Cowboy Casanova

Chapter 12 (Three years later)

FAITH POV: Betty calls me to inform me that Tug's memorial was two hours ago, not two days from now. Tim's been lying a lot lately, so he doesn't have to do these things. Part of me wants to physically hurt him. Tug was his father. They may not have had the best relationship, but he should at least be there to pay his respects. I'm sure the girls would have liked to also. 

Tim walks downstairs, rubbing his eyes. He must've just woke up, and it's three in the afternoon. 

"Tug's memorial was a few hours ago..." I say, leaning against the counter, watching him pour himself coffee. 

"Oh was it?" He says sarcastically. 

"Tim..." I say, signalling that my patience is running thin. He holds his hands up in the surrender stance, then takes his coffee into the other room. I roll my eyes and go upstairs to check on the girls. Betty's going to stop by soon, so I figure they would want to see her. 

"Gracie, Maggie, Grandma's coming by soon. You girls want to get ready?" I say. They yell back a yes, then proceed to get dressed and teeth brushed. I walk into Audrey's room and get her ready. By the time I get back downstairs, Tim's coffee has changed to a beer. "Tim," I start. "why are you drinking? Seriously?" I say, voicing how annoyed I am with him right now. He chugs the last bit and throws away the bottle. He looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. I can remember when he didn't drink because of how his stepdad was, I guess at some point he just stopped caring. 

"I'm fine."

"I didn't ask if you're fine, I asked why you were drinking." He throws up his hands again. 

"God, Faith, what is your problem today? You are just getting on my shit constantly." He says in front of the kids. 

"Dad said a bad word!" Maggie says, running up to me. 

"Maggie, go away." Tim says. Maggie looks sad. 

"Hey!" I yell at Tim. "Whatever attitude you're possessing right now, needs to go. You can't just yell at the kids like that, okay?" He rolls his eyes at me and begins to go back upstairs. I grab his arm as he passes me. "We need to talk."

"Aren't we already?" 

"I mean, not in front of the kids." I say. He bites his lip and we head to our sound-proof studio so the kids can't hear. I turn to him after he closes the door. "You need to stop." 

"Stop what?"

"Drinking, and acting like an asshole!" I say, pretty much repeating everything I meant earlier. 

"I don't know how to feel about this." He says. 

"About what?" 

"Tug." He says sitting down and putting his head in his hands. I knew I could work it out of him. 

"What about him?"

"I don't know if I'm upset or angry, or....." He says. "I just don't know if I miss him or not." 

"Honey, it's going to be alright. I promise." I say, sitting beside him and rubbing his back. "He didn't tell you about it did he?" I ask, knowing he probably did, but Tim would've been to angry to give a damn. 

"He did..." Tim says. "He wanted me to be there for him, but I just hung up the phone." he says. 

"Don't feel too guilty about it, alright? You couldn't have done anything. I mean, he abandoned you as a kid. He can't expect to do that and turn around to see you there whenever he needs you." I say. He nods and rubs his hands together. 

"I love you honey." Tim says, then looks to me. I smile. 

"I love you too." I say. He leans over and kisses me. Then, he tries to advance a little further. He reaches for my jean zipper. "Whoa." I say, pushing him away a bit. He sighs. 

"Faith..." 

"I'm just not ready for that again, Tim..." I say. "I'm sorry." He gets up and walks out without giving me another glance. I take a deep breath and walk back out to see the girls have let Betty in. Tim's nowhere to be seen. 

"Hey darlin'" Betty says, wrapping her arms around me and giving a squeeze. 

"Hey." I say. 

"You sound kind of frazzled." She acknowledges. "Need to talk?" She asks. I probably do. 

"I guess," I say. "but in private." She nods and we go to the studio. 

"Now, what's going on honey?" She asks as we sit down on the couch. 

"Tim's drinking... again." I say. She sighs. "You know how he cheated last time he got extremely wasted?" I ask. 

"Yeah, unfortunately." She says. 

"We haven't slept with each other since then, because I can't get that out of my head. And he's starting to get angry with me."

"He should be more considerate. He put you through a lot, and he should feel lucky that you didn't leave, because you had every reason to." Betty says. I nod. 

"Do you think you could talk to him?" I ask. She nods. 

"I had to anyways." She says, grabbing my hand and smiling at me. She's always been like the mother I never had. "On a different note, when was the last time Tim went to the doctor?" She asks. 

"I don't remember... Why?" 

"We think Tug's cancer was genetic..." She says softly. "If they find it early, the odds are that he would survive. I just think it wouldn't be a bad idea to get him checked out." My chest tightens at the thought of Tim having cancer. "That's what I was going to talk to him about. I know Tug is the last thing he wants to talk about." She points out. I nod. 

"I think he's a little sad over him." I say. Betty bites her lip. 

"It's understandable. They never reached closure."

"Yeah..." I say. We both get up, hug, then head back out to the kids. 

"Where's your dad?" Betty asks the girls. Maggie shrugs.

"He left." Gracie says. 

"To go where?" I say, alarmed. 

"I don't know. He just said he was going and not to kill each other."