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“Who is the mechanic?” Cheyenne asked me.
“Jerry Samson,” Isabella told her.
“Do you know him?” My sister started to read over my shoulder.
“No. Not really.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Billy prompted before demanding, “Call him!”
I didn’t respond as I stared down at the paperwork.
“Hank,” Billy urged.
“I’ll think about it.”
“What’s there to think about?” Billy stood from the table and gestured toward the papers. “He has information and he’ll only talk to you. Call him!”
Reagan reached up and placed her hand on Billy’s forearm. “This is a lot to digest. Why don’t we all take some time and revisit this.”
Billy exhaled through his nose, lookin’ like a bull in the chute. I understood his anger, but this wasn’t as cut and dry, as he thought it was. I needed time to think about it.
“Hank.” Billy leaned forward on the table and it was clear from his tone and demeanor he wanted answers.
Answers that I wasn’t prepared to give him.
“Let’s meet at the bar next week.” Reagan stood and gathered her purse.
My chin dipped in a nod as she passed me on her way to the door. Billy begrudgingly followed behind her, as did the rest of the group.
I stood out on my front porch as everyone walked to their perspective cars. Billy got in his truck and slammed the door. He didn’t exactly peel out but his tires spun and he left a cloud of dust in his wake as he headed down the path toward the main road.
The rest of us watched as his truck disappeared over the horizon.
“Looks like the panty dropper’s panties are in a bunch,” Jimmy teased as he climbed in the driver’s seat of his pickup.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Reagan snapped her fingers before getting into her Prius. “You have new neighbors. Bernard Thompson’s granddaughter is moving into his house.”
“I didn’t know Old Man Thompson had a granddaughter.” Jimmy’s brow creased as he rested his elbow on his window and leaned out.
“He does,” Reagan confirmed. “And he left her his house. I took over his estate from Tanner.”
Tanner Abernathy and I had never gotten along. He was a pompous, arrogant, bully whose daddy always cleaned up his messes. But even Jennings Abernathy couldn’t keep his son from being disbarred on the grounds of moral ineptitude. Tanner had been in and out of rehab a half dozen times mainly for DUIs. But he’d really gone off the rails once he started doing coke.
Reagan worked for Abernathy at his family law firm. We’d suspected that Jennings might be Cheyenne’s biological father, but it turned out he wasn’t. So the mystery continued.
“Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up that you weren’t all alone out here anymore.” Reagan climbed into her car and waved.
“Looks like your gonna have to stop gardenin’ in the nude,” Jimmy teased before backing out.
As I watched my family drive away, I felt something that I didn’t quite recognize. It took me a second to realize that it was loneliness. Which made no sense. This was what I’d been working toward since I was a teenager. No responsibilities. Everyone grown and taking care of themselves.
So why did I feel like something was missing?
