“We’ll have a play date soon,” Rose promised her.
The three of them left, leaving me alone with Rose.
“So?” she said, practically giddy.
“So what?” I mumbled.
“Did they beat the shit out of them or what?”
I shrugged. “I only caught a glimpse of Aaron. He looked in rough shape, but the sheriff assured me it was all pretty superficial.”
“Damn. I wished they would have broken their noses.”
“Rose, you can’t actually be happy over what happened. Frank is threatening to press charges. I told the sheriff that if he did, I would file a sexual harassment lawsuit.”
“Good. You should file it anyway. That guy is a dick.”
“Maybe, but I don’t want to deal with it. I’m over it. All of it.”
“Even Colton?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I don’t think I can be with a man that is prone to violence.”
Rose scoffed. “He isn’t prone to violence. He’s prone to protecting you. He’s a real man’s man. It isn’t like he went there with the intention of fighting. Kevin told me they tried to keep it cool, but Aaron and the others weren’t having it. Did you expect him to stand there and get his ass kicked?”
“No, but I don’t know if I want to be with someone who gets into situations where that is actually a possibility. We are so different. I wouldn’t have gone to the diner at all. I would have let it go altogether.”
“Until Aaron caught you in a dark alley and tried to follow through with those threats,” she snapped.
“He wants me to go over there tonight and talk. I don’t know if there’s anything to talk about. There’s no denying we’re great in bed together, but that doesn’t make a relationship work. We have zero in common. Like literally nothing. I have no interest in learning to fight or watching a fight or even hearing about it. That was his job. He likes it and that’s fine, but it’s not for me.”
“They say opposites attract,” she said with a smile.
“And sometimes they mix together like oil and water.”
“I’m sorry. Despite what you say, I know you like him.”
I sighed. “I do and that’s what hurts the most. I’d rather hurt a little now then hurt a lot later.”
37
Colton
It was time to get back into the swing of things. I’d been in a holding pattern for too long. Kevin left yesterday and it was time to get back to work. I truly appreciated how cool Landon had been with everything, but I was ready to hit a bag. Well, I wanted to, but my hands were a little sore. I wasn’t used to bare-knuckle fighting.
I had sent Jenna a text last night, knowing she didn’t want to see me or talk to me. The point had been made and I wasn’t going to push it, but I did still need her to watch Abby if she was willing. Thankfully, she was.
I grabbed Abby’s backpack. “Let’s go,” I hollered at her from the living room.
She skipped down the hallway, excited to spend time with Jenna. At least one of us was going to get to see her still. For now. I knew it was only a matter of time before she stopped babysitting. I wasn’t paying her enough to make up for the job she lost at the diner.
Abby bounced over to her house, knocking on the door with excitement.
“Hi, Abby!” Jenna said with a friendly smile before she looked at me.
She stuck her hand out for the backpack.
“Thank you for watching her.”
She shrugged. “I told you I would. I don’t know for how much longer, so you will need to start looking for a daycare.”
I nodded. “I know. I can pay you more.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not a charity case. I’ll watch her, and you can pay me for the hours I’m babysitting. I don’t want your money.”
“It isn’t like that,” I protested.
She glared at me over the top of Abby’s head. Abby walked inside, leaving me and Jenna alone in the doorway of her house. There was a horrible awkwardness that had me shifting from one foot to another. I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t want to leave.
“I should go in,” she muttered, breaking the tense silence.
“Jenna, wait. Please? Have dinner with me?” I blurted out, as much to my surprise as hers.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m happy to watch Abby, but that’s the extent of this relationship. I’d rather we kept this professional.”
I wasn’t going to lie; it felt like a knife to the heart. I had been so close to telling her how I felt, and I knew she had been willing to listen. It was Aaron’s fault I didn’t get the chance. I wanted to beat the shit out of him all over again.
Letting out a long breath, I collected myself. “Okay, I understand. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
I felt like I was dragging my knuckles along the ground as I headed for my Tahoe. It hurt. I couldn’t ask her to change how she felt. She made her point and I wasn’t going to try and force her to want me. When I arrived at the gym, Landon pulled me into his office.
“I know you weren’t expecting a second client for today’s session, but there’s a young man who is very eager to meet you and hopefully train with you. He said he was from the Boston area and knows of you. He practically begged me to let him take the session today. I talked with Devin and he was cool with the newbie crashing his party.”
My heart lurched as I immediately assumed it was someone tied to Frank. They wanted revenge. It figured I cut off the head of the snake only to have another grow in its place. Would I ever be free of him? I was going to have to run, again. I didn’t have it in me to take another man’s life. I would be haunted for the rest of my life as it was. I was going to take Jenna’s advice and get out of town. Hell, I’d get out of the country if it meant protecting my daughter and avoiding confrontation.
I nodded my head, shrugging with nonchalance. “Sounds good. We’ll see what he’s about.”
“Oh, and something else,” he said, with a grin on his face.
