Cutting Loose Ch. 02

He really is good looking, she thought with some amazement. There was a little of his father in him, besides his height, but the hell-raising wildness of Dale McCoy had vanished in his son, who had been forced to shoulder a man's responsibility before he was out of his teens. Even in a town where you couldn't throw a rock without hitting a lean, muscular farmhand, Roy Lee stood out from the crowd. Jilly looked at his biceps and remembered the feel of his strong arms around her, the way his lean hips had fit so well into the flat curve of her stomach. Blinking, she stepped back, suddenly very conscious of his physical presence in the small room. His blue eyes locked with hers, and a slow, long-forgotten tingle began to manifest in the pit of her belly.

"The smell brought it all back, you know?" she said, pulling her mind away from the unthinkable. No. I am not getting turned on by my son. It's all the crazy emotions from the past few hours. Him and Eileen showing up practically on my doorstep. Who wouldn't be going a little bit crazy right about now?

"It was one of my favorite meals when I was a little girl," she continued, finding an escape in reminiscence. "Stuffed pork chops and cheesy potatoes and biscuits. I used to ask for it on my birthday. That's the way it worked when me and your aunt were kids. We got to choose our birthday meal. Smelling it in the kitchen, and seeing your aunt there with you..." She trailed off. "I guess you never really get over feeling homesick. I missed your grandmother so fierce just then I thought my heart would break. She died when you were just a baby."

"Emphysema, right?"

She nodded. "She was always sickly. Even when we were children. She was just a little bit of a woman, even smaller than me. But when she was healthy, she would fly around the house like a bird, happy and singing. She knew the most songs of anyone I ever knew. Country, rock and roll, gospel songs and bluegrass, she would sing all day long.

"And Lord, could she cook. She made the best pies and cookies I ever tasted. I would come home after school and the smell of her baking would fill the entire house. I would do anything, Roy Lee, literally anything in the world, just to open the back door of our old house on Church Street and see my mother one more time."

She sniffled again and wrung the washcloth out in the sink.

"Thanks for looking in on me, honey. You tell your Aunt Eileen that your momma needed a good cry, but she'll be out for dinner in a little bit. Now shoo! I need to get cleaned up."

Roy Lee nodded and opened the door. Before he could exit, he found himself caught in a fierce embrace. His mother pulled his face down and kissed his cheek. "I'm happy you're here, Roy Lee," she whispered. "Never doubt that for a second."

His throat tight, he nodded and slipped away.

*****

In the hallway, Roy Lee had to adjust his cock in his jeans, which had grown to terrifying proportions.

Thank God she didn't notice, he thought, vastly relieved, as he heard the shower in the bathroom start. When Eileen had sent him to check on his mother, he never thought the result would be a hysterically weeping female clinging to him. Neither did he count on his own body's enthusiastic reaction. But when he found himself with a double armful of delightfully attractive woman, the result was as inevitable as the sunrise.

Maybe she noticed, and just didn't want to embarrass me, he thought hopefully. She's been married, and had at least one other lover, by her own admission. She knows men can't always control our floppy bits.

And she had felt so good in his arms. At the memory, his cock pounded in his jeans, aching for release.

She was just a few feet away, probably naked, soaping up under the spray...

No. Go to Hell. Go directly to Hell. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. God might let you slide with Aunt Eileen, even though I doubt it. But if you think about going to bed with your mother, there ain't a hope in the world. Some lines you just don't cross.

No matter how hot your momma is. He groaned as he remembered her body pressed against his. So different from Eileen's. The swell of her breasts, the slim, muscular curves, so different from Eileen's lush bounty...

He walked back into the kitchen and kissed his aunt on the neck.

"Mmmm," she said, wriggling sensuously under his touch. "Is your momma all right?"

"She is now," he reported. "She told me to tell you she just needed a good cry. She's taking a shower and will be out in a little bit. I think everything just kind of snuck up and hit her all at once."

Eileen nodded and turned over the pork chops. "Yeah, that'll happen." She moved to the side. "Pull that pie out of the oven, will you?"

*****

Jillian eyed her sister as they sat around the dinner table. She had said grace, and Roy Lee had filled their plates. "You brought the book, didn't you?"

"Well, of course I did," Eileen replied. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Exactly that." She cut off a piece of her pork chop and bit down. The wonderful taste filled her mouth and she had to stifle a groan of delight.

