The Way Forward Read online

  All of the conversation stopped when Dax walked into Hank’s Barbershop. The angry glares were reflected back at him in the wall of mirrors along one side of the room. The space was small, and it took only two steps to cross the pale blue and brown linoleum tiles to the center of the room. The scent of Lilac Vegetal and Barbasol filled the air.

  “Evening.” Dax nodded to the two men who sat hunched over a chessboard in the corner. Hank stood behind a man reading a newspaper, his scissors hovered in midair for a moment before he continued his work with a curt nod.

  Dax ran his hand through his hair. “I was hoping I could get a haircut if you don’t mind.”

  Nate Colton paused, his hand hovering over his knight, staring at Dax. His teammate, Sam, sucked in his breath.

  “Don’t think we didn’t see you talking to Callie Colton,” a deep voice behind the paper said. “Are you planning on causing trouble?”

  Dax cleared his throat. “No, sir.”

  The paper slowly lowered, revealing the face of Joseph Colton, Mae’s father.

  Nate set his rook down with force, frowning at Dax. Sam’s eyes darted between the two of them. Joseph folded the paper as Hank turned on his clippers and began to shave the back of his neck. The buzz of the clippers filled the silence.

  Four pairs of eyes bored into him. Dax forced himself to look each man in the eye and not flinch. Clearly, his reputation as the town bully was still alive and well.

  “I know none of you have any reason to trust me, but I want you all to know that I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused,” Dax said quietly. “And Mr. Thompson, I’m sorry I broke the pole,” he said to Hank as he gestured to the blue and red pole continuing its slow, lazy turn outside.

  He turned to Nate, the only official member of Colton’s fire department. “Mr. Colton, I’m sorry I lit those firecrackers under your front porch.

  “And Mr. Riley,” he continued, “I’m sorry I yanked all the wires out of that house you were working on.”

  Sam’s eyes grew wide. “That was you?”

  Dax nodded and forced himself to face Mae’s father. “Mr. Colton.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for everything I ever did to Mae and Callie. I was a punk. And spoiled. And wrong. I’m so sorry.”

  Joseph continued to study him. Just when Dax was about to give up, Joseph stood and motioned for Dax to sit. “You better hope Hank knows how to cut a White boy’s hair,” he said.

  Dax fought the smile that threatened to break free. It was too soon to celebrate. He sat in the worn, brown leather chair while Hank made a great show of shaking out the cape. Dax didn’t say a word when he wrapped the paper around his neck just a little tighter than he needed to. It was worth the discomfort to sit with these men.

  “When was the last time you had a White boy in that chair, Hank?” Sam called out.

  Hank paused. His face clouded. He rested his hands on the back of the chair and met Dax’s gaze in the mirror. “There was a group of Freedom Riders, six young men—four Black and two White—heading into Greenwood the next day to sit at the lunch counter. Callie’s grandfather asked my father to make sure they were clean-shaven and their hair neat and tidy.” His voice grew gruff. “We made sure they looked like gentlemen so they could be treated like animals.”

  The silence of memory settled around them. Hank continued to stare at Dax in the mirror for a moment before he rested a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Maybe we all need to talk about the past more so we can make a better future.”

  “That’s why I moved back here. I want to do my part to help Colton be a town people want to invest in.”

  “How are you going to do that?” Nate jeered.

  Dax didn’t let the criticism get a rise out of him. “Colton needs access to modern infrastructure—high-speed internet and cell service—but it also needs change in other ways, and I want to be part of that change. It’s time we need to face some ugly truths about Colton’s past—and my past—so that we…I can be a better person.”

  Sam and Hank nodded with approval.

  “Word around town is that you bought the Barton Building,” Joseph said.

  “Yes, sir, I’m working on restoring it. I’m going to convert the main floor into my office and the upper floors into apartments.” Dax stared straight ahead, afraid if he moved, he’d lose an ear to Hank’s scissors, but he spoke to the men at the chessboard. “I’ve got a buddy helping me, but we could use another hand. I know you recently retired, Mr. Johnson, but is there any chance you’d be interested in the job?”

