Loving Cassie

Bonus: He Didn't Have To Be

Join us in wishing

Walker David Montgomery

congrats on his graduation day from

University of Texas at Austin

Bachelor of Business Administration in Project Management

May 16 2036 at 6 PM

1226 Bluebonnet Drive, Red Mire, Texas

10001

Regrets to Cassidy Montgomery [323] 555-0523

Dalton

    Regret was an acidic tang in the back of my throat, one that I tasted from dawn until dusk since the moment I'd left the only town I'd ever called home and now it was staring me in the face in the form of a card stock invitation. Sometimes, I woke up in the night –mouth filled to the brim with the bitter taste, one that nothing seemed to wash down. In moments of desperation, I would fight to drown it out with the bite of alcohol, but it only served to numb my body; no matter what I did, it was always there.It didn't matter that it had been nearly twenty-two years – somehow, the taste seemed to worsen with time.  Despite the booze not helping, I had found solace in the bottom of the bottle. I had only given up after seeing my child – my children – with Cassie and her redneck at the grocery store all those years ago.

    "Rent's late tomorrow," the land lord of the boarding house hissed through the thin wooden door, accompanied by the sound of papers falling to the floor. I had no doubt they were his 'final notice'. I groaned heartily, wincing as my head throbbed in unison with the weak protests from the borrowed mattress I slept on. I didn't hurry to grab the papers, really there was no point since it wasn't going to get up and walk off on me. I shuffled haplessly around the small room I occupied, turning on the antique coffee pot I'd bought months ago before wandering to the bathroom. This was the hardest part of my day, it seemed; looking into the cracked bathroom mirror, staring at the man I'd become. Sure, I was neatly shaved and had showered only yesterday, but it was more than the cleanliness of my body. It was the streaks of gray that had taken over my hair, dominating the golden strands I'd had in my youth. It wasn't just my hair – it was the exhaustion clear in my eyes, the lines that marred my face like road maps. I had aged twice as fast as I should've. Had it started when I had begun cheating on my devoted wife? Or was it when I left her and my child to fend for themselves? It likely could've been the moment that Carrie had announced her pregnancy, or the second I noticed that she had no real interest in me or my child in her belly. But, how do you pin down the exact moment when your life falls to shit because of the choices you've made for yourself? You don't. You just live with the consequences.

    Yeah, regret was a bitch.

* * * * *

I hadn't stepped foot in the town of Red Mire in nearly fifteen years, not after finding out at my cousin Yates' wedding that Carrie had died. Somehow, I'd taken her death as an omen – a sign that I shouldn't be anywhere around this place and not only for myself but the safety of those around me. It was warm and balmy today, not atypical for a May day in Texas, but clouds were collecting overhead as I pulled into the packed driveway of a nice farm style home. I wondered if I shouldn't take this as another sign. Sure, Cassie had taken a moment to send me an invitation to Walker's graduation, but what the hell was I doing here?

    The child hadn't seen me in eighteen years and even at that moment, I'd been no more than a stranger in a grocery store. I heaved a weary sigh as I grabbed the box in my passenger seat before getting out of my beat up car, questioning every step I took on the way to the front door.