Town Darling (4 page)

He finally landed and
snickered at her, arching his head and awaiting his treat.  Casey approached
and gave him a treat then firmly patted his thick neck.

“We’ll need to practice a
little more before we try that with me on top.”

“You’re kidding, right?”
came a male voice from behind her.

Casey turned toward the
gate where her brother, Grey, stood and leaned on the top railing.  Grey was a
lean, tall man only a few years older than Casey was.  He didn’t have their
father’s rugged good looks.  He actually looked more like their mother.  It
wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Not to say he was girly; he just had more of a
sweet boy look.  He was never going to have their father’s muscular build.  If
he was lucky, he’d end up more athletic, but for now, he was just gangly.

“That was a private conversation
between me and my man,” Casey informed him.

She looked at Storm and
shooed him away.  He took off across the paddock and stuck his head over the
fence to converse with the pretty mares one pasture over.  Casey approached
Grey by the gate and leaned on the top rail near him.

“Tell Dad and you’re
toast,” she said firmly.

“And then when you end up
on your ass with a broken leg or a concussion, they’re going to yell at me,” he
replied.  “I wish they’d gotten me that puppy instead of a sister.”

“You’re no prize yourself,”
she said teasingly while flashing a smile.

“Things were nicer around
here when you were off at college during the week,” he scoffed and
straightened.  “I don’t know how they could stand you at college.”

“Why do you come out here? 
Just to torment me?”

Grey appeared surprised
while staring at her with his most serious look.  “Of course, why else?”

Casey hid her smile and
shook her head.  “I’m wishing I’d gotten a puppy instead too.”

“You’d miss me,” Grey
informed her.

She appeared to consider
the comment then smiled and shook her head.  “No, I don’t think so.”   

†

I
t was later that evening. 
Casey finished saddling her gray horse, which was tied to the hitching post
just outside the barn.  Her father approached and placed his arm across the
horse’s rump.  Casey glanced at him and knew immediately what was on his mind
before he even spoke.  He smiled pleasantly, as was his usual warm-up for one
of his ‘talks’ with her.  She just smiled and continued tightening the saddle’s
girth.

“I know you hate when I
lecture--” he began. 

Casey smiled teasingly. 
“Then don’t.”

“We’ve been over this
before,” he announced with a defeated sigh.  “You’re twenty-one and have every
right to go to the tavern, but I don’t like the element that hangs out there. 
It’s a breeding ground for ill-mannered young men.”

“You mean the Harford
boys?”

“Of course I mean the
Harford boys,” he said with a groan.  “I’ve heard and
seen
things that
bother me, Casey.  They’re bad news.”

Casey wondered why her
father felt compelled to state the obvious.  No one needed to be reminded of
the Harford boys’ reputation.  They were bad news since kindergarten.  She
smiled as she placed her hand on the saddle horn above her while facing him. 

“You don’t have to worry,
Dad,” she assured him.  “They aren’t going to bother us with Grey tending bar. 
Besides, you taught me to defend myself.”

“That doesn’t make me feel
any better,” he remarked.  “There are four of them.  Wild dogs always travel in
packs.  Besides, I’m still allowed to worry.  You’re my little girl.  If
something happened to you--”

“Nothing’s going to happen
to me.”

“Yes, you’re a know-it-all
twenty-something,” he remarked with a defeated sigh.  “I’m sure your
invincibility button will protect you from harm.”

Casey laughed at him,
kissed his cheek, and offered a warm smile.  “That’s right, so stop worrying. 
I’ll be home by midnight as usual.”

He attempted to mask his
smile with a frown.  “Why’d you have to turn out so much like your mother?”

Casey laughed softly.  “Why
does she always say I’m too much like you?”

“Well, you know your
mother,” he replied.  “She likes to believe she’s a lady.  There’s a side of
her no one would believe if I told them.”

“Wow,” Casey teased. 
“Between you and Mom, it’s amazing Grey and I turned out so normal.”

“Real funny, young lady.”

Casey mounted her horse,
saluted him, and rode away.  Brandon stared after her, smiled, and shook his
head.

