Secrets In Your Eyes
Secrets In Your Eyes
Total Wordcount: 32.895
Rating: R
Chapters: 10
Author's Note: I basically hated Victoria with every fiber of my being. So I wrote a fic where Fraser ends up with me someone who treats him right. There's no bad guy, there's no real story arc, just relationship schmoop. Judge Me. Also... title from one of Paul Gross' songs, not that it really fits, but because I hate titles, so I stole it.
Chapter 1
Chapter Wordcount: 3790
He could smell the coffee as soon as he opened his bedroom door.
Thank god for Ma and her overbearing but lovable need to take care of everyone. He was running late as it was and had already resigned himself to the vaguely coffee flavored sledge they had at the station.
But he most certainly had enough time to pour some of Ma’s coffee into a thermos before heading out the door.
Halfway down the stairs Frannie’s voice pierced through his little moment of reflection only to be battled by Maria’s rush of Italian expletives as a rebuttal. Ma of course just cooed at them like the dueling siblings were the most precious thing on the planet.
Ray said good morning to no one in particular, as no one was really listening, except Ma of course, but her reply was drowned out as Tony decided to weigh in on whatever the girls were arguing about. Ray had perfected the ability to tune them out over the years.
He poured some coffee into his thermos, gave Ma a quick kiss on the cheek and was headed for the front door when Frannie called after him.
“Ray! Ray wait, you gotta read the paper!”
He didn’t even bother to pause, still headed for the door.
“I don’t have time to read the paper Frannie, I’m running late.”
“Ray! You have to!” she called after him, jogging to beat him to the door, “Look on page five,” she said, jamming it into his chest.
“I’ll look at the station,” he groaned, shouldering past her and out into the cold.
“Ray you need to read that damn paper!” she yelled, stomping her foot as she watched him toss the paper into the passenger seat of the Riviera before driving off.
Needless to say, he did not, in fact, read that damn paper.
He did actually take it into the station with him, fully intending to read it, but it got thrown onto his desk and forgotten about. Through the course of the day it had just become increasingly buried in forms and paperwork and printouts and the detritus of the day.
Fraser showed up at lunch, brought Ray an amazing meatball sub from down the street. Fraser just hummed in disappointment and started cleaning and straightening the disaster on his desk.
Ray didn’t even try to stop him, he knew what a useless endeavor that was.
He was halfway through his sub when Benny picked up the paper, now folded and creased haphazardly, and asked if it was anything important. Ray wiped some sauce from his lip and shook his head absentmindedly. Fraser nodded and tossed it in the trash. That was the exact moment he remembered and squawked around his bite of food and made a grab for it.
Fraser froze, eyes wide and looked at Ray as if he was awaiting punishment.
“I apologize Ray, I thought you meant that you didn’t want to keep…”
Ray waved his hand to cut him off and swallowed the bite of food he had nearly choked on.
“It’s alright Benny. I just totally forgot about it. Frannie shoved it at me this morning and told me I had to read it,” he said unfolding it and opening it to find whatever she had been so adamant about.
Fraser relaxed, seemingly glad he hadn’t upset Ray in some way and nodded to himself, finally opening his own sandwich to eat, now that Ray’s desk was acceptably clean.
Ray turned to page five, smoothing the paper down, eyebrows scrunched as he realized page five was the obits.
He scanned names, wondering what would have worked Frannie up so much. Family member? Criminal?
“Holy shit…”
Fraser paused from his lunch and looked up at him.
“Is everything alright Ray?”
“Old man Lyman died,” he whispered, leaning back in his chair and reading the short blurb that had been printed about the man.
“Did I know this ‘Old man Lyman’?”
“Naw,” Ray said distracted, glancing up at Fraser before bringing himself back to the present and refolding the paper.
“Naw, I knew him as a kid. Grew up with his daughter. He owns, owned,” he corrected himself, “an auto shop out in Lincoln Park. God, it’s been years since I’ve been out there, I shoulda kept in touch better…” he trailed off.
“His daughter, Tayla, and I were pretty close when we were younger. She was a total tomboy and he let us kids hang out at the shop as long as we didn’t get into trouble, we were always there after school.”
He finally looked up after a moment, lost in memories of the past, and ran his eyes over Fraser.
“Good, you’re in your brown uniform.”
“This is good?”
Ray nodded and stood up, grabbing his coat off the back of his chair. Fraser followed him as expected.
“It’s not generally customary to wear red to a funeral,” he said as he headed for the door, Fraser on his heels.
