Town of Chance 5:Sweet Caroline(22)

“Sorry. I need to go,” she said and looked at them and then hurried past Bender.

C.J., his brothers, and Bender watched her head through the crowd.

“Is it me, or is there a pattern here with her always running?” Bender asked.

“Beer?” Hunter asked Bender and he nodded his head.

“I think it’s a pattern,” York said as he took a slug from his bottle of Bud. Hunter passed a cold one to Bender.

“How about your brother Kenneth, no progress at the office? I mean he’s with her every freaking day,” C.J. said.

“Not really. She’s shy and gets nervous when he hints about going to lunch, or even grabbing a coffee. It’s driving the three of us insane,” Bender shared with them.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, it may be genetic,” York teased.

Bender squinted his eyes at him. “What?” he asked.

“Don’t mind him, he’s being difficult. We met Shelby’s sister,” C.J. told him.

“Oh yeah. She’s the talk of the town right now. I haven’t met her yet. I knew she moved here a few weeks ago, but Shelby doesn’t share much personal stuff. Is she shy, too?”

“Shy? I think she didn’t come tonight because she knew we would be here and she met Hunter yesterday at the clothing store.”

“Ah, so you scared her off?” Bender teased.

“Fuck you,” Hunter replied and Bender chuckled.

“My brother Kenneth thinks that there may be more to Shelby’s private nature. Before Caroline moved here, Shelby was on the phone a lot and the other assistant heard her talking to a nurse at a hospital, arranging traveling plans, and made it sound like Shelby was afraid or something. When Kenneth asked her if things were okay and offered to help her with anything, she closed up and basically told him that he needed to respect her privacy. She got on the defensive,” Bender explained.

“Kind of like what she did just now when we asked about her sister and about getting to know her,” York said, squinting his eyes at Bender and then looking past C.J.

“We scared her off, too,” C.J. said.

“If you ask me, their behavior just warrants more questions and a need to ensure they’re safe. What about your mom? Caroline works in her store now, right?” Bender asked and took a slug of beer from the bottle he held.

“She likes her, that’s for sure,” York said.

“I can ask her tomorrow. I’m working in town and the library is doing the monthly book event,” C.J. said and they were all kind of quiet.

“How is Sam doing, Bender? Is he coming home next week?” Hunter asked him.

“That’s the plan, but then you know how it goes. He’s working on the base but they send him out for different shit last minute. I don’t hold my breath anymore and neither does Kenneth. We are hoping he’ll come here soon and maybe retire, like you, Hunter.”

Hunter nodded his head. “When it’s right, he’ll know it. You can’t force him if he isn’t ready,” Hunter added.

“He’s not kidding. We waited three years for Hunter to finally call it quits,” York said.

“Hey, are they still offering him the position on the base? That would be a nice retirement plan. It’s a doable commute, and he won’t have to go elsewhere for work. He can also live in that big ass house you guys built,” C.J. said.

“We’ll see,” Bender said, and C.J. could tell that their brother’s absence was weighing a toll on Bender and Kenneth, too.

“To Sam,” Hunter said and raised his beer bottle.

“To Sam,” they all said and then chugged their beers.

C.J. looked around the place, his gut clenching and his investigative instincts kicking in full force. What if Caroline and even Shelby were hiding something and it was dangerous or they could get hurt? From what little Bender gathered it was enough to give C.J. crazy thoughts. He would make certain to talk to his mom tomorrow. Just as he would make certain to stop in to see Caroline at the clothing store on Monday.



* * * *



Caroline was standing by the book display table next to Marlena Courts. The library set up a booth and tent for the display outside of the library on the grass. One of her three boyfriends, Deputy Mike Spencer, was talking to them. It was odd, but she was curious about these ménage relationships and how they could work. Seriously, one woman being shared by two or more men? How could that be a good thing? Wouldn’t they hurt her, even unintentionally? She shivered from the thought of even being touched by a man, never mind more than one at once. She overanalyzed everything. Like even about Hunter. He was huge in all aspects of the word and he was a soldier. His mom said a Navy Seal. Now she didn’t know much about those types of things but from movies she had seen over the years, men like that were way beyond resourceful. They were killing machines geared toward violence, maybe even acquiescent to it. Not that it was their fault. Especially if they saw action in the military. Did Hunter see action? Was he in Iraq or some other military operation in the Middle East?