"Excuse me?" Roy Lee sounded baffled. "What book are we talking about?"

"Your grandmother's recipe book, that we used when we were making the pork chops and the potatoes and everything else," said Eileen. Jillian, her mouth full of cheesy potatoes, grunted her agreement. "It's been handed down through seven generations of women in our family. All the way back to Shannon O'Meara, who came over from County Cork in the famine of 1848. That book has recipes that are nearly two hundred years old. Real southern cooking. Not commercialized crap people like Paula Deen flog on television." She walked into the kitchen and brought back the leather-bound book. Old, creased, dog-eared and tattered, with tabs serving as bookmarks sticking out every which way, it looked as old as Eileen claimed. She ran her hands over it lovingly.

"I left it with your aunt when I ran off," Jillian explained, her mouth finally clear. "I couldn't take it with me, and I'd be damned if I was going to leave it in the house with Dale. As far as I knew, he would use it to mop up dog piss."

Roy Lee, who had been a witness to his father's sad disintegration, nodded glum agreement.

"All I had was two suitcases when I left. It was either the book or underwear. Of course," she said with a crooked smile, "if I had known how bad some of the food in Iowa was, I might have left the underwear.

"The oldest girl in the family gets it, and hands it down to her oldest daughter. Your grandmother Kate had it from your great-grandmother Dora. It came to me and should have gone to my oldest girl. But I gave up on Dale and ran off, so I passed it along to Eileen. I still thought she and Bobby Ray might have a child or two."

"Waste of time," Eileen snorted. "That sad pile of puke might have a kid, but after I found out what he was really like, it was never going to be one of mine. I made sure of that."

"So I'm right glad you brought it with you."

"Are you kidding me?" Eileen said, incensed. "I would've left barefoot rather than leave that book behind."

Jillian nodded. "So, what are your plans?" she asked her son. Her eyes were sharp.

Roy Lee took a drink of milk. "To be honest, Momma, I didn't make much in the way of plans," he said slowly, his gaze fixed on his plate. "I just wanted to find you. The way you left...I never even had the chance to say goodbye.

"I was never totally sure. I always wondered, just a little. Did you leave because of Daddy? Or because of me?" He looked up and years of old hurt were in his eyes.

"Oh," Jillian gasped. The pain in his glance stabbed at her heart. She reached out and gripped his hand. "It wasn't your fault, honey. Never think that. I couldn't watch your father fall apart any longer. He had been a good man once. And it killed me to see what was happening to him. It takes a lot of things to make a marriage work. Most of all, it takes respect. And I couldn't live with a man I didn't respect any more.

"So when I made up my mind to leave, I knew I had to go far away. Bobby Ray...there's a mean streak in him a mile wide. And he and Dale were tight. I had to make sure I went somewhere he couldn't find me. If I had stayed in Deer Creek he would've made my life a misery."

Roy Lee nodded, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "I'm glad it wasn't me," he said. His voice was raspy with emotion.

"So," he said, clearing his throat. "Plans. I don't have any. All I wanted was to get away from home and find you. I've done both, a lot quicker than I thought I would. So now I've got to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

He sighed, fiddling with his fork. "I've been trapped for so long, now I'm free I don't exactly know how to handle it." Across the table, Eileen nodded in startled understanding. "I've got money enough to last for a good long while, though. This looks like a nice-enough town. If you can handle your long-lost son hanging around, I might see if I can settle down here.

"I'll need to find work. But I've got some skills. After four years working for Old Man Stebbin, I don't think there's much about cars I don't know."

Jillian nodded. "We have a couple of car dealerships in town that do repair work. And a body shop or two. You can start out by looking there. Don't be afraid to mention my name. Most people in town know me. And if all else fails, you can always do what I did, and hire out as a farmhand. It don't pay much, but it'll keep body and soul together. And you're welcome to stay here as long as you need.

"Elly? What about you?"

Her sister shrugged. "A good hairdresser can always find work, Sis. I didn't bring my tools with me from home, but I'll bet you I can find some part-time work, at least, by the end of the week. These young girls, they go to cosmetology school because it sounds glamorous. Then they find out that it's real work and they have to be on their feet all day, and they quit."

