Page 29 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

Being back here, having ten years of life experience and distance from this place, I could confidently say that I’d taken my hometown for granted. I’d also taken the people in it for granted. My mom and Buzz deserved better than that. I should have come back to visit them. Buzz needed help on the farm; I was going to make sure he had it before I left.

Harlan, Dawson, and even Billy Comfort, who I always liked but wasn’t particularly close to, had all reached out to grab a beer after hearing I was back in town. I had friends that I’d made as an adult, but the friendships you have with the people who have known you your whole life are just different. And I’d been offered a job.

I pulled into the parking lot of Comfort Construction. Once I had Matty, I had to take a step back from my MMA career so I could be there for my son, since Felicity was not reliable. I’d done well working construction in Arizona. Now that I was in Georgia, I was going to look into the state’s reciprocity agreements so I could work here. I had some savings, but I didn’t want to burn through that, especially now that I potentially had another mouth to feed, clothe, and put through college. Until I could figure out my own work, Hank Comfort mentioned that he had some work for me when we crossed paths while he was dropping off his stepdaughter Luna at school. His crews were on three big jobs, and he had a smaller job come in that he didn’t have time for.

A chime played as I walked inside the front reception area. A petite woman who looked to be in her fifties sat behind a gunmetal gray desk. Her short gray hair was cut in a bob and framed her round face. Shockingly bright, hot pink square-framed glasses contrasted her neon green eye shadow and matched her pink lipstick, which all reminded me of women I’dseen at ’80s-themed parties I’d been to. I wondered if she had a costume under her black hoodie with the Comfort Construction logo on it or if this was her day-to-day look.

“Well, hello there. You must be Callum.”

“That’s right.”

“Elaine Mills.” She stretched out her arm. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” I reached across the desk and shook her hand.

As I lowered my arm, my knuckles scraped against something, knocking it off the desk. Using reflexes that served me well in the cage, I bent my knees and was able to intercept it before it hit the ground.

“Nice save,” Elaine commented with a wink.

I set the object back on the edge of the desk, and when I did, I noticed it was a nameplate that read Elaine Mills, Office Manager (Chaos Coordinator/Herder of Hardhats). I couldn’t help but grin; the descriptions in parentheses definitely matched the vibes Elaine was giving.

“Alrighty, let’s get you set up.” She grabbed a clipboard from a cubbyhole beside her desk, then clipped a few pieces of paper in it. “Here ya go.”

She passed it to me, and I saw it held a blank estimate sheet and a Post-it note with an address on it. Next, she tossed me a set of keys and then slid another clipboard with a pen attached to the top over to me.

“Just need your John Hancock here for the truck and tools you’re taking out for the job.”

I signed my name on the line she’d indicated and handed it back to her.

“Truck’s out back.” She motioned her thumb to the side like a hitchhiker. “You can’t miss it. Says Comfort Construction on the side.”

“Thanks, nice to meet you.”

Before I made it to the back door, she said, “I heard what you’re doing for Chloe. It’s a good thing you showin’ up for her like that and lettin’ her stay here in town with her people.”

Was it? I really didn’t know. Chloe certainly didn’t seem to appreciate it, that was for sure. If anything, she seemed to resent the fact I’d shown up. She didn’t want anything to do with me. All week, I’d tried to talk to her. First I’d given her space. Then I’d attempted to strike up conversations with her. I even tried bribing her with new clothes and a new computer to go shopping with me, both of which she’d declined. Yes, I realize that wasn’t the healthiest thing to do, but I was clueless how to bridge the Grand Canyon-sized distance between us. I had to find a way to get behind those walls, or at least chip away at one of the bricks so I could take a peek inside.

Perhaps sensing my inner dialog, Elaine gave me a reassuring wink. “Don’t let the tough girl act fool ya. She’s a golden retriever pretendin’ to be a pit bull. She’s a sweetie pie. I’ve seen butterflies and ladybugs more vicious than that girl.”

That was the third person to express an almost identical sentiment to me—first Principal Lewis, then Reagan, and now Elaine. I wondered how this woman knew my half-sister. Then again, it was Firefly. Everyone knew everyone here.

“Do you know her well?”

“I lived next door to her and her mama for a spell.”

“Oh.”

“When her mama got sick, she looked after her. She would even do her shifts for her.”

“Her shifts?”

“Danielle cleaned office buildings at night; that was her job. But as she got weaker, poor thing, she just wasted away and wasn’t physically able to do it. I’m not one to go tellin’ peoples’ business, but I watched Chloe leave with her mama at ten o’clock at night and not come home until the sun was risin’. I had ahunch what was goin’ on, so I checked the security footage here and saw that Chloe was the one doin’ all the cleaning. She was only a tiny little thing, barely eleven, I think. It used to break my heart seeing her try to load that big ole floor buffer into the back of their van. She would clean all night, get her mama home, put her in bed, get ready for school, and she still got straight As. Even won an award for perfect attendance. I think she never wanted anyone to question whether her mama was fit to care for her or not. I even saw her drivin’ that van a few times.”

A lot of kids drove around their farms out here, but that was just either to help out with farm work or because it was fun. Having to drive your mom home from a job that you are doing because she’s too weak is fucking heartbreaking.

“Now I tried to help the best I could. I made dinners at least five nights a week and even cleaned up here so she had less to do. I offered more, but Chloe wouldn’t have it. She insisted they were fine. She was like a mama bear about her mama,fiercelyprotective. The sicker Danielle got; the more protective Chloe was.”

My heart broke for the girl. Reagan explained Danielle’s condition, but hearing Elaine talk about the actual reality of what Chloe had gone through was something else entirely.

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