Forever Country (16 page)

“
I am.”

“
Then we don’t
match.”
I think I like the idea of us
matching. I’m not sure why
. I look at her
again and her belt buckle is larger than I expected. I look closer
and she laughs. Her silver, overly large belt buckle reads, “Catch
and Release.” My mind drifts to the several meanings the belt
buckle could mean. I remember her saying she held the Perry Country
blue ribbon for catching the largest fish and releasing it. Maybe
that’s what it means. I don’t say anything. I’m not going there on
our first date. I nod to her jean jacket. “You might get
cold.”

She looks out the window and asks, “Is your
truck warm?”

“
It is.”

“
Then I won’t get cold. You
ready?”

I hold the door open and wave my hand for her
to go first. “After you.”

We pull up at the American Legion in
Roseville; the parking lot is full. I decide to park at Shriver’s
Pharmacy along with several other patrons. As I pull into the
parking lot, I see Savannah Mae’s ex-husband walking in with a
girl. Savannah Mae also watches. After I park the truck, I ask,
“Are you all right?”

Her eyes glisten. “My ex-husband is here with
his fiancé.”

“
Do you want to leave? We
could always go somewhere else.”
I have no
idea where. It’s New Year’s Eve. It’ll be impossible to get in
anywhere without a dinner reservation.

“
Abel Lee, can you
dance?”

“
I can.”

“
Are you any good?” I see a
hint of a smile on her beautiful face.

“
I am. Won the ‘Perry
County Line Dancing Contest’ three years in a row.” I smile,
brightly.

“
Did not,” she says,
sternly, still smiling.

“
C’mon, I’ll prove it.” I
get out of the truck and walk over to her side and open her door
for her.

Savannah Mae

Abel Lee and I walk into the American Legion
hand in hand. After I watched Ethan and Heather Sue walkin’ in, I
wanted to go home. Abel Lee tried to take my mind off it by sayin’
he won the “Perry County Line Dancin’ Contest.” I never heard of
such an event. It worked. All I can think about now is Abel Lee
boot scootin’ boogiein’ across the dance floor.

Abel Lee and I walk
straight over to where his momma and daddy are. Lucky for us, they
came early and saved us a table in the corner of the room. I wanna
look around the room to see where Ethan is, but then again, I don’t
wanna see Ethan
or
Heather Sue.

We greet his family before takin’ our
seats.

“
What would you like to
drink?” he asks.

“
Budweiser in a bottle
unopened, no glass, please.” I know from the way he’s lookin’ at
me, he thought I was gonna order a girly drink.

I look at him, and he smiles and says, “Not a
wine or champagne kind of girl?”

Can’t usually afford wine or champagne, but I
don’t say that. “Nope, always been a Budweiser girl. You got a
problem with that, Abel Lee?”

He smiles, but his smile doesn’t reveal his
single dimple.

“
Nope, not at all, Savannah
Mae.”

He leaves and when he returns, he opens my
beer and hands it to me.

“
Do you always order your
drinks unopened?”

“
I do. Don’t laugh, but I
have this fear of someone puttin’ something in my
drink.”

He pauses for a moment and says, “That’s
smart thinking, Savannah Mae. It would be nice if everyone were
that vigilant.”

“
I wasn’t always like
that.” He sits down in the seat next to me. “There was at a party
once, and this girl went crazy. She got really mean and violent.
They had to call her parents and they took her to the hospital.
Later they found out she had drugs in her system. She didn’t even
do drugs.”

“
Was she a friend of
yours?”

I look at him and I can see
his concern. “She’s my sister. It was at the end of her senior year
of high school and a bunch of kids went out to celebrate their
graduating.
They had a party with food and
drinks at someone’s house. My sister’s friend was there and noticed
Samantha Marie was acting strangely. She wanted to take her home,
but some of the guys thought it was funny and were trying to get my
sister into one of the bedrooms to ‘help calm her
down.’”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
Thank you. I’m just glad
her friend called my parents. She’s better, and now we always order
our drinks in a can or a bottle, unopened.”

