4. Becca
FOUR
BECCA
My lips curl into a smirk. Now I know why Ellie looks so familiar.
Her mama was my best friend, and her daddy put in enough time at my mamaw’s house growing up that he was practically a wart growing on my ass.
Tyler is my brother Dustin’s best friend, the one who was always just there.
There when I needed him, there when I didn’t.
Teasing me about my bold clothing choices.
Peeking through the crack in my door while I was putting on my makeup, sitting on the floor in front of my mirror and singing along to country radio.
Later, I’d hear him humming whatever song I’d been listening to, and it would make me feel like I was the cat with every single canary in my mouth.
What girl doesn’t have some sort of crush on her older brother’s best friend?
And on a couple of rare occasions when we got older, there was a flash that maybe Tyler and I would be something more.
Maybe it wasn’t just a school girl’s crush and he felt something for me too.
He always showed up if I needed him, always seemed to appear when I could use someone to catch my fall.
I did a lot of falling in those days, testing every limit of what I could get away with.
Sometimes because I asked him to be. Other times, he was just there.
But one day, he decided all those nice moments meant nothing and in fact I was the source of his every woe. To some degree, I get it. CJ left him, and she had been my best friend before everything fell apart. God only knows what she told him.
It hurts that he’d believe her over me, though.
Now, I saunter closer to where Tyler watches Ellie throw a ball for my beloved doggie.
“Well, well, well. Of all the chicken farms in the world,” I say, touching my tongue to my teeth.
Tyler looks like the act of hearing my voice made him develop acid reflux. His thumb rubs the inside of his middle finger, a tic I know all too well.
“Can I help you to a smoke?” I offer.
“I don’t do that anymore,” he grits out. “And I expect you to have the decency not to smoke in front of my daughter.”
I snap my fingers and stomp my foot. “Oh, damn, should I have not given her that Marlboro?”
Tyler’s jaw pops forward and his neck turns red. Maybe if he lightened up, he’d have a shot at being hot. Coveralls alone are enough to get me going, regardless of gender. Coveralls imply hard work and a willingness to get your hands dirty. That, in my book, is quite sexy.
But coveralls can’t save the man’s hotness when he’s being such a little prick. There was definitely a time when Tyler was of interest to me, but it was almost another lifetime or an alternate universe or something.
“Relax,” I add, “it was just a candy cig.”
“Reba, I swear to god,” he bites out. “If you gave my child—”
I put my hands out. “No one likes humor anymore.”
His upper lip lifts into a snarl. “That’s what assholes say after they do something asshole-y.”
“Interesting,” I say, tapping my finger on my chin. “It’s almost like there’s an asshole here among us.”
Reba. He was the only person to ever call me that. Reba or Fancy after Reba McEntire’s most famous song, all because I dared to dye my hair with Kool-Aid.
Hey, it was worth a shot. And anyway, I looked great with my faux red locks. It feels weird that he’s hauling that name out of the archives when he hasn’t spoken to me in the better part of three years.
Tyler does one of those slow blinks you do right before you vomit.
“Can I get you a glass of tea? Cup of coffee? Apple cider?” I lean in closer. “A beer?”
“It’s 10:30 in the morning!” he shrieks.
All the while, Ellie and T-Bone frolic in my pseudo-meadow. At least, that’s what it’s become since my mower broke.
“She better not be getting ticks out there,” he grumbles, following my gaze.
He tenses, then relaxes when I put my hand on his upper arm and give it a squeeze. “She is fine, honey. Let’s get you a cup of coffee, huh? How do you take it?”
He ignores me. “We’re not staying. We’re leaving now. Ellie!”
“Daddy, look!” Ellie calls, putting her arms around T-Bone’s neck for a big hug.
“I don’t think you’re leaving anytime soon with those two carrying on,” I laugh. “Y’all got any pets?”
“Absolutely not,” he snorts. “And I’m not about to start.”
“Easy, now. All the money in the world couldn’t take that dog from me. That’s my best friend out there.”
My throat tightens at the phrase. Best friend.
The one I used to have is now who knows where, and the two people in front of me are the fallout.
I have friends, sure. My farm backs up to my friends’ peach farm, but they’ve all got their own thing going.
Darcy’s aunt and uncle own the farm for now, with Darcy in line to take over after they’re through with it.
Darcy and Jake got married in the summer and god knows they’re humping like rabbits trying to make more of themselves.
Not sure what their excuse was before that, but more power to ‘em.
My couple friends aside, I’ve got other friends, but none very close.
After my falling-out with Tyler’s ex, I laid low in that group of friends.
It didn’t have the same appeal without CJ.
Then when I heard she left town entirely and left Tyler alone with their baby, it was even more sickening to think of doing anything that would lead to that kind of hurt.
I still drink some here and there, maybe even get a little tipsy, but the days of party hearty Becca are gone.
Still, the barflies at the Legion are like aunts and uncles to me, some of whom I go see in the nursing home when they’re too old to make it into the bar anymore.
I’ve been going to the Legion since long before I was legal, so even though I’m only twenty-five, I’ve put in the time.
I go see them because I love ‘em, but also because I see myself in them. That could be me someday if I’m not careful: burned out everyone in my life, no real family to speak of, waiting for someone to come wipe my ass in my old age.
As it stands, T-Bone serves as my sole, true best friend. And right now, Tyler’s surveying her like she just robbed a bank.
I wave him in. “Come on in the house and fix your coffee how you like.”
He stares at his daughter. “I don’t. Drink. Coffee.”
I sigh like he’s infuriating, knowing I’m about to grind the hell out of his gears. “Well, you rejected my offer for beer. What’s it gonna be? Moonshine?”
Tyler barely regards me. “Ellie! Daddy’s gotta get back to the shop.”
I know he heard me because of the set in his jaw and a face spasm like he’s stifling a sneeze.
He’s holding back a laugh.
I win.