Bitter Farewell Read Free Page A

funeral too.”
    “I know. I heard about it.”
    “Damn shame, isn’t it?”
    Liv looked at her father and smiled. She forced herself to nod. She had nothing good to say or think when it came to Big John, but that was a history best left in the past.
    “You know, he and I used to go fishing,” Charlie said. He tapped the paper on the table. “We fished Ricker’s Creek. Every damn weekend. I’d bring the worms, he’d bring the beer.”
    “He liked to drink,” Liv said.
    Her father waved a hand at Liv. “You can’t pick on people for that. Life isn’t easy, Liv. Not at all.”
    Liv smiled again, bigger this time. She knew damn well how hard life could be. She watched the love of her life leave town and then had to hear him on every radio station for years. Then there were her family problems... the barrage of nonsense leading to her father moving in.
    “I’d like to go,” Charlie said. “Pay respects.”
    Liv stiffened and her heart skipped a beat. “Go... to the wake?”
    “Sure,” Charlie said. “Out of respect. Maybe I’ll stick a worm in the coffin.”
    Charlie laughed.
    “Dad, that’s gross.”
    “Oh, stop now,” Charlie said. “You know I’m just kidding.”
    “I never liked that man,” Liv said. “He was mean.”
     “Of course he was mean. We all were... still are. That’s just how life was back then. It wasn’t easy like now.”
    Charlie shook his head and looked straight ahead. He continued to shake his head and Liv stood up. She took the paper and walked back into the kitchen. She couldn’t stand to hear her father talk about life being easy. She promised herself that she would never resent him and would never get too frustrated. Without much help, it became harder each day, but somehow, someway Liv believed her deeds wouldn’t go unnoticed.
    She put the paper on the counter and unfolded it.
    The obituary made her shiver. The look on the old man’s face in the black and white picture did no justice to the way he looked in person. She remembered many times running into Big John and dealing with him. He was loud, rude, and more times than not, drunk. Once his wife died, it really went downhill.
    Liv turned to the next page and saw a headline that made her shiver again.
    BAKERSVILLE PREPARES FOR ROCKSTAR HOMECOMING!
    Rockstar homecoming , she thought and scoffed.
    Everyone was excited that Johnnie and Danny were coming home, even if the circumstances weren’t the best. They were local celebrities from the second they were on television in a music video and dominating the airwaves. Song after song, album after album, it felt like someone kept turning the knife in Liv’s chest. Worst yet, she couldn’t get enough of Chasing Cross. She knew Danny wrote on the songs with his older brother. She could hear and feel him when she heard the music. She did appreciate the music and understood why they were so famous. They were five good looking guys who were able to constantly play and create music that people wanted to hear.
    She bought every album for two reasons.
    First, because she was undoubtedly a Chasing Cross fan.
    And second, because a long time ago she made a promise to sexy young man with wet hair that just covered his eyes that she would buy every album he made... because she truly believed all the way back then that their puppy dog love was something so much more.
    Or so she thought.
    Until Danny was off, escaping Bakersville and its hold, off to become rich and famous. Liv always wondered if he would come back and sometimes when the band played close by she thought about getting tickets and going to see them. She thought about it, but never did it.
    No need to open an old wound when a fresh one waited in the next room over.
    “Ah, goddamn! Olivia!”
    Her father’s voice boomed and raged. Liv jumped from the kitchen and ran as fast as she could. Her father stood looking ready to attack someone. She could tell instantly by looking into his eyes that he wasn’t the same