***
He kicked himself for not reading the paper earlier because by the time they made it across town the service was long over and people were sharing their condolences and slowly dispersing from the cemetery grounds.
Ray parked the Riv behind the line of cars and he and Fraser stood quietly on the outskirts. It had been so many years since he had seen Tayla. She had moved to Florida shortly after high school graduation. She came home to visit a few times in the following years, but even that had been more than a decade ago.
He felt like an outsider, standing away from everybody, but Benny, Benny always at his side, and interloping on some stranger’s funeral. Except this wasn’t some stranger, this was someone he had once considered family. Someone he used to see on practically a daily basis. How had so many years passed without him even noticing?
He finally spotted her through the thinning crowd. She looked different of course. She had aged well, looked downright beautiful in a black pantsuit she never would have worn when they were younger. She hugged whoever she had been talking to and he could tell the moment she spotted him. He could see her freeze for a second and her eyes go wide, before she smiled and pulled back to say goodbye to whomever she was with.
Ray grinned and dropped his head.
“I assume that’s Tayla,” Benny asked quietly next to him.
Ray nodded, “Yeah.”
“Would you like some privacy?”
Ray turned to look at him, “That’s alright Benny,” he grinned, letting Fraser know he appreciated it but it wasn’t needed.
Tayla finally made it to them from across the manicured lawn and walked straight up to him without a word and crushed him into a hug.
“Jesus Ray…” she breathed.
“Hey Tay,” he grinned, squeezing back just as tightly.
Ray pulled back to see Fraser with a soft smile, rubbing at his eyebrow.
“Tayla, this is my partner, Benny.”
“Benton Fraser,” he smiled, holding out his hand to shake. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“You too,” she grinned. “Dad told me you were a cop,” she said, looking back at Ray.
“Detective now, but…” he shrugged, trailing off. “Jesus Tay… I’m sorry…”
“Don’t,” she waved her hand to cut him off. “You know I hate that shit. It sucks. It hurts. Life doesn’t stop. Been here before,” she said sarcastically.
Ray smiled sadly and nodded, remembering all those years ago standing in this same cemetery with her after her mother had lost her fight against breast cancer.
“He went in his sleep, can’t ask much more than that.”
Ray looped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest in a one armed hug.
Fraser smiled to himself, feeling a kind of secondhand warmth from just watching the comfort and obvious familiarity between the two.
Tayla finally pulled back, letting her hand rest on Ray’s chest for a moment more.
“Some of us, family and the guys and stuff, met at the shop earlier before the service. There’s still some food platters and at least one cooler full of drinks left if you guys wanna help me finish ‘em.”
“Hell yeah, me and you got a lot of catching up to do,” Ray smiled, “Benny?” he asked looking over at him.
“I’d be honored to,” he smiled, glad that he had had the early shift at the Consulate that morning, leaving his evening free.
Tayla grinned and nodded. “Awesome, lemme just finish saying goodbye to everybody.”
She wandered off to finish thanking everyone for coming and saying goodbye to the stragglers that were still milling about the gravesite.
***
Ray and Fraser beat her to the shop, as even after saying her goodbyes to family and friends she had needed to follow up with the funeral company.
Ray whistled long and low when the black Buick Grand National pulled into the parking lot.
Tayla was grinning just as wide as he was when she stepped out of the car.
“Look at you, still got the National from high school. It looks better than it did back then.”
“What about you, that slick ass Riv?” she grinned, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.
“That’s actually my second,” he spit out, mock-glaring over at Fraser.
Fraser’s face locked down and Ray just knew he was itching to say something about how absolutely necessary it had been for the sake of their lives and justice to blow up his first Riviera but was holding himself back because that Canadian politeness deemed it was not acceptable to start such an argument after just returning from a funeral.
Ray snorted to himself. Half amused, half concerned at how well he really did know Benny.
“Whoa, there’s a story there,” Tayla laughed, looking between the two of them, “Come on, you can tell me all about it,” she said, unlocking the door to the garage.
***
Tayla veered off to the break room to get the leftover food from the fridge inside. Ray slowly made his way from where the office and lobby met over to where they opened up into the shop itself. He felt like he was back in high school, coming here after a basketball game and hanging out until well after dark. His hand found the light switch right where he remembered it and he grinned as the fluorescent lights flickered on and began brightening the large space.
There were different, newer, cars in some of the stalls, and clearly things had been changed over the years, but it was just like he remembered it.
Right down to the grey and black Dodge Power Wagon that was parked in the open area by the door, away from the lifts.
