by Carys Jones
“Aiden, I mean,” Deena quickly added. “You’ve found yourself a decent man there, I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you.”
“He looked out for me at a time when no one else would,” Deena recalled, remembering how Aiden had tried to protect the true paternity of her youngest son. But that turned out to be one secret in Avalon which didn’t stay buried.
“He’s good like that,” Brandy agreed with a fond smile, “he is always desperate to do the right thing.”
“Things worked out in the end,” Deena shrugged, “but I’ll never forget what he did for me.”
Brandy looked down at the contents in her basket and then glanced further down the aisle. Though the conversation had been pleasant, she still felt slightly uncomfortable in Deena’s presence. When she looked at her long, tanned legs which led up to a petite waist and heaving bosom she couldn’t help but feel plain in contrast. And what really turned the red-hot poker of self-doubt in her chest was that Brandon had chosen Deena over her. The countless nights he’d left Brandy at home to nurse the latest wound he’d inflicted upon her he was with Deena.
“Maybe I’m asking too much and maybe we’ll never get to that point but…” Deena reached out and placed a hand on Brandy’s forearm. “I’d like us to be friends.”
Brandy could see the sincerity behind Deena’s eyes.
“I know how crazy that sounds.” Deena laughed nervously, removing her hand. “But the way I see it, Avalon can be a tough place to live and you need friends in a place like this.”
Friends were a luxury Brandy had struggled to afford growing up. At the time when most girls were bonding over which boys they fancied or which band they listened to, Brandy was living in her trailer with her alcoholic mother. Throughout her life there had been a tragic procession of people who were supposed to love her but let her down. Yet all that changed when she met Aiden.
Deena lifted a hand to tuck some hair behind her ear and as she did her elbow knocked a box of cereal off the shelf. It landed on the laminated floor with a dense thud and Brandy nearly jumped straight out of her skin.
Trembling, Brandy stepped back, her face quickly turning white.
“Hey, are you okay?” Deena asked with concern.
Brandy looked at the box and then back at Deena. For a split second she’d been certain it was a gun shot. Suddenly she could feel the hot blood from the gunman upon her face. With a shaking hand, Brandy touched her cheek only to find that it was clean and stain free.
“You look like you’ve had a fright, why don’t you come outside and sit down a second?” Deena was gently guided Brandy back out of the store. She placed both their baskets down and told the bemused store clerk that they’d returned to complete their transactions shortly.
Deena’s SUV was parked in the store’s parking lot. She opened it up and placed Brandy in the passenger seat.
“You sure got some stones coming back here,” Deena exclaimed admiringly as Brandy allowed the heat of the sun to warm her now-frozen legs through the open car door. “It must be hard being back here,” Deena continued. “Like I said, if you want a friend, well, in me you’ve got one.”
Brandy wiped at her eyes and squinted against the sunlight as she looked up at Deena.
“I could use a friend,” she admitted. Brandy had thought that being out of the house would put some distance between her and that night with the gunman. But the echoes of that night rippled far beyond Aiden’s small home.
“Then hey there, Brandy Cotton, I’m Deena Fern, your new friend.” Deena smiled widely, revealing two rows of perfect teeth.
Brandy nodded gratefully at her. Avalon had never been a place she associated with friendship but she was determined to not let her past in the town dictate her future.
“How about we go back inside and finish our shopping?” Deena suggested when she noticed the color returning to Brandy’s cheeks.
“I don’t know,” Brandy glanced shamefully in the direction of the store. “They must think I’m crazy to just freak out like that.”
“Who cares what they think?” Deena firmly placed both hands on her hips. “People round here think I’m a gold-digging whore. Doesn’t matter that I made my own money as a model, oh no. They just think what they like to think. And I say, fuck ’em!”
Brandy raised her eyebrows at the expletive.
“This is our town too, Brandy!” Deena declared, her features hardening. “It’s about time we started acting like it!”
