Charlie looked at Danny. “You’ve survived worse falls I bet.”
Charlie had a twinkle in his eyes, hinting at something about Liv. Danny saw an opening to talk, maybe get some advice from Liv’s father.
“You know, Charlie,” Danny said, “I feel like I let you down too. When I left town.”
Charlie pointed to the hammer and then a piece of the fence. “Hand me the hammer. Then hold the fence right here” - he pointed to a spot where the fence remained intact - “and I’ll get the first nail in.”
“Okay,” Danny said.
He wasn’t sure whether to press the subject or not. He couldn’t be sure if Charlie heard him, was ignoring him, or if his mind didn’t register it.
Charlie bent down and put two nails into his mouth. He lined up the wood and took a nail from his mouth and began to hammer. What Danny couldn’t do in days Charlie did in a matter of minutes. It helped having two sets of hands but Charlie just knew his way with tools. And each time he hammered a nail, he smiled.
He felt alive.
And it made Danny feel more alive too.
When the first piece of the fence was fixed, Charlie stood and stretched his back for a few seconds.
“The way I see it,” Charlie said, “we all make our choices. Men go to war to feed their families and protect their country. Some never come back. Men take jobs across the country, or the world, all to create something in their lives. Some men chase a dream and find courage that not a lot of people have. The good men, Danny, they’re the ones that come back and take care of things. Like you.”
Charlie grabbed more nails and Danny stood and thought about what Charlie had said.
“I came to settle my father’s place,” Danny said. “My band is going on tour again.”
Charlie shook the nails in his hand and looked back to the deck where Liv stood.
“That woman back there has never given her heart,” Charlie said. “And you know why?”
“Why?” Danny asked.
“Because she already gave it to you. You still have it. You always have.”
Charlie paused and stared at Danny. His eyes were big and full of life. Danny felt a pain in his heart - for Charlie, for Liv.
“Charlie...”
“And you’re goddamn rich,” Charlie said as he smiled. “You can buy this town and live here. You can travel. You can take Liv. You can do anything you want to do. That’s why you left, Danny. For this moment here. To fix this fence with me. And to fix a broken heart with my daughter.”
Danny had the sudden urge to cry. To just let it all out.
Charlie shuffled to the fence and together, in silence, the two men finished fixing it. It took no more than an hour to get everything done. When it was done Charlie put his hands on his hips and let out a deep breath.
“Yup,” he said, his voice sounding deeper. “We did good, huh Dave?”
Danny looked at Charlie. “What?”
Charlie looked at Danny. His eyes weren’t the same.
“Good work here. Keeps the animals in place now.”
Danny swallowed. He looked at the deck at Liv. She looked like she was on the phone.
“Okay, let’s get back,” Danny said.
“Sure thing, Dave. I’m getting hungry. Maybe we can convince Mom to make us an early lunch.”
Danny forced a smile as he chased the lump in his throat away. He wasn’t sure what Charlie was thinking or who Dave was, but it was best to keep calm and get Charlie back into the house, where he belonged. They walked together, side by side, and nobody said a word. Halfway across the yard though, Danny saw Liv waving her hands. Danny wanted to run to get to her, but he couldn’t abandon Charlie. He also couldn’t have Charlie walk any faster either. When Liv took to the steps, charging down them and running towards Danny at damn near full speed, a horrible thought came to Danny.
Something happened to the band.
Danny touched his pockets and realized his cell phone was in the bag at his bike. He took a few steps in front of Charlie and caught Liv as she basically jumped at him.
“Danny....”
Liv took a breath.
“Liv, hold on,” Danny whispered. “Who’s Dave?”
Liv pushed back on Danny and blinked, trying to hold herself together. “What?”
“Who is Dave?” Danny asked again.
“Why?”
“He thinks I’m Dave. He thinks we built a fence to keep the animals in.”
“Hey Liv,” Charlie said, sounding back to normal. “Fence is all done. I need a glass of water.”
“Okay, Dad, you go ahead.”
Charlie kept walking and Liv looked like her eyes were about to start spinning.
“Liv, what’s wrong?”
“I’m... my... Crabley’s...”
“Crabley’s?” Danny asked. “What about it?”
Liv took Danny’s hand. “It’s burned to the ground.”
“What?”
“Liv, I need you!” Charlie bellowed.
Liv looked over her shoulder and Danny saw Charlie at the steps, struggling to climb them.
“Shit,” Liv said and ran to help her father.
Danny hurried after her, trying to process everything.
Charlie had thought he was someone named Dave. And Liv said Crabley’s was on fire? Or burned?
After getting Charlie up the steps and into the house, Liv sat him down and looked at Danny.
“Get him ice water?”
“Of course,” Danny said.
As he got the water, he heard Liv call who he could only assume to be Lorraine.
“Yeah,” she said, “you were there? You saw? What’s it... oh... no... okay. I’m so sorry to bother you, Lorraine...”
Liv hung up the phone and Danny handed Charlie the water.
Charlie sipped it and smacked his lips together.
“Thanks for helping me with the fence,” Danny said.
He watched as Liv ran around the house like a wild woman, finding her shoes, her keys, writing stuff on a piece of paper.
“What?” Charlie bellowed.
“The fence out back...”
“What happened?” Charlie asked. “Someone in the yard again? I swear, I’ll...”
“No, no,” Danny said. “The fence is fine. Looks great.”
Charlie stared at Danny for a few seconds. “Yeah, yeah. Good fence. Sure.”
