Bitter Farewell (7 page)

The sound came and went and Liv figured it was just some kids messing around in the woods with their bikes.

It wasn’t like back in the day and not just because everyone grew up. It seemed the local kids didn’t respect people and their property like the adult generation did when they were kids. Too many times Liv would find beer bottles or the left over charred spot from a fire too close to her backyard for comfort. She was told nothing could be done since nobody was still there, so she had a fence built around the property. The actual property line went into the woods a little but the fence around the yard helped. She couldn’t imagine a chain link fence or a tall fence so she went with a split rail fence. It looked great around the yard too, which made Liv happy because she worried that it would take away from the spectacular view. The building process had been a big problem because her father took offense to it. He wanted to be the one to build it, demanding he could still use his
goddamn hands and back
to do it. He was so mad at Liv, he didn’t speak to her for a few days until he calmed down. That was right around the time he came to terms with his age, which was also around the same time his mind started to go.

Liv moved from the kitchen and watched as Lorraine helped her father out of his chair.

“You know, I think this chair is broken,” Charlie said.

“Is that so, Charlie?”

“Yeah. It’s too deep in the back. I can’t get out. I bet Liv is trying to keep me in place.”

“Oh, I doubt that.”

“No, no, she is.”

Lorraine looked at Liv and winked.

“Why’s that, Charlie?”

“She hates when I move things around. I like my own system, you know?”

“I understand,” Lorraine said.

She had the patience of a saint and the heart of one too. She led Charlie to the downstairs bathroom and Liv snuck into the living room and looked around. She saw the remote ready to fall between two cushions. Typically, that should not be a big deal but now she knew something little like that could turn an average day into hell. She grabbed the remote and put it on the arm of the chair, right where her father would think he remembered leaving it.

She hated having to follow him around making sure he didn’t lose anything. But face it, if he legitimately moved something and forgot about it, it would be gone for a long time. And he’d blame Liv.

The sound of the dirt bikes sounded again, louder than ever. Liv listened for a few seconds, smiling, pretending she was back on one of them. Holding Danny’s skinny waist, clutching his shirt, wishing he’d stop so she could move her hand elsewhere and have a little fun. The smell of the trees. The smell of the mud. The smell of gasoline burning. The smell of Danny’s body.

Liv’s thoughts and heightened senses were taken away when she heard a thudding crash. She opened her eyes and then heard the sound of the toilet flushing. The bathroom door opened and it was more like the sound of a gushing waterfall, overtaking everything Liv really wanted to hear.

“Ah, my right knee is bothering me today,” her father boomed.

He didn’t intend to be so loud, but thanks to the small downstairs bathroom, his voice sounded twice as loud.

“When you sit back down I’ll take a look at your knee,” Lorraine said.

“Are you a doctor?” her father asked, confused.

“I’m a nurse...”

Liv took one step and the house phone began to ring. She suddenly felt trapped in her own little world. Everything pulled at her at once. In between the phone ringing she picked up on random pieces of her father’s conversation with Lorraine. He was having
a moment
as Lorraine always lovingly put it.

After the third ring, Liv got to the phone.

“Hello?”

“Is this Miss Cryers?”

“Yes.”

“This is Patty, from Johnson’s Pharmacy. Just wanted to let you know your father’s medication is ready for pick up.”

“Oh, okay, sure. Thank you.”

“How is he doing today? Everything okay I hope?”

Liv bit her tongue for a second. While she loved the camaraderie, the last thing she really needed was someone from the pharmacy asking how her father was doing. For a second Liv saw herself snapping on the kind woman on the other line. Did this woman have a close relative with Alzheimer’s? Did this woman understand what it was like? How bad it could hurt? Or what about the times when the mind slipped but went to a place where the memories were so beautiful and alive it made your heart feel humble?

“He’s okay,” Liv said. “Everyday is fun.”

“Good to hear. If you have any questions please give us a call. We’re open until nine tonight.”

“Thank you,” Liv said.

The call finally ended as her father walked through the living room back to the couch.

Liv then ran to the kitchen to investigate the sound she had heard. When she looked out the kitchen window, she saw two figures at the end of the yard. One sitting. One standing. She wasn’t sure if they were on bikes or not, that is until one of the men stood a bike up.

How the hell did they get on the property?
she asked herself.

The other man now stood up and a few seconds later he lifted the leg of his jeans.

Even with the distance Liv saw blood.

She thought about calling the ambulance... and then the police... since there was no reason for the two men to be on her property. If they wanted to ride by on their bikes back in the woods, that’s one thing. But to come over the fence.

Liv walked out to the back porch. She hope for a second the two men were going to hightail it out of the yard. But her good heart took over, telling her that if someone was hurt, the least she could was help...

“Hey! Everyone okay?!” Liv yelled.

The two men looked. Liv looked too. She instantly felt something. The wounded man began to walk and looked like he was going faster by the second. Liv walked down the steps, slowly. The figure started to become easier to see as the distance between them started to get cut short. The other man lingered far behind, taking his time.

At first, Liv looked at the blood on the man’s leg, hoping he was okay. But when she was able to see his face, that’s all she needed. She couldn’t stop looking at his face. Her foot hung from the last step of the deck, ready to touch the stone landing.

She froze.

The man came closer. Liv’s heart started to race so fast she could feel it throughout her body.

“Liv?” the man asked.

“Liv... I...”