I was almost afraid to ask. “What’s that?”
“Come with me,” he said, leading me through the gym to a side door I had assumed opened into alley. I was leery of him, alleyways and anybody claiming to be from Boston. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I assumed this was it. I prayed it would be quick.
He opened the door and flipped on a light. It was a large empty building that shared a wall with the gym. I looked around, waiting for someone to jump out of the shadows and shoot me.
“What’s this?” I asked hesitantly.
“This is where our new ring is going in!”
I turned to look at him with surprise. “What ring?”
He grinned. “I wasn’t aware how popular this whole fighting thing is. I’ve had a lot of interest since word got around we had a real MMA guy in town willing to do some training. I also have an old boxer who wants to train as well. This is a whole new untapped market here in Beatrice and I want to get in on it on the ground floor.”
“Wow. That’s awesome,” I said, impressed, but feeling a little guilty. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stick around all that long. I didn’t want the man to invest a lot of time and money into a venture that I had no business seeing through for the long-haul.
“It is awesome. I’ve been thinking about leasing this space for a while. I made a couple of calls and got the keys yesterday.”
“Congratulations, Landon. That is really exciting news.”
We turned and headed out into the main gym area where he quickly introduced me to the new guy that had sought me out. My radar was up as I looked him over. I didn’t know him, and he was fairly young, I was guessing barely eighteen. He’d lived in Beatrice for a few years now. I was going to take his story at face value. He seemed legit. He wasn’t here to rough me up or threaten revenge for taking out a notoriously bad human being.
We got right to work. Having two of them to train against each other was actually very helpful. After a solid two-hour worko
ut, they were ready to hit the showers.
“Colton,” Landon called my name.
I turned to see him standing next to the sheriff and felt a fresh wave of apprehension. I strode toward him, doing my best to look innocent of whatever crime I was being accused of. I half-expected to be questioned about the bodies in Lincoln.
“What can I do for you?” I asked.
“Can we go somewhere and talk?”
“Go ahead and take my office,” Landon said, gesturing for the door.
This wasn’t going to be good. Privacy was never needed to give good news.
I stood in the room, not interested in sitting down. I wouldn’t say a word without a lawyer present, which meant I’d be dragged back to the station.
“I had a couple witnesses come forward,” he started.
I nodded my head, seeing where things were going. Small town folks protected each other. Aaron and his father seemed to be the men running the place and had probably conjured up a series of witnesses from out of thin air. I was sure I was about to be dragged to jail for starting a fight.
“And?” I said, immediately on the defensive.
“And, one of them saw everything from start to finish. She could also hear the conversation. She was outside on the other side of that alley fence. She watched the whole thing unfold and supported your version. Because of her testimony and another eyewitness that saw the fight, I’ve charged Aaron and his buddies with assault.”
“Oh,” I mumbled, caught completely off-guard.
He grinned. “I thought you’d want to know that they’re a little angry. I’m throwing in a few extra charges just for shits and giggles. I’m sure Frank will hire some high-priced attorney and get the majority of the charges thrown out, but it’s going to cost him. As it turns out, Daddio has some legal problems of his own.”
“Really? What kind of problems?”
The sheriff was smiling. “Oh, fraud, tax theft and a litany of other allegations. Those weren’t brought on by me. Apparently, he’s been on the Fed's radar for some time now. He’s been skating by and covering his ass, but it looks like he’s about to lose everything. Including that diner, which is a damn shame, I really did enjoy the BLTs.”
I chuckled. “I’ll miss it as well, but if it truly does get shut down, I doubt it will be long before someone else snatches it up and reopens the doors.”
“I hope so. I just wanted to let you know in case Frank has tried to threaten or harass you. I know him, and he is infamous for doing just that.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t heard a word from him.”
“Good. There’s a lot of people that were getting really tired of those boys. I certainly can’t comment on what you did, but I think it’s safe to say you aren’t going to have to worry about anyone seeking any kind of retaliation.”
I laughed. “Good. That did cross my mind. Jenna is very concerned about that, which is why it went on for so long. I don’t want to cause any trouble. I came to this town to raise my daughter and live a nice peaceful life. I promise you this will be the last time you and I have to meet like this.”
The sheriff laughed again. “Maybe. I hope so. Take care and if you start getting anonymous notes of thanks, take it all in stride. Sometimes things need a little shaking up.”
He walked out the door, giving me a brief moment to process everything he had said. Landon came in and clapped me on the shoulder. “Good job, kid.”
I laughed. “Does everyone know?”
Landon was shaking his head. “You’ve never lived in a small town before have you? We can spread gossip faster than a wildfire can eat up a hundred-acre cornfield.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Well, I was happy to do the public service. I just hope things can settle down. I hadn’t really intended on making a name for myself. I want to be low-key.”
“Sure, sure, kid. We’ll keep it on the down-low,” he said.
I laughed at his use of those words. The phrase didn’t come naturally to him and sounded ridiculous coming out of his mouth.