  Sam Johnson’s eyebrows lifted. He looked intrigued. “I may not move as fast as I used to, but you’re not going to find a better electrician around. I did all of the work for Miss Callie at the library and the bookstore. Your mama’s threats don’t mean anything to me.”

  “That’s because you’re retired, fool, and, checkmate,” Nate announced, capturing Sam’s king.

  Sam studied the chessboard in dismay. “I’m still the best,” he grumbled.

  “How are things at the station, Nate?” Dax asked.

  “Well, as long as we don’t have a fire, I guess everything’s okay. Your mama has the town council convinced the fire department can run on outdated equipment and one tired old man,” Nate replied, resetting the chessboard.

  All four of the men nodded.

  “Who’s on the town council these days?” Dax asked. He’d noticed the poor condition of the firehouse.

  “Your mother, the sheriff, and Clyde Walker,” Joseph said.

  “Shouldn’t one of you be on the council?”

  All four men snorted and rolled their eyes.

  “We’ve all tried. Your mother finds an excuse to make sure the council doesn’t have any Black folks on it,” Hank said, pulling out his clippers.

  It was amazing that the town functioned at all with his mother’s interference. Hank whisked the cape off Dax’s shoulders, and soft bristles brushed along the back of his neck as the barber flicked away any stray hairs that remained. Dax stood and reached for his wallet, but the older man waved him off.

  “A first haircut at Hank’s is always on the house.” He pointed a finger at Dax. “If you do anything to hurt Miss Callie, I’d best not see you round here for a second one.”

  Sam shoved Nate’s shoulder, the two silently laughing.

  “I’m here to do right by Callie and everybody else.” He looked around the room. “I’m sorry about my mother. I didn’t know…I’m sorry.” What else could he say?

  “It ain’t your fault, son.” Nate walked over to stand in from of him “Look at me, boy,” the older man said quietly. “It took a lot of guts to walk in here, and I know you’ve been going around town trying to make amends. At some point, you’re not going to have any apologies left to make, and you’ve got no business apologizing for what’s hers.”

  Dax’s eyes stung. He swallowed hard. He hadn’t done enough to earn Nate’s compassion. “Colton is home. I’m going to do everything I can to help the town grow and make it a better place.”

  Joseph snorted a laugh. “Funny, Callie said the exact same thing when she came back.”

  “Callie is a smart woman. I admire everything she’s been doing with the library and the bookstore.”

  Joseph raised an eyebrow. “That had better be all you admire.”

  Nate and Sam exchanged a look while Hank paused his sweeping to lean on his broom with a grin.

  “Let me tell you something.” Joseph pointed his finger at Dax. “You behave yourself around Callie. She may not be my daughter but I love her like she was one of my own. If you hurt her again I’ll make sure there’s nothing left of you but haint.”

  He had no doubt that Joseph Colton would follow through on his promise to turn him into nothing more than a ghost if he made a wrong move with Callie.

  “Sir, I—”

  Hank slapped him on the back. “Quit while you’re ahead, son,” he whispered in his ear.

  “I would expect nothing less,” Dax pu
shed on, determined to finish what he was going to say, “and if you don’t, I know my uncle will.” He then held his breath, hoping it would be enough to receive a pardon.

  Sam’s hand hovered over the chessboard. All eyes were trained on Joseph, waiting for his judgment. Finally, Joseph nodded. “Well, all right then.”

  The whole room took a collective breath and life began again.

  Sam asked about his progress on the Barton Building and offered to come by the next day and take a look at the electrical work. Nate said he would be by as well to make sure everything was up to fire code. Dax paused on his way out and peeked in the mirror, running his hand over his new haircut. He felt lighter than he had in a long time. If Callie’s uncle and the other men in the barbershop were willing to give him a chance, maybe with time she would too.

