strong voice bounced into her ear and Isla had to lean against
the changing table to steady herself. She hadn’t expected him to call.

  “Hi, didn’t I just see you?” she asked teasingly. She didn’t want Guy to know how hurt she felt over his distant behavior that night.

  “I owe you an apology,” Guy announced humbly. Isla held her breath and waited. She wasn’t about to argue the point.

  “I know that tonight I was…detached. There’s just some really serious stuff going on at work. I’m sure you can appreciate that my job isn’t easy.”

  “Of course.”

  “Poop!” Meegan declared loudly, interrupting the conversation. She scrunched up her little face and promptly soiled the clean diaper lying beneath her which Isla had only put out seconds ago.

  “Meegan!” Isla cried in horror. “That’s a fresh diaper!”

  Meegan giggled in delight and clapped her hands together, celebrating her triumph as if she’d been trying desperately for weeks to break some sort of record on how long it would take her to spoil a fresh diaper.

  “Is everything alright?” Guy’s voice was soft with concern, he sounded completely different to how he had been at the theatre when he’d been aloof and cold.

  “It’s just Meegan being a dirty girl,” Isla informed him as she began cleaning up yet another diaper.

  “Don’t poop in this one, not yet,” Isla instructed the little girl sternly.

  “I hope you’re not talking to me,” Guy laughed. Isla smiled and realized how his presence just on the phone had eased the tension out of an unpleasant task. It reminded her of happier times with Aiden, when they’d been able to laugh about things together rather than constantly bickering.

  “She sounds like a handful,” Guy commented. “Just like her mother.”

  “Hey!” Isla had to carefully wedge her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she lowered a twice freshly changed Meegan back into her crib.

  “I’d really love to spend some time with her.”

  “Who, Meegan?” Isla straightened with surprise as her little girl rolled onto her side and began sucking on her thumb.

  “Yes, Meegan. I mean, if that’s alright, if you think it’s too soon just say.”

  “No, no,” Isla numbly backed out of the room, pausing to turn off the lights so that only the blue plug-in night-light glowed around the crib.

  “I know my job is stressful and can take up a lot of my time, but I’m ready to have a family, Isla. I’m ready to settle down.”

  “You are?” Isla felt her heart expand with hopeful joy.

  “Yes. I feel like this is my chance. I had a family before but…” His voice trailed off as if consumed by sadness.

  “What happened?”

  “Aiden happened.”

  “What? What would Aid have to do with it?” Isla felt her happiness begin to sink back down within her.

  “I needed a divorce from Claire and he screwed me over. Made it so I couldn’t see my own kid ever again.”

  “Jesus.” Isla pressed a hand to her mouth. That didn’t sound like Aiden at all. “Why would he do that?”

  “To prove a point, show me what a great lawyer he was, I don’t know. He always felt there was this rivalry between us which is nonsense.”

  “I can’t believe Aid would do that to you,” Isla whispered in disbelief, lowering her hand gently from her mouth.

  “He’s not the great guy you think he is,” Guy said coldly. “But then I suppose you already know that else you wouldn’t have left him.”

  Isla blinked nervously. Aiden had his faults but at his core he was a good guy, at least she’d always thought so.

  “So, how about it? Can I spend some quality time with Meegan?” Guy asked hopefully.

  “Yes,” Isla nodded as she replied. “Yes, of course.”

  *

  Brandy needed to get out of the house. Everywhere she looked she was reminded of that awful night; from the dark stains on the carpets to the shadows within the kitchen. Brandy was looking for an excuse to get out and stretch her legs and see something other than the haunted walls of Aiden’s home.

  Braving the kitchen she went through the cupboards and finally the refrigerator, making a neat list of items that needed replenishing. Eyeing the completed list, Brandy nodded in satisfaction. Outside the sun was shining, making the small white picket fence at the end of the driveway gleam. It was a beautiful day for a walk.

  Keeping her mind to her task, Brandy pulled her long hair up into a ponytail and shoved her list in to her purse. She was wearing a floral prom dress that she’d bought back in Chicago. With the bright blooms on the fabric it was a dress that just epitomized a summer’s day. Brandy just wished that she could be as cheerful as her attire. Despite the sunlight streaming in through the windows, she felt as though the house were permanently cast in darkness.

  The nearest convenience store was a fifteen-minute walk away. As Brandy walked through the streets of the neighborhood, her hair swayed back and forth as she managed to put a spring in her step. It felt good to be out. It reminded her of being back in the city where she’d spent countless hours exploring on her own. Independence suited her more than she’d ever thought it would.

