by Mia Carson
“Right, it's all my fault. Excuse me,” she whispered and pushed through the people around them.
Soon, it would all be over, and all she’d have to worry about was her future with Reider and coming back for Izzy.
His fists clenched at his side, Reider almost blew the plan when he spotted Johanna dancing with Brandon. Worse, when the man clearly snapped something at her and wouldn’t let her leave the dance floor. A moment later he winced and wobbled in pain. She stormed off, and Reider nodded in approval. He would’ve loved decking the guy, but stomping on his foot was good enough for now.
“Watching your lover?” Micah spat beside him.
“I’m not watching anyone,” Reider said stiffly. “What do you want?”
“I’m waiting patiently for my payment,” he said. “Can’t move forward without it.”
“I said you would get it in a week. Hasn’t been a week yet,” Reider reminded him and forced his gaze away from Johanna after she’d stopped and argued with her brother. “I told you the money wouldn’t be that easy to get.”
Micah shoved one hand deep into his pocket as he swirled the whiskey in his glass. “That is not my problem. Soon, Reider, or everyone will know what’s happening between you and that woman.” He shot back the whiskey and handed the glass to Reider. “Cheers.” He strolled away, leaving Reider holding the tumbler.
He lifted his hand as if to throw it then lowered it, seething. Another hour, and he and Johanna would be out of here. He checked his watch and grimaced. An hour was too damn long, but they didn’t have a choice. Everything was timed perfectly, and there was no chance to disappear until Izzy caused a distraction. He had asked Johanna what her little sister planned on doing, and she shrugged. Her little sister was the creative one and simply said no one would forget it anytime soon. Reider worried for her, but though Johanna said her sister might be a hopeless romantic, she was like her big sister. She’d get through whatever happened until they came back for her.
Reider went over the plan again in his thoughts as he chatted mindlessly with the very people he hated being around. They would leave through the back gate and drive to the campus. James was already there waiting with their bags. They had everything they needed; all that was left to do was drive out of Nebraska for good.
“Reider Marquette,” a gruff voice said, and Reider turned. “Nice to see you’ve been keeping out of trouble these past few months.”
Reider took Sheriff Ted Princeton’s hand and smiled. “Of course, sir, do my best.” The man was usually called in to supervise these gatherings in case the two families got out of hand. Nothing had happened in years that Reider could remember, but if anyone found out about him and Johanna, shit would hit the fan.
“No run-ins with the Chadwick brothers,” he commented as he readjusted his utility belt beneath his stomach. His black hair grayed on the sides, but his face remained the same weathered and wrinkled one Reider remembered from when he was growing up. “Wish I could say Frank was following your example and keeping himself off my men’s radar.”
“That right? What’d he do this time?”
Part of Reider wondered if he should mention Micah’s investigation or that Johanna thought Fredrick was hiding something, but he reined himself in. Those were no longer his problems.
“Fist fight at the nightclub,” Sheriff Princeton said with a weary sigh. He scratched at the scruff on his chin. “Though I have to say, Fredrick hasn’t been around him as much anymore. Wonder why that is.”
“Wouldn’t know, sir. I stay away from them. You know that,” Reider lied.
Princeton studied him with a narrowed gaze. “Is that right? The rumor must be false then.”
Reider’s blood froze, and he tugged at the cuff of his jacket. “Rumor?”
“Probably nothing. Thought people around town were saying you had a class with the Chadwick girl, Johanna. Said the professor even partnered you two up together.”
“No, sir, I think you heard a false rumor,” Reider said and laughed it off.
“Must’ve,” he agreed, but the gleam in his eyes said he wasn’t buying it. Reider held his breath, waiting for Princeton to oust him and Johanna, but the older man shrugged and said he needed to mosey around the rest of the house and make sure everyone was behaving.
The second he was out of range, Reider rushed for the bathroom and locked himself in. He leaned heavily on the sink and took several deep breaths through his nose to calm the painful thudding in his chest. If rumors were being spread around town, surely they would’ve heard by now, or his parents—someone—would confront them, but so far, there was no one besides Micah. Was he spreading rumors in case Reider failed to pay?
Reider splashed water on his face, fixed his hair, and told himself they would get through tonight without any problems. He left the bathroom and returned to the party as if he wasn’t walking on pins and needles, waiting for Micah to decide he couldn’t keep the secret to himself anymore.
Less than an hour later, Reider saw Johanna in her tight-fitting green dress disappear out the back doors. He sidled slowly after her, and before he slipped out the door, Izzy yelled for everyone’s attention and moved to the middle of the grand staircase. Reider waited, watching everyone turn to stare at the young Chadwick, but none of them caught the mischievous glint in her eyes.
