Chapter Twenty-Three

The next few days were a dream come true for Riley. He spent his days with Stella and Adam and the evenings working at the hardware store—where there was air conditioning! Yeah the money sucked and his supervisor had another year of high school but life was now made up of more than just routines.

He was learning more and more about his son and Stella gave him the space to do it. They played video games but that didn’t entail taking advantage of the fresh air. So he thought of more outdoor activities. He had even brought home a brand new football and they tossed it around for a while as Riley gave him pointers about playing the game.

Adam was even open to learning how to swim, although Stella still refused to do more than put her feet into the lake. One terrible day, Adam splashed his mother drenching the front of her shirt. She didn’t realize how transparent the material was and for the next half an hour Riley had to stay waist deep in the water to hide his boner.

While Riley appreciated Stella giving him time alone with Adam, he also wanted to spend time with her. So he always found excursions that would include them both, such as putt putt golf, hiking, and on Saturday there was a festival down in Irvine that he wanted to attend.

They did talk some about the future, even child support--a topic that she shied away from. But he insisted that he’d send her a monthly check and it was up to her to decide what she would do with it.

Stella was very open about visitation and even invited him to visit them in Cincinnati over the Christmas holiday. He was quick to accept. He wanted to get a feel for how they lived. He told her that he hoped they’d spend at least part of each summer with him—at the cottage, that is. She seemed agreeable with that.

Riley decided that it was time for him to tell her how he felt. Stella trusted him with her most treasured possession, their son, so that most mean something. And he had caught her looking when she didn’t think he had noticed. Also there was that strange, yet enticing pull that had begun to feel erotic.  More and more it was becoming harder and harder not to lean forward and capture her lips when they talked quietly together.

He wanted to touch her skin and run his fingertips down her back. But each time he thought he might be bold enough to do it she would break the connection by looking away.

Saturday afternoon as he tossed the football with Adam in the front yard he was thinking about the best way to approach Stella when a truck pulled into the drive-way.

He scowled in recognition. It was Bodie Matthew’s truck. Adam stopped playing and peered at the big man that exited the vehicle. He would have preferred if Adam had kept playing so that he could ignore the man but he supposed that wouldn’t be very polite.

“Adam, go inside for a while so I can take care of some business. I’ll be in shortly.”

“Okay, Dad.” Riley felt himself smiling at that word. It was his new favorite thing in the world, hearing his son call him Dad.

Bodie walked up to him, eyeing Adam curiously. “I heard you had a son. Guess that rumor is true.”

“Yes. That’s my son. Adam. He’s five years old.”

“Fine looking boy. Big for a five year old. Guess he takes after his daddy.”

“I reckon he does.”

Bodie didn’t speak for another moment. The son of a bitch wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

“I guess you heard about Theresa running off with another man.”

Riley stared at him. “Heard about it.”

“You probably heard that it was her that called immigration on Pete.”

“I heard talk.”

“Well it’s true. And I wanted to come up here and tell you that I’m sorry for accusing you of having anything to do with it just because your last names Pranger. I shouldn’t have fired you Riley and I’m man enough to admit that. If you want your job back, it’s all yours. And I hope you’ll accept my apology.” Bodie held out his hand for Riley to shake.

Riley worked his tongue around his gum and then gathered up enough spit to let go a wad a Bodie’s feet.

“I’m sorry too,” Riley said. “For what I said about your family. It’s not their fault that they got a fool for a man and a daddy. You can take your job and shove it up your racist ass.”

Riley turned and stalked back to the cottage, slamming the door after him. Stella had been on her laptop and she jumped to her feet and hurried to Riley.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” She heard Bodie’s truck start and burn rubber as it pulled out of the drive-way and back down the hill.

“That was just some old news.” Riley said. He gave her a smile. “It’s done with.” He clapped his hands together suddenly. “Let’s go to the fair. There’re some foot long hotdogs calling my name!”

 

 

Stella had never been a huge fan of fairs. She never saw the appeal in overpriced drinks, dangerous rides and questionable food. But she had apparently never gone with the right people. Riley and Adam had so much fun that she had no choice but to have fun as well.

Over the last few days Stella had begun to see things in a new light. She’d been all over Estill County and seen all kinds of people and what she had learned is that everyone was different either in the manner that they spoke or the way that they reacted to new things, but it didn’t mean that they couldn’t accept each others differences…that she shouldn’t accept others differences.

