They talked for a few more minutes about the ranch, Jake and Luke, and Ben’s new album, which he’d almost finished recording. Liv told her that Paige had been traveling with her from time to time, and Mark was sitting in on a few tracks on Ben’s record. They even talked about Will and Matt, Ben’s brothers, and his parents. They ran out of people to talk about, but the air hung heavy on their call.
“Dottie and Bill asked me to tell you they miss you the next time I talked to you.”
“I miss them, too. You can tell them that.”
Her mom didn’t say anything else and Renie didn’t ask. “Okay, I better go, they’re ringing the dinner bell. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, honey.”
Renie hung up and looked up at the stars. “Damn you, Billy Patterson, you’re not getting back in. Not ever,” she said, feeling as though she wanted to shake her fists at the sky.
“Who’s Billy Patterson?” Jace asked, walking up behind her.
“Jace, you scared me,”
“Come on, Irene, tell me. Who is he?”
“Nobody important.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. He’s not important.”
“You talk in your sleep.”
She did? This was the first he mentioned it.
“I’ve been wondering who Billy was. Now at least there’s a last name to go with the first.”
“He’s someone from my past. Not somebody I want to talk about, or even think about.”
“They say dreams are the manifestation of unresolved emotion.”
“Maybe they are, sometimes. But in this case Billy is someone I grew up with. He isn’t in my life anymore.”
“What happened to him?”
“What part of ‘I don’t want to talk about him’ aren’t you hearing, Jace?”
He turned around to make sure no one was watching and took her arm, drawing her away from the front porch and out of the light.
“Okay, I got it. Now come here.”
Jace backed her up against a tree, and kissed her. As much as she knew she shouldn’t, she let him. She needed the feel of him to wash away the memories of Billy.
He held her for a while, and she rested her cheek against his shoulder. “Thanks.”
“What for?”
“Not pressing the issue.”
“Come on, let’s go eat. Somebody’s gonna come looking for us.” He squeezed her hand before he dropped it and followed her into the dining hall.
Renie tried to avoid talking to Jace about anything that could lead to questions about Billy. She changed the subject so fast sometimes that even her head spun.
“I’m not going to ask about him again,” he said, climbing into bed with her a couple weeks later.
“What do you mean?”