by Kimbra Swain
“You are welcome,” I replied.
29
“Look. Just let me know when you are at the bar, that way I don’t show up and look like a fool,” I screamed at Stephanie who had very little care about her behavior.
I hated her laugh. We had just had sex. Every time I told myself I wasn’t going to fuck her again, I found myself in an argument with her, then in bed with her. It was a vicious cycle. It shouldn’t bother me, but it did. I cared when I should have hated her.
We went back and forth. The perfect couple in public. I loved having her on my arm. I loved having her in my bed, but I wasn’t enough for her. She told me over and over that, I could sleep with whomever I wanted, except Grace. However, I was the sheriff. I couldn’t go around doing that, not to mention that most of the town knew we were a couple. She didn’t care. When she wasn’t with me she was with someone else at the bar or in Tuscaloosa with her law firm friends.
There were days that I hoped that she would just leave, but she seemed determined to make me miserable. I decided that today was the day I would quit. I would leave Shady Grove. My contract wasn’t binding in the way I couldn’t leave. I just couldn’t ever tell anyone about my purpose here. One last day at work and I would tell Jeremiah that I was leaving.
I stormed out of the house hearing Stephanie laughing at me all the way.
“You look like you need more than a cup of coffee, sweet cheeks,” Betty said.
I would miss some of the people in this town. Especially Betty and Luther. The dynamic between them was like a great sitcom. They were so entertaining.
“How about a big breakfast?” I asked.
“Luther, fix this handsome man some food. Put some extra love in it,” she said winking at me.
“Thanks, Betty.”
I watched her greet each person at the Grove Diner counter. She poured coffee and chatted. Eventually, she made her way over to the phone that hung on the wall. It was one of those old rotary phones with a long, coiling cord. She cut her eyes to me, not hiding that she was talking about me. Hanging up with a smile, she grabbed my plate from Luther, plopping it down in front of me.
“Anything else, sugar britches?” she asked.
“No, thank you, Betty,” I said watching her closely.
“How about some company?” she grinned.
“Betty, forgive me if I’m being rude, but I’m really not in the mood,” I said.
“Oops,” she said walking away.
I groaned, then started shoveling the food. I wish I hadn’t ordered it. Before I got half of it down, she walked in the door. My eyes met hers, and her magnetic smile spread across her face. She waltzed over toward me.
“Well, Grace, good to see ya, honey. What will ya have?” Betty asked her. She didn’t take her eyes off me.
“Just my regular,” she returned as she sat next to me. I felt a cool breeze pass by me smelling like fresh snow and crisp apples.
Betty sat a cup of coffee in front of her with a wink.
“Morning, Grace,” I said leering at Betty, who shrugged.
“What’s going on Dylan?” Grace asked.
“I was thinking that the Braves really need to get their game together this season,” I decided baseball was a safe topic.
“I don’t watch baseball,” she said.
“What do you watch?” I asked.
“Mostly soap operas and sitcoms,” she said. “I like raunchy talk shows, too.”
“The baby daddy ones?” I asked.
She laughed. “Yes, they are very entertaining.”
Betty brought her a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. She munched on it while we talked about nothing important. We were interrupted by Troy who stormed into the diner.
“There you are. Damn, man, answer your phone,” he said.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, throwing money down on the counter. Grace watched us both closely.
“It’s bad. You probably want to bring her,” he said, nodding toward Grace. She pulled out a small coin purse from her back pocket. I placed my hand over hers.
“I’ve got it,” I said. She started to protest, but I grasped her hand tighter. Betty had called her down there to cheer me up. I wasn’t sure how Betty knew I just needed someone to talk to and that someone was Grace, but I was thankful. She nodded, and I threw more money down.
“You kids be safe,” Betty called out as we exited the diner.
“What is it?” I asked Troy as Grace moved toward her truck.
“Grace, my car,” I said.
“Listen, Dylan,” she started.
