CHARLIE
The bank, like most banks, was over-air-conditioned. He may as well have been walking into a polar vortex, as far as he was concerned. But none of that mattered. He marched up to the counter holding a check in his hand.
The amount of time he’d spent anticipating the receipt of this check was not insignificant.
Of course, that had been because he’d expected Anna to hand it to him.
When she hadn’t, he’d asked where she’d gone.
His intention had been to set things straight somehow.
He wasn’t going to apologize because, to his mind, he hadn’t done anything wrong.
But he did want to explain himself a little better.
The teller took his check with a raised eyebrow. “Cash?” he asked.
“Yeah. Well, I’m about to give most of it back to you, so however you want to do this…”
“Paying off your property, eh?”
“Word gets around, I guess.” One of the major pitfalls of living in a small town was dealing with the gossip. People talked, and it was every bit as irritating when they got the details right as it was when they got the details wrong.
“No shame in it,” the teller said. “The whole town’s benefiting from this movie. Have you even been to Shelly’s place yet? She’s leaning all the way in.”
“I bet.” Charlie pulled out all his identification for the teller to check, although it was only a formality. Everyone here already knew who he was.
He collected his money and went straight to the mortgage arm of the bank to pay off his father’s debts. It just so happened that Cal Weston himself was working that day. The very same man who had told him he had ninety days to pay off his debts or lose the ranch was the one taking his money now.
“Congratulations,” Cal said with an unenthusiastic smile. “The ranch is yours.”
“Thanks.”
To celebrate, Charlie headed over to the Jolly Ram.
Now that the film crew was gone, he knew he wasn’t going to run into anyone he didn’t want to see.
He had his town back, at least for now. It was only a matter of time before the horde of fans found the town and made it their own.
Charlie would be sad to lose Denson Oaks, but there wasn’t a single thing on God’s green earth that went perfectly unchanged for the entirety of its existence, was there?
Everything faded into something else. That was something he’d come to realize over the course of his life.
He sat at the bar and ordered a drink from John.
“What’s the occasion?” John asked. Oddly, he asked that same question every time Charlie came in. And every time, Charlie’s answer was some version of nothing. This time was probably the first time that there actually was a reason for Charlie to celebrate.
“I paid off my debt just now,” Charlie answered. “My property’s mine for real. Finally.”
“Hey!” John reached across the bar to offer Charlie a high five. “Congratulations, man.” He was already pouring Charlie’s drink before Charlie even had the chance to order it. Then he slid it down the bar, and Charlie caught it. “On the house,” John said. “Little treat for the occasion.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Charlie said, pulling out his wallet.
John reached over the counter and pushed the wallet away.
“The last few weeks have set me up for the rest of the year. I’ve got half a mind to share the wealth a bit.
You’re a regular. I’d say I consider you a friend if you didn’t take offense at it.
So, let me offer you this one small thing. It won’t hurt either of us.”
“Well…” Charlie thought about it for a moment and accepted the drink. “Thanks, then.”
He finished the free drink and one more in relative silence. Most people might find the quiet depressing, but it was exactly what Charlie had been craving for weeks. The quiet was more pleasant to him than any kind of party ever could be.
After he’d finished his drinks, he took a stroll around town.
Without really meaning to, he’d wandered over to Shelly’s bookshop.
Charlie had never been much of a reader, but he stopped in anyway, just out of curiosity.
Just to see what all the fuss was about.
He’d been in a couple of times before, but it had been a while.
Regardless, he couldn’t help but notice the place had been rearranged.
Right out front was a table full of copies of one book—Texas Sunrise.
Leaning in was an understatement, Charlie thought.
The place may as well have been called The Texas Sunrise Bookshop at this point.
Despite himself, Charlie picked up a copy and took it to the counter to buy.
While he was paying for it, Shelly came out from the back room.
“Hey, Charlie! How’ve you been?” She glanced down and noticed what he was buying.
“Finally gonna find out what all the fuss is about, huh?” She laughed.
“It’s one of my favorites. May not be your favorite genre, but I think you’ll find it fun all the same. ”
He nodded. “Thought I’d give it a look. Everyone’s been talking about it.”
“Of course they have.” Shelly gave him a friendly slap on the back. “This book’s going to put Denson Oaks on the map, you know?”
“You really think you’ll sell all these copies?” Charlie indicated the table full of paperbacks.
“If you build it, they will come,” Shelly said with a laugh. “But seriously, yeah, I do. You have no idea how popular this book is. And the movie… with that director and that cast? It’s going to be a box-office hit. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”
Charlie chuckled and took the bag that the employee behind the counter handed him. “We’ll see, I guess.” He went to leave the shop, and then thought better of it and turned back to add one more thing. “I hope this movie does as much for your shop as it’s done for my ranch.”
“Oh, I already cashed my check for them filming a scene here. Even if the tourists don’t come around for another year or more, I’ve got enough to keep the doors open. You?”
“I’ve cashed mine, too. Finally own the place after my father ran it into the ground. Don’t plan to welcome tourists, though. So, if you could not let them know any of the movie was filmed on my land when they come around your place…”
“Sure thing, Charlie. You know I’ve got your back. Hey, enjoy the cash while it lasts.” She laughed a good-natured laugh. “Let me know if you ever change your mind about tourists.”
“Will do, but I doubt my mind will change.” He left the shop, hearing the little bell on the door jangle on his way out. The entire interaction left him feeling unbalanced, and it took him a minute to figure out why.
The way Shelly talked to him, it was almost like they were old friends.
She spoke to him the same way she would speak to someone who was part of this town in a real sense, rather than just a man who shopped here from time to time.
He’d never had conversations like these before Anna came into his life.
And he realized it was probably her influence that had changed everything.
She’d pulled him into a world he’d only ever skirted on the edges of.
Now, he was in this with other people, part of a community he’d only ever noticed and never really known.
He drove back home, feeling lighter now that it really was his.
No matter what, he should sleep well tonight.
The weight that he’d been carrying for the last seven months had been lifted.
But his house felt dark, even after he turned on the light.
He pulled the book he’d purchased out of its bag and set it on his dining table.
Whether he would actually read the book or not was still up in the air.
It all came down to whether or not this last ordeal was one he wanted to remember, and that was something he hadn’t quite decided yet.
He made himself dinner and decided to eat it out on his front porch, listening to the crickets and the breeze in the trees around his property.
On any other day, the peace would have been a comfort to him.
The idea that he was going to wake up tomorrow, work around his property, and not have to interact with anyone would have calmed his mind.
Tonight, though, his mind was far from calm.
He was uneasy with being alone, uneasy that tomorrow was set to be so quiet.
His world felt unusually empty tonight, and he struggled to sleep, even after taking a long, hot shower.
It took him an hour or more to realize that part of him missed the crew, especially Anna.
He had gotten used to their presence in his life, and now that they were gone, the place was actually too quiet—as though there even were such a thing as too quiet.
But there was a sound he missed hearing more than any other, and he craved it now, despite everything.
That sound, he realized with a shudder, was Anna’s voice.