Brandy hadn’t been in Avalon when Deena was facing her own unpleasant level of scrutiny from the town, but she could imagine how difficult it must have been. Nodding, she pushed herself off her seat and turned towards the store, determined to finish what she’d started.
Chapter Nine
A Critical Call
The sun held dominion in a clear sky over Avalon, bathing the small town in stifling heat which pressed against the windows of Aiden’s office, desperately trying to overpower the air conditioning system inside.
Sweat had already collected down Aiden’s back during his brief walk over to the café across the street. He handed Betty her regular tea and croissant but he’d changed his daily order, opting for a refreshing iced coffee. He still needed the caffeine hit but he wasn’t sure he could handle the heat of a regular coffee.
“Another hot one today,” Betty commented as she briefly ceased typing at her computer.
“Yeah,” Aiden sighed. He was wearing a green polo shirt and beige cargo pants and still felt overdressed in the sweltering heat. The storm from a few nights ago felt like it had happened in another lifetime.
“What we need is another storm to clear the air,” Betty suggested wistfully.
“Mmm.” Aiden agreed. “Sadly I think we’re stuck with this heat for a while. At least according to the weather channel.”
“I hate the heat.” Betty bristled as if she’d smelled something extremely sour. Aiden remembered how much the old woman had suffered in the office before the air conditioning system had been installed. Despite a lifetime living in Avalon, she still wasn’t completely acclimatized to the weather in town.
“At least it’s cool in here.” Aiden smiled at her before moving past her desk towards his own office.
Sipping thoughtfully on his iced coffee, he loaded up his emails and glanced out through the windows. He could see the air outside warping above the burning ground.
A gentle chime alerted Aiden to more incoming messages. He placed his drink down and commenced working.
*
Brandy sat at her piano but didn’t play. She was already dripping sweat onto the keys. The patio door was open as far as it would go but all that did was let in more of the dense heat from outside. There wasn’t even the suggestion of a breeze.
“Damn heat.” Brandy swept a hand across her damp brow and tried to focus on the piano. She desperately wanted to play. She wanted to fill the house with a sweet melody to try and banish away some of the darkness which continued to cling to the walls. But when Brandy looked at her beloved piano she saw the man with the cruel face who’d pressed a gun to her head. She could still smell the stench of his breath. Even though he was dead it wasn’t truly gone.
“Come on, get a grip,” Brandy berated herself. She flexed her fingers, preparing to play.
The heat from outside spread through the house like a dense fog. Brandy remembered intense summer days spent in the trailer. Back then it used to feel like living inside a microwave. The only respite from the heat was the small electric fan her mother would begrudgingly plug in if Brandy pleaded repeatedly. But all the fan did was improve the circulation of the smoke-infused air which encircled her mother. It did nothing to lessen the oppressive heat of their small home.
Thinking about the trailer was enough to spur Brandy into action. She pressed down with her fingers and began to play. She wasn’t about to let some thugs with guns rob her of all that she had worked so hard to achieve. Each time she played she drifted fur
ther away from the naïve, imprisoned girl she had once been in that trailer.
Brandy played and soon even the burning heat of the day was pushed back by her melody. She thought only of the music. The soft sounds carried out through the open door and filtered into nearby homes where it was gratefully received.
*
Aiden was in the middle of answering a detailed email when his mobile trembled in his pocket. He finished his current sentence before retrieving it. To his surprise the caller ID was blocked. Shrugging, he assumed it meant that the incoming call was from Guy. Aiden felt his shoulders stiffened as he answered the call. There was a lot he wanted to say to Guy Chambers.
“Hi,” he greeted the caller tersely. There was a pause and then a voice which definitely didn’t belong to Guy spoke.
“Am I speaking with Aiden Connelly?”
Aiden straightened in his chair and cupped his phone with both hands. The voice on the other end of the line had a strong Mexican accent.
“Yes.” Aiden cleared his throat and did his best to sound confident. “This is Aiden Connelly.”