“Now,” I replied. She rolled her eyes but moved toward the passenger side of the car. I opened the door for her. She sneered at me as she climbed in. I laughed. Just a minute ago, we were having a decent conversation, and now she was bitter like whiskey.
“Out at the mayor's house. It’s back,” he rasped. He climbed into his cruiser, firing up the siren. I followed suit.
“Sorry,” I muttered. I felt bad for ordering her to get in my car. Everytime we talked she had a way to run away from me. If she were with me, then she couldn’t run away.
“Whatever,” Grace said.
When we arrived at the Jenkins’ house, the mayor stood on the porch with his daughter, Ella. They both looked terrified.
“It’s in the barn,” he said.
Troy and I rushed toward the barn. “Slow down. Do you even know what’s in there?” Grace asked.
“Yes, the troll,” I said.
“You are going to get yourself killed,” she smirked. She leaned on the hood of my car, crossing her arms in front of her.
“Fine. What do you suggest?” I said, turning to face her.
“Let me talk to him,” she said.
“Hell no. He could tear you apart,” I protested.
“Okay, why did you ask if you weren’t going to listen? I swear, you men,” she fussed.
“You aren’t going in there alone,” I said.
She grinned, then walked past me to the barn. “Stay here, Mr. Maynard,” she instructed him. I nodded to him, then followed her inside.
In my lifetime, I had seen several trolls. They come in all sizes. This particular one was huge. He hunched over in a stall with his back to us. His skin was a mottled grey with liver spots that were almost black. A light wisp of hair was on his head. He muttered and growled as blood pooled at his feet.
“Hey, big guy,” Grace said.
He spun around on her. I jumped in front of her. He rose to full height. She shoved me out of the way as he took a swipe at me.
“Move, bad man,” he growled. I had never heard one speak.
“Easy there,” she said holding her hands up toward him.
He leered down at her, but she didn’t show any fear. Blood dripped from his hands. In his right, he held the gory head of a horse.
“Daughter of King,” he mumbled.
“That’s right. Put the head down, please,” she said.
He looked at it then at her. Shaking his head violently, he refused to comply. “No, I hungry.”
“Now!” she yelled. The barn shook. I slowly stood up from the barn floor. “Dylan, please don’t move. I don’t want him to kill you.”
I stood still. Watching her control the beast. Once again, her fairy self-appeared. The troll backed away from her. Clearly, he feared her.
“We are going to walk outside, and I’m going to take you home,” she said.
“No! I stay here,” he grumbled.
Raising her hand, a small snowstorm formed in a ball in her hand. She hissed at him, “Don’t make me do it!”
He lowered his head, making his move toward the door.
“Dylan, clear the way to the forest,” she said. I ran past her, opening the barn doors.
I motioned for Troy to go join the Jenkins’ on the porch of the house. I turned back to look at Grace who pointed at the tree line. The hulking brute hung his head at the woman he could crush with one swipe. Worry rushed through me
as I feared for her life. I followed behind them as they slowly moved toward the trees. The ground shook as he made each plodding step.
He stopped beside a large oak tree.
“Grace,” I called out to her.
“Dylan, you’ve got to learn to trust me. It starts now,” she said.
I pursed my lips. Trust. I couldn’t give her the truth, but I could trust her to know more about the fairy world than me. Reluctantly, I watched as she walked next to him. She placed her hand with the tattoo on her wrist on the oak. She held her other small hand up to the troll. The moment her hand touched his, they disappeared.
“Grace!” I panicked even though I knew she had shifted them both into the Otherworld. I had no way to get to her now. Plus, she was banished from that realm. If the King’s forces caught her, then the troll would be last of her worries.
After a few worried moments, she reappeared as the brown-haired woman who lived in a trailer in Shady Grove. I put my hands on my hips and sighed.
“Thanks for caring, Sheriff,” she said as she whisked by me.
“What did you do with him?” I asked.