  Chapter Ten

  “Hello,” Callie called into the empty main floor of the Barton Building. She had knocked twice but there was no answer. The door was slightly ajar and Dax’s truck was parked in front, so she knew he had to be somewhere inside.

  “Hello,” she called out again a little louder.

  A loud crash followed by a muttered curse echoed from upstairs. She heard footsteps above and a moment later Dax appeared on the stairs covered in dust. His eyes grew wide for a moment. He started patting the dust off his jeans and gray Lucas Monroe concert T-shirt as he descended, creating a cloud of dust around him. He came toward her, breaking into a slow smile, but slowed his advance when she took a step back.

  “Sorry I didn’t hear you. I was trying to get some work done upstairs. I’m afraid I’m not much of a carpenter.”

  “I came to tell you that I will be paying for any work Jacob Winters does for me. I told him I’d pay him every two weeks and he’s refused twice now. You can’t buy my forgiveness, Dax.”

  “I—Okay,” he agreed.

  Callie blinked at him for a moment. She had been prepared to argue with him, so his concession threw her off-kilter and she wasn’t sure what to do next. “Well…thank you.”

  An awkward silence descended over them. Sunlight filtered through the windows casting shadows across his face. That must have been what made him look so handsome; there was no other reason Callie could think of.

  “Would you like a tour?”

  He pointed toward the oak staircase. Curiosity won the battle over the tiny sliver of unease she couldn’t help feeling around him. She had always wondered what this building looked like inside, and she was curious to know what Dax had planned.

  “Sure.”

  “This is going to be my office.” Dax swept his arm around the open space on the main floor. The cobwebs and dust had been swept away, and Callie admired the beautiful old desk by the window.

  “Colton doesn’t have fiber optics. How are you planning to run all of this equipment?” she asked pointing to the stack of monitors along one wall.

  “I have some temporary servers up, and if everything goes the way I plan, Colton will have fiber optics in the next six months or so. I just signed the contract last week to extend the line from Greenwood.”

  Callie raised an eyebrow. “That’s a pretty expensive undertaking.”

  “It’s worth it if it will help keep this town alive, don’t you think?”

  “I do.”

  She had been making plans to do the same thing.

  He gestured toward the stairs. “Would you like to see the rest?”

  “The second floor will be divided into four apartments,” he said as they paused on the second-floor landing.

  They arrived at the third floor and the open loft space. The same exposed brick walls from downstairs were showcased with exposed wood beams and large arched windows along three sides of the room.

  “This is beautiful,” Callie said, crossing the refinished hardwood floors to look out of one of the windows. “It’s like being in a tree house. You can see the whole town from here.”

  “Wait until you see it first thing in the morning when the light floods the space. I hate to put up any kind of window covering, but if I don’t, I’m afraid I’ll be waking up at dawn every day.”

  “But what a beautiful thing to wake up to, the sky turning from purple to pink to blue every morning don’t you think?” She smiled at him.

  Dax was looking at her in a way that made her stomach do another one of those flip-flops. It was a feeling she hadn’t had very many times before. There was the boy in high school she’d had a crush on for a year who never even realized she existed. And a couple of short-lived relationships in college. Her shyness and preference to spend her evenings cuddled up with a good book or writing rather than hanging out at parties quickly ended most relationships before they ever really had time to take hold of her heart. She didn’t want to like the dimple that formed every time Dax smiled at her or the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed. She pressed her hand to her stomach and took another step back.

  “I wish more of these old buildings could be rehabbed like this,” she said.

  “That’s my plan. I’d like to invest in other buildings in town and offer up the space at a reduced rent for local businesses. Small towns die every day. I don’t want Colton to be one of them.”

  He spoke about Colton with a passion she didn’t expect.

  “But you left and you didn’t come back. I thought you hated it here.”

  “I didn’t hate Colton,” he said. “I just didn’t like who I was here…before.”

  “No one liked who you were before,” she said quietly.

