Broken Road (28 page)

After a long day of South Dakota sight-seeing near Rapid City they’d decided to check out a place to eat and drink closer to the motel. Riley was hesitant and Brenda wasn’t any more certain than he was but she wanted him to open up more and she hoped a place like this might do it. It was the easy-going smile that never quite reached his eyes that gave him away. Brenda took a drink of the second beer that he’d ordered for her and realized that what she saw in his eyes, when she had the courage to really look, was pain.
 
Raw, uncomfortable pain, tangible and deep.
 
It made her physically uncomfortable to look for more than a few seconds.
 
As she looked away she saw that he had caught her staring but was pretending not to notice.
 
She took another drink.
 
The bar was packed, as one would expect it to be on a Saturday night only a few days after payday.
 
The place was decorated in a sort of retro hole-in-the-wall look, rough and rustic, but it had a welcoming appeal nonetheless. Memorabilia, highlighting local interests, like fishing, hunting and high school sports teams covered the walls.
 
Tables and chairs had been purposely mis-matched and the loud music was pure honky tonk and out-law country.
 
The waitresses were dressed in skintight jeans and white t-shirts knotted right above the belly button also sporting sparkling body piercings in an array of designs and colors.
 
Pre-molded cowboy hats , smattered with glitter in black, bright pink and white accentuated the look along with the name tags worn with names like Ginger, Jayda, Barbie, Alyssa, Jenna
 
written on them in some sexy lipstick script.
 
Maybe she’d made a mistake bringing him to a place like this. After all, she had brought him on the trip to help him forget his former fiancée, who was set to marry his former best friend in Broken Bow this very weekend, wearing the dress she had picked out for their own wedding.
 
Wow, if that didn’t make him absolutely miserable and horribly uncomfortable every second of the day, he was tougher than she could ever be about that kind of betrayal.
 
He should be passed out drunk somewhere already, trying to forget all of that and here she was already thinking how much she needed him to help her with her own problems.
 
What a bad friend she was. How was bringing him to the bar, where everyone seemed overly happy and drunk while the big breasted waitresses brought more to drink making the pain any better?
 
The girls were too pretty, their boobs too big, the music too loud and certainly too full of life.
 
It was too soon for a guy who had just had the rug pulled from under him by a girl he thought had loved him.
 
She noticed that there was also an unusual amount of couples kissing, nuzzling, holding hands and definitely enjoying each other’s company way too much.
 
She smiled at Riley and nervously took another drink.
 

“I’m sorry.” She said.

“For what?” he asked trying to be heard over the music.

“For this.”

“It’s okay, really.”

“I should have taken you to a Perkins or something.”

“I like the place.” He said

“I know it’s like one part Hank Williams and two parts Hooters.”

“Yeah.” He said and attempted a smile, “I’m just glad I’m here and not back home.” Good. At least he was being honest and opening up a little more. She nodded sympathetically.
 
Maybe the trip was doing him some good already.
 
Suddenly the music changed to a more upbeat song.
 
The band was gearing up at the front and she saw that the lead singer had taken his place with them holding his fiddle.
 
People were getting up and heading for the dance floor.
 
She followed the couples with her eyes as they made it onto the dance floor.
 
She smiled to herself as she recognized the familiar tune.
 
It was the Cotton Eyed Joe.
 
The choreographed dance began and each pair was out there giving it their all.
 
Soon she found herself tapping along to the beat and clapping.
 
That’s when she realized he was staring at her.
 
She felt heat flushing over her face. She felt embarrassed. Maybe she’d been tapping too loudly?
 

“Wanna dance?” he asked over the music

“What?” she asked almost choking on her beer.

“Dance, do you want to dance?”
 

“Are you serious?” she said somewhat surprised

“This is my third beer-I can probably take it.” He said and she wasn’t sure still if he was joking.

“I don’t know. . .” she said hesitantly

“Don’t know how, huh?” he teased.

“Of course I do.
 
But are you sure you want to?”

“Why the hell not?”

“Okay.” She said smiling and stood up reaching out for his hand and leading him to the dance floor.
 
They made their way around the dancing couples and found a tiny space between the stage and a few tables set up nearby.
 
There was a great deal of stumbling on both their parts when they started and a good deal of bad coordination mostly on his part.
 
A few times they almost got knocked down and they almost took out a couple on the turns.
 
Brenda was laughing and Riley couldn’t help but laugh a little himself.

“You’re terrible!” she teased as he tried to turn her for the fourth time but still in the wrong direction.
 

“Thanks, you’re no Janet Jackson yourself!”

“No, I mean it.
 
You can’t dance.” She laughed

“I know.” He admitted and stepped on her foot.
 
She grimaced from the pain and attempted another turn.

“Then why did you ask me?”
 

“You looked like you wanted to dance.” He said smiling and stomping his feet in something that resembled less Cotton Eyed Joe and more bad Lord of the Dance.

“Oh.” She said remembering all the toe tapping she’d done at the table.

“It’s okay.
 
This is fun.” He said as he stepped on her foot again.

“Ouch! For you maybe.” She teased.
 
He smiled and pushed her into the next steps 4-5 beats behind the music.
 
She was laughing so hard she could hardly stand it.
 

“This has got to be the world’s longest song.” He said as he swung her around.

“It’s the extended version, I think.” She said and tried to avoid hitting the couple next to them on the next swing.
 
When the song finally ended, they were both out of breath and laughing as they headed back to the table.