“I took him home,” she replied.
This woman. Fairy. Whatever she was. Completely frustrating. As we approached the house, Troy shrugged. “Case closed,” he said.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Sorry about the livestock, Mayor.”
Mayor Jenkins called out to Grace. “Thank you, Gloriana.”
She stopped, turned toward him, and said. “Please don’t call me that,” she said, then sank down into the passenger seat of my car.
As I drove her back, she didn’t speak. I pulled up in front of the Diner. “Where is your truck?” I asked.
“I walked,” she said.
“Oh, well, you should have said something,” I gruffed.
“You should have asked,” she said.
Driving faster than I should have, I made my way to the Cahaba Acres Mobile Home Park. I knew which one was her’s because Jeremiah had pointed it out to me. I pulled into the drive. She hurried to get out of the car, slamming the door.
I cursed myself, but I followed her. I was leaving this stupid town. Might as well say my piece. “Grace, wait! Why are you pissed?”
“He knows I hate that name,” she said stopping at the front door. I breathed deeply. She wasn’t mad at me.
Across the street, the town idiots, Cletus and Tater whooped and hollered at us. Cletus thrust his hips in and out as Tater slapped his own ass. I started to cuss them, but it was too hilarious. “Grace, look at these fools,” I said.
She spun around her eyes locking with the two. They smiled and waved like nothing happened. They each raised their beers at me. I shook my head. Her eyes settled on me. “Really?”
“They were acting stupid,” I laughed.
“Perhaps you haven’t been here long enough, Sheriff Riggs, but they always act stupid,” she said storming into her trailer.
“Fuck me,” I muttered. I went onto the wooden deck and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” she said. It shocked me. I opened the door and stepped into the small trailer. A dachshund barked at me as I entered the living room. She pulled an orange soda out of the fridge. “Rufus, hush!”
The dog sat down but stared at me protecting his owner. “Dylan. I asked you to call me Dylan,” I said.
She rolled her eyes, then offered me a cold can of cola. I took it from her. “Dylan, what else can I do for you? I’d like to go wash the troll off of me,” she said.
“Thank you for your help,” I said, as I cracked open the can.
“I’m required to help,” she said.
She was right. I started to say that she could run, but I realized that would be accusing her of doing the same thing I was about to do. “I’m still thankful,” I said.
“Betty said you came into the diner moping. What’s wrong with you?”
“Thinking about moving on,” I said.
“You get tired of your princess?” she asked.
“No. Stephanie and I are fine.” Lie.
She seemed skeptical but didn’t mention it. “She hates me,” she said.
“No, she doesn’t. She speaks very highly of you.” Lie.
“Why would she do that?” she asked.
“She said that she’s never seen a fairy queen that settled down. That it was impressive that you could abide by the rules,” I said which was actually the truth. Stephanie actually had made bets on how long Grace would stay in Shady Grove.
“Heh. High praise,” she said crossing the room. She sat down in the recliner, then Rufus jumped up into her lap.
“I guess I should get going,” I said.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Back to work.” Lie.
“Oh. So, you aren’t running away now?” she asked. “If you can’t handle it, then by all means, tuck tail and run.”
A rush of emotions ran through me. She couldn’t possibly understand what I was facing. A future of hating my own existence as I lied to her. As I went home to a woman who blackmailed me into a relationship. As I realized that I had no idea how to deal with a troll. As I knew that with a snap of my finger I could snuff out her beautiful life.
She watched me carefully. “You should stay. People like you,” she offered.
“There’s more to it,” I said, as I shifted my weight nervously.
“There always is,” she replied.
“You want me to stay?” I dared to ask.
She grinned, “Now, Sheriff, I didn’t say that. Don’t put words in my mouth.”
I’d like to put something in her mouth. Fuck. “My bad,” I replied. It was almost like she knew the dirty thought that passed through my head. “See you later, Grace.”
