by Casey Peeler
As we hit the Grassy Pond city limits, we make a few last minute plans before we get to the farm and stop by Piper’s house to grab a few things for tonight because she’s staying.
When we arrive back at the farm, the sun is starting to set. Mama has already turned on all the Christmas lights in the house, and the large pine is lit up like the tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
We hurry inside the house and check to see what my parents are up to. Dad is helping Mama finish the food in the kitchen and looks all spiffed up. No longer is he wearing his dirty Carhartts, thermal shirt, and boots; he’s in a pair of “dressy” Carhartts with a solid button-up shirt. I have to say that he does clean up nicely. One thing he won’t do without is his camo ball cap. It’s his trademark, just like my boots. My heart warms as I watch them work together, not realizing that they have an audience.
“Hey, girls! Y’all look like you bought out the store,” Mama says.
“Charley, is that a Lebo’s bag, young lady?” Dad scowls.
“Yes, Dad, but I had to have this dress.”
“I’m not worried about the dress; I’m worried about the price tag on the boots! Did you use my credit card for emergencies only?”
“No, sir. In fact, I used my debit card.”
Mama tries to hide a smile and laugh. “Hun, you do know we’re paying for it regardless.”
“Well, who’s to stand between a girl and her new pair of boots?”
I run up and hug my dad. “Thanks!”
Tessa looks at Piper. “Dang, if I’d known that, I’d have bought out TJ Maxx!”
We go to my room and take turns showering while singing our hearts out to our local country station that is now playing Christmas music. There’s something about anything Christmas that will put you in a good mood no matter what is going on.
“Y’all, we have got to listen to this CD! It’s like classic Christmas!” Piper says like a giddy child. I look at her and see that it’s Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas album. She’s right. It’s a classic and just keeps getting better and better.
About song number four, Mama knocks on the door to make sure that we are going to be ready before people arrive. As she is about to close the door, I hear her welcome Cash’s mom. I smile, knowing he’s downstairs, but I have to pretend like I don’t. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and focus on the task at hand. Taking Dylan down.
When I open my eyes, Piper and Tessa are staring at me.
“Char, are you okay?”
“Yeah, this is just gonna be hard, Tessa. All I really wanna do is run into those arms, but knowing that I have to act otherwise is tearing me up inside.”
“Well, I tell ya what. Tessa and I will go down first and get a feel for everything. Then, you make your entrance, and we will somehow find a way for Cash and you to be alone.”
“Y’all are the best! I love y’all. You know that, right?”
They both envelop me in a hug before going downstairs. I pace back and forth while continuing to sing to the CD.
“Miss You Most at Christmas Time” bleeds through the speakers, and I feel the tears begin to build. I walk toward my bathroom because I can’t cry, ruin my makeup, and be a hot mess. Instead, I need to hold the pieces together.
I grab a makeup sponge and begin to touch up my eyeliner, and as I move toward the mirror, I see the most beautiful eyes ever to cross mine. Cash.
As I turn to face him, his arms are already open. I wrap my arms around his neck and breathe in his strong scent. All the pinned-up emotion I’ve been holding in since last week wants to release, but I know if it does, it will be one big overflowing dam, so I decide to pull myself away.
“How’d you get up here?”
“Two of our favorite girls let me in on a secret. Something about me needing to see you first.”
I feel bashful for the first time in a long time, almost as if it’s Cash seeing me for who I really am.
“Don’t do that, Char-coal. Move back and let me see why I had to see ya first.”
Stepping back from Cash, I let go of his hand and back out of the bathroom. Once I’m a few feet from him, I stop and put my hands on my hips and wait for a response.
He looks me from head to toe with his smile growing wider and wider with each inch. I twirl for him to get the full effect.
Before I make the full 360 degrees, Cash has closed the distance. He takes my hand and pulls me into him, like we are dancing at the local country bar. He dips me back and lays the sweetest lips on Earth to mine.
He brings me back up, and I don’t let go; instead, my lips devour his. I’m hungry for him, and I know that I have to make this end sooner than later.
“Char-coal, I gotta get back down there, or my parents are going to start wondering. If we’re both missing, it’s not gonna look the way we want it to. Meet me at the club tonight. Just have Tessa text me when you’re on the way.”
“Aight. Oh, and Cash Money, you look rather handsome tonight.”
“Do I? Well, you’ll have to tell me all about it later when I know we have time, just you and me.”
He lifts my chin so our eyes meet and brushes his lips with mine before going back downstairs. I give Mariah one more song before I make my grand entrance. It’s still early, so there is time to help Mama.
Making my way down the stairs, my nostrils are hit with Mama’s famous hot chocolate, and I can hear everyone hurrying to get the last minute touches together. My hand glides down the railing as I listen to all the conversations.
I make my way to the kitchen to help Mama place the last of the food onto the dining room table. She has anything and everything you can imagine.
As I start to snatch one of her cheesecake bites, she smacks my hand. “Char, at least get one from the fridge. Don’t mess up my platter.”