“You’re a public menace.” She said trying to catch her breath.
 
He was laughing too, she noticed and it didn’t seem to be forced or only for her benefit.
 

“If you’d asked for my dancing credentials, I would have told you I didn’t have any.”

“I guess not.” She said and took a drink from her almost empty bottle. Riley was full of surprises.
 
Here she was feeling guilty for making him come to a place like this and he had been worried about her.

She liked him.
 
She couldn’t help it.
 
She sighed as she reminded herself that just for this week she was setting her own agenda aside and she was on a humanitarian mission.
 
Riley had his heart broken and as a friend she wanted to help lessen the pain and that meant keeping her own feelings in check.
 
It was getting harder and harder to do she thought and resolved that she had to give more and expect less from this venture.
 
Good luck with that,
she told herself and took a last drink.

After their less than stellar attempt at the Cotton Eyed Joe they had both remained in comfortable silence.
 
She liked to people watch but noticed that as more and more people started coming in the bar was feeling a little stuffy.
 
Riley hadn’t said anything for a long while and she wondered if his mind was miles away, back in Bess, imagining the blushing bride and handsome groom thanking all their guests for coming to the wedding.
 
His
wedding.
 
As she thought it, Riley squeezed his eyes shut, as if he had heard the words and was trying to make it go away.
 
She heard him sigh as the cute, spunky, well-endowed waitress named Lacey came back and asked if they wanted another round of beers.
 
Riley shook his head.
 
As she was clearing the bottles from their table she stopped and took a good look at Riley.
 
There was recognition in her eyes.

“Hey, aren’t you that guy?”
 
She asked flashing him a smile.
 
Riley was only half listening.

“I’m sorry?” he said looking confused.
 

“Yeah, you’re that guy, that soldier. I saw you on TV
 
Oh my God!
 
You’re like a hero or something!” she said excitedly.
 
Riley sat frozen and Brenda saw the light in his eyes slowly go out.
 
She hated Lacey.
 
Hated her.

“Hey, Mikey!” She yelled up to the bar. “We have us the soldier from that picture.
 
You know the one that was on the news cause he saved that soldier and that little girl!” I’m not making it up!
 
He’s right here at my table!”
 
She was yelling pretty loud and with every word she said Brenda could see that Riley was withdrawing into himself.

“You’re famous!” she said stared at him like he was the second coming of Brad Pitt.

“You know, Lacey.
 
Maybe right now isn’t the best time to . . .”
 
Brenda tried to intervene but the news had already traveled from the bar to the stage.
 
The band finished playing their song and the lead singer took up the microphone to make an announcement.

“Hey folks!
 
Just wanted to let you know that we got us a celebrity in the house tonight!
 
Our own Lacey Stillwater has just told us that we have a bonafide American hero here at the Outhouse.
 
You remember him, he was the brave soldier that risked his life to save another American hero, Captain Shane Jenner, may he rest in peace.
 
It was all over the papers and TV, do you all remember?”
 
There was a lot of whooping and hollering form the crowd to verify that they did.
 
Riley looked stricken.
 
People seated nearby had realized who he was and were starting to turn around to look at him.
 
Some were reaching out from their tables to slap him on the back.
 
Others were yelling out their congratulations and comments.
 
Brenda was mortified. She wasn’t any more ready to hear people talk about that damn picture again anymore than Riley was and right now Riley looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole.

“So why don’t you all join me in giving Specialist Riley Favreau, true American Hero, a real Outhouse welcome!”
 
There was thunderous applause and calls for Riley to come to the stage.
 
He just shook his head no and attempted to give them that cordial smile she remembered that never quite reached his eyes.
 
It was certainly different from the smiles he had given her earlier.
 
The crowd parted some to make way for him to go up to the stage but Riley remained seated and simply shook his head, smiled and waved at the crowd, mouthing the word “Thank You.”
 

“I’m sorry, Riley.” Brenda said and reached out to touch his hand. “I didn’t know they were going to do this.”

“Specialist Favreau’s, still as humble as ever, folks!
 
Seeing as he won’t come up to the stage to receive our thanks, we’d like to dedicate the next song to him and to all our boys and gals still serving in the desert.” The lead singer said and cued the band into “God Bless the USA.”
   
The whole bar sang along with him and people kept trying to send free rounds to Riley’s table.
 
Brenda politely refused them on his behalf and watched him stare at the bottle in his hand as people clapped and stomped their feet around them, waving their own beer bottles and drinks in the air.
 

“You want to go?” she asked and he looked up.
 
He nodded.
 
She took some bills out of her pocket and threw them on the table.
 
Then she stood up and grabbed him by the hand pulling him through the crowd until they reached the door and stepped out into the cool night air.
 
They walked quickly to the car and got in.

“I am
so
sorry, Riley.” She said as she started the ignition and pealed out of the parking lot back toward the motel.
 
He didn’t say anything all the way to the motel and she could hardly blame him.
 
She wanted to help him escape one set of problems and here she had led him straight to a place that reminded him of the other set.
 
She parked and they both got out.

“I’m so sorry about what happened tonight. Not exactly the end to the first day I was hoping for.” She said.

“Don’t worry about it.” He said as they went to their rooms.

“You must be tired. “ She said and he nodded.
 

“Renae?” he called after her.
 
She turned around and faced him.
 

“Yes?”

“I had fun tonight . . . with you.” He said and she wasn’t sure what to say.
 
His words were unexpected.