The tailgate was down and there were folding tables and rolling mechanic’s carts, a mismatched jumble of chairs all positioned not far from it, where he assumed everyone had hung out before the services earlier.
Tayla slipped around him, and Fraser, where he hovered not far away, and slid a couple plastic deli trays onto the table.
“Dig in boys,” she grinned, popping open the top on a cooler by her feet and reaching into the ice slush for a beer, handing one to Ray. “Benton?” she asked.
“Just water for me, thank you kindly,” he smiled, accepting an ice cold plastic bottle from her.
“I can’t believe he still has this thing,” Ray grinned, slapping the side of the truck’s bed before his face fell with the realization that he didn’t still have it, it was Tayla’s now.
Tayla nodded and chuckled, hopped up onto the tailgate and placed her hand on the cool metal like she could feel the past through it.
“I still remember learning to drive in this monstrosity,” she said wistfully. “Can’t believe how much I missed it.”
“What are you gonna do?” Ray asked quietly.
Tayla sighed heavily. She reached down and pulled off the black boots she was wearing, tossing them behind her into the truck’s bed before turning sideways, leaning against the side and wiggling her toes against the metal.
“Stay,” she said simply.
Ray paused from where he was building a cracker sandwich for the leftovers and looked up at her.
“What about Florida?”
She shrugged. “I told them I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do when I got up here. I can’t just leave this place.”
“What about Logan?” he asked, he hadn’t seen her older brother at the funeral.
“He’s stationed in Japan.”
“Holy shit. So he’s still in the service.”
She laughed, “Yeah, he loves it over there. He’s going for the full retirement package. He offered to take some leave and come back, but there’s not really a point. He couldn’t have gotten all the paperwork in order in time to help with arrangements, there’s not much he could do here besides just be here. I told him not to waste his time, take it during the holidays like he normally does.”
“Her older brother is in the Air Force,” Ray said, feeling bad that Fraser probably felt left out. All these little details and reminders of a shared past that he wasn’t privy to.
Fraser just nodded.
“I was talking with the guys about it earlier, they’re more than happy to help me run it from afar. But…” she paused, shrugging her shoulders, “I’ve been away from home for a long time, kinda feels like this is where I should be right now. Besides, I’m getting a little old to be pushing around half ton animals and doing manual labor from dawn till dusk, my back already hates me for it.”
“Ray told me you worked with horses,” Fraser said, recalling the drive from the station to the cemetery, where Ray had filled him in on some of the details and history of his friendship for the girl they were headed to see.
Tayla nodded, “Thoroughbreds. I moved to Florida after high school, started working with the racehorses down there. Some of those huge breeding farms are gorgeous.”
“Fraser’s a Mountie,” Ray grinned. “He’s good with horses.”
“So that’s what that uniform is,” Tayla grinned. “Had me wondering.”
Fraser smirked, rubbed at his eyebrow and sat back in his seat. “While I possibly have more experience than the average person, it’s not something I have exposure to on a daily basis. The RCMP themselves don’t use horses much anymore, outside of the Musical Ride, or perhaps in the more remote postings.”
Ray rolled his eyes and resumed picking at the food laid out.
Tayla just smiled and took another sip of her beer.
“I’d kill to go ride right now,” she groaned, tilting her head back. “Just spend an hour or two out on a trail, decompress from today. That’s definitely a perk I’m gonna miss, being able to just saddle up and ride whenever I wanted.”
“It certainly can be soothing,” Fraser smiled in sympathy.
“You ride?”
“On occasion. It’s been quite some time since I have and even longer since I did it for recreation.”
“We should go sometime,” she grinned.
“I’d enjoy that,” he agreed.
“That’s all you guys,” Ray said, waving his hand, “Not getting me on one of those things unless my life depends on it.”
Tayla laughed and shared a look with Fraser.
“You know you’re gonna have to come see Ma right?”
“Oh my god yes, I never found a single Italian place in Florida that came anywhere close to her cooking. She doing okay?”
“Yeah, she’s good. Frannie’s back at the house. Maria and Tony come and go as they please, with all their rugrats. Everything’s just as crazy as you remember. But happier since dad,” he said and Tayla nodded, remembering the temper of Ray’s old man.
“I shoulda came around more, kept in contact, with both of you,” Ray sighed. “Hell, I shoulda brought the Riv to him.”
Tayla waved her hand to dismiss his guilt, tossing her empty beer can towards a trash bin not far away.
“That’s life Ray. We drift, that’s what we do. Hell, he was my father and I moved a thousand miles away. I damn sure didn’t visit home as much as I should have. Didn’t visit any of you.”