“Good.” There was something unmistakably sinister in the caller’s tone.
“Mr Connelly, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Andre Caulerone.”
Aiden’s heart beat so wildly in his chest that he feared it might burst through his rib cage and fall in a bloody heap upon his keyboard.
“What can I do you for you, Mr Caulerone?” Though he was internally screaming in panic, Aiden managed to sound cool and composed.
“Please, call me Andre.”
“Okay…Andre,” Aiden said stiffly. “How can I help you?”
“Well you see Aiden, I can call you Aiden, right?”
“Sure.” Aiden was beginning to sweat despite the cool temperate of the air conditioned room.
“You see, Aiden, I have a problem. Two of my guys took a road trip to Avalon with the intention of seeing you. Thing is, they never came back.”
Aiden reached for the edge of his desk with one hand and gripped it tightly. He felt like the room was suddenly tilting on some invisible axis. Somehow the Caulerone brothers knew what he and Buck Fern had done.
“They were good guys,” Andre continued before Aiden had chance to respond. “Any idea why they wouldn’t come back?”
“No, none at all I’m afraid.” Aiden replied as he tightened his grip on the desk.
“You didn’t see them?”
“No.”
“That’s odd because they were specifically looking for you.” Andre’s voice was laced with disdain. He clearly knew exactly why his men hadn’t returned to San Migeno.
“I’m sorry but I didn’t see them.”
“Well, you see, Aiden, now we have a problem,” Andre’s tone sharpened with malice. “I cared deeply about those two guys. They were like brothers to me. And I fear some great misfortunate befell them whilst they were up in Avalon. Where I come from, disputes of this nature are always settled in the fairest way.”
Aiden held his breath, blood pumping in his ears as loud as a drum as his heart frantically continued to beat in his chest.
“I believe in an eye for an eye, Aiden. Once I have taken from you from what you took from me, we are even, understand?”
“Look, Andre, I don’t—”
“Don’t disrespect me with lies,” Andre warned. “I will take from you someone close, someone you care about, as you did to me.”
Aiden shook his head in frightened despair.
“I didn’t do anything!” he insisted shrilly.
“This is merely a courtesy call,” Andre sneered, “not a chance for discussion. The wheels are already set in motion, Aiden. Soon I’ll take from you something of equal value to that which you took from me. Who do you hold closest in your heart? Who do you love above all others?”
“Don’t do this,” Aiden pleaded.
“You shouldn’t start playing games where you can’t handle the stakes,” Andre said pointedly.
Aiden opened his mouth to speak again but Andre had already hung up. Shaking, Aiden lowered his phone from his eye and stared wide-eyed at the office around him, wondering if the sinister call had truly just happened. As he sat there, he noticed the framed picture of Meegan looking back at him, her wide, joyous grin lighting up her whole face. Reaching for the picture with a shaking hand, Aiden felt warm tears slide down his cheeks. He knew who was closest to his heart.
Clenching his jaw, he placed the picture back down and began furiously typing into his keyboard, booking himself a ticket for the next flight to Chicago.
*
“Christ, Buck, could you move any slower?” Clyde White remarked tersely as the sheriff entered his office.
“I called the sheriff station over an hour ago!” he added.
“Sorry, Clyde,” Buck removed his Stetson and sat down opposite the owner of the lumber yard.
“What seems to be the problem?” Buck asked.
“Looks like kids are breaking into the yard at night again and dicking about,” Clyde rolled his eyes in boredom. “I’ve got the security tapes.” He reached for the neat stake of tapes beside him on his desk and nudged them over to Buck.
“Go through him, identify the culprits and just scare them a little. No damage was done so I won’t be pressing charges this time.”
Buck nodded and picked up the pile of tapes.
“You sure you’re alright?” Clyde narrowed his eyes at the sheriff. “You look…tired.”
“I’m always tired.”
“Well, you look more tired than normal,” Clyde persisted. “You sure you’re not taking on too much? We’re not the young men we once were, Buck. If we don’t slow down a bit we risk ending up like Edmond and Samuel.”
