Chapter 4 #2
Casey continued. “I worked the orchard, the store, and the restaurant with my brother Billy from the time we were old enough to help with the businesses, and that’s what I kept doing once me and Missy got married.
Henry and Hudson were with me pretty much from sun up to sun down.
The boys learned everything there was to learn about runnin’ things around here.
Missy’s parents had moved down to Florida by that point—wanted nothing to do with their daughter or grandkids…
thought I’d gone and ruined her life and stolen her from the church.
” Casey snorted and shook his head. “My own parents pretty much disowned me when they found out I’d gotten Missy pregnant.
Mom was mortified what her church ladies might think.
They retired from the family business, let me and Billy run things, and traveled across the country while me and Billy kept things afloat here…
” Casey Joe trailed off like he was lost in a memory.
Standing abruptly, he popped his neck. “You want some water?”
“Sure, thanks.” Doing my best to follow the subject change, I joined him as he walked to the detached garage next to the house. It felt good to stretch my legs after letting my muscles get cool listening to Casey tell his story.
He handed me an icy cold bottle of water. We both cracked open our bottles, took long swigs, and headed back to the chairs in the yard.
“Lance is your friend, Billy is your brother?” I steered the story back on track because it felt like there was still plenty to be told.
Casey was easy to listen to. He was a bit rough around the edges, but it was evident from the first moment you heard him talk about his boys that he was dedicated, protective, and had a good heart under all the gruff and grumble.
And sometimes it was a lot easier to lose yourself in someone else’s drama and problems than to revisit your own.
Plus, I needed friends in my new home. I had a feeling buddying up with the Riggs family would be a really good move. Not just socially and for my business, but in my personal life as well.
Didn’t hurt that the guy was hot as hell.
Casey grunted. “Lance is my best friend—fuckin’ traitor. Billy was my brother, but he fucked me over all the same.”
There were definitely more stories there, but I just cocked a brow and waited.
“When Henry was about four, Missy decided she was done with being a mom, done with small town living, done with me. She left a note blaming me for her being miserable and hightailed it out of here. Lookin’ back, I know she planned it—she was a mean and spiteful thing deep down—but I spent way too long blaming Billy for what Missy stirred up.
” He wiped a hand over his mouth and sucked his bottom lip between his teeth.
“I saw the note and headed straight for Billy’s.
Aside from Lance, my brother was the person I was closest to.
Ended up finding Billy passed out drunk in bed while Missy pulled her clothes back on.
She left me and the boys that day, never looked back, and things with me and Billy were never the same. ”
“That sucks, man, double betrayal added to a loss and finding out you’re the sole provider for your boys.” Damn, no wonder the guy was cranky.
Casey huffed. “Yeah, it was pretty much shit. I wallowed for years and years over losing Missy. Had it out with Billy more times than I could count. He was my flesh and blood—and these days, I really don’t think he slept with her…
I think that was her settin’ shit up to fuck me over even more than just leavin’ would have—but I couldn’t get over the hurt they both caused me.
Billy started drinkin’ more and more. For a while, he kept things going with the businesses—which was a good thing because my worthless ass couldn’t function for a damn long time.
” He sighed. “Those are the years I regret the most. When I was there physically, but not really there for my boys. Thank god for Lance. He kept us together. Kept me from doin’ myself in over a person I’ve since figured out was never actually the love of my life.
It was all shit and it hurt, but I’ve learned a lot from it.
And Missy actually did me a big favor in the long run.
” He scoffed at his own words. “Not that it made it any easier.”
Casey finished his water and stared off at the tree line where the hill sloped gently down into the orchard.
“What are your top three regrets?” I asked.
He turned his gaze on me, eyes narrowing and lips pursed together. “You some kind of therapist wannabe?”
Laughing, I drained the rest of my water. “No, but I’ve been to therapy enough to know it’s good to talk about stuff, and sometimes the shit we think is the worst turns out to be not so bad when we can reframe it.”
“Therapy for what?” Casey asked, just as blunt as could be.
“Shit, life? Being gay, an unhealthy relationship with social media, dealing with toxic relationships, the list is long.” Well, there. In case Casey had a problem with me being gay, it was out there.
He studied me for a long moment, wheels definitely turning, and I wished I could see what he was thinking. Finally, he just huffed. “Yeah, therapy is shit, but I guess it’s good for somethin’ too.”
I tapped the empty bottle on my knee. “Top three regrets.”
Casey blew out a breath. “Not being there for my boys. The way things went down and ended with Billy. And wasting so much time being a pathetic piece of shit wallowing over the loss of someone I didn’t even love. I mean, I thought I loved her, but that wasn’t love. That was toxicity at its finest.”
I nodded. “I get that.” Thoughts of the toxic people I’d gotten involved with flitted through my head. I didn’t even really like them, but I liked what I thought they could do for me at the time. “You ever try to look at those things and find some positives in them?”
Casey rolled his eyes. “Fuck off with your fake therapy shit.”
“I’m just saying,” I said with a chuckle—Casey Joe was a breath of fresh air, and I appreciated his frank talk. “Sometimes it helps to find a silver lining when it comes to the shitty stuff.”
Casey popped another sucker in his mouth.
“Fine. Silver lining to Missy leavin’ was we didn’t belong together.
We weren’t good together. She saved me years of being stuck in a crap marriage.
” He laughed with no humor. “’Course, I just replaced those years of a crap marriage with years of self-pity. ”
“Any other silver linings?”
Casey’s mouth drew down on the corners. “Can’t think of anything good about losin’ my brother and watching him drink himself to death. And no one would say it’s good to be a shit father.”
I shrugged. “Not sure on the brother thing, but I’ve seen your boys around town. They seem like successful, respectable men. What that tells me is they learned about the family business from you, learned how to be independent, and kept integrity in the Riggs name.”
“Those boys are good through and through despite of me,” Casey grumbled.
“I think they’re good because of you. Maybe losing their mom and having a dad who didn’t function well for a while was hard, but they had Lance, right? They had to have learned something good from you and him. If they hadn’t, they wouldn’t be the men they are today.”
Casey just shook his head. “They shouldn’t have had to deal with that. Missy leaving messed them up. Hell, I messed them up. Having Lance around was probably the only thing that kept them from turning out like me and Billy.”
I bopped my head back and forth. “Maybe, maybe not. I’m not saying the situation was good, but sometimes the best lessons in life come from the biggest hardships.”
Casey grunted. “I’ll never stop wishin’ I’d been better for my boys.
” He screwed up his face in concentration.
“But I can say I’m actually glad—no matter how much it hurt them—they didn’t have to grow up with Missy in their lives.
She wasn’t a good influence, and the way we fought would have been really bad for kids to be around all the time. ”
“There ya go,” I said, the water bottle crinkling when I shook it at him. “Now, you wanna tell me what happened to your house?”
“Tit for tat. You first. What wild hair up your ass convinced you to leave California to remodel a piece of shit gym in Small Town, USA?”