Sometimes even the hours had seemed too long for him to handle and he was forced to break it down into minutes. He’d tell himself he wouldn’t call her for thirty minutes. Sometimes it was even as little as ten minutes. So far his no-contact plan had worked.
He hadn’t called. Hadn’t gone to her house. Hadn’t stopped by the hospital when she was working. It had been hell, but he had resisted.
Sitting on the back deck of Bobby and Sophie’s new house, watching his family and friends laugh and talk, he should have been content – happy, even. He hadn’t seen a lot of these people in several years, and he loved all of them.
Not to mention the fact that this party was technically one-third for him, so logically he should feel not only like a part of the festivities, but at the center of them.
Instead he felt like an outsider, like he was simply watching all of these friendly interactions, even the ones that he was participating in, from a distant vantage point completely outside of himself.
When it came down to it, he just hadn’t felt right since he had driven away from Chelle’s house four days before.
He had kept himself busy over the last five days, sure. He had spent most of his time with Eddie and Emily, who had very proudly showed off her chicken pox scars.
She was such a great kid. Eddie had done an amazing job as a dad. Riley knew it hadn’t been easy for him when Lacey left, but Riley could not be prouder of him.
Then, the night before, Riley had gotten a chance to sit down with his dad, which was good. He had apologized for his behavior in his teen years, which was something that he had been intending to do for years. Bob, Riley’s dad, hadn’t wanted to hear it. He said that he was proud of him and how well he had done in the service as an adult.
He even shared with Riley about some of the trouble that he himself had gotten into as a teen. The conversation hadn’t gone how Riley had pictured it going, but he felt better for having had it.
He was hoping that he would see Grandpa J, aka The Colonel, today at the BBQ. Since he was Sophie’s Grandpa, Riley felt like there was a pretty good chance he would be in attendance. He wanted to thank him for taking the time to talk to him when he had been a punk teen.
Also, since he now knew Chelle would be here, it would be a good time to say goodbye to her. He had gotten a call from Landon the day before to let him know that they had a meeting with the bank on Tuesday. They were planning on consolidating their loans and getting a better interest rate. They felt it would go better if all of the partners were present.
So, Riley was headed out to New Orleans, and away from Harper's Crossing, tomorrow afternoon. He should be excited to start his new life. He wasn’t.
“Well now, I haven’t seen you round here for quite some time.”
The Colonel’s voice boomed from the sliding back door.
Riley smiled as he stood and took off his aviator sunglasses. “Colonel.”
He reached out to shake his hand, but The Colonel pulled him into a hug.
“It’s good to see you home son. It’s good to see you home.” He patted his back heartily several times before releasing Riley from his embrace.
“Good to be home, sir.” Riley said, and oddly enough, it was true.
He had originally been dreading being back in the small town he had spent his wild youth in. But, other than the constant torture of maintaining distance from Chelle, it hadn’t been that bad. In fact, Riley had actually enjoyed being back in Harper’s Crossing.
Grandpa J took the seat next to Riley and motioned for him to sit down as well.
“So. I hear that you’ve got yourself a bar down in Louisiana. That right?”
Riley had to smile. Typical Harper's Crossing. Everybody knew everybody’s business here. Yep…he was home.
“That’s right. A couple of buddies and I went in as partners. They've been running things, and from all accounts have done a good job. I'm headed down there tomorrow.”
Grandpa J smiled, “Good to hear son. It’s good to have a plan when you get out. I’m proud of you.”
In the last two days, he had heard that same sentiment from the two men that he respected most in the world. It felt good.
He heard his cousins and Sophie squealing and greeting each other in the special way that only girls did, so there was a good chance that either Katie or Chelle had just joined the party.
Chelle.
His heart began to race and his palms were sweaty. It wasn't like this was a surprise. He had figured he would see Chelle today. But now that the moment was fast approaching, he couldn't get his pulse under control.
Then, he heard Katie’s voice announcing how much fun they had had on their honeymoon and he slumped back in his chair and looked at his watch. 2:10. Maybe Chelle wouldn’t be coming after all.