The Night Is Forever

“Joey’s got a crush on his therapist!” another one teased.

“I don’t have a crush on her—you guys have a crush on her!” Joey protested. “And it’s dumb. She thinks we’re all kids.”

“You are all kids,” the older man said.

“Hey, Drew,” one of the boys said. “Did you ever try to date her?”

The older man laughed. “I’ve known Olivia Gordon since she was a kid, and no, Sean, we never dated. She was a Nashville girl, and we met when she came out here to visit her uncle.”

“So? City girls didn’t date country bumpkins?” Joey asked.

“No, Olivia was never like that,” the man, Drew, said. He was smiling; it was evident that he liked Olivia Gordon, too. “She’s always been nice to everyone, and she’s very serious about her work. So don’t go making life miserable for her, huh? She’s...”

“She’s what?” Joey demanded.

“She’s just different,” Drew said. “Special. And a really fine therapist, so you all behave like gentlemen when you’re around her, y’hear?”

“Yes, sir,” one of the boys who’d teased Joey said. “This whole thing, though... It’s all a little hypocritical, isn’t it?”

“He’s talking about old Danby going back on the juice,” another boy said.

“Hey, that’s nothing but a rumor,” Drew said firmly. “Certainly at this point. I’m not even sure how it got started.”

“But what if the rumor’s real?” Joey asked.

“I don’t believe it,” Drew said. “I knew and worked with Marcus for years. But if he did go back to drugs, well... Hell, that’s not what you want for yourselves. Found dead in a ditch. Anyway, he shouldn’t be remembered for his relapse, if there was one. He should be remembered for everything he did right—for people and animals!”

Delilah stepped between Dustin’s booth and that of the group. The boys ordered, and when they spoke again, they were subdued. In another few minutes, Delilah brought out Dustin’s order. “Enjoy!” she said. She rolled her eyes toward the boys and Drew at the end of the dining car and hurried back around the counter.

The food was good, the corn bread as excellent as Ellie had told him it would be. But when he was done eating, Dustin stood and walked over to the group’s table. “Hello,” he said. “My name is Dustin Blake. My apologies, but I heard you speaking about the Horse Farm. My first day there is tomorrow. It sounds like you all think highly of the place.”

Drew started to rise in greeting but Dustin urged him to keep his seat.

“The Horse Farm is a great facility,” Drew responded. “I’m Andrew Dicksen, although I’m known as Drew. I’m one of the stable managers there, and these are a few young men who are working things out up there, too. Joey Walters, Matt Dougal, Sean Modine and Nick Stevens. I take them to their meetings a few nights a week and then we have a bite here—and maybe we’ll see a movie. If they’re polite, that is!”

The boys shook hands very politely, grinning all the while. They wanted to go to the movie, he was pretty sure. But they were quiet and respectful and they obviously paid heed to Andrew, even without bribery.

I hope these guys are the ones who make it, Dustin thought.

“It’s great,” Joey said. “The Horse Farm, I mean. It’s the best of all the things we do.”

“It’s really cool when you get to actually ride horses,” Sean added.

“It’s cool even when you don’t—especially if you get Liv.” Nick made a strangled sound; Dustin realized that Joey had kicked him under the table.

“I hope I get to hang around long enough to get back there,” Matt said. He was a lanky kid with long hair. He’d spoken last and almost to himself.

“Why wouldn’t you go back?” Dustin asked him.

Matt flushed uncomfortably.

“Yes, why?” Drew echoed. “Is there a problem?”

Matt looked as if he wished he’d kept his words to himself. “Um, my dad may drag me back home and send me somewhere in Minnesota,” he admitted unhappily. “He, um, said that if the people running the place couldn’t stay clean, what chance is there for kids like us?”

This was followed by a brief silence.

“I’m sorry,” Dustin said. “I heard about the tragic loss of the Horse Farm’s founder.”

Drew Dicksen nodded. “He was a good guy. A damned good man,” he said quietly. “Whatever anyone says.” He raised his head. “It’s a wonderful place. I hope things work out. I believe they will,” he said. “Anyway, Mr. Blake—”

“He’s an agent. Agent Blake. FBI!” Sean said excitedly. He grimaced as he looked at Dustin. “Sorry. I heard Aaron adding your name to the roster. So, we were all talking about you. I mean, it’s pretty exciting. We’re at a place where the feds send their guys!”

“Thanks,” Dustin murmured. “I guess.”

“Hey, did you shoot somebody?” Sean asked. “Is that why you’re here?”

Dustin shook his head. “Nothing like that,” he said.

“So, why’d they send you?” Nick persisted.

“They figure we all need a break now and then. We see too much,” Dustin explained

“Wow, cool. Who have you hunted down?” Matt asked.

“I’m here to not think about it for a while,” Dustin told him.

The door swung open, and a woman of about thirty-five stepped into the coffee shop. She was in jeans and a blue denim shirt—attractive without being beautiful. She smiled at him and then at those sitting at the table. “Hi.” She walked straight to Dustin and offered him a hearty handshake. “You must be Agent Blake.”

“I am. Nice to meet you...?”

“Mariah Naughton, and the pleasure is mine. Oh, I’m sorry, I must seem so rude. I work at the Horse Farm—I’m one of the therapists. We were notified that you were coming in tonight and that you’d be at the Horse Farm tomorrow morning. I believe Aaron has you going out with a small group first.”

“Is it with you?”

“No,” she answered, “sad to say it’s not me. You’ll be going out with Olivia Gordon. Aaron likes to start people out with Liv—and in small groups. She’s our most popular therapist. You’ll see why. Hey, Drew, boys, how are you all doing?”

Sean laughed softly. “You’re great, too, Mariah.”

Mariah grinned good-naturedly at that. “I’m just not twenty-something and gorgeous, huh?”

“You’re just fine,” Matt said fervently. “We all—”

“Don’t worry about it, Matt.” Mariah laughed. “It’s true that Liv has an exceptional gift with animals, so it’s good for people to learn with her first. Now me, I’m the historian! My family’s been here forever. We’ve lived here since the first frontiersman headed out to this part of Tennessee. In fact, I do tours every second Friday night and I lead these guys and a bunch of others on camping trips. We go out on horseback. I hope you’ll be joining us.”

“I’m sure I will. I’m a history buff, too.”

“Yeah?” Mariah asked. “Then you should spend some time with Drew, as well. He’s part of a reenactors’ group,” she said proudly. “They’ve even done reenactments for movies. They’re really good.”

Drew shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. “I enjoy it. I particularly like the research end of it.”

“Drew is great at making history fun,” Sean said.

“Mariah does haunted history,” Matt put in. “She’s got lots of ghost stories to tell.”

“It all sounds good,” Dustin said. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“Glad you like the idea,” Drew remarked. “But just to prepare you for tomorrow... With any kind of therapy, you have to be open to it. Although, honestly, half the time people aren’t. And those people don’t do well with the horses. Can’t blame a horse for his reactions and he’s probably not out to get you, right?” he asked, smiling.

“Yeah, the horses are way better than sitting there in psych group waiting for someone to talk.” Sean brightened. “I like throwing things at the rock, though. That’s fun.”

“We make paper bombs and throw them at a big rock,” Mariah explained. “Helps let out steam. Throw away