Carys Jones - Fourth To Run

“It’s sung by real people who understand real pain,” she continued.

They drove on without saying another word, letting the music from the radio fill the space between them. Brandy continued to hum along and after several minutes Aiden resumed drumming his hands on the steering wheel.

*

The parking lot for Home Depot was about half full which wasn’t that surprising considering it was late on a Saturday morning. Aiden stepped out and stretched, his limbs grateful for the release after an hour behind the wheel.

“Wow, it’s pretty big,” Brandy observed as she took in the vast building looming up at the far end of the parking lot. It was modest in design but not in scale. It’s flat roof and long bare walls cut an imposing figure on the landscape.

Aiden compared the building to Eastham Prison where he had first met Brandy. It gave off the same feeling of being a structure built for a sole purpose; to house something within. There was no warmth to the building, no unnecessary embellishments. The store’s logo was attached to the far end of the wall, just above the entrance. Everything seemed simple and functional, just like they had at the prison.

“Not the most pleasant place to look at, is it?” Brandy turned and asked, her tone bright. Aiden wondered if perhaps she had made the same comparison as he had. But the sparkle in her eyes convinced him otherwise. She seemed only to be brimming with excitement.

“There must be so much stuff inside!” Brandy continued as they walked towards the entrance. Aiden could already feel his skin heating beneath the exposed sun.

“Have you never been here before?” he wondered as he slipped his own hand against Brandy’s and intertwined their fingers. His pulse quickened upon the connection but he tried to appear calm and collected but he couldn’t deny the thrill which sparked through him, igniting all his senses. He felt like all his emotions were being jumbled together as if he were a teenager with a crush.

Brandy squeezed his hand and gave him a shy smile. Her cheeks were slightly flushed which pleased Aiden; clearly holding his hand had the same effect on her.

“No, I’ve erm…not been before,” Brandy answered as they moved out of the heat and into the welcome cool of the store. The sudden change in temperature was almost unnerving. Aiden’s previously warme skin instantly broke out in goose bumps.

“I didn’t really get out much when I was in Avalon,” Brandy added with an edge of melancholy. Aiden released her hand so that he could wrap his arm around her shoulders.

“Well I’m going to take you everywhere!” he promised with a sincere smile.

“I look forward to it.”

They grabbed a shopping cart and sauntered behind it as they went deeper into the store. Together they drifted down the aisles as if in a dream. They were oblivious to the other shoppers around them; lost in their own private world.

Brandy cooed and giggled over various items she found and the cart soon began to fill up with curtains, cushions and tins of paint. Aiden watched in quiet awe as Brandy excitedly wandered up yet another aisle, approaching everything with childlike wonder. He envied her ability to always see the good in the world, he also admired it. Despite everything she’d been through; the hardships of her early life, the brutality of her first marriage and finally being wrongly accused of murder, she still retained a bright, optimistic outlook. The life she’d endured would have crushed most people’s spirits but Brandy had arose from the ashes like a golden phoenix; powerful and beautiful.

“What about this?” Brandy was holding a scented candle jar. She drew it up to her nose and sniffed deeply. Her face crinkled slightly and then she smiled.

“Ooh, it smells like winter,” she gushed approvingly. “Smell it!” she held out the candle to Aiden and he lowered himself so that he could sniff the colored wax. He had to admit that it did indeed smell of winter. There were hints of pine needles with undertones of candy cane.

“It would be a nice candle to light at Christmas,” Brandy was holding the candle up to her eye line, turning it round and scrutinizing it in great detail as though it were some wondrous artefact she had just discovered.

“Well what have we here?” The smile which Aiden had been wearing promptly fell. His entire body stiffened as he turned in the direction of the voice; a voice he knew all too well.

A feeling of dread washed over Aiden as he glanced down the aisle and saw Clyde White standing just behind him. He was holding a basket in which a few modest items had been placed. Clyde looked first at Aiden and then his gaze passed to Brandy.

Aiden wanted to grab Brandy’s hand, turn and run back down the long aisle, whisking her away from Clyde White and his cruel judgement. The goliath within Avalon’s community would surely still hold a grudge against her, refusing to accept that she wasn’t to blame for his beloved son, Brandon’s death. The blame for the crime lay with the real killer, Father West, but like most of Avalon, Clyde was reluctant to accept such a truth.

“Out for a little shopping trip?” Clyde asked. He delivered the question pleasantly enough but his words were dripping with malice. His hand tightened its grip on his basket as his eyes darkened and narrowed.

Brandy nervously dropped the candle she had been holding into the shopping cart and stood behind it, using it as a barrier between her and Clyde.

“I see you’ve bought the Whore of Babylon with you,” Clyde remarked cruelly. Aiden clenched his jaw and reminded himself to remain calm.

“I didn’t even know your wife had left town,” Clyde continued. “I bet her bed is still warm. Are there no depths you won’t sink to?” He lifted his gaze to deliver the question directly to Brandy.

“Leave her alone,” Aiden ordered sternly, instinctively wanting to protect Brandy from Clyde’s barbed words.

“So are you two like a thing now?” Clyde spoke with a supercilious air.

“Yes,” Aiden nodded. “We’re together.” He knew it was going to come out sooner or later. In less than an hour all of Avalon would know and they’d be waiting at his home upon his return with their pitchforks sharpened. But he loved Brandy; there was no shame in that. Yet his cheeks burned and he wasn’t sure it was solely from anger.

“Did you run his poor wife out of town?” Clyde sneered as he addressed Brandy, his contempt for her obvious.

“You always were a wicked little viper. Be careful.” His stony gaze flickered back to Aiden. “This one will ruin you like she did my son.”

“Clyde…” Aiden raised his hands in a placating gesture but Brandy jumped in before he could continue.

“I’m just trying to get on with my life, Mr White! Avalon was my home once and I’m hoping it can be again. I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“Avalon will never be your home!” Clyde spat the words through barely parted lips. “You’ll always be hated here. You’re a fool to return.”

He gave the couple one last hateful look before turning back down the corridor. But then he paused, briefly turning on his heel as if forgetting something.

“I hope you see him everywhere you go,” he barked, the veins on his neck beginning to tremble. Aiden held his breath. He was willing the older man to leave, not to stir any further trouble and cause a scene.

“I know I do,” he added somewhat sadly, his head lowering. Then he continued to walk away. He’d almost reached the end of the aisle when he plucked his cell phone from his pocket. Aiden shuddered as he realized the judgement he’d soon be facing from everyone in Avalon. He was least looking forward to explaining himself to Betty. They were in such a good place professionally now; all that would be undone.