“Yeah, well, that shit stops now,” he grinned.
“Agreed,” she smiled back.
***
Over the course of the next few months Tayla had her belongings shipped up from down south, officially moving back into her old family home.
Her father had been very old school, so while the shop had of course changed and adapted over the years, and the crew of guys working there had kept everything in good condition, it still showed the age and layers of life that accumulate over the course of operating for so long.
The paperwork alone, which her father had never been particularly adept at, would take months to sort through and purge. Updating and uploading important information into new computer systems.
She was lucky she had a good crew. A couple old timers that had been there when she had left home and a few new ones that she met for the first time when she came back. They all supported her though, and more importantly they all got along. There had been a little hesitation at first over the fact that she was a female, stereotype of the profession that she was unfortunately more than familiar with, but they learned pretty quickly that she knew what she was talking about. The fact she had been raised by the same man that had trained many of them went a long way.
They were all on board with updating the shop. While change was always hard, the old grime and clutter of parts and past was comfortable to all of them, they were all saddened by the loss of her father and welcomed the fresh start.
The building got a new coat of paint and signs on the outside. The office and lobby and break room freshened and decluttered. The inside of the shop had upstairs storage fit to burst with old parts and machines and she actually kind of enjoyed getting absolutely filthy each day digging through it all bit by bit. It was like going on a treasure hunt.
She found old parts and tools that she either kept if she thought they might be useful or set aside to sell or discard. Many times she just had to stop and sit when she found something that conjured up a string of memories.
Through the whole process Ray was her partner in crime. Many nights spent after work helping her clean and spruce up the place. He enjoyed it. It felt like going home. Somewhere he knew, remembered, and it was nice to catch up with Tayla after all the years.
Fraser of course by extension was there quite a bit too. Following his partner and always more than happy to help. He was surprised with how much he enjoyed it. A day spent doing manual work was always preferable to him than sitting at the Consulate filling out paperwork. And he rather enjoyed seeing Ray dirty and happy as well, a bit of a shock really, after all the time of knowing Ray preferring to be clean and well dressed.
Tayla was far from prim and proper herself. While she had been every bit professional and composed the day he met her at the funeral, she was clearly still the tomboy Ray had remembered and farm manager she had been in her life down south. She often wore jeans and t-shirts, worn with use and memories and had no qualms about getting filthy and sweaty, which Fraser could respect. Ray and Tayla even took it upon themselves to teach him a little about cars. He had read a few manuals back in his grandparents’ library, but he relished the chance at hands-on experience.
Tayla spoiled Diefenbaker, just like everyone else. But she refused to give him junk food like donuts and candy bars. Dief was horribly rude the first week or so, complaining to Fraser that she was purposely being mean to him, which Fraser in turn chastised him for. He got over it pretty quickly though, because while she wouldn’t feed him sugar coated carbs, she more often than not had a bag of beef jerky or pork rinds stashed somewhere just for him.
It wasn’t a huge revamp and renovation. It’s not like they walked in one morning and everything was different and clean and new. Only bits and pieces changing and being cleared a little at a time. But one night, the four of them sitting around relaxing with the garage door wide open to let in the breeze and a couple demolished boxes of pizza on the tailgate of the truck, they all fell silent looking around the shop. She and Ray still felt comfortable, still felt like it was their old haunt, but it was definitely Tayla’s now. Her fingerprint was all over it. It felt like restoring a car. It was still the same rig you remembered and loved, but it was refreshed and ready for a new set of memories and miles.
She was glad that Ray and Benton were there with her. Ray was still her old friend, maybe they were even better friends now, years of life under both their belts and all the dramas and insecurities of youth gone. But she was equally glad to have Benton there, maybe not as familiar, but over the course of their project they had become comfortable and friendly. Enough so that he had frequently come over after his own shifts, by himself, and worked with her until Ray finished at the station and joined them later.
She had spent so many years away from home, let the connections of her past fade and crumble over time, for better or for worse, she was glad to have rekindled and found such strong friendships so quickly after returning.
She smiled to herself, glanced at both the boys in turn and got up and walked into the shop’s office.
Fraser and Ray shared a look, saying without words that neither knew what she was up to.
She returned with a camera in hand, set it on the tailgate and fiddled with some of its controls.
“Come on boys, I want a picture,” she smiled.
They both hefted themselves from their chairs, Fraser waving Dief over, and crowded in close, none of them caring about the dust and grime they were covered in, except Dief of course, still as white as ever, and smiled as the camera’s timer went off.