  He was silent a moment. “That’s something I don’t think I’ll ever stop regretting. I hope that my actions will show that I’ve changed.”

  Callie studied him; finding only sincerity in his gaze.

  “Time has a way of making you appreciate things in a different way. Living in big cities and seeing a lot of the world made me appreciate Colton much more. Nowhere else ever felt like home the way Colton does.” He moved a step closer. “Can I ask you a question?”

  She nodded.

  “Why did you come back?”

  “The only people who ever loved me were here.”

  He wouldn’t understand. No one really did, not even Mae. How could she explain? Before she had a chance, another voice called from below.

  “Hello, anybody here?”

  Callie followed Dax downstairs where they found Presley’s brother.

  “Ash, it’s good to see you.” Dax shook his hand.

  “Ashton,” Callie quietly acknowledged.

  Ashton and Dax had been thick as thieves when they were kids. He wasn’t as mean as Dax, but he wasn’t friendly either. Because he was the manager of the only bank in town, Callie had no choice but to deal with him from time to time.

  Ashton looked at the two of them with wide eyes, clearly surprised to see them together.

  “It’s… I… It’s funny to find you both here.” Ashton rubbed the back of his neck. “Callie, I was going to stop by the library tomorrow. We have a bit of an awkward situation here.” He laughed, nervously.

  “Exactly what kind of situation do we have?” Dax asked.

  “You see—” Ashton’s eyes darted between the two of them “—it’s really quite funny when you think about it.” He laughed again.

  “Spit it out, Ash,” Dax said, with an exasperated sigh.

  “You both came in and requested a cashier’s check for the same thing.”

  Callie drew in a sharp breath.

  “I’m sorry, Callie,” Ashton said.

  Dax turned to her. “For the fire department?”

  She’d made it very clear that her donations to the town were to be anonymous. He handled all of her transactions personally so that the other bank employees wouldn’t catch on. The news would be all over town if anyone else knew.

  “Nate’s been asking for new equipment for years now, and the town council keeps denying the request. He can’t do his job with an old broken-down truck that barely functions.”


  “I know,” Dax stopped her. “Or at least I just found out when I was at the barbershop the other day.”

  “You went to the barbershop?”

  “I told you I’m not the same person I was,” he said quietly.

  Heat flooded her face. This new Dax was almost as upsetting as the old one. She didn’t know how to stay angry at this version of Dax.

  Ashton cleared his throat. “We still have two checks for the same thing. Callie, for what it’s worth, I agree with you that the town council is a joke. Nate needs a new truck. Hell, the whole firehouse needs to be remodeled.”

  “Ash, you can cancel my check,” Dax said. “Callie deserves the credit.”

  “Callie won’t get the credit. She makes all of her donations anonymously,” Ashton blurted out, then his face fell when he realized what he’d just done. “Oh hell, Callie, I’m so sorry.”

  “Just stop.” She closed her eyes, shaking her head.

  “I think I’d better go before I make an even bigger mess of this,” Ashton said, backing away. “Just let me know what y’all have decided.”

  As soon as the door clicked shut, she opened her eyes to find Dax watching her. How did he keep worming his way into the nice, quiet life she’d built for herself, and why were the colors of her world just a bit brighter with Dax around?

  “I won’t tell,” he said, reaching out to briefly touch her hand.

  “I believe you.”

  “When I said before that I hope my actions will show that I’ve changed well, maybe you can help me out with that.”

  “What in the world could I do to help?”

  “You are already helping the town, what if we combined our efforts and created a fund for more projects? You’ve been doing the work; you can tell me what the town needs.”

  “You and I working together?” Callie shook her head.

  “Please don’t say no, just think about it.”

  “I wasn’t. I just can’t believe that after all this time we’re going to be…partners.”

  Dax looked at her thoughtfully. “If we combine our efforts we can do a lot of good here.”

  His eyes were doing that crinkly thing again, and her wariness ebbed away, replaced with something she didn’t want to identify.