The whole world began to spin. She put her arms out and felt like she was being swallowed by the world. Her eyes fluttered and her lips were dry.

She fell forward as one thing managed to leave her mouth.

“Danny.”

(7)

When Danny heard her voice, he had to start running. He didn’t care about the cut on his knee or the soreness raging through his leg. He didn’t care about his dirt bike, or the fence he broke. He didn’t even care about the death of his own father.

He had to get to her.

As she came into view, Danny saw everything. He didn’t remember it, he saw it. The years had taken the irresistible young woman Danny once knew and turned her into a beautiful woman. Her brown eyes were like two lasers shooting straight at Danny’s heart, as though they were trying to revive him from years of loneliness. The way her hair settled on her shoulders, tucked behind her ears, looked so casual yet managed to be perfect. Everything about her was the same as much as it was different.

It wasn’t like going back in time, not at all. It was like stepping into the future. Staring at it as she stood looking as shocked as Danny did.

Of all the places to ride a dirt bike. Of all the places to crash a dirt bike.

She had one of her feet hanging from the last step and her hand clutching tight to the railing of the deck. He understood the way she looked at him, but he only hoped that with the smallest amount of luck he didn’t look like complete hell. More so from the years of touring, playing, traveling, drinking, partying, living up the rockstar life then the dirt bike crash.

But right then in that large backyard in Bakersville, there was no tour. No tour. No music. Not even a damn guitar. Danny felt more naked than ever.

He said her name, to her, twice.

He couldn’t remember how many nights he stayed awake on the tour bus, feeling the gentle (but sometimes rough) path of the road under the wheels, taking the band to the next city, thinking about Liv and just saying her name to her. That’s what he used to do to her to get her turned on... he’d brush her hair away from her ear and just whisper her name.

Liv... Liv... Liv...

When she started to fall forward, Danny’s body tensed up. Liv fell into his arms and Danny stepped back. His arms were tight around her, her head resting on his shoulder, her arms limp. Her feet dragged on the ground for a second before life came back to her.

“Liv, talk to me, please,” Danny said.

Liv moaned and Danny had to turn his head. He gritted his teeth, trying his best not to take the situation the wrong way. But he felt helpless right then, his mind, heart, and now body were syncing together, all because Liv touched him and moaned.

Get it together
, Danny told himself.

For all he knew her husband and kids were inside the house. Maybe a boyfriend. Maybe a fiancé. Those thoughts made Danny burn with jealousy. He walked forward and helped Liv to sit on the bottom step of the deck. His hands moved along her arms to her shoulders and he shook her gently.

“Liv, it’s me, Danny,” he said. “I’m really here. You know why I’m here. Well, you know why I’m in Bakersville at least... as far as being here... I, uh...”

“Do you always talk this much?” her soothing voice whispered.

Her eyes were still shut and Danny smiled. Then something happened to him that hadn’t happened since he was first with Liv.

The rockstar... the man who had played to millions of people, on the biggest stages in the world, sold millions of albums, enjoyed the lifestyle of a rockstar... was blushing. Danny felt the color rush to his cheeks, reaLiving he was blabbering like a complete fool.

But he had no idea what to say to her.

He knew what he wanted to say and what he wanted to do but he knew nothing about the beautiful woman sitting before him.

Liv slowly opened her eyes and it was like all the air had been sucked out of his body. He just stared, almost wanting to cry. He wanted to just start apologizing but he couldn’t find the words.

“I know why you’re here,” Liv said. There was a pause that only served to torture Danny’s heart even more. “Because you missed me.”

Danny tried to laugh but it came out as a whimper. He loved Liv’s sense of humor. She had the ability to radiate confidence in the worst situations and in the best situations. She could be the center of attention without even trying. If anything, all those years ago, people were quicker to believe Liv would end up on stage in front people over Danny.

Danny moved his hands to Liv’s face, holding her soft cheeks, his thumbs brushing just under her eyes. They didn’t speak, but it was anything but silent.

Between them, it all burned. The unsaid words and broken promises screamed. So many memories, good times, wild times, times that were cut short by dreams and opportunity. So many days... minutes... seconds... all of them collecting and adding up to year after year after year...

“I broke your fence,” Danny said.

Those weren’t the romantic words he had thought about for all those years.

“You broke my fence?” Liv asked.

Danny opened his hands and moved them from Liv’s face. He wasn’t sure of his place still and didn’t want to create another terrible moment between them. In the back of Danny’s mind a voice screamed that he was there to bury his father, settle everything, and get ready to get back on the road.

“Went right through it,” Danny said. “Didn’t know it was there.”

“Well... it’s been a while...”

Danny sensed bitterness in Liv’a voice and it started to tear at his heart.

He opened his mouth but was cut off by another familiar voice.

“Olivia, is everything okay out here?”

Danny stood up, smiling. Charlie stood at the open door to the deck. Time had certainly done damage to Charlie. He wasn’t the same tall, strong man he’d been years ago. When he stepped from the house to the deck, he held onto the door tight. He bit on his tongue as he tried to keep his balance.

Liv stood up and hurried up the steps.

“Dad, you can’t step down like that by yourself.”

“Ah, hush,” Charlie snapped. “I’m not a cripple. Just an old man.”

“Mr. Cryers,” Danny said. He stepped up a step but stopped. He hadn’t been welcomed near the house, let alone the property.

“Dad, do you know who this is?” Liv asked.