BUD WHITE

Another few weeks, gone. Just like that. Sometimes I fucking hate this place, sometimes it’s okay. I mean, if I gotta be imagining a whole world, it may as well be pleasant, right? The sheets are soft, shower’s hot and the food’s damn good. Don’t gotta pay for nothing either. Fuckin’ A, had no idea I had such a good imagination.

I don’t leave my room, except to go down to the pub. Sometimes I talk with people, most times I don’t. Daisy’s skittish so I don’t sit at the bar. I really wonder what’s wrong with me to make up a grandson and granddaughter-in-law about to pop and have a great grandkid. My brain must be messed up from whatever put me into the coma. Yeah, that’s what I figure. I’m unconscious in a Los Angeles hospital and waiting to wake up. Just waiting to wake up. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the scenery. She’s pretty, even if she scowls more than smiles and waddles like a duck. When the fuck is Cory gonna make her stop working? I gotta have a talk with that boy.

Today I’m thinking I might maybe read something. There’s a shelf of books in the lobby – Biebe calls it the parlor. My mom used to call her living room a parlor. Uh, can’t think like that. Can’t think about my mother. It’s tough enough how she died, but when I think about her now, it makes her feel worse than dead … it makes me feel like she never existed. Two in the afternoon. Nobody’s gonna bother me in the parlor, so I started looking at the books.

“Come on, White. I’m takin’ you downtown.”

I turned and glared at Wade, all sheriff-like with a badge and a cowboy hat. Looked like he just walked out of a bad Hollywood Western. “Like hell you are,” I growled and he grinned.

“I ain’t arresting you, stupid. I’m takin’ you into town. You ain’t been to town yet, thought you might like a look around. Get your coat.”

“Too cold out there.” I hissed and turned back to the bookshelves.

“Ain’t cold, White. It’s fifty-five degrees. That’s like an Arizona high noon for Vermont. Flowers are startin’ to pop up. Spring has sprung and my wife says I gotta get you outta this Inn.”

“Who’s your wife?” I love fucking with Wade. “I forget.”

“The one you can’t touch. Let’s go.”

“Don’t feel much like walkin’.” I lifted the crutch. Yeah, I was down to using one crutch but it was still a pain in the ass.

“Tough. I’ll take you to Kennedy’s for a beer.”

What the hell, might be interesting. He drove me from the Inn. Nothing but almost bare trees and houses, some fancy and big, most really old but kept real nice. I could hardly believe it was a town when he parked and we got out. Did I imagine some history that never happened and now I gotta live in it? I half expected to see women walking around in long dresses and bonnets but nope. Tight denim pants and tight sweaters. Not too shabby.

“Gotta stop in at the station.” Ben said and led me into an old stone building.

What a Mickey Mouse operation! Five, maybe six desks, three uniforms on the phones. Through one of the open doors I could see an empty jail cell. What kinda town was this?

“Good afternoon, Bud.”

I looked at her and nearly shit myself. A woman? In uniform? At least she was just pushing papers.

“I know you?” Damn she looked familiar.

“Yes, we met last week. I’m Samantha.” She smiled.

She looked real different in street clothes. “Oh yeah, you’re with …”

“Egan.” Her smile widened and she stretched out her hand. Strong handshake.

Wade grunted and sifted through a small stack of pink papers. “Yeah, off limits.”

He led me down the hall and we stopped in front of an office. “Mayor John Biebe” the brass sign said. Inside, Biebe was sitting at his desk, looking like he wished he was anywhere else. There was a fancy cake in front of him and a woman leaning in to talk quietly. He glanced up with that expression of relief.

“Uh … listen … Missy, thanks for the cake and all. The kids will love it … but … um … I got some business to take care of here.”

She left wearing a grin and Wade chuckled.

“That’s the third fucking cake this week!” Biebe slid it to the side. “What’s up with the women around here?”

“Small town, John. They see an available man. Wanna fatten you up and claim you for their own.” Wade chuckled and Biebe focused on me.

“Bud, good to see you out and about. What are your plans?”

He was already distracted by a stack of paperwork on his desk. I didn’t say nothing. Wade, did all the talking.

“Nothing pressing here. Gonna take him around town, do some sightseeing, maybe a little visiting. I dunno. Tracy’s got something up her sleeve. We’ll meet you at Kennedy’s  around four?”

“Nah,” John pushed a hand through his Nancy hair. “Got a lot to do for tonight’s town meeting.”

“Still fighting over that train they want to bring into town?” Wade leaned against the doorjamb and shook his head.