“Sorry, Mama.” I hurry back to the kitchen and round the corner and my breath hitches when I see Cash bent over a cooler. Hot damn! That ass is fine! I clear my throat. He glances over his shoulder and winks.
“Hey, Char, so Mama got you, too, huh?” Tessa questions when she sees me open the fridge.
“Yup, I mean, they're all gonna be gone off there within five minutes of the party starting.”
“True, but you know Mama, she’s gotta make sure it’s just right when the first people arrive.”
Cash makes his way out of the kitchen as we try and ignore each other. Tessa, Piper, and I hang out in the kitchen until the doorbell rings. Glancing at my watch, I know I still have a few minutes before Dylan arrives.
I’m just about to tell Tessa and Piper the plan for tonight when I see him in the doorway. Dylan is standing there in a pair of dark jeans that fall low on his hips and a flannel button-up shirt. If I didn’t know better, I’d enjoy the view.
“Hey, Dylan,” I say. I brush my dress down as I slide out of my seat and stand to meet him. His eyes do the same moves as Cash’s, but it doesn’t have the same effect. I pretend that it does though. I sway my hips as I walk toward him, wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in for a kiss. I whisper into his ear, “So, was that everything you dreamt about?”
With a loss of words, Dylan just uses his lips to talk. As my lips move, my brain is wishing they would get off me. While I try to figure out how I’m going to get out of this predicament, Tessa comes to the rescue.
“Get a room, you two! Where’s Dustin?”
“Right here, Tess,” Dustin says as he greets Tessa with open arms.
“Dang, I need a man!” Piper says.
When I pull away from him, he wraps his arm around my waist and kisses my cheek.
“Piper, you know Justin will be here later.”
“That’s not what I meant, Char.”
“Oh.”
Dylan looks at both of us and then gives a half-grin.
“She’s got somebody in mind, but he’s not my favorite person right now.”
“Who would that be, Char?”
I cut my eyes at Dylan, “Seri
ously! That asshat, Joe, from Southern. Piper’s got a thing for him, and he’s full of complete shit!”
“Down, girl! He can’t be that bad, can he? Maybe you just don’t know everything?”
“Oh, and you do?” I scoff. “Oh, wait, you do. Don’t you?” Everyone’s eyes get wide as I talk.
“Charley, lower your voice,” Dylan sneers as he grabs my arm tighter. This is the first sign of the old Dylan. “I told you I was sorry for all of that and I’m not the same person, but you’ve got to not bring it up. So what if she likes Joe? Let Piper have some fun. We all need to have some fun. Don’t ya think?”
My insides are quivering, and I’m fuming. I really want to call this game quits now, but too much is at stake. I decide to play my cards right. I yank my arm from Dylan and storm out the back door. He follows just as I planned.
Stopping on the back porch, I turn to face him. “Dylan, I know you say you’re sorry, but you don’t know what he did to me. I trusted him, and he lied! I’m so stupid! I fell for some stupid guy again, and who’s to say that you won’t make me look that way again!”
Dylan looks caught off guard. Never in our previous relationship did I stand my ground when he questioned me.
“Look. Here I am with your ass again! Who’s to say you won't go back to being the old Dylan, not the new and improved?”
Dylan almost stutters as he tries to find the right words. “Char, I’m not that guy anymore. I want to prove it to you. I want to show you how much you mean to me and what you have always meant to me. Please… please believe me,” he says as he caresses my cheek.
Pulling everything from my inner core, I give it all I have and speak the most bullshit line I’ve ever said.
“I believe you, Dylan. I always knew you weren’t that guy Trent made you become.” I place my hand onto his chest and guide it up to the back of his neck as I gaze into his lying eyes. “Now, show me that what I believe is true.”
He pulls his hand to grasp my neck and then leans toward me. He nibbles on my earlobe while trying to make me believe that he is truthful. I allow myself to let go, and my head falls backward. His body reacts, and I know he’s falling right into my hands.
Chapter 21
“Charley, you know that dress is exactly what I’d hoped you'd wear. You look amazing.”
“Thanks,” I reply as I try to put out the fire that he is trying to build. “I think we need to get to the party. You know you still need to make my parents see you’re different, ya know?”
“I guess you’re right.”
Dylan and I walk hand in hand into the house. People are gathered throughout mingling. All the parents are in the living room, and I want to make our presence known.
I guide Dylan into the living room to talk to his parents as well as mine.
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Sloan, how are you?”
“We’re great, Charley. In fact, we are ecstatic to know you are both back on speaking terms.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Dylan says wryly. I just shake my head in agreement.
We make our way around the room and then to the family room where all the “kids” are hanging out. I see Piper, Tessa, Dustin, but where’s Cash? My mind races, and I keep trying to figure out where he might be. Is he avoiding this? Is he really okay?
Just as the panic is about to take over, he walks into the room. His face looks rigid, almost like it’s made of stone. I try to make eye contact, but it doesn’t happen. Then, I turn to Dylan, and he just shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal.
