An overwhelming feeling of euphoria swept over me as the golden sunlight turned red over the fields of wheat. This was real country. I changed lanes and downshifted, The eight pulsing cylinders under the hood roared to a heightened level of excitement. My eyes searched ahead, looking for any cause for concern, any other activity on the road. There was nothing but a smattering of clouds washing over the distant hills, and an open stretch of highway in front of me. Another twenty miles and I'd be home.
It had been years since this dusty little farming community had last held my gaze, but this was home. I drove across the railroad tracks by the grain elevator and remembered all the times I dreamed of leaving this place. Now that twelve years had passed since I'd left, I couldn't figure out why it was I wanted to leave. Nothing ever changes in this dusty little hamlet, and I knew exactly where everyone would be on a Friday night.
The old bar was on the same old corner of the same old dusty street. I remember Rob and I getting busted for stealing beer from the stockroom. Those were simpler times, when there was nothing to do but buck hay and cool off down at the creek. If you were lucky, you could sweet talk Patty or Claire into going skinny dipping; but those days were long in the past. As I drove through the old town, I wondered if anyone would even recognize me anymore.
I pushed the door and entered the bar to the melodic styling of 'Neon Moon' by Brooks and Dunn. If there was ever a place that a song described, this was it. The bar wasn't all that small, it had a large dance floor in the center and to my right were ten or so bar stools lined up along a cherry wood bar. The old jukebox was standing next to me and there were three pool tables along the back wall. To the left was a row of tables, where half of this sleepy little town was sitting. There was plenty of activity in the room. Couples slow dancing, some college kids shooting pool, and all other sorts of hijinks, but in the back, at a table by herself was Cassidy.
I strolled over to the barkeep and ordered two double whiskeys neat. The man eyed me as he took my money, but couldn't quite put a name to my face. That was fine with me, I wasn't really looking for a reunion, though it was inevitable. I grabbed my drinks and made my way across the dance floor. As I moved closer to that lone table in the back, I started to feel pangs of anxiety. I wondered if Cass would recognize me, or even care that I was back. After all I was eighteen when my father had been arrested, and my mother moved us out of town. She was so ashamed of what my father had done, I guess she thought when word got around it would make things difficult for us.
As I approached, I saw two empty shot glasses and half a Coors Light sitting on the table. I put on my best 'girl chasing' charm and sauntered up to her table.
"Ma'am, is this seat taken?" I mused in my best southern drawl.
I saw her eyes shift first, then she glanced over her shoulder a little, as if to see if I was talking to her or someone else. I could tell as soon as we made eye contact, that she had been crying. I could also see that she indeed recognized me.
"It's about damn time you came rolling through, I thought I was going to have fight these assholes off all night." Cass said, in her usual sarcastic tone. It was nice to see that some things never change.
I sat down in the empty seat across from her and just stared for a moment. Cassidy was almost exactly what you would expect a farmer's daughter to look like. Her hair was a natural auburn and was cropped just long enough to be pulled back into short pigtails. Her eyes were as blue as a topaz crystal and sparkled in the neon glow of the dimly lit room. She had a few freckles strewn across her face, and her ears were pierced with simple silver rings in them. She was wearing a red plaid work shirt that may have fit right where it not for her ample chest. She had a gray tank top on under her shirt and a silver chain lay gently around her neck. She was poured into a pair of Lady Wranglers that were split at the knee, and her old cowboy boots were well warn.
"I see you still have a dirty mouth when you drink." I said smiling back.
"I seem to recall that you had more than a dirty mouth when YOU were drinking." she replied with a wink.
I couldn't help but blush, she did know me far too well. God how I had missed this woman.
"Here, I brought you a present." I said as I slid one of my whiskeys her way. "How are you doing?" I asked next. I knew that question was best asked with a drink in hand. Her eyes welled up with tears as she answered.
"I can't believe she's actually gone. How does that even happen? She's here one minute and GONE the next. It doesn't make any sense!" she said quietly a twinge of anger in her voice.
"You know what the last thing I said to her was? 'Lose my number Mom because I'm done with you.' That was the last thing I ever said to her." The tears broke through the anger and she cleared the table before hiding her head in her hands.
The skittering shot glasses, got the attention of other patrons, A mechanic named Mike looked our way. Mike always had a crush on Cassidy, and tended to punch people who got in his way. So it was no surprise when the hulking giant of a man came to investigate this asshole messing with 'his' girl.
"Is this guy giving you trouble Cass?" He said in a slow drawl.
"No Mike, he isn't. This is my cousin Nick. You remember Nick, right?"
Her words moved slowly through the synapses of Mike's beer addled brain until finally making the connection that he knew me.
"Oh, hey Nick. Shit dude, I haven't seen you in ages. How you been man?" Mike laughed and smacked me on the shoulder.