“Looks like we’re getting closer. It may happen by next season, but the development committee is damn strict.”

“Wait a minute,” I leaned harder on the crutch. “You ain’t got a train in this town?”

“Nope, don’t want one either. This proposal is for a local rail system … to get tourists up to the resorts.”

“Resorts?” Where was this stuff coming from? Is all this really my imagination?

“Yeah, the ski resorts on the mountain.” Wade looked at Biebe and both their brows rose. “Not a bad idea.”

“Yeah,” Biebe scratched his chin. “Take him up there, show him around, maybe introduce him to Mac Slaybeck.”

“Who’s Slaybeck?” I growled. Why do I feel this ain’t gonna be something I want to do?

“Mac runs security at the resorts system. Big operation. You two might have a lot to talk about.”

“Like?” I hissed.

Biebe shrugged. “Never know. Now get outta my office, I need to focus here.”

We left. Seemed Biebe’s a busy man.

TERRY THORNE

“So, you got everything?”

Why do people ask that? I mean bloody hell, we’re already at the airport and if Maximus doesn’t have everything, he’s fucked, right? He was reluctant to leave but things were pressing at his vineyard. Sophia and little Lucy missed him and with spring’s arrival, there was work to do on the vines.

“I have everything I brought, brother … plus several additional concerns. Do you have a plan? Something has to bring our new brother around. It’s time for him to begin his new life.”

“I know, I know. The women got plans, I’ll tell you that much. Aside from that, I think maybe I’ve been pushing too hard. A little female energy might just be the ticket. Look on the bright side, mate. At least Bud’s stopped fighting so hard.”

“It is false acceptance. We both know this.”

I nodded. “The newer brothers are stepping up to spend more time with him. Ben’s taking him around town today. Ya know, every bloke comes around at their own speed. I think we’re just kinda shaken by the fact that this is White. That he’s been here before. I’ll tell ya one thing I know, I’m pretty sure what develops from this Bud White is gonna be bloody different from the man we remember. It’s a whole new dynamic.”

“It is. And I am sorry to be so far away.”

“You got responsibilities, mate. Part of all this is him seeing us get on with our lives too. Maybe noticing that we’ve built everything from scratch and are enjoying what we’ve sown will help him. Who knows?”

A nod, a hand shake, a man hug, and Maximus disappeared into the Burlington Airport. I made a mental note to keep in touch with him, call at least once a week and let him know Bud’s progress. As I drove from the lot onto the highway, my cell rang that familiar chirp telling me it was Eva. I answered with a smile.

“What’s up, darlin’?”

“Terry, I want to rent that huge chalet on Mount Mansfield, just for a month.”

“You thinkin’ romantic getaway, love?” Nice. I liked it. We have been a little cramped at the Inn.

“No dear man. I wish to use it for entertaining …”

“Entertaining?” What the bloody hell was she talking about? “Entertaining who? Who do we know in Vermont that we need that big place to entertain?”

“Not ‘we’, Terry. I and the other women have an idea for entertaining Bud.”

Visions of the old life flashed through my head and for a moment I saw red. I pulled over and slapped the flashers. “Explain.”

“We wish to have a dinner, just the women and Bud, once each week.”

“Why?”

“So that we can talk to him … help him … someplace where there are no distractions.”

“You can do that at the Inn.”

“Mi Dios! Don’t be foolish, Terry. There is not enough space in his suite. He is leery of you men and we can get through to him.”

“Alone? With an emotionally and probably mentally unstable man? Ain’t happening, baby.”

“You can post a guard outside the house.”

“No.”

“You can sit outside the door yourself. My love, you know this is a good idea.”

“No.”

“You know this is worth trying.”

I couldn’t say no, but I still didn’t like it. I bloody hated it. “We don’t know what he’ll do, Eva.”

“So you will be available to step in if you need to. Terry, please, we all think this is important. It will be a positive effort.”

“Who’s we?”

“The females of this family. All of us. It is only very sad that Riley is no longer with us. May I rent the house?”

“One week, no more.” That way I’m not shelling out money for nothing.

“I will rent it for one month with an option to cancel without penalty. Thank you Terry.”

“Wait.” I could tell she was about to hang up and I sure as hell wasn’t finished talking.

“Yes, mi amor?”

Those words rolled elegantly from her tongue and right over my heart, shaking me like a leaf. What was I gonna say? Oh yeah. “All on my terms, Eva. I make the rules.”

“Of course. Of course. I must inform the women. Drive safely.” And she was gone.

