Slices Of Small Town Life Ch. 02

Charley pulled in to the driveway of his farm, once again admiring the old, two story farmhouse sitting on the ridge, overlooking the farm below. When he got the property it was in pretty bad shape, he even considered tearing it down. In the end, he decided to restore it, adding a lot of upgrades. The project took three years, because he had just started out in business and couldn't afford to do it all at once.

Rose was in the midst of getting her new office up and running, and paid little attention to what he was doing. Charley suddenly realized that pretty much summed up their life together. Rose only paid attention when it concerned her directly.

He'd been a little disappointed when he showed it to her, and all she said was "it looked nice." He had considered making it their home, but by then his stores had really taken off, Rose had started realizing profits from her office, and she wanted to build, something brand new, just for them, and the children they expected to have.

Rose wanted to wait until her office was sound financially, but the first quarter it showed black she threw away her birth control pills. They hadn't married until they were twenty-six. Now she was twenty-eight, and she told Charley they needed to get a move on, she didn't want to still be having babies at thirty-five.

They had decided on three, but when Faith was born, something had gone wrong, so she had her tubes tied. Charley had wanted more, and even brought up adoption, but Rose quietly deflected the conversation until he dropped it.

He had to admit, in his eyes his daughter Faith was perfect. As Rose got more deeply involved with expanding her business, he spent more and more time with his daughter. He absolutely hated dropping her off to daycare.

He had five women working for him full time at the store, including the hardware store manager, and four more part-time. He had eighteen men working in the commercial end, mostly drivers and receiving. When he built a midsized building beside the store, they really didn't notice because he was always expanding. Many thought it was going to be an office.

When it was done, he called all the people that worked for him to a meeting.

"I know you've all been curious about the new building. It's a daycare center for Barton Enterprises. It's not open to the public, it's only available to employees."

His employees were stunned, especially when he gave them a tour. Capable of holding fifty children, with an extensive outdoor playground and a completely equipped kitchen, all state of the art.

One woman, her budget already stretched to the limit due to child care costs, asked what kind of prices he'd be charging. He grinned.

"Well, it's absolutely free, but you do get an employee discount."

It took them a few minutes before they caught what he said. Then the tears started. Some of the men even sniffed. He was in effect giving them a hundred dollar plus raise per week. This was not quite the generous act most thought, Charley did it specifically to have Faith close.

So he hired four women, and a part time cook. The cook was given detailed instructions on the kind of lunches and snacks to be served. They had to be flavorful, nutritious, and sourced as locally as possible, and using the bare minimum of prepackaged items.

Soon the employees were clamoring to dine with their children, and he had to extend the cook's hours and add tables. When the number of meals hit sixty, he hired her an assistant. Many ate outside if the weather was nice, on the tables scattered under the trees. Amazingly, close to half of the meals were vegetarian, and no one complained.

He'd hired professional child care providers, and while much of their day was consumed by play, educational grounding was integrated. By the time many of them went to public schools, they could already read and write, and most knew basic Spanish, and good study habits were ingrained in them. The Bartonians, as the school system nicknamed them, tended to stick together, bonded through shared learning, maintaining friendships that lasted lifetimes. Plus, they skewed the performance tests necessary every year, raising the school rating to the top. Manners were also instilled almost from birth, until please, thank you, and you're welcome became automatic responses. Of course, when his other stores found out, he had to duplicate it for them. He spent roughly four hundred thousand a year to maintain them, all out of his own pocket. Of course, he got a nice tax break.

All this because Charley wanted to keep Faith happy and close.

...

He unlocked the door, and decided to open a few windows and air the place out. The breeze felt so good he left them open for the night. Normally not a drinker, he'd remembered to stop and get a twelve pack, along with some coffee, creamer, a few snack items. He placed everything in the kitchen, stared at the beer for a minute, and made a cup of coffee.

He took his cup outside, sitting in the porch swing, rocking slightly. He suddenly remembered cuddling Rose on this same swing, right after the house was done. They were naked, giggling, looking at the barn, memories coming back. They'd had a lot of good times in barns.