“
I’m glad everything worked
out for her.”

“
Me, too.”

We order a cheeseburger and French fries for
dinner and we both have another beer. I can see Ethan and Heather
Sue out of the corner of my eye, but I try to ignore them. Abel Lee
makes it easy to think only of him. He sits close and puts an arm
on the back of my chair. He’s very protective and it feels good. I
feel someone watchin’ me, but I don’t look to see who it is. I
don’t care.

When the music starts, I excuse myself from
the table to go to the little girl’s room. When I walk in, Heather
Sue is standin’ at the sink warshin’ her hands. I stay in the
bathroom stall longer than needed, because I want to make sure
she’s gone. Of course, she’s still standin’ there when I open the
stall door. I look at her and use the sink next to her. I don’t say
anything, I have nothin’ to say.

“
Ethan said that he told
you about the weddin’.”

“
Congratulations,” I say
sarcastically as I continue to warsh my hands.

She smiles and rubs her hands over her belly,
“He failed to mention the baby.” I hold onto the sink for support.
I blink a few times and I wonder did I hear her right. “We were
goin’ to get married anyway, but the baby kinda put a rush on the
weddin’,” she says, smilin’.

I stand a little taller and grab a few paper
towels to dry my hands on. Instead of crumblin’ over like I want
to, I say, “Who’s the baby’s daddy?”

She looks shocked. “Ethan, of course.”

“
Rushin’ the weddin’, huh?
Wouldn’t want the good people in the community thinkin’ you were a
home-wreckin’ whore now, would we?” I watch her and when her mouth
falls open, I leave.

I see my date sittin’ at the table, watchin’
me. I smile, and when I reach the table I pull him by the arm.
“C’mon, Abel Lee, it’s time to show me some of those dance
moves.”

“
I thought you would never
ask.” He follows me to the dance floor, takin’ the lead. We dance
and laugh through every song. He is light on his feet and is a very
graceful dancer. We dance fast, and then we dance to a few slow
songs. After several songs, we sit down and have another drink, but
this time we both have ice water.

After a few moments of silence, he asks, “Did
something happen in the bathroom with you and Heather Sue?”

“
How did you know Heather
Sue was in the bathroom?” 

“
I watched her go in before
you.
I’m not a creeper, but I try to be
aware of my surroundings.” He leans in closer to the table and
says, “Did something happen?”

“
Can we go?” I
ask.

He walks up to the bartender and I watch as
he settles up the bill. He takes my hand and leads me out of the
buildin’. As we walk towards the car, I say, “She’s pregnant.”

He doesn’t falter in his step. He opens the
door for me and I get in. He doesn’t say anything as he closes my
door for me. I wonder if he heard me. I don’t want to have to
repeat those words. My stomach clenches at the thought. Abel Lee
gets into the truck and pulls off without sayin’ anything.

“
Are you all right?” he
finally asks.

“
I am. I have no idea why
this bothers me so much. It’s not like I didn’t know he was seein’
her all along. As soon as we separated, I used to see them ridin’
around town together. After the divorce, Heather Sue even called me
to tell me some personal details of their relationship. Like I
cared what she and Ethan were doin’. I did care and it hurt, but I
wasn’t about to admit that, not to her or to anyone else. I should
be thankful that she didn’t get pregnant while we were still
married.”

“
I’m sorry,” he says as he
drives in the direction of my house.

I look over at him and say, “I’m the one who
should be sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your evenin’.”

He looks over at me. He doesn’t smile and he
doesn’t say anything. I remain quiet the rest of the way home. I
blew it. I blew my one and only chance with the only man I’ve been
interested in since my divorce. I fold my hands, place them on my
lap, and remain quiet the rest of the drive home.

We almost make it home before Abel Lee pulls
over into an empty parking lot. I look over at him and he watches
the clock in the truck. “Something wrong with your truck?”