Jillian pursed her lips. "You're right. It's been a revolving door at my salon for years. There's only two women who have stuck around, and they're both getting a little long in the tooth. I'll write down their address and you can drop by tomorrow."

*****

"You're going to have to disappear, you know," Jillian said. "If you mean to stay here with me, that is. You, Roy Lee. And especially you, Eileen."

Supper was over, and they were sitting together in the family room. The television was on, but Jillian had muted it. The atmosphere was...odd...Eileen thought. The three of them were still getting used to each other, and making changes to what they had long perceived as "normal." Jillian had lived alone for the past four years. Roy Lee had dealt with a bitter drunk, beaten and broken by life. And Eileen had walked on eggshells for nearly two decades, dealing with the volcanic temper and ready fists of an abusive husband. She settled back into the couch, knots of tension, years in the making, slowly loosening in her back.

"What do you mean, Momma?" Roy Lee asked.

"I mean you're going to have to pretend the Roy Lee McCoy who lived in Deer Creek, Alabama, never existed," she replied, fixing him with a firm gaze. She walked to her laptop and turned it on. Using her wi-fi password, she connected to the internet.

"Facebook, for example," she said. "Delete your account. Your father and Bobby Ray might be looking for you. If you change your location information on your home page, they'll know where you live.

"E-mail, too. Delete whatever account you have, and set up a new one. Don't even look at your old account. You'll be tempted to respond to anyone who sends you an e-mail, and that's a temptation you don't need. Throw away your old phone-"

"I changed my number when I left home."

"Good. Now erase your contacts. You don't need to drag anyone back home into your troubles." She sighed and raked her hands through her hair. "What else?" she muttered. She looked at Eileen. "What about you? What did you bring here?"

"My phone is brand new, bought three days ago. I promised to provide the wireless company a new home address when I got one. Other than that, all I have is luggage. I'll delete my social media accounts, just like you said." Her eyes grew wide. "Oh, shit. The car!"

"The car?" Roy Lee asked. He grimaced as the thought penetrated. "Right. Alabama plates in Montana. That's going to be conspicuous."

"You're going to have to sell it, honey," Jillian said softly.

Roy Lee sighed and rubbed his eyes. "It's for the best, I suppose. It isn't really equipped to deal with a winter up here anyway. Well, maybe I'll kill two birds with one stone and trade it in when I go looking for a job tomorrow." Distracted, his eye fell on the fieldstone fireplace tucked into a corner. He walked over to it, then fell to his hands and knees. He peered up the chimney. "Hey, does this thing actually work?"

Jillian laughed softly. "Of course it does, southern boy. Do you think I have that rack of firewood beside it just for show? It's a comfort on cold winter nights. Nothing like snuggling under a blanket with a glass of wine, a good book, and a warm fire." She tried to keep her eyes off the taut curves of her son's ass. She bit her lip, wondering what it would feel like under her hands. God, I could just peel his jeans off right now. I wonder if he's got a nice cock...

She blinked, and noticed Eileen's gaze on her. Her sister cocked an eyebrow, a corner of her mouth quirking up. She looked away ashamed, even as a flush mounted in her chest, warming her face. Did she notice? Or was she looking at Roy Lee, too? A flash of jealousy surged through her. He's mine!

"Like tonight?"

With difficulty, Eileen tore her thoughts away from her son's sweet rear end. "Tonight? You think tonight is cold? Heck, it's barely going to get below freezing. Wait two months. Then you'll know what cold is like.

"Which reminds me. Do you two have any sort of winter gear?"

Eileen laughed out loud and gestured to herself. She wore a light knit sweater over a t-shirt and a tight pair of blue jeans, which emphasized her lush curves. "Jilly, you've been away from Alabama too long. This is my winter gear."

"Roy Lee?"

"Nope. Sorry, Momma."

"Then we're going to have to outfit you both with the necessities. Heavy socks. Boots. Sweaters. Coats. Gloves. Hats. All the rest. I'll take you to a place I know tomorrow night."

Roy Lee stood. "More money down the drain," he sighed. "At the rate I'm going, I better find a job pretty quick." He eyed the shotgun mounted over the fireplace. "Momma, do you actually use that thing?"

"I have, once or twice, on varmints. We get some wild critters that don't mind trying to get a free meal out of the trash cans. Possums and raccoons and such. We get coyotes in town, sometimes. The wolves usually stay away, thank goodness. I generally just try to scare them off. I don't much like disposing of the remains."