He half smiled at the memory, then sat back and reflected, wondering, trying to pinpoint any sign that should have told him his marriage was over. Looking back, he could not find one instance. Then he remembered a few smiles, and when he asked, she'd just said she was reliving a pleasant memory, but she never volunteered which memory it was. Was she thinking about her lovers then?

His musings were interrupted by his phone. He'd forgotten to turn it off, and was about to do so when he saw the number.

"Hello?"

All he heard for a few seconds was sobbing, before she blurted out he'd hit her.

"Amanda!," he said, in his CEO voice, "who hit you?"

"My husband. I told him about our lunch, and how I intended to leave him. He lost it and punched me in the face. What should I do?"

"Are you out of the house?"

He got as tearful yes out of her. She was in her car.

"Good. Now, listen to me. Drive straight to the hospital. I'll be there as quick as I can. Do it, Amanda, if you want my help. Go on now."

He hung up, glad he'd decided on coffee instead of beer. Once in the truck, he called the sheriff department on the non emergency line. He got hold of the senior officer in charge, and was assured a female deputy would be there when he arrived.

He just barely beat the cruiser into the parking lot. Amanda burst out of the car, and rushed up to him and the deputy. The whole left side of her face was swelled, and her eye was completely closed. A thin trickle of blood was still seeping from a corner of her mouth.

They escorted her into the emergency room, and Charley sat for forty minutes, until the deputy came back out. She was a Bartonian, one of the originals.

"He's broken her cheekbone, Charley. She wants to talk to you before she presses charges. What the heck is going on?"

Charley shrugged, then told her a modified version of the truth. "I had lunch with her today. I guess she needed a father figure to confide in. Her husband is an apparent would be swinger, and he was trying to get her on board with the idea. I gave her some advice I don't think he liked."

Carla Martinez laughed out loud. "Swingers? Are you serious? In our little berg?"

She wasn't expecting the pained look on his face. "Sometimes, you don't really know people, Carla. They can hit you with all kinds of nasty surprises. Come on, let's go talk to her."

Amanda was on pain killers, looking wan and pale. She tried to smile when she saw him, but winced in pain. "What do I do, Charley?"

"First, you file charges. If you don't, I won't have anything to do with you ever again. You didn't deserve this Amanda, and you can't let him get away with it. Has he ever done this before?"

She flinched, but nodded. "Not like this, but he has slapped me a couple of times."

Charley looked over at Carla. "You hearing this? Go get that asshole!"

Carla looked at him in surprise. In all the years she had known him, going back to when she was eight, she'd never heard him curse. Her cop instincts kicked in, and she knew there was something deeper going on.

"I can't. Charley. First she has to give a statement, and agree to press charges. Until she does that, our hands are tied. And she has to tell the truth."

Charley looked over at Amanda, knowing that her safety was more important than his pride. "She will. Anything you want to know. Right, Amanda?"

"But Charley..."

"No buts. Your safety means more to me than anything else, understand? Now, I'll leave the room so you can give your statement to Officer Martinez. And I'll be back, when you're done, to check on you."

"Thanks, Carla, for doing this." He walked out, leaving two stunned women. Carla feared the worst. If this man, who she respected more than anyone she had ever met, was having an affair with this young woman, she would be shocked. But police work had taught her to expect the worst.

Forty-five minutes later, she walked into the waiting room, and gave Charley a tremendous hug when he stood up, not saying anything. When she let go, she stepped back. Good thing the waiting room was empty.

"It's a routine domestic disturbance. They argued, he hit her, that's all the report needs to say. Understand, Charley?"

He gripped her hand. "Thanks for the concern. But if push comes to shove and you need to elaborate to get a conviction, do it. Now, how is she? Can she leave?"

"No, she has to stay overnight, so they can monitor her for a concussion. She's gonna need a ride tomorrow, and a place to stay. We can put her up in a shelter for a couple of days, then she'll have to find a place. His father owns the house, so she's out. But, she can go over tomorrow to pick up anything she wants. I'm sure he won't be there, at least for a couple of days."