I turned to leave, and I heard the word she had refused to give me. “Yes, I want you to stay,” she said
I looked over my shoulder at her. Her eyebrows were raised high above her eyes. A playful smirk peaked out from behind her raised soda can.
“Breakfast at the diner tomorrow? 8 a.m.?” I asked.
“I’ll check my schedule,” she grinned.
I laughed. “Damn you, Grace Ann Bryant.”
“I’m already damned. You will have to come up with another curse, Dylan,” she teased.
“8 a.m.”
“Okay,” she relented.
30
For many mornings, I looked forward to meeting Grace at the diner. We talked about nothing in particular. She occasionally helped me with supernatural cases, and occasionally some human ones. Day by day, I fell more in love with her.
She kept me at a distance. We fought. We would make up. But we would never make out. I began my search to find a way out of my deal with Stephanie. Even if Grace wasn’t interested, I wanted to find the freedom to be able to be truthful to her, eventually.
The lies mounted up. It’s hard to keep up with them all sometimes, but Grace went about her way without a second thought trusting everything I told her. Each lie ate into my soul. For every moment she trusted me, I hated myself more.
One day, I’d had enough. I’d been in Shady Grove for about a year. I called Jeremiah to meet me before opening at Hot Tin. I drank coffee with Nestor as we waited.
“You okay, Dylan?”
“Yeah. This job is just weighing on me,” I said.
“Grace giving you trouble again?” he asked.
“On and off,” I said.
He laughed. “That’s Grace. She likes you though.”
“No, she doesn’t,” I muttered.
“Yes, she does. You remember that night you took Stephanie home with you?”
“Yes,” I replied remembering the sexy red dress that Grace wore and how every man in the room got cock rise from it including me.
“She hasn’t been back in here since,” he said. “Except once. She came in after the two of you ran off the troll at the Jenkins’ house. She ordered a glass of Crown. She watched the room. Stephanie was here witho
ut you. Several men approached Grace, but she shoved them off. It wasn’t like her. If she’s here, she’s looking for a one-night stand. Watching Stephanie, I could tell that she began to get very angry. I talked to her because she was upset. She asked me how you could stay with Stephanie knowing that she was here with other men. I told her that I didn’t know what arrangement the two of you had, but that you knew about her. She left and didn’t return.”
“She never asked me about it,” I said, not offering him any information about Stephanie and me.
“Do you love her?” he asked.
I looked down at my coffee. It was time to lie. “I know what she does. We are trying to work through it. I had high hopes for us,” I replied.
He laughed and leaned on the bar. “Not Stephanie. Grace.”
My eyes widened. He smiled as if he already knew. Thankfully Jeremiah entered breaking up the tense moment before I bared my soul to my bartender.
“This better be good,” Jeremiah grouched.
“Come have some coffee,” Nestor coaxed him.
Jeremiah seemed to be in quite a fury. “What crawled up your ass and died?”
“Grace,” he said.
I bent over and looked at his ass. “Don’t worry, Grace. I’ll get you out of there.”
Nestor laughed, but Jeremiah didn’t find it amusing.
“I’m going to talk to Oberon. I bit off more than I can chew with her,” Jerry said.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“She has it in her head that I can just relocate her anywhere. She’s itching to leave. Part of your job was to keep her here. Frankly, I’m not sure why you haven’t slept with her yet,” he said.
“That wasn’t part of the deal,” I replied.
“I know that. I’m just saying,” Jeremiah said.
“I have a problem,” I said.
“Well, get in line, boy,” Jeremiah said.
“Stephanie has me by the balls,” I admitted.
Nestor and Jeremiah looked at each other. Jeremiah finally spoke after they stopped laughing. “Sorry. Dylan, but you were here all of one day before you got tied down by a royal fairy. I lost faith that you could do anything with Grace the moment Nestor told me you left this bar with her even after seeing Grace,” he admitted. “Your contract isn’t binding. You can leave whenever you want.”