T
he two-story tavern was
located in a clearing along a back road just outside town.  It resembled an old
farmhouse that had been converted into a bar and was often mistaken for a bed
and breakfast.  It was around nine o’clock that night, and the tavern appeared
alive with activity.  The dirt parking lot was already filled with mainly
pick-up trucks.  There was a long, sturdy hitching post alongside the building
with several horses tied to it.  Casey’s gray horse was among them.  The town
was small enough and rural enough that horses were a common mode of
transportation, particularly among drunk patrons.  Most times, the horses would
get their intoxicated riders home safely.  On some occasions, the horses would
make the journey back alone and some poor drunken cowboy wannabe would wake up
in a field somewhere.  Country music was heard pulsating through the walls from
within the tavern.  The rustic interior reflected the farming lifestyle of the
town.  The old, hardwood dance floor was crowded with men and women line
dancing to the country music. 

The tavern was a
multi-purpose entertainment complex.  There were those who came to dance the
night away, while others came to drink, socialize, and pick up overnight
companionship, and still others who came to play pool, darts, and make a few
side bets.  Waitresses dressed in jeans and low-cut tops hustled pitchers of
beer to the filled tables within the smoky rooms.  There were several pool
tables in the back that seemed to remain filled throughout the night.  The
crowd varied in age from early twenties to late sixties.  There was always something
for everyone at the tavern.  Grey busily tended bar and seemed to enjoy the
excitement of it.  Grey, like Casey, had attended college, but lost interest in
his major after his second year.  He took time off from college to reconsider
his major and lacked enthusiasm to return.  With their father’s intent to run
for mayor, Grey assumed he’d take over at the antique store to help his
mother.  Casey unenthusiastically put in her time just to appease their
parents.  Someone had to take over, so Grey appointed himself. 

A moderately attractive
waitress in her twenties, Melanie Ridgeway, waited for Grey to refill her
pitchers of beer.  Melanie, the mayor’s daughter, seemed out of place as a
waitress in the smoke-filled tavern.  With the sort of money her family had, it
didn’t seem as if she needed to work.  Abby certainly couldn’t approve of her
daughter waiting tables in a bar, so her reason for working there remained a
mystery to most.  A handsome deputy in his late twenties, Deputy Tucker
Kennedy, approached Melanie from behind, spun her in his arms, and kissed her
quickly on the lips.  Tucker had been labeled the town stud the last five years
running, so it was no surprise that he dated Melanie, being from what was
considered one of the most prestigious families in Darwood Falls.  She pulled
away while smiling and smoothed his deputy’s uniform.

“Hey, handsome,” Melanie
announced while grinning.  “What brings you here?  I thought you were working
tonight.”

“I just thought I’d pop in
quick and say hello,” he announced then smiled with a lustful grin.  “I’m off
at six A.M.  Leave the back door open for me?”

Melanie appeared to
consider playfully then grinned.  “I’ll be off at two.”  She pressed against
him and ran her hands along his uniform.  “Maybe you could slip away for half
an hour or so.”

He grinned and was
obviously pleased with the idea.  “Vaughn’s working tonight,” Tucker offered. 
“He’s not much for radio chatter and probably won’t miss me.”

“Hmm, then I’ll leave the
light on for you,” she cooed.  “Just don’t let my mother catch you sneaking
in.”

“Are you kidding?” he
announced cheerfully.  “Your mother loves me.  It’s your father I worry about.”

“Then you have nothing to
worry about, because he loves you too,” she remarked while grinning.

“I can’t wait,” he replied
to her enthusiasm.  “I’ll see you later.”

They kissed passionately
and with a little too much aggression.  Casey and Dina sat at the bar and
watched the exchange.  Casey rolled her eyes.  Tucker finally pulled away from
Melanie, grinned, and left the crowded tavern.  Dina watched Tucker leave while
staring dreamily. 

“What I wouldn’t give for
one night with that man--” Dina said to Casey with a soft sigh.

“I can’t believe you’re in
love with the town stud,” Casey scoffed while shaking her head.

Dina looked at her and
appeared insulted.  “I can’t believe you’re not.”

It wasn’t that there was
anything wrong with Tucker; Casey just didn’t care for men who spread the joy
of themselves with every attractive woman in town.  Most of the men in town were
farm boys looking for just one woman to settle down with and raise a family. 
It was a bit old-fashioned, but she preferred that to the alternative.  Casey
wasn’t actually sure how she felt about the whole marriage and motherhood gig. 
Maybe she needed the right man to come into her life.  Melanie collected her
filled tray from Grey and hurried away from the bar.  Grey approached his
sister and Dina, leaned on the bar near them, and grinned deviously.