She opened her eyes to the man that Riley was, and that allowed her to open her heart. If nothing else, she was willing to give herself a chance to see him with more than a jaded history of what white America had always represented to her.

Stella loosened up and allowed herself to experience things that she normally turned up her nose at. They ate foot long hotdogs and greasy funnel cakes and played expensive fair games in order to win cheap trinkets. And they also rode on the rides.

Adam was tall enough to drive his own bumper car and he got a great deal of pleasure in hemming her up against the rails. Riley and Adam even talked her into getting on the Ferris Wheel even though she explained to them that the people who put up the rides at a festival were typically just some homeless guy that the carnival paid a few bucks to and those guys didn’t care if they lost a screw or didn’t screw in a bolt.

Riley explained that this fair had come to town every year since he was a kid and he had never heard of one injury related to the rides—only some shooting and fistfights once it grew dark and the drinking occurred in higher numbers.

“Relax.” He said to her as they rode the Ferris wheel. He placed an arm around her shoulder and goose bumps ran up and down her body. She didn’t tell them that she was afraid of heights but having Riley’s arms around her made her feel instantly safe. After a few moments she relaxed.

Riley looked over at Stella and Adam. He loved them. His arm tightened slightly around her and Stella finally leaned into his body. When they got off the ride Riley gripped her hand in his.

She looked at him quickly and he winked at her. After a moment she tightened her grip on his.

Tonight I will tell her. I will say; I have fallen in love with you Miss Stella Burton…

“You need to get up on out of here, boy! Don’t nobody want to see that shit!” Riley felt something shove him from behind hard enough to cause him to nearly lose his footing.

He turned and saw his cousin Brady with three of the fellas that he ran moonshine with.

“What in the hell are you doing?!” Riley shouted. He shoved his cousin back. Brady was older and heavier but Riley was taller and broad with muscles. And in addition to that, he was now very angry.

Brady recovered quickly from the hard shove and he glared at his younger cousin. “You need your ass whupped for how you’re carrying on with them mongrels!”

Riley punched him in the face. Two of his friends came for Riley but before anyone could lay a hand on him both men were stopped short, one by Bodie Mathews and the other by Lt. Christopher Jameson.

The Jameson’s and the Matthews had caught sight of Riley and his little family and were about to make their way over to them. Bodie was reluctant having been recently called a racist by Riley. But the more he thought about it the more he realized that he had acted like a racist and Riley had every right to hold a grudge. He needed to make amends and he intended to do just that.

But Brady Pranger and his friends appeared and began his customary crap. Without a word Bodie and Christopher hurried to Riley’s aid.

Riley had tackled Brady and they were both rolling on the ground. Stella pulled her son behind her.

“Stay back, baby.” He was still more shocked than afraid but then he felt Brianna’s hand slip into his. He gave her a surprised look and then squeezed her hand.

Stella’s eyes were narrowed as she watched the fight. She wanted Riley to hurt the man. No…she wanted to hurt him. And then without a second thought she ran forward and aimed a kick at the big fat man that had called her and her child a mongrel. The well-aimed kick landed right on his temple stunning him.

“Stella, get back!” Riley growled as he flipped the man onto his back and held him down with his knee. He then punched him and continued to do so until Bodie and Christopher dragged him off the unconscious man.

Stella had dodged out of the way, but then she ran up and kicked the man again. “Nobody calls my kid a mongrel!” she screamed. Riley shook Christopher and Bodie loose and ran over to Stella, barely noticing the spike of pain in his knee. He grabbed her and held her.

“It’s alright, hon,” he said in a low voice that was still deep with unbridled anger. His eyes were on her completely. “No one gets away with that. No one.” She was shaking so hard that her body quaked. She wanted to kill that asshole. Never was she going to lie down. She was going to fight all the way. She vowed it to herself and she vowed to all that could hear her.

“I’m never going to let someone get away with hurting us!” She growled. Riley’s arms encased her, anchoring her to him. He kept staring into her eyes, speaking his agreement and soon her breath came out in even gusts.

“Damn.” Bodie said in admiration. He liked Riley’s woman.

Ashleigh and Shaun went to Stella, calming her while Christopher along with security carried away ‘the trash’.