Chasing Arizona

Neon Moon

Rhett

"You comin' by for dinner tonight, son? Your Mama made fried chicken." I winced at the expectant tone in my father's voice and knew he would be less than pleased when I turned down his offer for a few cold one sat the bar. I wasn't the type to drink in public, I preferred to stay in and crash out on my recliner after a few too many, but something was telling me I had to go to the Neon Bottle tonight. One of the guys at work – I worked at a mechanic shop in nearby Victoria – had suggested heading that way before we shut down for the night, only to have his wife call and say that their little girl had a softball game that had been rescheduled. Since he'd suggested it I hadn't been able to shake the feeling that I had to go. I chatted with dad for a few minutes as I drove through town, thankful for the hands-free function on my truck as I chugged on by two parked police vehicles. He mentioned the Ranger's games the past week, filling me in on their loss opening day and promised to have it ready for review for our monthly guy's night. When I told him Dad surprisingly wasn't disappointed that I was going to be missing dinner, the old man was actually tickled pink since it meant alone time with Mama. A disturbing thought I didn't delve too deeply into. I bid my goodbye as I pulled into the parking-lot with a promise of visiting bright and early tomorrow morning. I knew he only wanted help mending the fences along the west pasture and I wasn't going to tell him no. Plus, I knew the fridge would be full of leftover fried chicken and there wasn't anything better.

From the moment I walked into the crowded bar, her auburn waves had caught my eye and I knew I needed to talk to her. I'd watched her for a few minutes before I'd found a seat right beside her. An unusual feeling of apprehension had filled my gut as I sat down beside her – I was worried she'd ignore me if I tried to introduce myself and instead of speaking right off the bat, I'd contented myself with looking around the bar. It wasn't until I heard her soft voice that I was certain of something and when I turned to meet her golden gaze, I knew without a doubt that I'd been pushed to this place for a reason.

As the night went on, I stayed right there beside Arizona keeping her company. We'd been talking about a little of everything since I'd sat down and I wanted to keep it going even though I knew we were likely about to be pushed out of the bar so they could close up. I was thinking up reasons to keep her from slipping off into the night and so far I wasn't coming up with much. It was nearly midnight and during the week only two places stayed open this late. Currently Arizona was telling me the story of how her brother-in-law Knox had been arrested for tearing into her ex-brother-in-law on the front lawn of her sisters' apartment and how her Uncle Dane (who she fondly called "Daddy" after a brief explanation) had placed bets with his oldest daughter and son-in-law on who'd bail him out, Texas or Tennessee. She was actually laughing, a head tossed back, full bellied laugh. It was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen in all honesty. Most women only giggled or gave fake chuckles, but Arizona didn't. 

I was smiling like a loon as Chance LeVoux came to close our tabs causing the little trouble maker to wink and shoot me an approving smile. Arizona handed him three twenties before I could dig my card out to pay for both of us, telling him to keep the change and to have a good night. Her alluring eyes swung over my way and her mouth formed around words I'd never been so glad to hear in my life.

"You wanna grab a bite to eat before you head home?"

Music to my ears.

*

Waterburger (correctly written out "Whataburger") was the crown jewel of the state of Texas and with Arizona Dixon clinging to my arm and at my side as I sauntered in, I felt like I'd been crowned King. I'd offered to drive since I'd only had two beers while at the bar and she'd agreed readily to that. I soon found out why miss Dixon had asked for a place to eat – she was good and buzzed. She'd begun singing along to the radio as we drove, bouncing excitedly when one of her favorite artists came on. It was amusing to see her go from soulful and serious when starting a duet with George Jones to playful and goofy when Sugarland started up. Arizona was definitely an interesting character. I wondered how long she was going to be in town, where she was staying, if she was looking to move to Pecan Valley and why she was here in the first place. 

As it turns out, I got my answers between bites of Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits and big gulps of sweet tea. 

"My mother left us letters to be given to us by someone in the case that something happened to her -- and it did. Gavin, who I now know is of no biological relation to me, went off one day while I was supposed to be out like my sisters and shot my mother and then himself. To this day my sisters don't know that I was there, have no idea that I heard what he said to her." For the heaviness of the topic, she seemed to be having no issue eating, but I suspected that it had to do with the fact that she'd lived with this for so long. "He'd suspected her of trying to leave him, taking money and being sneaky. I didn't think her capable of it until recently. Until she revealed the truth of our paternity and things began to click into place. So, now I'm here in Pecan Valley searching for the man my mother was madly in love with, even after years of never seeing him. Our father." Her eyes looked suspiciously wet as she said this, but a sip of her tea and a quick series of blinks hid it well. 

"What's his name?" I mumbled, biting into my a jalapeno & cheese burger appreciatively. I nearly chocked on her response. 

"Caine Hailey."

Caine Hailey had been in my life for as long as I could remember, a quiet man with no family and an interesting scar that trailed up his left arm. He'd been friends with my father from the moment he'd come to Pecan Valley twenty some-odd years ago and had helped my parents raise me. Dad had actually helped get Lily Ranch started and Caine had been around for every single moment in my life. 

Oh, Lily. That's when it all clicked. The stories of a woman he had loved, the loss of his children and wife, tragically. The tattoos crawling up his scarred back. But for years all we'd heard was that his family was dead and the pain in his eyes was too real to be a falsehood. Had Gavin made him believe that those he loved above all were dead? How would he take knowing that he had three daughters and four thriving grandchildren? There was only one way to find out. 

"I know who he is, I'll take you to meet him if you'd like." The words were out of my mouth before I could think twice but from the shocked yet hopeful gleam in her eyes, I knew I wouldn't be taking it back.