"It's not loaded, is it?"

"What sort of idiot do you think I am? No, it's not loaded," Jillian said in a voice of aggravated patience. "I've got the shells locked in the desk over there.

"Okay. Last item. Eileen, I expect you're going to be looking for a divorce?"

"Damn straight," her sister said.

"Good. I'll put you in touch with the lawyer I used, back when I divorced Dale. She'll draw up the papers and hire someone to serve him..." She trailed off as she noticed their open-mouthed expressions. "What are you two staring at?"

"You...divorced...Daddy?" her son asked.

"Of course I did. Nearly eight years ago. As soon as I could scrape up the money. Not long after I moved out here. He didn't even bother to contest it. I've been a free woman for years. And God, didn't it feel good."

"He never told me," Roy Lee said softly. He turned to his aunt. "Did he ever tell you, or Uncle Bobby?"

"If he did, I never found out." Eileen's lips were pressed flat. "God-damned coward. Couldn't even tell his own boy his wife divorced him. That's why the man at the post office couldn't tell us about you, I suppose," she said to Jillian. "We asked after Jillian McCoy. But you're Jillian Coulter again.

"All right, Jilly," she continued. "I'll see your lawyer. I just hope she gives family discounts. I'm not exactly flush with cash at the moment."

"I think after you tell her your story, you might be surprised. Especially with me and Roy Lee to back you up."

Jillian rose to her feet. "Well, that's enough planning for one night. I need to get ready for tomorrow. Me and Paco have a couple of dogs to neuter first thing in the morning. And I think the two of you have enough to do to keep you occupied for a few days.

"I'll get some blankets for you, Roy Lee, so you can make yourself up a bed on the couch. I'll put out some towels as well, so you can shower now, or in the morning."

Eileen rose as well. "I can't thank you enough for taking us in, Jilly."

Jilly smiled and hugged her sister. "You're my blood, Eileen. I couldn't turn you away any more than I could cut off my own hands.

"Besides, I needed the company."

*****

The next few days were a frantic blur. Eileen and Roy Lee both worked to weave themselves into the fabric of Promise. They had arrived on a Tuesday morning. By Wednesday afternoon, Eileen had found a part-time job at the salon Jillian used on her infrequent trips to get her hair cut or styled. The job, it was understood, had the potential to become full-time if things worked out.

"Told you so," Eileen said to them both that evening. Her voice was more than a little smug.

Roy Lee had struck out at both of the car dealerships in his search for a job, but had used Thursday in a long and ultimately successful quest for a car to replace his old Dodge. Somewhat to his surprise, he was now the owner of a used Ford sedan, dark gray in color. Unsure of his decision, he had drafted his mother to look over the car on her lunch break, and it had received her stamp of approval.

"It's not a flashy car, Roy Lee, but it's reliable. And you'll appreciate the all-wheel drive when the weather gets nasty. Plus," she said with a grin, "there isn't any better way to get in good with the locals than to buy an American-made car. If you were driving around in an import, you might get some fishy looks."

After he had completed the paperwork and put on the new plates, he had driven Eileen to the lawyer's office, where they had met with Jillian, who had come over as soon as she got off work. To their surprise and relief, Madeline Honeker was willing to stay after quitting time to discuss Eileen's case. Even more gratifyingly, she showed no inclination to dismiss Eileen's injuries or fears, especially when she had Roy Lee and Jillian as witnesses to Bobby Ray's abuse.

"I know things like that happen. Trust me. In this business, you lose your illusions quickly."

She questioned Eileen about whether she wanted alimony or any common property. Eileen shook her head. "All I want is out. There ain't nothing left in that house I want. And I'll be damned if I take a dime from Bobby Ray Harris."

Madeline nodded soberly. She had the preliminary papers drawn up in record time, and told them Bobby Ray would be served by the middle of the following week.

"I have to file them in the courthouse up in Dillon, first. But that should only take a day or two. I'll hire a process server in Alabama and have your husband served at work. Less chance of a temper tantrum there."

Eileen nodded, her lips pressed tightly together. "All right. But warn them, do you hear me? He's violent and he'll have a gun on him. He says it's for the job, but I swear he loves that thing more than he does his own family."