Chapter Eleven
Roy – Saturday
Urgh, what the hell was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I ever remember to get my ass to the supermarket? I still had no food in the house, and I had woken up starving all over again, so I guessed I was about to face yet another trip to the café. They were going to start getting used to me being in there at this rate!
“Come on, Tank,” I called out to him. “Let’s go. You must be as hungry as I am.” Another day of fence building awaited me, so I wanted to have plenty of energy for that. It was coming along nicely, and if I managed to keep my head in the game, I would actually be able to get it done soon.
As I ate my bacon and eggs, which were greasy enough to get me through the day, I read the local and the national newspaper. I usually only read the national because of the business segments, but now I wanted to see if I could find anything from June.
Now that I’d granted an interview with her – a thought that slightly terrified me – I wanted to know what kind of writer she was. The more my eyes flicked over the story she’d written about the local fish cleaning competition, the more I started to understand her desire to move on from that paper and onto something more. She had dreams and drive, and they deserved to be recognized. If I could help with that, I would be able to get over myself, surely?
When I moved onto the national paper and looked at the ever-increasing price of oil, I began to envision my future without these sorts of worries in it. I had enjoyed my time within the industry, but there was always a huge element of stress there, even if I didn’t do a lot of the day-to-day business, but soon I would be totally free of that. I had what I needed to set me up for the rest of my life anyway, so I wasn’t going to ever be concerned about money.
I would be able to live my life again, doing whatever the hell I pleased. I couldn’t wait.
As I finished my food, I grabbed another plateful for Tank. I wasn’t going to leave here without feeding my dog, and I knew that he would love this grub. He was sleeping on the backseat of the car, but he woke up the second he smelled what I had for him.
“Good boy,” I smiled, whilst stroking him under his ear. “I do love you, Tank.”
As he ate, I remembered the day he came into my life. Dad bought him for me as a puppy when Mom passed, probably trying to mend my broken heart. Despite the fact that I didn’t want to love him because I knew what he represented, I just couldn’t resist. That sweet, black fur, those deep, yellow eyes… It was like he became a limb of mine on that day, and we’d been inseparable ever since.
“Right, I’ll just take the plate back in, then we’ll head back to the ranch.” As I glanced up, I noticed a couple of girls giving me a funny look, but I didn’t really care. They could think I was strange for talking to my dog like he was my best friend, but that wouldn’t bother me. I was happy enough, so I didn’t care. “All right, ladies?” I called out as a joke, but they didn’t look too impressed. They simply turned away and stopped staring.
As the car raced back towards home, my mind centered back in on June. They way that Tank had reacted to her when he met her was incredible, and I just couldn’t get over it. He really adored her and her him. It was an instantaneous love at first sight thing that really intrigued me. I mean, I knew why I liked June, but for Tank to react so well, so quickly, that was something else.
“Crystal?” As I arrived home, I noticed her car sitting outside my property again, which made my mind reel. Had I made plans with her that I’d forgotten about, or was this another surprise?
I was probably going to have to make it clear that she couldn’t come over tomorrow no matter what because of the interview, which could potentially be slightly awkward. Of course, we both knew where our relationship stood, but I’d never had to tell her about another woman before. There hadn't ever been any reason for it to have to come up. But this thing with June, it was different, and I felt like it was only fair to make that clear.
“What are you doing here again?” I leant out of the window and joked, to which she burst into laughter. “I can’t seem to get rid of you.”
“Bryan is with his dad again. Don’t you remember me saying that I would come over to help you with the fence?” That did spark a memory. I could vaguely remember us having that chat, but it had gotten lost somewhere in the void of my mind. “Come on, you know you need me to do all the heavy lifting for you.”
I laughed loudly, nodding along with her at that one. Crystal was one of those girls who had no qualms with getting her hands dirty, which she’d proven by helping me out before, so I couldn’t see any harm with her doing so again. As she followed me into the barn and set about grabbing heavy tools as if they weighed nothing, I took the moment to consider what it would be like to actually make her something more.