Buck closed his eyes and grimaced at the pain of hearing the names of his fallen friend and brother.
“I’m fine,” he insisted as he opened his flint eyes which were now misted. “Besides, I couldn’t slow down even if I wanted to. This town needs me.”
“True,” Clyde nodded thoughtfully, stroking a hand down his freshly shaved cheek. He always looked immaculate with never a grey hair on his head out of place. His shirts were always pressed without a single crease and he never smelled of timber or dirt as most of the workers on the lumber yard did. Clyde always smelled like a walking advert for men’s cologne.
“But I don’t intend on running this place until the end of my days.” He gestured around his office. Clyde White had been running Avalon Pine for the past thirty years. It was strange to imagine one without the other.
“At some point, I’ll have to hand the reins to somebody else,” Clyde added softly.
“And who would that be?” Buck asked with a sneer. “You’ve got my problem now, Clyde, we don’t have no nearest and dearest to hand the torch to.”
Clyde shrugged casually though his eyes darkened slightly. The wall behind him remained a shrine to his deceased son, Brandon, who should have been the rightful heir to the company.
“At some point I’ll start showing Edmond’s kids how to run this place. You should think about finding someone who could protect the town, you know, in the future.”
“I’m all Avalon needs,” Buck said through gritted teeth.
“I’m just being a friend,” Clyde reassured the old sheriff gently. “I don’t have too many of those left these days, I need to take care of the ones I’ve got.”
Buck tapped a bony finger against the pile of tapes he was holding.
“I’ll find the kids breaking in here and scare ’em against doing it again.”
“I know you will.” Clyde smiled confidently.
Buck stood up, aware that his movements weren’t as swift as they used to be. He placed his Stetson back over his thinning hair and nodded at Clyde.
“Think about what I said,” Clyde insisted as he moved around his desk to come and see his friend off.
“Nothing to think about,” Buck muttered angrily.
“Just think abo
ut it,” Clyde repeated, fondly tapping his friend on the back. “Even though we don’t have no children of our own left, we’ve still got a stake in this town’s future, don’t forget that.”
“This town is all I have.” Buck shrugged off Clyde’s touch and scowled at him. “I’d never forget about Avalon’s future.”
“Well then, good,” Clyde smiled. “Are you still coming for dinner next Tuesday?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Buck grumbled as he walked out of the office, clutching the pile of tapes against his chest.
*
“Chicago?” Brandy repeated the word as her lips pulled down at the edges.
“Just for a few days.” Aiden cupped her hands in his, looking at her sincerely. Brandy saw the familiar kindness in his eyes but she still felt uneasy about his trip.
“But why now? Can’t you leave it a little longer after everything that has happened?” she pleaded, already dreading the prospect of being in the house alone at night.
“I need to see Meegan,” Aiden told her apologetically. “She needs me.”
Brandy nodded and looked down at the floor. She and Aiden were sat side by side on the sofa where, thankfully, the stained carpet was out of view. Taking a sharp breath she wondered what she could say. She didn’t very well want to be the sort of woman who denied a little girl seeing her father. The thought lingered in Brandy’s mind as frozen fingertips reached around her heart, making her entire body shudder.
Brandy knew how hard it was to grow up without a father, she knew it was important for Aiden to remain in Meegan’s life. But why did his trip have to come so soon? Why couldn’t it wait until the carpets had at least been replaced? Each time Brandy walked through the house, she was presented with the deep-red stains which no amount of scrubbing could remove; a painful reminder that two men had died in the house. Two men who had meant both her and Aiden harm.
“Perhaps I could come with you?” Brandy suggested brightly. The thought of returning to the city actually filled her with a glimmer of excitement which knocked back some of her darker feelings. She could go and see her Aunt Carol and Rhonda, it would be good to catch up with them ‒ to let them see first hand that she was still the same old Brandy.
