I looked up as my high school best friend, Reagan Montgomery, walked through the front door. Her eyes found mine immediately and a broad smile spread across her face, “Well, I’ll be damned, Cassidy Mae Peterson, as I live and breathe.”
I managed to keep my voice steady, my insides an amalgamation of anxiety and uncertainty, “It appears so.” I said with a small smile.
“Well, I, for one, have missed your face around here lady.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I just nodded. I didn’t want to bring someone else into my realm of uncertainty. I didn’t know how much she knew about my life since I’d gone, but the one thing I did know was that I didn’t need to drag her into my mess any more than I wanted to drag my own parents.
“Mrs. Jones, do I detect smells of…” She made a point to sniff the air. “Is that… pancakes and bacon?”
She laughed and pointed to the kitchen table. “Yes, you do, my dear. Pull up a chair, join us.”
“Don’t mind if I do. I always loved your breakfasts.”
There was a different air in the kitchen this morning. I kept my gaze on the floor as I walked to the chair I occupied last night. A chair across from me scraped against the linoleum floor and my eyes lifted. I tensed and hoped that nobody noticed. My eyes found Reagan. I hadn’t seen or talked to her since I left for college. We’d lost touch, but the look of concern on her face was there and then gone before I could blink. If I hadn’t been looking, I would have missed it completely. She smiled softly at me.
Typical Reagan.
In the city, they would refer to her as a pixie. A small, magical humanoid creature, often compared to a fairy. In our small town, she was known as a spitfire. If I remember anything about Rae, I remember this. She may be small at five foot two but she was fierce.
Mama brought over another place setting and set it down in front of Reagan. She brought each pan over and allowed us to serve ourselves.
I pushed the pancakes and bacon around my plate. My appetite was alive before Reagan had shown up. Now my stomach was churning, too much to eat, fearing that I would see my food a second time.
“What’s the matter, baby girl? Ya want something else to eat?” Papa asked quietly from the other side of the table.
“No, thanks. I’m good with what I have.” I loaded up a forkful of pancakes onto my fork and stared it down, wishing I had the desire to devour it. His eyes narrowed assessing me before returning to his own plate.
I knew that he didn’t believe me, but he wasn’t going to say anything in front of my friend. And for that I was thankful.
Once we finished eating, I stood up to help clear the table. Mama shooed me away quicker than flies to fresh horse shit.
“Go spend some time with Reagan, dear. It’s been years since you’ve seen your friends.” I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want anyone else involved in my battles but this restless feeling under my skin was making me feel like a caged wild animal.
I was finally, for the first time in years, free from his grasp. Free to do what I wanted and with whoever I wanted, but I was also terrified. Terrified that I’d do or say the wrong thing.
Reagan looked over at me as I weighed my options, continue to hide away or start to make old friends again?
“Alright, Cassidy Mae, we can stand here all day or we can go do something fun. What do you say? For old times’ sake?”
How could I say no to her? It was time for me to move on. I needed to get my mind off things and get away.
“Sure, what did you have in mind?”
“How would you feel about going to visit some horses? I remember in high school you were one of the best cowgirls in the town. We hadn’t talked in years and I missed her. Whatcha think?”
A smile creased the corners of my face.
“I’d love to.”
I grabbed my purse and we headed out to her truck. She climbed into a big, white F-250 power stroke with a chrome grill and it roared to life. I jumped in beside her and winced when I accidentally hit the bruise on my side.
“Hey, you okay?” I looked over to find concern etched into the features on Reagan’s face.
“Yeah, why are you askin’?” I tried to play it cool.
“You cringed when you hopped in just now. What’s going on, Cassidy?”
My lower lip started to tremble. I was afraid of telling anyone that I’d had a verbally abusive spouse and stuck with him for the last year. So, I did the only thing I could. I lied.
“Oh, I’m good. Must’ve just tweaked it wrong, I’ll be okay.” I said, hoping that my smile wasn’t showing the pain I felt on the inside.
“As long as you’re sure.” She looked me in the eye dead on and I felt like the biggest ass lying to the person that had once been my best friend and confidante. I nodded.
“Okay, then.” I don’t think she believed me but she nodded and started backing up to turn around and head out.
“So, where are we headed?”
A small smile creased her lips, “To see Beau, where else?”
“To see… Beau…?” My heart flip flopped in my chest and did a dance. Thoughts of seeing a grown-up Beau tore through my mind.
She giggled. “Mmhmm.”
“Oh, okay…” I whispered.
The rest of the ride was silent. The windows were open and as we approached, I noticed the two willow trees that had always stood guard at the entrance to their farm were still standing firm. The old carved boulder proudly displaying Willow Springs Stables still sat by the road, same as it
