Chapter Four
Dalton
I heard Eric and Kris on their cycles before I saw them. I arrived about a half hour earlier and had the limo park far enough away I wouldn’t be seen when they arrived. Felt like a stalker, but I wanted to see Eric and Taylor before the funeral to just bite the bullet and get it out of the way. I waited a few moments and Pops’ pickup truck arrived though I didn’t recognize the driver with Peggy. Couldn’t miss that little Irish hellion. She was probably one of the staff borrowing the truck.
Running my hand through my hair, I walked through the funeral home door. I stood at the back and could hear them talking and watched them quietly. Eric had on jeans, a white shirt, and a leather jacket. He looked tired but okay. Couldn’t miss Kris. She had on a long skirt and white peasant top and always followed Eric around, even when she was still in high school. The other girl was fantastic. Blond curls down her back and a solemn black dress fitting the occasion. She was a looker for sure.
Everyone was around the casket viewing Pops.
“They did a nice job,” the curly-haired girl said. “He doesn’t look like he was sick at all.”
Peggy put her arm around the girl. Must be someone close from the bar. Pops was like that. My mom worked for him for years and had me under her feet for most of them. He helped people like that.
Eric said nothing and put his arm around her. I felt a little miffed about that. Must be someone Eric’s seeing. Eric turned, seeing Kris off by herself. “You, too. Come on over.”
Kris walked over to his other side, and he put his arm around her waist. Kris smiled goofily. I wondered if Eric knew Kris was soft on him. He always had a blind spot about her. They went one-by-one to the casket to say their goodbyes and stood there, tears freely flowing, supporting each other. I missed that. God, how I missed that.
It was odd that Taylor wasn’t there. I turned, looking for her, and found the crotchety funeral director giving me an evil eye.
He said, “It’s for family only right now. You need to come back.”
“I am family.”
Everyone at the casket turned to see me. The funeral director looked to Eric. Eric took a step forward. The girls shared glances back and forth between Eric and me, like a tennis match no one wanted to attend.
Peggy stepped forward. “Frank, it’s okay. Boyo, it’s about time you got here!”
She didn’t say I was family, but it was a step toward leaving the past where it belonged.
Eric and the girl looked at each other.
Peggy came over and gave me a hug. “Missed you!”
Eric walked down the aisle, halting in front of me, taking my measure. “It’s good to see you, Dalton. I was wondering if you might show up.”
I stepped forward, meeting him halfway. “Eric, I’m here to pay my respects to Pops. I’m not expecting anything else.”
Eric nodded. Then, he cocked his head and did an amazing thing. He smiled at me. “You did me a favor, it turns out.”
“I heard around the grapevine. George Harris.”
“Yeah, The Third.”
“He was such a douche.”
“Still is.”
There was a pause.
“Damn, I missed you, Dalton.”
“Same.”
A span of two blinks occurred, and Eric scanned my suit and demeanor, sizing me up.
“Just hug, damn it,” said Kris.
Eric and I laughed at the same time, and time slipped away. I gave him my hand, and he grabbed me up my arm, brother to brother.
“Kris, is that you?”
Kris ran over and hugged the hell out of me. I glanced around.
“Where’s Taylor?”
Eric and Kris laughed.
The gorgeous curly-haired woman waved. My jaw dropped, and I closed it quickly before I felt even stupider than I looked. That amazing woman was my Taylor?
I walked over to her as she stood there by the coffin. The air around us vibrated as I stopped within touching distance of the woman whose face had haunted me over the years. Everyone else faded into the background.
“Forgive me. You’ve grown up.”
Taylor stood a little taller. “Happens when someone goes away and doesn’t come back. People grow up, change.”
Her eyes hypnotized me, and I blinked.
“I would know those eyes anywhere. I’ve dreamed of them.”
At the clearing of a throat, I turned around to see Kris grinning at me. I stepped away from Taylor, and Kris rolled her eyes.
Eric walked over and thought we were talking about Pops. “Do you need a moment?”
I glanced down at the casket. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
They all took a discreet step backward, and I walked forward and touched my friend’s hand. My eyes welled up.
“I’m here, Pops. I don’t know what you planned with this, but I’m here. I kept my promises. Thank you. You know what for. I wouldn’t have made it without you.” I squeezed his cold hand. “Goodbye, Pops.”
I stepped back and took a couple of deep breaths before I turned to the others. About this time, the door opened, and people arrived for the service. Eric, Taylor, and Kris took their seats in the front and as I headed for a different pew, Eric shook his head and motioned me over next to him.
As folks came in, there was a murmuring as they turned to each other and asked, “Is that Dalton Dobbins?” I felt like getting up and walking out. The focus shouldn’t be on me; it should be on Pops, the man who had given his all to this community, who always had his finger on the pulse of the town.
Eric leaned over. “I appreciate you coming back. You here for a while?”
I looked beyond him to Taylor, who was doing her best not to look at me. But a man can tell, especially when I caught her doing it and her ears pinked.
I looked back at Eric. “I don’t know. I have some business in the area, so I could be here a few weeks.”
Eric nodded. “We can talk later at the wake.”
The service was beautiful and dignified. Eric and Taylor said their goodbyes publicly. Peggy – who looked awesome for a woman her age – spoke thickly in her brogue about what a wonderful friend he was. Business people, even rival bar owners, talked about what a force Pops was and how he inspired them, never afraid of competition, but encouraged them to reach their dreams.
Finally, it was my turn. I made my way up to the podium, my hands moist. I turned around, and I could feel Taylor and Eric’s gazes on me.
“Many of you may know me. My name is Dalton Dobbins. As a kid, there was no place that felt like home except The Boar and Brew. It was the place I could go to and have a fatherly talk. You never felt that because you were on the wrong side of the tracks, that you were wrong. Pops took me under his wing and helped my mom and me in so many ways. After she passed when I was in college, he offered me a job. It changed me.”
I took a breath. “The last nine years have been the hardest and most challenging of my life. If I didn’t have Pops to talk with me, mentor me, and be the father I never had, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.”
I saw Eric and Taylor look at each other and mouth “talk to” before I turned to the casket. “Thank you, Pops.”
I walked down the aisle and out of the church.