He walked back inside, checked on Amanda, finding her asleep, and left.

"What a day," he thought wearily. When he got home, he set his alarm and was out in minutes.

...

His eyes popped open when the alarm went off. Surprised he didn't recognize the bed, it all came back to him. He showered, called his assistant and told her he probably wouldn't be in that day. She was used to him being called out of town suddenly before, and made nothing of it.

"Well, let's see. I find my wife is a cheating whore going back who knows how long. Her erstwhile lover tried to talk his wife into screwing around, so he could do my wife. When she refuses, they argue and he tries to knock her face off. She's in the hospital, he's in jail, and my wife? Don't know or care, and not the least interested in finding out." He grimaced over his thoughts.

Charley decided to stop at the diner for breakfast. He wasn't there long before Officer Martinez walked in, stopping for a meal at the end of her shift. She went right up to him, leaning down and kissing his cheek. The staff and diners broke out in grins as he flamed red. It was pretty well known how easily he blushed, a fact that most of the female Bartonians took advantage of, especially if their husbands were present.

They did it out of love and humor, and everyone took it as the joke it was. She slid into the booth. "Buy a poor public servant breakfast, moneybags. And I'm having steak and eggs."

He grinned as she placed the order. After the crowd thinned and she was done eating, she quietly filled him in on the end of her night.

"He was cussing and ranting when he opened the door, thinking it was Amanda. He shut right up when he saw me and Officer Wells."

Officer Wells was one of their biggest officers, and he got called to a lot of domestic situations. It was standard to send a male/female team to such things.

"He started out again when we cuffed him, ranting about Amanda, Rose, and you. We read him his rights, advising him to just shut up. He was processed in about four. It'll probably be ten before Daddy can arrive with the lawyers. Amanda is still in the hospital and won't be released until after lunch, so she'll have to get an escort to collect her things. The office has been notified, so if she gives them a two hour window, she can get it done anytime in the next forty-eight hours. Standard cooler time in a domestic abuse allegation. She's got nowhere to go, Charley, her family lives two states away. You gonna help her?"

"Not directly, that would be putting fuel on the fire. Follow me to the office, before you go home to bed. It's on the way, and it won't take long."

She followed him, and waited outside. He went in to his office, past his surprised assistant, telling her he'd forgotten something. He opened the safe he had there, getting out three thousand in cash. Walking back outside, he leaned in the window, dropping the small bag on the floor.

"This afternoon, have whoever escorts her take her back to your apartment complex. There's like six cops living there, right? Take what's in this bag and give it to her. Tell her not to flash it around or talk about where it comes from. There's enough in there for her to get an apartment and to live on for a month, if she needs it. Once again, I'll owe you. I promise, somewhere down the line, I'll pay."

Carla did as she was told, and eighteen months later, when she married, Charley walked her down the aisle. He'd paid for everything, the wedding, the honeymoon, even the tickets for her grandparents to fly in from Mexico. He kissed her cheek during the father daughter dance, thanking her once again for her help. She cried all over him when he told her that he knew a perfect house available for a young couple to start their lives in, and private financing to help them afford it.

Amanda safe, Charley left, going to his most distant store to spend a few days.

...

Rose got over her shock by the third day. Smart enough to not push, she called him once on his cell, and at every one of his stores, sent two emails, one to his laptop he never traveled without, and one to the desktops at every store, and waited.

Two weeks later she had almost stopped exercising, and had gained ten pounds. Her hair needed styling, and the way she wore her clothes made her look frumpy. She decided to go back to the gym. It was one of her ex lovers, a trainer at the gym she used when she was out of state, that shocked her back to reality.

When he dragged her into the office and sat her down, the dam burst, and she told him the whole story.

"Well, shit, Rose, what did you expect? You weren't particularly discreet, around here anyway, not at first. The truth is like a seed, honey, sooner or later it'll find the light and grow. What do you want to happen here?"

"I want my husband back!"

