Page 27 of A Reaper's Devotion
Old Sheriff Billy was a kind man.He’d often stop by to chat with her mother, and they’d talk for hours.
“Mom adored your visits,” Willow said.
He turned toward her.“I miss her.I know my wife misses her too.Bethany was a special woman.”
They had been friends, Old Sheriff Billy and her mom, as well as her dad.
Her mother had always told her how important it was for her, that once she passed, she become part of the town.Willow had never left the town, but she also knew what her mother had meant.She hadn’t been part of it.Every time she went out, she would be polite, nod and greet everyone she knew, but she also knew there was a difference between being part of it and just existing.
Her mother wanted her to live, to be part of the town, which is why she opted for this job to watch over the town.
“It’s good to have you around, Willow,” Old Sheriff Billy said.“Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
“Did my mom ask you?”she asked.
He stopped and turned toward her.“She was always looking out for you.She told us to give you enough time to grieve, but then we were to snap you right out of it.”
Willow smiled.“That’s my mom,” she said.“Always thinking ahead and not about herself.”
“I better start heading back.You enjoy that coffee now.”
“Thank you,” Willow said.“For everything.”
He winked at her, then turned on his heel to leave.
She took a sniff of her coffee, and then took a sip.There was even a small splash of vanilla.
Less than ten minutes later, Cyrus was there, and he came over and kissed her.The moment he felt her cold nose, he let out a growl.“That shit is just not acceptable.”
He got to work fixing up the heating.
Willow finished her coffee and continued with the monitors, looking over everything.Within the hour, Hank arrived, and the heating was up and running.
Cyrus was not happy, and he had her climb into his truck, then he took her back to his place.This was the first time she had been to his place.Tomorrow they were going to see his parents and she was trying not to freak out about that.Meeting the guy’s parents was a big deal, wasn’t it?
Cyrus lived a twenty-minute drive away from her, on a small plot of land.He pulled up outside of a gate and climbed out to open it up.Willow waited as he climbed back into his truck, then drove across the line.He parked again, got out, and locked the gate.It was then just a short drive up to his home.
He didn’t have an overly large house, but it was a nice one.Lights were glowing on the porch, and she saw he’d done a lot of work on the place.
This used to be the old Anderson Ranch, but bad times had them selling the land.She did hear that a big corporation wanted to give him a great settlement for the property.Only, Anderson refused.Instead, he sold portions of fields to local ranchers next to it so they could expand their own ranches.When it came to the main ranch, he sold that with land attached.She had heard Cyrus had gotten that land, but this did not look like the house the kids had talked about in ghost stories.
The hard times had struck Anderson nearly twenty years ago, when she was a kid.Throughout it all, he tried but just wasn’t able to recoup the loss of a bad investment.She didn’t know what that investment was.She doubted anyone but the Andersons knew.It was their business.The ranch had been the cost.
“Wow,” Willow said.
“Yeah, it took a lot of work, time, and attention, but ...it’s home.”
“It looks amazing,” she said.“Did you do all this work yourself?”
“Most of it.Dad helped.Mom did as well.Some of the guys around town came around for beer and to help.Ray did as well, when he wasn’t complaining about it.”
She turned toward Cyrus.“Do you miss your brother?”
“He’s not dead.”
“Yeah, but he is also not here.He’s still your brother.”
Cyrus sighed.“Yeah and no.It’s fucked up, because he is a pain in the ass.Never taking responsibility, always doing shit the easy way, never doing it the hard way.”He ran a hand over his face.“But I also don’t want him doing something stupid.I don’t know if I miss him because he’s my brother, or because I know for easy money he’s going to hit trouble.”