***
Tayla's Buick Grand National and Dodge Power Wagon
and the song I stole the title from
Next: Chapter Two
Total Wordcount: 32.895
Rating: R
Chapters: 10
Author's Note: I basically hated Victoria with every fiber of my being. So I wrote a fic where Fraser ends up with me someone who treats him right. There's no bad guy, there's no real story arc, just relationship schmoop. Judge Me. Also... title from one of Paul Gross' songs, not that it really fits, but because I hate titles, so I stole it.
Chapter 1
Chapter Wordcount: 3790
He could smell the coffee as soon as he opened his bedroom door.
Thank god for Ma and her overbearing but lovable need to take care of everyone. He was running late as it was and had already resigned himself to the vaguely coffee flavored sledge they had at the station.
But he most certainly had enough time to pour some of Ma’s coffee into a thermos before heading out the door.
Halfway down the stairs Frannie’s voice pierced through his little moment of reflection only to be battled by Maria’s rush of Italian expletives as a rebuttal. Ma of course just cooed at them like the dueling siblings were the most precious thing on the planet.
Ray said good morning to no one in particular, as no one was really listening, except Ma of course, but her reply was drowned out as Tony decided to weigh in on whatever the girls were arguing about. Ray had perfected the ability to tune them out over the years.
He poured some coffee into his thermos, gave Ma a quick kiss on the cheek and was headed for the front door when Frannie called after him.
“Ray! Ray wait, you gotta read the paper!”
He didn’t even bother to pause, still headed for the door.
“I don’t have time to read the paper Frannie, I’m running late.”
“Ray! You have to!” she called after him, jogging to beat him to the door, “Look on page five,” she said, jamming it into his chest.
“I’ll look at the station,” he groaned, shouldering past her and out into the cold.
“Ray you need to read that damn paper!” she yelled, stomping her foot as she watched him toss the paper into the passenger seat of the Riviera before driving off.
Needless to say, he did not, in fact, read that damn paper.
He did actually take it into the station with him, fully intending to read it, but it got thrown onto his desk and forgotten about. Through the course of the day it had just become increasingly buried in forms and paperwork and printouts and the detritus of the day.
Fraser showed up at lunch, brought Ray an amazing meatball sub from down the street. Fraser just hummed in disappointment and started cleaning and straightening the disaster on his desk.
Ray didn’t even try to stop him, he knew what a useless endeavor that was.
He was halfway through his sub when Benny picked up the paper, now folded and creased haphazardly, and asked if it was anything important. Ray wiped some sauce from his lip and shook his head absentmindedly. Fraser nodded and tossed it in the trash. That was the exact moment he remembered and squawked around his bite of food and made a grab for it.
Fraser froze, eyes wide and looked at Ray as if he was awaiting punishment.
“I apologize Ray, I thought you meant that you didn’t want to keep…”
Ray waved his hand to cut him off and swallowed the bite of food he had nearly choked on.
“It’s alright Benny. I just totally forgot about it. Frannie shoved it at me this morning and told me I had to read it,” he said unfolding it and opening it to find whatever she had been so adamant about.
Fraser relaxed, seemingly glad he hadn’t upset Ray in some way and nodded to himself, finally opening his own sandwich to eat, now that Ray’s desk was acceptably clean.
Ray turned to page five, smoothing the paper down, eyebrows scrunched as he realized page five was the obits.
He scanned names, wondering what would have worked Frannie up so much. Family member? Criminal?
“Holy shit…”
Fraser paused from his lunch and looked up at him.
“Is everything alright Ray?”
“Old man Lyman died,” he whispered, leaning back in his chair and reading the short blurb that had been printed about the man.
“Did I know this ‘Old man Lyman’?”
“Naw,” Ray said distracted, glancing up at Fraser before bringing himself back to the present and refolding the paper.
“Naw, I knew him as a kid. Grew up with his daughter. He owns, owned,” he corrected himself, “an auto shop out in Lincoln Park. God, it’s been years since I’ve been out there, I shoulda kept in touch better…” he trailed off.
“His daughter, Tayla, and I were pretty close when we were younger. She was a total tomboy and he let us kids hang out at the shop as long as we didn’t get into trouble, we were always there after school.”
He finally looked up after a moment, lost in memories of the past, and ran his eyes over Fraser.
“Good, you’re in your brown uniform.”
“This is good?”
Ray nodded and stood up, grabbing his coat off the back of his chair. Fraser followed him as expected.
“It’s not generally customary to wear red to a funeral,” he said as he headed for the door, Fraser on his heels.
