Dust Storm

Chapter Three-Reagan

I saw the little movement Lily made to avoid eye contact with me and knew exactly what was happening. The shock had set in. The realization that her parents had abandoned her has hit her and now it was time for me to leave the girl to her sorrow.

"Um... you can stay here for a bit. I'll be downstairs when you're ready." I said as I left the room, closing the door slightly on my way out.

An hour later, it was time for me to get to work. By then, Lily had composed herself and came downstairs, this time her waist-length hair was in a long side braid. We got into Paul's old Land Rover that he gave to me as he had just bought a Ford Bronco from Wes.

The drive to the bookstore was a silent one as neither one of us said a word to the other. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I turned the radio up in my yellow Land Rover and rolled down the windows so I could let Thomas Rhett sing to the world around us. The mountains passed by as I drove down the mountain into town. The old run down bookstore was the first building we saw as we entered town. Lily stroked her hair as the Rover made its stop in a parking spot in front of the store.

Michelle came barreling out of the door and swung open my door and pulled me out into a hug. I saw my life flash before my eyes as I struggled to breathe.

"You are my savior! I owe you. Close the store an hour early okay?" She handed me a key and waved to Lily and ran off to her car.

"Um... is she sane?" Lily giggled.

"Sadly, yes." I laughed. "That's normal. She is prolly gonna go on a date with the sheriff."

"The sheriff?"

"Yup. The one and only man with power round these here parts. He is a man of many hats." I held the door open for Lily and we entered the store.

Lily stood dazed as she gazed around. The shelves towered two floors to the ceiling and the roof had a painting of the sky and a few birds circling the glass dome.

"This is a library, not a bookstore," Lily said..

"It used to be a library. Now they're selling these books so we can help keep the town nice fer the visitors when they come round." I sat behind the counter and began to write in an old notebook. "Feel free to look round. There is a ladder in the adjoining room."

With that, we went our separate ways. About an hour into the shift, Paul came in with take-out for the three of us.

Lily read a copy of Call of the Wild while Paul and I talked about the upcoming rodeo and how I would team up with Jamie in the team roping part.

"You sure it's a good idea after all that has happened?" Paul took a bite of his Steak-n-Shake cheeseburger, getting ketchup on his chin.

I wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Yeah. We made up. It's a thing of the past.

"This town will talk again. They're still talking. And they're brutally unaccepting of you and Jamie's "friendship."

"I heard that book was good," I said to Lily in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

"Never read it?"

"No. Lately I have been busy working and training. Too busy to enjoy reading much anymore," I said solemnly.

"I don't read at all," Paul pitched in as he shoved fries in his mouth.

Lily nodded and kept reading.

Paul finished chewing and went for another bite. "So have you talked to Jamie about the incident?"

I glanced at Paul briefly. Then looked down at my hands, feeling slight shame and embarrassment.

"Really, Paul?"

"Sorry! I was just asking."

"You do realize that is the last thing I want to talk about. Especially with a new person in our midst?

"Midst?"

"Oh goodness, let me find you a dictionary," I pulled a dictionary from the shelf behind me and gave it to the man with a mouth full of fries. "It's free, friend."

Paul hit me on the shoulder with it and tackled me to the ground, covering me with the fries and little bit of milkshake he was drinking. As we were roughhousing, the bell on the door jingled and a tall young woman with blonde hair and brown roots entered the shop. She had a purse hung around her shoulder as she held the bag to her chest.

The woman looked at Lily and then to me and Paul wrestling on the ground. Lily smiled uncomfortably and glanced down at her plate.

"Paul! Leave Reagan alone," the woman said.

"But baby, she called me stupid."

"I did no such thing!" I adjusted myself as I was no longer being smothered by my large friend. "Holly!" I ran up to woman holding the purse.

Paul kissed Holly passionately as I got stuck in the middle of their love fest.

"Third wheel is gonna pop. Unhand me, fools," I pushed them away, but they remained being cute and gushy as I somehow managed to escape.

"Sorry about them," she said to Lily.

"Don't be. They're cute."

"Uh... you'll change your mind in about 15 minutes of that." I pointed to the couple by the door. They were kissing and moaning as if they hadn't seen one another all summer even though they saw each other that very morning before my competition.

"Maybe,"

We continued to eat in silence and Paul and Holly rejoined us.

After Holly and Paul had left the store, I rang up a few customers as Lily browsed the multiple levels of the store. After a few hours as closing time approached, Lily peered over the railing of the second floor as I was counting down the register..

"What if I want to buy something?" she asked.

Reagan looked up, "I'm closing the store, so you'll have to steal them."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Michelle doesn't mind. All these books were donated."

I finished counting the register. The store made $543.67, which was good considering it wasn't a weekend. I recorded the number on a slip of paper and slid the cash into a red bag, wrote the amount on the front of the bag and locked it in a safe under the desk. Then I looked at the card record, which was $0 as always since this town hated using debit and credit cards in the bookstore.

Just as she was about to turn off the light, the store's phone rang. It was Wes.

"Dude, am I leet fer wok?" Wes slurred over the phone.

Reagan face-palmed. "Wes."

"Baby! It you. Love of my life. Why ain't ya hee right naw?" The slurred sound of Wes's voice was all too familiar and I shook my head in annoyance.

At that moment, Lily had made an appearance in front of the desk with a pile of books and she placed them on the counter, taking a mass of her hair with it. I smiled at her.

"Wes, work was hours ago and Michelle called me and I covered your sorry ass. Get your damn shit together. And I am not your baby."

Wes was silent and then angrily said, "Oh yeah, you left me for Jamie, you lesbian whore."

"Wes. That is not what happened and you know it," I said softly to avoid looking angry in front of Lily. With that he hung up.

After I locked the front door, Lily and I got into the car and she opened one of her new books which was bound by an old green cover with the spine peeling back to reveal a wooden binding behind it. The cover was too faded to read the title. I turned the key and slipped on a pair of inexpensive blue aviator sunglasses.

"Whatcha got thar, friend?" I drawled in a fake accent.

"Why do you need to know?" Lily teased, smiling at me. For the first time, I noticed how one Lily's eyes had a hint of heterochromia as one eye was hazel and the other a darker shade. Her eyebrows were uneven, but that only added to her striking beauty.

I smiled and turned to the road and we headed home as the afternoon became dusk.