It wasn’t the fact that she had a child that put me off; for the right woman, that wouldn’t bother me. It just wasn’t ever quite right with her. We got along well, and we did have chemistry, plus a lot in common, but our bond was one of friendship. It could never be anything more. It was a shame, because in another lifetime, maybe we could have been something amazing, but in this life, we would only ever be what we were.
“So, what’s new with you?” she asked as we drove the tractor out to one of the fence posts. “You seem a little…lighter, like something is making you happy?”
Was it really that obvious? As I shot her a curious look, the grin she gave me back made me realize that somehow it must have been showing. Despite my best intentions, she could tell all the same. “Oh, I don’t know…nothing,” I tried, but she certainly wasn’t going to let me get away with that.
“Come on, we’re friends, aren’t we? What’s going on with you?”
“Okay, well, a lot actually,” I finally admitted. “First off, and I don’t want you to tell anyone yet, because not many people know this, but I’m giving up the business.”
“You are?” she gasped in shock, unsurprisingly so. “I can’t believe that. You’re crazy.”
“I’ve made my money.” I shrugged my shoulders at her, wanting her to see that I had actually thought this though. “I don’t feel like I need the stress anymore. I think there’s much more to life, and while I’m wrapped up in the oil world I won’t see that.”
“Wow… I’m proud of you,” she shocked me by stating. “I’ve always thought that you gave too much to the business. Even if you aren’t there much anymore, I can tell that it’s always weighing on you, giving you something to worry about, so that’s great. It’s about time that you actually lived your life.
“What do you intend to do with your time? Travel the world? Go on a cruise? Buy a mansion? Fall in love…” she shoved me playfully with that comment, showing absolutely no jealousy at all. What we had was great, really, because I really felt like I would still have a friend in Crystal, even if I ended up with someone else. She just was the type to care.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I blushed a little thinking about June. “We’ll see.”
“Ooh, I get the impression that there’s more. Come on, tell me everything.”
Now that I’d started, I figured that I might as well. “There was an incident the other day, with a journalist. We had something of a car crash and got to talking.” I couldn’t keep the massive smile from spreading across my cheeks however hard I tried. “Now I’m going to do an interview for her.”
“What? She just crashed into your car?” Uh oh, Crystal did not look impressed. “Was she here to speak to you? Was the interview what she came for?”
“Erm… I, oh, I don’t think…”
“Just be careful,” she finished off in a warning tone. “I just don’t want anyone taking advantage of you. I don’t trust journalists.”
“I don’t think she’s like that; she works for the local paper…”
“Don’t be fooled, that’s all I’m saying.”
With that warning in mind, we got to work in silence, her words circling painfully in my thoughts.
***
By the time the end of the day rolled around, I assumed that Crystal would want to stay.
“Want a drink?” I asked her in the casual way that normally led up to my bedroom, but this time she looked a little awkward, like she didn’t quite know what to say.
“Erm… I don’t think I will,” she finally concluded. “I think that maybe we should just be friends now, without the benefits part, while you figure things out.”
“But what do you mean?” I gasped in shock. Was she ending things forever? How did I feel about that? I knew it had to happen eventually, but I wasn’t quite prepared for it now.
“I think that maybe we should take a step back. I think you have some major life changes coming up and you need to sort out where your head is at. If you come back, fine, if not that’s okay, too. You know I’ll always be there for you, no matter what.”
I didn’t know what to say to that one, so I simply pulled her in for a deep hug, trying to let my gratitude show that way. “Thank you,” I eventually whispered to her.
“Anyway, I have to go,” she pulled back, smiling at me. “Good luck with tomorrow. I hope it all goes well, and I hope you get the fence set up soon enough.”
“Thank you, I’ll let you know how it goes,” I told her, feeling like I was saying a really sad goodbye to my comfort blanket, to the one woman who had been there when no one else was. At least she would always be there; I knew that she was being honest with that statement and that would keep me going.
With that, she spun round and slid back into her car, taking away my old life with her. I knew things were going to change when I got rid of the business, but I hadn’t realized quite how dramatically. It was quite exciting to be honest. I’d probably been stuck in a rut for far too long, so change was what I needed. It was going to be sad to leave everything that made me comfortable behind, but that would be okay in the end… It had to be.