“I would like to make an announcement,” Izzy said loudly.
Reider watched her parents move to the bottom of the steps but couldn’t see their faces.
“I know my parents want many things for me, but I can’t take the lying anymore.” Izzy paused and sucked in a deep breath. “I am a lesbian, I’m an artist, and as of this coming weekend, I’ll be boarding a plane to France!”
Smirking at the gasp of astonishment running through the gathered crowd and the shriek from Mrs. Chadwick, Reider stepped outside into the dim path lights. He walked straight through the garden, and when he turned past the tall hedges, he came face to face with Johanna.
“Jo,” he whispered and wrapped her tightly in his arms, kissing her fiercely. She tugged on his jacket, melting against his chest.
“Later,” she whispered against his lips. “We have to move.”
He nodded, and she took his hand, leading him out the opened garden gate to the side street by the mansion. Reider’s Wrangler was right where he’d left it, and after he helped her inside, he rushed around the other side and dove in. As quietly as he could, he pulled away from the curb and drove towards the campus.
“I can’t believe it,” she said laughing. “We’re actually going to do make it! It’s going to work.”
He took her hand and brought it to his smiling lips, kissing it. “Yeah, we are. This time tomorrow, we’ll be in a new state living our lives together.”
“What did Izzy do? She never told me.”
“Apparently, she’s a lesbian and fleeing the country to be an artist in France,” Reider informed her with a smirk. “Never heard your mom shriek before.”
“You weren’t around when I started rebelling. I thought half the city would hear her.”
Reider grinned, picturing a younger Johanna, just as fiery, arguing with her mom over what she had to wear or going to a party where she had to look perfect. But now, that life was behind them both, and he sighed in relief.
“I almost lost it when that jackass upset you,” he muttered.
“Brandon? Don’t worry, he won’t walk right for a while,” she sneered. “Heels and soft shoes don’t mix well.”
“I’ll remember that,” he said quietly.
They went over their plan for once they left campus, deciding how far they wanted to try and go on the first night. Reider was willing to push it as far as they could, but Johanna told him driving through the night wouldn’t be good for either of them. They had a reservation set up, anyway. Might as well take the night to rest.
“Besides,” she added with a raised brow. “I’m not wearing anything under my dress.”
His grip
on the steering wheel faltered. “What are you trying to do to me?”
“Love you for the rest of my life,” she said sincerely and leaned against his shoulder.
Reider floated with the hope of their future together and sped towards campus. When they arrived, James leaned against his car, two black duffels sitting on the trunk. Reider parked next to him and hopped out.
“So far so good?” James asked quickly.
“No one saw us leave, so I’m going to say yes,” Reider told him. “We can’t thank you enough for doing this.”
James waved away his words. “It’s nothing. I wish my own story had ended like this instead of what actually happened. No matter. I’ll help you get these loaded, and then you get your asses out of here.”
Reider grabbed one duffel as James took the other and walked to the rear of the Wrangler. They tossed the duffels inside when a pair of headlights lit them up as a car squealed around the parking lot.
“Reider! It’s my brothers!” Johanna yelled and jumped out of the Wrangler.
The car stopped right behind, blocking them in, and he cursed as Frank climbed out of the driver’s side, his face red and tux collar askew. His hands clenched into fists, but when he spotted Johanna moving to stand beside Reider, he snarled in rage and charged forward. Reider shoved Johanna out of the way and took Frank’s hit head on. They fell backwards to the pavement, and he grunted as pain soared through his body.
“Frank! Get off him!” Johanna screamed, rushing towards them.
Fredrick got out of the passenger seat of the car, and Reider saw him hurrying to grab Johanna before Frank’s fist filled his vision. His head slammed back from the punch. He spat out blood and head-butted Frank hard in the face. His nose cracked and with a moan, and he reached up to hold it. Reider didn’t give him too much time and kicked the man off, gaining his feet, and put his fists up.
“You bastard!” Frank yelled through his hands. “You slept with my sister!”
“Frank, enough!” Johanna yelled, struggling to get away from the other twin. “Damn it, stop it!”
“No! He thinks he can ruin us by ruining you! It’s not going to happen,” Frank snarled and went after Reider again.
He blocked the first punch and ducked under the second, but it’d been a long time since he was in a fist fight. The third punch hit him hard in the gut, and Frank’s knee met his face. Johanna screamed, but Reider couldn’t see her. Frank decked him again and sent him to his knees on the pavement. James yelled, threatening to call the cops, but Frank didn’t stop, and Reider pushed himself back up to face the bastard.