"Why? There was obviously something lacking in your relationship, or you wouldn't have been doing the things you did. You're rich, he's rich, it would be a wash for any type of settlement. Your child is a grown woman, so that's not a factor. You go your way, and play with anybody you like, and he'll go his way. Of course, from what you told me and years of experience, he's the type to seek a long term relationship. Honey, that man will be married again before your divorce is a year old. Not to hurt your feelings, but I got the feeling he was just someone you were comfortable with, someone to fall back on between flings."

He stopped, out of breath.

"Now, no matter where you land, you need to get yourself together. So get your ass out there and sweat it off. I'm calling Gabriel, you need a trim, and you got a little gray showing. I'll make sure he'll be available in an hour."

She smiled for the first time since that Thursday night on the patio. "How about dinner tonight, Eric? We could remember old times."

"Sorry, babe, not gonna happen. You're still hot, but I'm married now, my third, and I've decided if this one crashes it won't be because I couldn't keep my dick in my pants. And from everything you told me, your husband is an Old Testament type. Eventually, whether you end up back together or not, he's going to want blood, and I don't like pain. If you've still got some friends on the side, you need to warn them. I wish you the best. Now, get to sweating."

Rose thought about it while she worked out. He was right. She needed to warn a couple of guys. The rest were far enough back in her past she thought they were safe. If Charley ever found out she'd had eight lovers in the last ten years, she was toast.

And for some reason she couldn't understand, she still loved her husband, and desperately wanted him back.

...

Charley sat on the front porch of his farmhouse. He'd been there two weeks now, and the rumors were starting to swirl. It didn't bother him much, he doubted seriously anyone had the nerve to say anything directly. The Sheriff had stopped by, to shoot the breeze. They were friends, grew up together, and when they grew older, they would take one or two fishing trips a year, one to the coast, another to a lake known for their record catfish. The Sheriff even had a framed photo of them on the wall of his office, after a really successful trip, each holding a huge catfish. Sheriff Andy always rubbed it in his fish was ten pounds heavier, going over seventy pounds. Charley made coffee, and they relived old times for a few minutes.

Finally Andy brought up what was on his mind.

"You know, Charley, people are starting to talk. You've been here for over two weeks by yourself, and Rose, the few times she's been seen, looks like shit. It's all tied up somehow with Amanda Peterson and her husband. He's up on spousal abuse charges, and Amanda has filed for divorce. Everyone is wondering how she can afford the shark that's representing her. He's threatening to file an alienation of affections suit on you if she doesn't back off. So tell me as a friend. What's going on here?"

So Charley told him, omitting details. Andy's mouth hung open, hardly believing what he was hearing.

"So that's the full story. Amanda opened my eyes, and while I hate the news, I'm glad she told me. So yeah, I'm footing the bill for her divorce, as a thank you. The most intimate we've ever been is when she kissed me on the cheek after she got out of the hospital. She's younger than Faith, for God's sake! So screw him. Tell him to do his worst, but remind him if he pushes, I'll push back harder."

The Sheriff reflected a little as he drove away. He would never have thought Rose would cheat on Charley. He'd gone to school with them, been the best man at their wedding. Faith called him Uncle Andy, and she was probably twelve before she understood he wasn't really her blood relative. His daughter was her best friend. She even went to daycare with her, the only non-employee related child in the history of the facility. A patrol officer at the time, the freedom from childcare bills helped them tremendously. The girls were inseparable until college, and resumed the friendship when they both returned home. This was going to be hard on her. He knew she'd automatically turn to Charley, he had practically raised her while Rose got her business off the ground.

Charley was much more a presence than Rose in the community, and he knew if it came to choosing sides, Rose would be out in the cold. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. This had the makings of a true mess.

...

Rose was shocked when she got the email. She had gotten to the point that she felt he was never going to talk to her again. She expected a process server to show up any day now.

The email was short and to the point.

"Why?"

She sent him a long email, stating her love for him, how much she missed him, and begged him to see her, so they could talk face to face.

He sent her another one word message. "Why?"