“Alright then, I think I’m going to hit the weights and then call it a day unless you need something else from me?”
He shook his head. “Nope, but I think you better be ready to be working a lot more. Once I get that ring up and the boys and girls around here get wind of what’s going on in there, they’re going to want in on the action.”
“I look forward to it,” I announced.
I left his office and for the first time in a long while I felt like things were looking up. Things were settling into place and I had a real sense of belonging all of a sudden. I liked the majority of the people I had met here and could see myself hanging out with most of them.
Now, there was only one little detail of my life I needed to get ironed out. It was going to be the most challenging wrinkle I had ever faced, but I was determined to smooth things over. I could be very persuasive and persistent when necessary.
38
Jenna
Abby and I were in the backyard, soaking up some sunshine while playing with her dolls. I got a text from Rose demanding I go to the front door. When I opened it, she was standing on the other side.
“What are you doing?” I asked, completely confused to see her in the middle of the day.
“I’m here to tell you to go get ready,” she said, pushing me out of the way and coming inside.
“Get ready for what?”
“You’re going out and I can’t let you go looking like that.”
“I don’t know where you think I’m going, but I have Abby,” I said, gesturing for the backyard.
She nodded. “I know. I’ll watch her. Get ready. Put on something hot and sexy.”
I shook my head. “You need to tell me what the hell is going on before I do anything.”
“You’re going out for dinner. I’ll watch Abby until Colton picks her up. It’s only like an hour or so, right?”
I slowly nodded my head. “You set me up?” I asked, my voice strained.
She winked. “You’re still standing here.”
I growled in frustration and threw my hands in the air. “Fine!”
Stomping into my bedroom, I threw open my closet and started yanking clothes left and right. I had no idea what to wear for a mystery date. Was it a dinner date? Were we going mini-golfing? I was going to kill Rose. She was reckless. I wasn’t. She liked surprises. I did not.
I settled on a flirty black dress. It wasn’t overly sexy, but sexy enough to pass Rose’s likely inspection. I grabbed a clean pair of black panties and a matching bra and headed for the bathroom, quickly showering before sliding on the dress. I left my hair down and put on minimal makeup. I had no idea who she was setting me up with but wanted to make a good impression. But not a ‘take me to bed’ impression. It was a fine line.
Walking out to the living room, I found Rose and Abby sitting on the couch.
“Well?” I snapped, still not pleased to be getting sent out on a blind date.
She stood up and walked around me as I held my hands out.
“It’ll work.”
“Work for what?” I asked, my voice high.
She laughed. “If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise.”
“Does this have anything to do with Colton?”
There was a knock on the door, saving her from further questioning. I half-expected it to be Colton coming home early. If it was and he saw me dressed up, it was sure to cause problems. I didn’t want to hurt him.
I took a deep breath and pulled open the door, preparing to face Colton. It wasn’t him.
“Uh, hello. Can I help you?” I asked the man wearing some kind of uniform.
“Are you Miss Westin?” he asked, looking at a piece of paper.
I nodded. “Yes. Why?”
“I’m here to pick you up?”
“Pick me up?” I said, feeling like a parrot.
I looked back at Rose who was grinning like a fool.
“Yes, ma’am, I’m your
cab driver.”
“Rose!” I hissed, wanting information.
She shrugged a shoulder. “Have fun!”
I shook my head, yanked my purse off the small table and gestured for the man to head out the door. I followed him, stomping in my black strappy heels, nearly snapping my ankle. He opened the door and I climbed in the back, hoping I wasn’t doing something completely stupid. Rose seemed to know what was going on, which was the only reason I was going along with any of it.
The driver drove to one of the nicest restaurants in town. It wasn’t on Gordon Ramsey’s level, but for the little town of Beatrice, this was pretty fancy.
“We’re here,” the driver announced.
“Uh, thank you,” I said, realizing I needed to pay him for the ride.
I pulled out a twenty, but he waved it away. “The ride has already been paid for. I believe you’ll find your date waiting inside.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, now more curious than ever as to the identity of my mystery date.
I wasn’t really interested in dating anyone else. I could be honest with myself and admit I still had feelings for Colton. I knew they would subside with time. It was just one of those things I would get over eventually.
Walking inside the restaurant, I saw that it was fairly empty. The dining room was somewhat shielded from view from my location at the hostess desk. I gave my name, hoping someone was actually waiting for me, otherwise I would feel rather foolish.
“Right this way,” the hostess said with a smile.
I followed her through the dimly-lit dining room. The hostess slid to the side, revealing Colton sitting at a table.
“Hi,” he said, standing up.
I sighed. “Hi.”
“Will you sit down?”
The hostess left us alone. I nodded my head, not wanting to attract any attention.
“This was all you?” I asked.
He smiled. “With Rose’s help.”
“Why the theatrics?”
“I knew you wouldn’t meet me if you knew.”
I shrugged. “We’ve talked about this,” I said.
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