Danny backed away and felt suddenly empty. He understood what Liv went through on a daily basis. To share something so special with Charlie and then have him already forget about it. Or confuse Danny with someone else. Or just... not really be there mentally.
“Danny, I need to talk to you,” Liv said.
Danny went to Liv’s aid, in the kitchen. She leaned against the counter, shaking.
“What’s wrong?” Danny asked.
“It’s burned to the ground,” Liv said. “The entire thing.”
“The bar?”
Liv nodded. “I know them... the Crabley’s. They are such a good family. Becky and her sister, Annie, owned and ran it. They... they have nothing now.”
“Okay, okay. I know who they are, Liv. I may have been gone, but I haven’t forgotten anyone or anything.” Danny said. He rubbed Liv’s arms. “Just try to relax for a second.”
“I need to be there,” Liv said.
“Then go. Right now.”
“Lorraine is on her...”
“Go now,” Danny said. “I’ll sit with your father. It’s okay.”
“Danny, he’s not...”
“I understand it,” Danny said. The lump in Danny’s throat was even harder to swallow now but he managed it. “I get it. He... just... just get where you have to be.”
“Are you sure?” Liv asked.
“I’m positive,” Danny said.
“It’s all gone,” Liv said as she choked up.
“Is everyone okay?”
Liv closed her eyes and nodded. “Thankfully. It happened around two in the morning when they were trying to close. People...”
Liv put a hand to her mouth and shook her head.
“Okay, we’ll talk later,” Danny said. “Go help out.”
Liv slithered away and left.
Danny didn’t want to be hurt by the gesture, but he was.
Liv hadn’t hugged him.
Liv hadn’t kissed him.
Worst of all, Liv had that look in her eyes... the look that everything was Danny’s fault.
And as Danny stood in the kitchen of Liv’s house, he felt out of place. And he felt the blame, even if it didn’t make complete sense.
**
Liv felt tears streaming down her face as she drove.
How could she tell Danny it was his fault?
The words were there, but they wouldn’t come out. She didn’t want to crush Danny and she didn’t want to chase him away. The last thing she wanted to see was Danny leaving again. Speeding away, kicking up dirt and dust, her heart being torn with each passing second. That kind of pain she could have handled all those years ago. But not now. Not with the way things were now.
Liv tried to collect her emotions as she drove to the scene of the fire. Five minutes into the drive she saw a faint line of black smoke in the air. The place was still smoldering.
Crabley’s.
Gone.
All because of Danny.
And to be fair, Chasing Cross too.
It was all their fault.
Of course it was all unknowingly...
Liv turned onto River’s Road and a few seconds later, she saw the few charred pieces of building still standing, like black crooked teeth out of the ground. The burnt smell hit her senses and made her eyes water. She pulled into the parking lot across the road and saw Becky and Annie standing side by side, looking in disbelief.
There was a small crowd gathered, the usual group of concerned citizens in Bakersville and the normal rubberneckers hoping to catch sight of something gruesome or worth talking about for years to come.
This may not have been gruesome, but it would be talked about for a long time.
Crabley’s had been a staple in the town for fifty years.
And now it was gone.
A smoking pile of ash.
Liv ran to Becky and shared tears with her as they hugged.
“Becky, I’m so sorry,” Liv said.
“It was so fast,” Becky said. “It just... the people... they were everywhere...”
“It’s okay,” Liv said. “Just don’t talk about it. What can I do? Right now?”
When Annie mentioned something about coffee and food, Liv took their hands and pulled them from the scene.
“Come with me,” Liv said. “Let’s go get a coffee and a bagel. My treat. Get out of here for a few minutes.”
“The firefighters,” Becky said, “or the police. If someone needs us...”
Liv looked for help somewhere, anywhere, and saw the bar manager, Stacey O’Connor, and she ran up to her.
“I need to get them out of here for a few minutes,” Liv said.
“Take them. I’m here. I’ll take care of it.”
“You have my cell if anything happens. I’ll be twenty minutes, if that.”
“Go,” Stacey said.
She looked at Liv and her face was as empty and shocked as Becky and Annie’s.
“I’m sorry,” Liv said, feeling it was the only thing that could be said at the moment.
Stacey nodded, tears filling her eyes. “I’ve been here since high school. I worked here...” Her chin quivered.
“It’ll be back,” Liv said. “I promise.”
Liv hated making promises that she knew nothing about, but she equally hated seeing good people in pain.
As Liv drove away from what used to be Crabley’s she looked to her right at Becky and then in the mirror at Annie sitting in the backseat. She fought the urge to smile, thinking about when they were younger, doing the same thing. Liv was the first of her friends to get her license thus making her the driver for what felt like the rest of her life. And Becky and Annie used to sit the same way in Liv’s car. Only they were generally happier with a greater purpose than to deal with the burned dream of their family.
After forcing a bagel into their hands (and almost ready to force it into their mouths) the three were back in Liv’s car, each with a cup of coffee to go. Liv drove slower than she had to. The car ride to and from were both silent. After eating, the Crabley sisters talking about what to do next. How to tell the family. How to explain to their father, ninety-three year old Tom Crabley, the one who opened the bar. It was so much to handle at once, Liv wasn’t sure she could offer any help or advice other than just being there.
They pulled back into the parking lot and when Liv saw Danny standing there with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head, she almost crashed her car. She threw it in park and left the car with the keys still dangling in the ignition.
Danny shouldn’t have been there.
Liv scanned the crowd, looking for trouble, but everyone seemed to be as calm as they could be. She ran to Danny and grabbed his arm, surprising him and pulling him so hard, she stumbled and almost fell to the ground.