He looks over at me and
says, “No, my truck’s okay.”
Of course it
is, it’s a brand-new rental
. “I want to
kiss my date at midnight.” My belly does a flip and my breath
hitches. I slowly look away from him and then I look at the clock
on the dashboard. It’s 11:59 p.m. Abel Lee lightly touches my chin
and turns my head slowly to face him. I stare at him as he leans in
and kisses me. It’s a sweet, soft kiss. He slowly backs away from
me but is still close enough for me to smell his cologne. I lean
into him and he does the same. This time, the kiss is more
intimate. I wrap my arm around his neck and pull him in for more.
He cups my cheek with his hands and he kisses me aggressively. I
feel like I could kiss him forever. Not only is Abel Lee smooth on
his feet, but he is also an excellent kisser. He slowly stops and I
release my hold on him. I keep my eyes closed as he rubs his thumb
over my bottom lip. “It’s just as good as I imagined,” he says. I
open my eyes and he is just inches from my face. He smiles that
dimpled smile and leans in and kisses me quickly, before releasing
his hold on me. “Happy New Year, Savannah Mae,” he says, still
watchin’ me closely.

The clock on the dashboard now reads 12:01
a.m. I whisper, “Happy New Year, Abel Lee.”

Abel Lee

I reach over and hold Savannah Mae’s hand on
the ride to her house. “Do you need to get Sawyer Jackson
tonight?”

“
No, Mia and Levi are
keepin’ him overnight. They didn’t want me to take him out this
late.”

I nod my understanding. When we pull up to
her house, I say, “I’ll get your door for you.” I always hold the
door open for her whenever I can, but she usually beats me to it. I
was almost expecting an argument from her, but she waits for me to
walk around the truck to her side. When I open her door, she hops
out of the truck. I laugh. She really is quite amusing.

“
Did you buy a new truck
just for our date?” She holds the blue jean jacket tighter around
her.

“
I did.” I close her door
and lock it.

She stops and her mouth falls open. Her eyes
are big with shock. “No, you didn’t.”

I smile and walk the short distance to her.
“I didn’t. It’s a rental.”

“
Does your momma know about
the lies that come out of that mouth?”

I take her hand and lead her to the front
porch. “I reckon Momma wouldn’t be much happy with me tonight.”

“
Why do you think
that?”

“
Kissing a beautiful girl
on a first date. Momma would expect more from me.” I hold out my
hands and give her my dimpled smile. “Keys?”

She reaches in her purse and hands me her
house keys.

I start to walk in after her when I hear a
glass breaking. We both stop to listen. I look around the street to
try to find out where the noise is coming from. Glass breaks again.
It’s not coming from inside the house, it’s coming from outside.
“Go inside and lock the doors.”

I turn to leave and she says, “Abel Lee…”

“
Do it now, and leave the
lights off,” I demand.

“
Abel Lee,” she says as I
jump from the porch. I don’t look back, and I don’t answer. I hear
more glass breaking and it’s coming from behind her house, in the
direction of the old school. It’s dark and difficult to see. The
moon is covered with clouds, giving off barely enough light to
see.

I see someone pick up a brick and I wonder if
it could be the man who killed Megan Rose. I watch as he throws the
brick at the already broken glass window at the old school.

I watch as he throws another brick and bends
down to pick up another one. “I wouldn’t do that if I were
you.”

“
Why’s that?” he
yells.

“
Because it’s destruction
of property, that’s why.” I walk closer and realize it’s a teenage
boy.

“
No one cares about this
old buildin’.” He raises the brick again and throws it at the
already broken window, breaking the rest of the glass.

“
I own this building, and I
would appreciate it if you would stop.”

“
You do not, the township
owns it.” He watches me before he bends down to pick up another
brick.

“
I bought it this week.” I
watch him, but I can also see a light come on in Savannah Mae’s
kitchen. She didn’t listen. I told her to leave the lights off in
the house, “Looks like you’re waking up the neighbors.”

“
I don’t care. Why would
someone buy a stupid old buildin’?” He throws a brick
again.