Page 43 of A Constant Love
“Well, when you were growing up, if all you did that day was punch someone like that, I would have considered it a good day.”
Chapter 25 – Tyler
Holy shit, she’s only been gone an hour.
My eyes stared at the clock as hard as I could, as if willing the time to go faster. Let me just say there’s not much on daytime television that interested me, and there wasn’t a whole lot else to do in the small town of Armstrong, Kansas.
When Sam had told me she needed some time to go get some closure on a few things, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. I wanted to tell her that I was going…end of story.
But I knew Sam Flemming, and I knew that tactic would get me absolutely nowhere. She’d be sure to put me right back in my place.
Also, on this trip, I was watching Sam slowly put the final nails in the coffin of her past. I wasn’t going to take that away from her. If me leaving her to do her thing for a few hours helped her to move forward, I’d happily do it.
I was just bored as shit.
Deciding some fresh air was a good idea, I threw on my shoes and headed outside to take a walk. All five of the family dogs were outside running around. They were mostly outside dogs, and I had no clue how they kept them from running away, but they never did.
I walked over to a large grassy area and found a nearby stick. Chucking it as hard as I could, I laughed as all five dogs bolted after it. One ran so fast he tripped over his own feet.
“That one right there is not so bright.”
I heard the voice of John Flemming behind me.
“But I bet he’s the most fun, isn’t he?”
He laughed. “Yeah, probably. They’re all good dogs though. Sammie brought every one of them home. We don’t have an animal shelter here in Armstrong, and every time somebody talked about taking one of their dogs to the pound a couple towns over, she would bring it home with her…tears in her eyes begging to keep him because she just couldn’t stand to see him in a cage.”
I smiled, “Yeah, that sounds like her. She has a huge heart and definitely a soft spot for animals.”
He simply nodded.
We stood quietly for a few minutes while I kept throwing the stick for the dogs.
Finally, I said, “I’m sorry we both kind of showed up here with no warning.”
He waved his hand as if brushing me off. “Oh, please. Either of you are welcome here anytime. This is still Sammie’s home, and if she loves you, it’s your home too.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “She came to talk to me earlier.”
“Oh yeah, I figured she might. She told me yesterday how much she regrets leaving the way that she did. What’d you tell her?”
“I told her it was bullshit that she thought she had to apologize for anything. That son of a bitch James had her apologizing for everything back in the day, and it seems the habit has followed her. How’s that whole thing going by the way? Have they made any progress in finding him?”
I shook my head. “No, and they even brought in some FBI guy who seems to be absolutely no more help than the normal police.”
He rubbed his hand through his scruffy beard. “And how’s she handling that?”
I tried to choose my words carefully. “Stoically.”
He sighed, “Yeah, I figured as much. She’s always been a bit of a tough nut to crack.”
“She’s been having nightmares. Bad ones. But won’t tell me anything about them.”
“Shit. Not again. The nightmares happened after her mama too.”
I had already known that after the dream she had about her mom before we started officially dating. “How did she eventually get them to go away?”
He shrugged. “Time, I guess. I don’t know. She got the hell out of here. The further away she got, the less she dreamed of her. I’m sure once James gets what’s coming to him, the nightmares will stop this time too.
“I want to thank you for being there for her. She’s finally starting to act more and more like herself. I’ve missed my little hurricane of a daughter.”