“Is Dina drooling over
Deputy Tucker again?” Grey asked.

Dina smirked her
disapproval to his teasing.  “You’re just jealous because half the women in
town want him.”

“Damned right,” Grey
replied and straightened.  “There should be a law against one man having that
many women chasing him.”

“I think I left something
in my car,” Dina announced.

“Sure you did,” Casey said
with a laugh.

Dina hurried across the
tavern and nearly ran out the door after Tucker.  Casey disapproved of Dina’s
current secret crush.  If it wasn’t bad enough that she wanted anything to do
with a man Melanie was involved with, it was almost sinful for her best friend
to be in love with the town stud.  He’d been passed around so many times; it
was almost disgusting.

Grey again leaned on the
bar, looked at Casey, and grinned lustfully.  “So, is Dina spending the night?”

“She does most Friday
nights,” Casey replied then suddenly looked at him suspiciously.  “Why?  Are
you wondering what time you need to get up to see her running around in her
tank top and panties?”

Grey’s sudden and perverse
interest in Dina was borderline annoying.  Neither of them was very good with
relationships, and the last thing she needed or wanted was her best friend
dating her brother.  When they broke up, which would eventually happen, it
would make things awkward for everyone.

“She wants me to look,”
Grey informed her.

Casey stared at him and
appeared stunned by the comment.  “You’re sick.  She thinks of you as her
brother.”

“Yeah, her very horny
brother.”

“She doesn’t do it to turn
you on,” Casey protested.  “Her parents are non-existent.  She sees us as her
family.”

Grey straightened and
frowned at his sister.  “You’re no fun.”  He then appeared more serious.  “You
realize you have about two hours before the Harford boys show up and start
their reign of terror.”

“Yeah, but they’re not
usually drunk until midnight.  That’s why we always leave by then.”

“I’m glad that fancy
college degree is good for something.”

Dina entered the tavern,
approached them at the bar, and appeared depressed.  “Missed him.”

Casey refrained from
commenting.  “I see a pool table opening up,” she announced.  “Let’s snag it
before someone else does.”

She groaned and shook her
head.  “What’s with you and playing pool?  There are other things to do here.”

“Yeah, we could get drunk,”
Casey announced.  “Unfortunately, neither of us drinks.”

“I have good reason,” Dina
muttered and looked across the bar to a corner table.

Casey didn’t bother looking
and refrained from comment.  A woman roughly in her forties, although much
older in appearance, sat with her back to the wall while huddled over her usual
scotch on the rocks on the table before her.  She appeared so drunk that she
was nearly comatose.  Her once gorgeous, long blonde hair was rumpled, and her
dark make-up screamed ‘rent by the hour’.  When Dina finally looked away with
disgust, Casey cast a glance at the pitiful woman and frowned.  The pitiful
woman was Dina’s mother, Olivia.  A once beautiful woman, Olivia was driven to
the brink by her cheating husband.  Undeniably a tragedy, Olivia made her own
choice to give up on life and her daughter.  Perhaps a more caring person would
feel sorry for her, but Casey couldn’t.  She nearly destroyed Dina with her own
misery.  Now she just drank herself into oblivion and occasionally traded her
body for a few drinks.  Most nights she passed out at her table and remained
there until morning.

“So I guess that leaves
playing pool,” Casey remarked to Dina while brushing off the image of her best
friend’s pathetic shell of a mother.

“We could always dance,”
Dina commented and already seemed to forget about her mother.

“Okay, first, it’s country
music,” Casey informed her.  “Ewe.  Second, I don’t dance and certainly not in
front of other people.”

“I’ve seen you dance,” Grey
commented from behind the bar.

He received a sharp look
from Casey.  “No one asked you.”

“You know, I remember
putting on a show once for some of your father’s military--”

Casey glared at Dina.  “I
don’t dance.”

Dina made a face while
looking at Grey and pointed at Casey, as if to say ‘how about this one?’

Grey grinned
enthusiastically.  “I dance,” he announced and did a little dance behind the
bar.  It was actually quite awful.

Dina’s grimace told her
feelings.  “Hmm, I wouldn’t exactly call that dancing.”

Grey rolled his eyes and
extended his hand to Casey for her usual comment.

She immediately took her
cue and responded with, “Like a cat coughing up a hairball.”

He shook his head.  “Why
did I have to have a sister?”