“Grahm, how are your neighbors doing down there?”
He turned to see Jerry standing over him. Grahm was in town to pick up supplies and was just starting breakfast. Motioning the man in, Jerry ordered something from the waitress that brought him a coffee. Topping off Grahm’s cup, she walked away and left the two men to talk.
“You know what it’s like. You have them on the other side.”
Jerry nodded and took a drink of the hot coffee. “Yes, but have you ever been over there?”
“I have dropped someone off in front of it a couple of times, but after I talked to Sebastian once, I haven’t went back.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
Jerry took another drink and tried to decide how to word it. He knew that his friend was not going to like it and it would most likely start problems. “I have heard rumors that there is more going on down there than just partying.”
“Damn it Jerry. Spit it out. You know I hate it when you stretch everything out.”
“That old road down by Darby’s goes into the back end of the property and there has been a lot of traffic lately. Some say that you can buy affection down there from the girls.”
Grahm’s fork stopped in the air. It was not what he had suspected of going on down there, but it suddenly all made sense. All of the extra women down there and the creep Sebastian was just the sort of man to do something like that.
“You’re telling me they got a whore house back there?”
Jerry shushed him. “Don’t draw attention to it. I told you it was just rumors.”
“Have you been down there?”
He looked offended by the question. “You should know me better than that. I have Vee and I couldn’t deal with any more than her.”
Vee was Jerry’s wife and Grahm’s constant cupid, bound and determined to stop his single life. “Yeah she would kill you for sure. I just can’t believe that. I mean I can, but that it’s going on here in Riley and no one is trying to stop it.”
Jerry sighed and moved his cup when the waitress brought out his plate. “I am just trying to tell you what is going on. Thanks Cynthia.” Jerry waited until the waitress was gone. “Really I just thought you would have known something about it.”
“No. I know a girl that just moved in down there for the summer. I don’t think she knows about it.”
“You know one of the girls?” Jerry perked up with a smile. He was just as bad as his wife, meddling and so concerned about Grahm’s love life, or lack thereof.
“Yes, but nothing like that. She stayed the night last night, but we fell asleep watching a movie.”
“Uh huh.”
Grahm sounded disgusted. “That can’t be right. She would have said something if that was going on there. She is there to study ancient farming practices. There is no way she would stay if they were selling out the other girls.”
“Well maybe she is one of them. I am not saying anything bad about your friend. I am just saying it would be hard not to know, right?”
Grahm couldn’t get it all to make sense in his head. There was no way that she would be a part of something like that. He knew that he didn’t know her all that well, but he could at least be certain that she wouldn’t be one of the girls. She was not that type of women. He didn’t know much about her but he knew that much.
“You don’t know Ashley. She wouldn’t do something like that. She can’t know what is going on there.”
“Ashley is it? So are you two dating or something?”
Grahm sighed and shook his head. “It’s nothing like that. I did ask her out for tonight, but I don’t know if she is going to show up or not.”
“Good, I see you are letting go of some of the control.”
“Why is it every time we get together, you end up shrinking me about my love life?”
Jerry shrugged. “I have known you my whole life and I just want you to have what me and Vee do. That’s all.”
Grahm listened half-ass to the rest of the conversation. His mind was dominated with thoughts of Ashley and what was going on over there at Sunshine. He had gotten a bad feeling from Sebastian and not too good of one when he had briefly met Troy. Grahm hated to think of Ashley down there in the thick of things. What was he supposed to do? Just go rush over there and take her away? It was his first instinct.
“You aren’t listening to a word I am saying, are you?”
He wasn’t. “Sorry. You got my mind all messed up thinking about all of that. I knew there was something wrong with that guy. If rumors are getting to you, I wonder why nothing has been done?”
Jerry shrugged. “If everyone is old enough and willing, what is the big deal?”
Grahm didn’t see it that way. He saw it as a couple perverts taking advantage of young women. “It’s just the principle of it.”
Jerry handed the plate to Cynthia and then his friend’s. “Can we get the bill please?”
“Be right back, Jerry.” Cynthia walked off to tally the two men’s tab.
“I think that is going to be your last words one of these days. Not everything is a crusade.”
***
Grahm thought about Ashley and then Jerry’s words all day while he worked. His mind and heart were not into and his horse almost threw him. He could feel the difference in the rider and Grahm’s mood made them both uneasy.
His eyes went to the fence line and he wished that she would pop through the trees and he would know that everything was okay with her. While he would never admit it to his smug friend, Ashley had touched him in such a way and she was dominating his mind far too much. It had been a long time since Grahm had felt anything for a woman. Not since Jess and that was years ago.
Now he couldn’t stop thinking about Ashley and his mind imagined all the things that could go wrong. He knew he had to do something before Ashley was caught in the middle of it.