***
He kicked himself for not reading the paper earlier because by the time they made it across town the service was long over and people were sharing their condolences and slowly dispersing from the cemetery grounds.
Ray parked the Riv behind the line of cars and he and Fraser stood quietly on the outskirts. It had been so many years since he had seen Tayla. She had moved to Florida shortly after high school graduation. She came home to visit a few times in the following years, but even that had been more than a decade ago.
He felt like an outsider, standing away from everybody, but Benny, Benny always at his side, and interloping on some stranger’s funeral. Except this wasn’t some stranger, this was someone he had once considered family. Someone he used to see on practically a daily basis. How had so many years passed without him even noticing?
He finally spotted her through the thinning crowd. She looked different of course. She had aged well, looked downright beautiful in a black pantsuit she never would have worn when they were younger. She hugged whoever she had been talking to and he could tell the moment she spotted him. He could see her freeze for a second and her eyes go wide, before she smiled and pulled back to say goodbye to whomever she was with.
Ray grinned and dropped his head.
“I assume that’s Tayla,” Benny asked quietly next to him.
Ray nodded, “Yeah.”
“Would you like some privacy?”
Ray turned to look at him, “That’s alright Benny,” he grinned, letting Fraser know he appreciated it but it wasn’t needed.
Tayla finally made it to them from across the manicured lawn and walked straight up to him without a word and crushed him into a hug.
“Jesus Ray…” she breathed.
“Hey Tay,” he grinned, squeezing back just as tightly.
Ray pulled back to see Fraser with a soft smile, rubbing at his eyebrow.
“Tayla, this is my partner, Benny.”
“Benton Fraser,” he smiled, holding out his hand to shake. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“You too,” she grinned. “Dad told me you were a cop,” she said, looking back at Ray.
“Detective now, but…” he shrugged, trailing off. “Jesus Tay… I’m sorry…”
“Don’t,” she waved her hand to cut him off. “You know I hate that shit. It sucks. It hurts. Life doesn’t stop. Been here before,” she said sarcastically.
Ray smiled sadly and nodded, remembering all those years ago standing in this same cemetery with her after her mother had lost her fight against breast cancer.
“He went in his sleep, can’t ask much more than that.”
Ray looped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest in a one armed hug.
Fraser smiled to himself, feeling a kind of secondhand warmth from just watching the comfort and obvious familiarity between the two.
Tayla finally pulled back, letting her hand rest on Ray’s chest for a moment more.
“Some of us, family and the guys and stuff, met at the shop earlier before the service. There’s still some food platters and at least one cooler full of drinks left if you guys wanna help me finish ‘em.”
“Hell yeah, me and you got a lot of catching up to do,” Ray smiled, “Benny?” he asked looking over at him.
“I’d be honored to,” he smiled, glad that he had had the early shift at the Consulate that morning, leaving his evening free.
Tayla grinned and nodded. “Awesome, lemme just finish saying goodbye to everybody.”
She wandered off to finish thanking everyone for coming and saying goodbye to the stragglers that were still milling about the gravesite.
***
Ray and Fraser beat her to the shop, as even after saying her goodbyes to family and friends she had needed to follow up with the funeral company.
Ray whistled long and low when the black Buick Grand National pulled into the parking lot.
Tayla was grinning just as wide as he was when she stepped out of the car.
“Look at you, still got the National from high school. It looks better than it did back then.”
“What about you, that slick ass Riv?” she grinned, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.
“That’s actually my second,” he spit out, mock-glaring over at Fraser.
Fraser’s face locked down and Ray just knew he was itching to say something about how absolutely necessary it had been for the sake of their lives and justice to blow up his first Riviera but was holding himself back because that Canadian politeness deemed it was not acceptable to start such an argument after just returning from a funeral.
Ray snorted to himself. Half amused, half concerned at how well he really did know Benny.
“Whoa, there’s a story there,” Tayla laughed, looking between the two of them, “Come on, you can tell me all about it,” she said, unlocking the door to the garage.
***
Tayla veered off to the break room to get the leftover food from the fridge inside. Ray slowly made his way from where the office and lobby met over to where they opened up into the shop itself. He felt like he was back in high school, coming here after a basketball game and hanging out until well after dark. His hand found the light switch right where he remembered it and he grinned as the fluorescent lights flickered on and began brightening the large space.
There were different, newer, cars in some of the stalls, and clearly things had been changed over the years, but it was just like he remembered it.
Right down to the grey and black Dodge Power Wagon that was parked in the open area by the door, away from the lifts.
The tailgate was down and there were folding tables and rolling mechanic’s carts, a mismatched jumble of chairs all positioned not far from it, where he assumed everyone had hung out before the services earlier.
