Beckham and Collins.
Mr. and Mrs. Strong.
My mom and Bayliss.
Even Church was swaying with some young man whose name I was going to make sure to get in the morning.
I looked at Bright. “Let’s get some of those salmon tacos from Brewer before he shuts down.”
Once we had our tacos, chips, and Brewer’s famous guacamole, Brighton found us an empty table in the clearing to sit at.
“Bright.”
“What’s up?” He took a large bite of the soft-shelled taco.
“Why’re you single?”
He gave a carefree, easy shrug. “I don’t know where my girl is, but she ain’t in Jackson Falls.”
“What?” I chuckled. “What do you mean, she ain’t in Jackson Falls?”
His shoulders bounced in a second shrug. “I grew up here. It’s a small town. I know the vast majority of these women. Theyain’t it.” He paused. “No shade. They just aren’t it. I went to college at Hale-Williams in Virginia. Thought I might meet her there, but I didn’t. I guess I’m still looking. Probably gonna end up having to convince a tourist to relocate here or some shit. Like Beck did with Collins.”
“Yeah.” I shot him a fake mean look. “I feel like all of your brothers are stealing my family members. Are you gonna try to get with Perkins?”
He laughed. “What? Nah. Perkins is busy raising her girls and before you throw her name out there, Church is way too young. Your sisters are safe with me.”
“So what do you do for female . . . companionship?”
He was silent for a second. “Ohh.” Realization of what I was asking dawned on his countenance. “Yeah, I fuck up on tourists. I typically bag women that are staying at the lodge.”
My mouth dropped open. “No! Not you using your family’s business as your hunting ground for coochie.”
“Nah. We listen and we don’t judge.”
“I never agreed to that. I’m totally judging you, Bright!”
“Then you need to stop. It’s a mutually beneficial exchange. There are no lies told. No promises made. All they want is vacation dick and all I want is tourist pussy. Fair exchange ain’t no robbery.”
Since he had a point, I tried to school the expression on my face and reminded myself to have an open mind. He and the women were consenting adults just looking to enjoy each other physically for the night . . . or the weekend. There was nothing wrong with that.
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
I figured since I was all in his business, he had every right to get into mine. “Go ’head.”
“What brought you to Jackson Falls? I mean, besides the fact that your sisters and your mother are here. They’ve been here for a minute. What brought you here at this specific moment?”
I hesitated for just a moment before answering him. “Life. It just got so unbearable. So overwhelming.” I took a deep breath. “In late January, I lost the baby I was carrying.” I wasn’t sure how I expected him to react to the news. It was the first time I’d shared it with anybody. I mean, my family knew, Xander’s family probably knew, and my job knew. That was it.
“On January 21st?” The words traveled to my ears on what almost felt like a whisper.
“How’d you know?”
“One time you told me that you haven’t been good since January 21st. When I asked you what happened that day, you played me off.”
“I didn’t play you off. Talking about it made my lungs close up. I never talked about it, because I couldn’t breathe when I talked about it.”
He nodded.