Bloody hell. I bet she already rented the damn place. But I had to laugh. She may have just made the first step toward solving our problem. White was always more receptive to women, in his film life, his life here last time, even in the life he lived on the other side of the time Portal. Maybe it’ll work. I just have no intention of letting those women deal with White’s volatility … or sexual prowess … without male supervision. Just ain’t happening.

BEN WADE

Not the best company in the world but I wouldn’t mind robbing a train with him. White’s the kinda man who can live on either side of the law, knowing that if he thinks it’s right, it right enough for him. I sure as hell didn’t wanna spend the whole day babysittin’, but with nothing happening in town (it’s always real quiet when the tourists leave), it ain’t like I can say I got sheriff work to do or nothin’. So I did what I said I’d do.

First stop, Tracy’s beauty parlor. She jumped up and hugged … him. Course then she hugged me but not before I gave White a git your goddamn hands off look. My wife helped me out by sitting our new brother in a chair and giving him a buzz cut, ‘least that’s what she called it. Didn’t look no different to me, but White was real happy with it. After that, I drove up to the resort, hoping to dump White off on Slaybeck for a few hours, maybe get him to take Bud around the big complex and talk security and police shit to him. See, Mac Slaybeck, he owes me. I let him slide on a big pot he lost to me last month. Yeah. Poker. There are four of us who play pretty high stakes. I win. A lot. But when we got to Slaybeck’s office, seems Mac hit the road with the tourists. Three weeks in the Caribbean, says his secretary. Last time I let that bastard slide.

So we drove back into town.

“Kelly!”

“Sheriff! Be with you in one minute.”

We stopped at Kelly Wigand’s gift shop and the place was hopping. Not sure why, but maybe as the tourists leave, they like to pick up a few souvenirs and things they saw on the way outta town. She was answering one lady’s question while calling out a request to her stock boy and ringing up another guy’s sale. The UPS man walked in, she casually signed for the box and he left it on the counter. Then the shit hit the fan.

I was eyeing a nice collection of pearl handled and wood carved knives in the display to the left of the counter. The phone rang again and Kelly picked it up, slightly turning her back to the customers. I saw it outta the corner of my eye but was too far away to stop it.

A young man had walked in a glanced around, sorta casing the place but you gotta give people the benefit of the doubt these days. Then he just walked up to the counter, took the box that had just been delivered and turned to walk out. Before I could shout, he was sprawled on the hard wood floor. Whatever was in that fucking box shattered like glass. There were squeals and shouts and that’s when I caught Bud White’s grin. He lifted his crutch to his lips and blew, like it was a pistol of something.

“Nice move,” I said, as I pressed a knee in the thief’s back and snapped handcuffs on him.

“Easy trip, the asshole never expected a crutch to bring him down.” Bud White actually grinned.

Then Kelly rushed over to us. “Oh my God, oh, my God, oh my God!” she gasped.

KELLY WIGAND

“There just went six hundred dollars worth of Bulgarian crystal ...” My hands flew to my face as I looked at the box on the floor and then over to Ben as he pressed his knee harder into the small of the robber’s back for good measure. He wasn’t much more than a kid, but darn it, he just tried to rob MY store.

Then I took a good look at the man who’d come in with Ben and my heart skipped a beat. This was Bud White; there was no mistaking it.

“Are you okay, Mr. White?”

Ben shot me an irritated look as I stepped up to introduce myself. “My name’s Kelly.” I took his hand in mine and smiled. “Are you okay? I hope you didn’t hurt yourself.”

Bud seemed to wobble for just a moment and I reached out to steady him.

A look passed between him and Ben before he looked back to me. “No m’am, I’m fine. But what about you?”

He looked me over as if to make sure. From the floor, Ben made what sounded like a gagging sound, but we both ignored him.

“I’m fine, really. My insurance will cover it. But never mind that.” I looked deep into his eyes, hoping that Eva’s plan would help him. We’d all been getting updates from Daisy and Jessie about Bud’s overall status, and well, the men just weren’t proving to be very successful, despite their best efforts. Jeff had often voiced his concerns over Bud’s state of mind., that what Bud needed was a bit of the feminine touch.

 “Could I get you a Coke or something else to drink? Water maybe?”

Ben shot up from the floor, pulling the kid in handcuffs up with him. “No time, Kelly. I gotta get this guy over to the station.”

Bud looked a little disappointed and amused at the same time. “Perhaps another time, Kelly.”

I watched as Ben shoved the kid through the front door and onto the street, with Bud grinning as he hobbled after them. I heard Bud ask Ben something, but couldn’t quite make out the words. But Ben’s answer was clear enough.