Tayla slipped around him, and Fraser, where he hovered not far away, and slid a couple plastic deli trays onto the table.
“Dig in boys,” she grinned, popping open the top on a cooler by her feet and reaching into the ice slush for a beer, handing one to Ray. “Benton?” she asked.
“Just water for me, thank you kindly,” he smiled, accepting an ice cold plastic bottle from her.
“I can’t believe he still has this thing,” Ray grinned, slapping the side of the truck’s bed before his face fell with the realization that he didn’t still have it, it was Tayla’s now.
Tayla nodded and chuckled, hopped up onto the tailgate and placed her hand on the cool metal like she could feel the past through it.
“I still remember learning to drive in this monstrosity,” she said wistfully. “Can’t believe how much I missed it.”
“What are you gonna do?” Ray asked quietly.
Tayla sighed heavily. She reached down and pulled off the black boots she was wearing, tossing them behind her into the truck’s bed before turning sideways, leaning against the side and wiggling her toes against the metal.
“Stay,” she said simply.
Ray paused from where he was building a cracker sandwich for the leftovers and looked up at her.
“What about Florida?”
She shrugged. “I told them I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do when I got up here. I can’t just leave this place.”
“What about Logan?” he asked, he hadn’t seen her older brother at the funeral.
“He’s stationed in Japan.”
“Holy shit. So he’s still in the service.”
She laughed, “Yeah, he loves it over there. He’s going for the full retirement package. He offered to take some leave and come back, but there’s not really a point. He couldn’t have gotten all the paperwork in order in time to help with arrangements, there’s not much he could do here besides just be here. I told him not to waste his time, take it during the holidays like he normally does.”
“Her older brother is in the Air Force,” Ray said, feeling bad that Fraser probably felt left out. All these little details and reminders of a shared past that he wasn’t privy to.
Fraser just nodded.
“I was talking with the guys about it earlier, they’re more than happy to help me run it from afar. But…” she paused, shrugging her shoulders, “I’ve been away from home for a long time, kinda feels like this is where I should be right now. Besides, I’m getting a little old to be pushing around half ton animals and doing manual labor from dawn till dusk, my back already hates me for it.”
“Ray told me you worked with horses,” Fraser said, recalling the drive from the station to the cemetery, where Ray had filled him in on some of the details and history of his friendship for the girl they were headed to see.
Tayla nodded, “Thoroughbreds. I moved to Florida after high school, started working with the racehorses down there. Some of those huge breeding farms are gorgeous.”
“Fraser’s a Mountie,” Ray grinned. “He’s good with horses.”
“So that’s what that uniform is,” Tayla grinned. “Had me wondering.”
Fraser smirked, rubbed at his eyebrow and sat back in his seat. “While I possibly have more experience than the average person, it’s not something I have exposure to on a daily basis. The RCMP themselves don’t use horses much anymore, outside of the Musical Ride, or perhaps in the more remote postings.”
Ray rolled his eyes and resumed picking at the food laid out.
Tayla just smiled and took another sip of her beer.
“I’d kill to go ride right now,” she groaned, tilting her head back. “Just spend an hour or two out on a trail, decompress from today. That’s definitely a perk I’m gonna miss, being able to just saddle up and ride whenever I wanted.”
“It certainly can be soothing,” Fraser smiled in sympathy.
“You ride?”
“On occasion. It’s been quite some time since I have and even longer since I did it for recreation.”
“We should go sometime,” she grinned.
“I’d enjoy that,” he agreed.
“That’s all you guys,” Ray said, waving his hand, “Not getting me on one of those things unless my life depends on it.”
Tayla laughed and shared a look with Fraser.
“You know you’re gonna have to come see Ma right?”
“Oh my god yes, I never found a single Italian place in Florida that came anywhere close to her cooking. She doing okay?”
“Yeah, she’s good. Frannie’s back at the house. Maria and Tony come and go as they please, with all their rugrats. Everything’s just as crazy as you remember. But happier since dad,” he said and Tayla nodded, remembering the temper of Ray’s old man.
“I shoulda came around more, kept in contact, with both of you,” Ray sighed. “Hell, I shoulda brought the Riv to him.”
Tayla waved her hand to dismiss his guilt, tossing her empty beer can towards a trash bin not far away.
“That’s life Ray. We drift, that’s what we do. Hell, he was my father and I moved a thousand miles away. I damn sure didn’t visit home as much as I should have. Didn’t visit any of you.”
“Yeah, well, that shit stops now,” he grinned.