“Hey, Cash, no date tonight?” Dylan boasts.
“Nah.”
“Well, too bad,” he says as he pulls me tighter.
I look up at him and smile. We walk to the couch and sit near Tessa and Dustin. Cash does the best with what he has in the room. He talks to Sally. That stings a little, but I have no right to feel anything because what I’m doing to him must feel like a million stings.
Trying to take my mind off Cash, I glance around the room and see that Piper is talking to Justin as usual. I swear that’s like her local boy toy. She just keeps him on a string for the hell of it.
We graze the food table multiple times, refill our hot chocolate, and sing Christmas carols. From the outside, this traditional Rice Christmas party looks normal, but in actuality, it is one big cluster.
Around eleven, the adults are tipsy and ready to go home. We have had our fun, and honestly, I’m tired from my charade. Cash excuses himself from his parents and us and makes his way home.
Once Cash leaves, Piper, Tessa, and I walk Justin, Dylan, and Dustin outside. We don’t walk them to their cars; we say goodbye on the front porch.
Piper and Justin are a little friendly, but nothing that crosses a line, considering she wants to be with Joe.
Dustin and Tessa are lost in each other. I swear I’ve gotta have a talk with that girl. Dylan pulls me into his chiseled chest and doesn’t let go. He kisses the top of my head, tells me how much he enjoyed tonight, and makes his way to the Mustang. Again, he plays the gentleman card.
Dustin follows him shortly, and we wave goodbye. Once they are out of sight, we sit on the front porch swing for a minute.
Every bit of adrenaline has vanished from my body. I just want to crash, but I have to keep up the act in front of our parents.
“Char, Dustin said he’d text when he knew Dylan was in for the night. That way you knew you were safe to go to Cash.”
“Thanks, Tess, you’re the best.”
“I try. What can I say?”
“There you go with that smartassness again!”
“This is kinda off the subject, but did you see Dylan’s reaction to the Joe comment?” Tessa asks.
“Yeah, it was almost as if he wanted you two together. You don’t think…”
Piper interrupts me, “No, Char, don’t go there! Joe is on our team. Remember?”
“I know, but I can’t help but let my mind wonder.”
“Well, stop that shit, okay?!”
I know I’ve crossed a line, but I can’t help but think. I’ve been burned more than once, and it will not happen again.
“Sorry, Piper. So, how did I do tonight?”
“Girl! You were on it, especially when you didn’t take his normal shit! I wanted to be like, 'Go Charley!' But I thought that might be a giveaway.”
“Um, but Char, I will say the view we got from the porch was sickening if I do say so myself. Now, if that would have been you and Cash, I could have handled it, but Dylan’s hands on you like that… ewwww!”
“You’re not lying. Where’s the sanitizer? I almost feel like I need a shower before I go to the club.”
“Well, if you do, you better put something hot back on because Cash will be disappointed.”
“Thanks, Piper, but I knew that much already. Let’s go help clean up, so I can see my knight in a pair of Carhartts.”
I lock my arms in each one of theirs, and we go inside and help Mama clean up. Tessa even helps and doesn’t go missing.
Once the food is put away and the house is somewhat back in order, we head upstairs to my room. Mama and Dad do the same.
Once we are inside my room, I check my phone. I have one text from Dylan, and Tessa has one from Dustin.
Dylan: thanks 4 a great night, hope santa’s good 2 u!
I quickly reply.
Me: Right back at ya, been helping clean up, exhausted we’re going to bed, night.
Dylan: night
“He’s at home, and I told him I’m exhausted and going to bed. What did Dustin say, Tessa?”
“He said they were just hanging out at home. He thinks you’re good.”
“Well, I’m gonna go brush him outta my mouth. Will you text Cash Money?”
“You bet! You want me to tell him to pick you up at the barn?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to be out there alone. I just don’t feel right.”
“Make sure you take your phone in case Dustin texts me, okay? He’
s gonna keep tabs till you get back, so don’t be gone all night if you can help it.”
“I’ll try… nah, I promise not to be out all night.”
Within ten minutes, I’m climbing out of the window and making my way to Cash at the barn. I can hear the hum of the four-wheeler as I approach.
Before I have time to think, I’m no longer walking. I’m running as fast as my new boots will let me go.
He is waiting in the moonlight with his arms crossed and a smile spread across his face.
“Hey, Cash Money, I’ve been waiting on this all night.”
“Not as much as I have, Char-coal. Come here,” he replies as he holds me tight. “Come on. Let’s get outta here."
Once we are at the club, it’s obvious that he's been here waiting. The heater is on, but more importantly, he has made this horrible night special. He brought PB&J sandwiches and Choice Cherry Gold.
“Cash, I’m so full! But, I can’t not eat our special meal.”
“Don’t feel like you have to. I just wanted a little something else up here to remind you of us.”
Suddenly, it feels like my heart has been ripped out of my chest. “Cash…”
“Don’t, Char-coal. I’m okay. Well… maybe…I’m handling this the best I can.”