  Brandy paused at the door to the store. She shoved her shoulders back, lifted her head high, took a deep breath and walked inside. It was cool in the store thanks to the air conditioning system which whirred loudly overhead. Pulling her list from her purse, Brandy could instantly feel a pair of eyes upon her.

  She ignored the man behind the counter, grabbed a basket and began ambling down the nearest aisle where his gaze was unable to follow her. Brandy was soon so consumed with finding the items on her list that she didn’t hear the door to the store open and another customer walk in.

  Moving deeper into the store, Brandy muttered in mild frustration under her breath. She didn’t know the layout within the store but nothing seemed logical to her. Butter wasn’t by the milk and bread wasn’t near the bagels. Everything was placed haphazardly upon the shelves and within the fridges.

  “Well, as I live and breathe if it isn’t Brandy White!”

  Brandy was bent down to pick up a box of cereal and her whole body tensed, holding her in position. Slowly she straightened, dropping the box in to her basket. Her cheeks started to flush as she registered the pair of tanned legs standing beside her which led up to some daringly short denim hot pants.

  “I’d heard you were back in town. I was kind of hoping I’d bump into you.”

  Brandy nodded politely at the beautiful blonde who had pushed her designer sunglasses atop her head so that her exquisite eyes could observe Brandy directly.

  “Hi, Deena.” Brandy forced a reluctant half smile as she spoke.

  “Ah, so you do remember me,” Deena grinned. “I wasn’t sure you would.”

  Brandy furrowed her brow but didn’t say anything. How could she possibly forget the woman who’d had an affair with her husband and ultimately had his child?

  “I remember you.” Brandy stated politely.

  “I bet you kind of hate me too.” Deena’s smile faltered and she nervously looked away. One hand clasped the basket she was holding and the other fluttered up to her chest and settled over her heart.

  “I’d hate me if I were you.” Deena managed to sheepishly look back at Brandy and now her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  “I don’t hate you.” Brandy wasn’t being kind, she was being truthful. Sometimes she still felt the sting of Brandon’s betrayal but it paled in comparison to the other ways he wronged his wife.

  “Well, you should!” Deena insisted with a wag of her finger which showed off her long, manicured nails.

  “I did something awful to you, Brandy White. I don’t deserve your forgiveness but I’d like to ask for it all the same.”

  “It’s Cotton now,” Brandy instinctively corrected Deena. She flinched each time someone called her by her former name. Somehow just hearing her married name managed to pour salt onto all her old wounds.

  “Yes, of cour
se.” Deena gazed apologetically at Brandy.

  Nervously, Brandy began to wind a finger through a lock of hair which had come loose from her ponytail. She was so used to being ostracized in Avalon that she didn’t know what to do now someone was actually brave enough to ask her for forgiveness.

  In truth, everyone in town owed Brandy an apology for a multitude of sins. They needed to apologize for each time they’d looked the other way to her former husband’s cruelty, for allowing her to almost face the death penalty for a crime she didn’t commit and for making her feel guilty for saving herself when no one else would.

  But Deena was at least a big enough person to seek an apology for the part she had played in wronging Brandy.

  “I forgive you, Deena,” the words slid easily from Brandy’s mouth. Deena blinked in disbelief, her bright-red lips twitching into a nervous smile.

  “You do?”

  “Yes,” Brandy shrugged self-consciously. “Brandon had a way of getting inside your head. I think it was easy for any woman to have fallen for his charms.”

  Brandon White was the kind of guy who walked into a room and people stopped what they were doing to try and get a look at him. He surrounded himself with an impenetrable air of confidence which people envied and desired. He was one of the guys, a local hero thanks to his prowess on the high school football field but he was also handsome with a cheeky smile which made women fawn all over him.

  All of this attributes made his vices somehow forgivable for people in town. When he drank too much he was a cruel drunk but people liked him too much to care, or to even oppose his behavior. His dark, welcoming eyes and playful, easy smile were the perfect package to conceal the darkness of his soul. Many people in Avalon still refused to see Brandon White for who he really was.

  “Yeah, that was Brandon,” Deena glanced down at her feet where her rainbow-colored toes were exposed in her black flip flops. “I’m sorry…” Deena paused and took a stiff breath. “I’m sorry he was such a dick to you. If I’d have known…”

  “Please, don’t apologize. Brandon had only himself to blame for how he treated me.”

  “Wow!” Deena wiped a hand across her brow and then lowered it onto her hip. “I can see why he likes you so much!” she enthused.