“Agreed,” she smiled back.
***
Over the course of the next few months Tayla had her belongings shipped up from down south, officially moving back into her old family home.
Her father had been very old school, so while the shop had of course changed and adapted over the years, and the crew of guys working there had kept everything in good condition, it still showed the age and layers of life that accumulate over the course of operating for so long.
The paperwork alone, which her father had never been particularly adept at, would take months to sort through and purge. Updating and uploading important information into new computer systems.
She was lucky she had a good crew. A couple old timers that had been there when she had left home and a few new ones that she met for the first time when she came back. They all supported her though, and more importantly they all got along. There had been a little hesitation at first over the fact that she was a female, stereotype of the profession that she was unfortunately more than familiar with, but they learned pretty quickly that she knew what she was talking about. The fact she had been raised by the same man that had trained many of them went a long way.
They were all on board with updating the shop. While change was always hard, the old grime and clutter of parts and past was comfortable to all of them, they were all saddened by the loss of her father and welcomed the fresh start.
The building got a new coat of paint and signs on the outside. The office and lobby and break room freshened and decluttered. The inside of the shop had upstairs storage fit to burst with old parts and machines and she actually kind of enjoyed getting absolutely filthy each day digging through it all bit by bit. It was like going on a treasure hunt.
She found old parts and tools that she either kept if she thought they might be useful or set aside to sell or discard. Many times she just had to stop and sit when she found something that conjured up a string of memories.
Through the whole process Ray was her partner in crime. Many nights spent after work helping her clean and spruce up the place. He enjoyed it. It felt like going home. Somewhere he knew, remembered, and it was nice to catch up with Tayla after all the years.
Fraser of course by extension was there quite a bit too. Following his partner and always more than happy to help. He was surprised with how much he enjoyed it. A day spent doing manual work was always preferable to him than sitting at the Consulate filling out paperwork. And he rather enjoyed seeing Ray dirty and happy as well, a bit of a shock really, after all the time of knowing Ray preferring to be clean and well dressed.
Tayla was far from prim and proper herself. While she had been every bit professional and composed the day he met her at the funeral, she was clearly still the tomboy Ray had remembered and farm manager she had been in her life down south. She often wore jeans and t-shirts, worn with use and memories and had no qualms about getting filthy and sweaty, which Fraser could respect. Ray and Tayla even took it upon themselves to teach him a little about cars. He had read a few manuals back in his grandparents’ library, but he relished the chance at hands-on experience.
Tayla spoiled Diefenbaker, just like everyone else. But she refused to give him junk food like donuts and candy bars. Dief was horribly rude the first week or so, complaining to Fraser that she was purposely being mean to him, which Fraser in turn chastised him for. He got over it pretty quickly though, because while she wouldn’t feed him sugar coated carbs, she more often than not had a bag of beef jerky or pork rinds stashed somewhere just for him.
It wasn’t a huge revamp and renovation. It’s not like they walked in one morning and everything was different and clean and new. Only bits and pieces changing and being cleared a little at a time. But one night, the four of them sitting around relaxing with the garage door wide open to let in the breeze and a couple demolished boxes of pizza on the tailgate of the truck, they all fell silent looking around the shop. She and Ray still felt comfortable, still felt like it was their old haunt, but it was definitely Tayla’s now. Her fingerprint was all over it. It felt like restoring a car. It was still the same rig you remembered and loved, but it was refreshed and ready for a new set of memories and miles.
She was glad that Ray and Benton were there with her. Ray was still her old friend, maybe they were even better friends now, years of life under both their belts and all the dramas and insecurities of youth gone. But she was equally glad to have Benton there, maybe not as familiar, but over the course of their project they had become comfortable and friendly. Enough so that he had frequently come over after his own shifts, by himself, and worked with her until Ray finished at the station and joined them later.
She had spent so many years away from home, let the connections of her past fade and crumble over time, for better or for worse, she was glad to have rekindled and found such strong friendships so quickly after returning.
She smiled to herself, glanced at both the boys in turn and got up and walked into the shop’s office.
Fraser and Ray shared a look, saying without words that neither knew what she was up to.
She returned with a camera in hand, set it on the tailgate and fiddled with some of its controls.
“Come on boys, I want a picture,” she smiled.
They both hefted themselves from their chairs, Fraser waving Dief over, and crowded in close, none of them caring about the dust and grime they were covered in, except Dief of course, still as white as ever, and smiled as the camera’s timer went off.
***
Tayla's Buick Grand National and Dodge Power Wagon
and the song I stole the title from
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