“You are not going to run off with my sister,” he swore as Reider lifted his fists again.
“I love her,” Reider said fiercely. “And she loves me. What’s wrong with that, huh? You think she’d be happy with Brandon? He’d use her, and you were going to hand her over like a damn war prize!”
“She doesn’t love you, she can’t! You’re a Marquette!”
Reider sniffed hard and smirked. “You think a name is going to stop us from being together?”
“Yeah, that and me!”
Frank lunged forward, and they landed on the ground again, rolling one way then another as Reider blocked hits the best he could, nailing Frank with a few of his own. Both men grunted and swore until Frank managed to put him in a headlock. Reider pried at the man’s arm, but it didn’t budge. His vision blurred, and his hearing grew fuzzy. He swore he heard Johanna’s voice, and suddenly, Frank yelped in pain and let go.
Reider hacked and sucked in a painful breath. He turned to see Johanna on her brother’s back, scratching at him as he flung her around. He tried to yell, but no sound came out. Frank grabbed Johanna’s arms and with a forceful tug, tossed her towards the campus lawn. She landed hard with a gasp of pain, and Reider’s vision went red. He wasn’t even sure how it happened, but he and Frank were tangled up again. He hit every bit of that man he could reach. Lights flashed around them and men shouted, but he didn’t stop and neither did Frank, both too lost in their fury to realize what was happening around them.
“Reider, that’s enough! Get them apart before they kill each other!”
“No, get off me!” Reider raged as rough hands snagged his body, dragging him away from Frank, also still trying to go after him. “He hurt Jo!”
“Reider,” the gruff voice snapped in his ear. “Take it down a notch, son. Johanna is fine.”
He turned, his chest heaving in anger, to see Sheriff Princeton standing between himself and Frank. Four cops held them apart as the sheriff stared at him. His eyes scanned the crowd and finally spotted Johanna not too far away, her parents beside her, yelling. Her arms flew up and she cursed loud enough for everyone to hear before she turned and ran for Reider.
“Not so fast,” Princeton said and stopped her gently. “We have to take these two downtown, Ms. Chadwick. I’m afraid whatever you have to say to him has to wait.”
Johanna opened her mouth to yell at him, but Reider called her name. “Jo, look at me.”
She turned, angry tears filling her eyes and her brow furrowed. “Reider, I’m so sorry. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
“I know, but I’ll be fine. Did he hurt you?”
“No,” she said quietly. “No, I’ll live, and sadly, so will he.”
“Alright, that’s enough,” Princeton said. “You need to go with your folks and let me handle the situation. Deputy, make sure she gets to where she needs to be.”
A man stepped forward and took Johanna’s arm. “This way, Ms. Chadwick.”
“No! Get off me! I’m not leaving him!”
“Johanna, really,” Lucy snapped as she stormed over to her daughter. “Knock this off, now. I’m sick of your attitude and your lying. What were you thinking, being with him? He’s a Marquette, for God’s sake!”
“And the man I love, you horrible, bitter old woman!”
Everyone fell silent, and Lucy reeled as if her daughter had slapped her. “How dare you?”
“No, how dare I? James is here, Mom. He’s here and he loved you once upon a time, or did you forget that along with how to be a loving mother?” Johanna pulled away from the deputy and ran through the crowd of people, leaving her mom to stare blankly ahead.
“Lucy? Who is she talking about?” Ben said beside her.
Reider knew the second her eyes found James’s in the crowd. They widened, and her mouth fell open. She took a few steps towards him before she shook her head and visibly steeled herself. “He’s no one, dear, no one that matters.” She turned and came face to face with Reider. There was no time to brace before she slapped him hard across the face. Princeton growled for her to back away before he put her in cuffs too, and with Reider’s cheek stinging, she stomped away after Johanna.
Princeton grumbled under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I clearly recall you telling me earlier this evening you were keeping out of trouble, Reider.”
“I was,” he spat. “I’m not the one who threw the first punch.”
“You slept with my sister!” Frank yelled and tried to go after him again, but the cops held him back. “Lock him up!”
“I’m booking you both,” Princeton told him. “Get them downtown before I lose it.”
“How did you even know?” Reider asked as the cops dragged him to a cop car.
Frank leered as he was led past. “Your cousin told us, barely five minutes after you left.”
Reider couldn’t believe it as he let the cops put him in the back of the squad car. The car pulled away a few minutes later, and he was informed a doctor would check his face when they reached the jail. He nodded, numb to everything. The plan had failed, fallen apart, all because of his cousin. He wanted Jo, needed to hold her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay, but deep in his twisted, bruised gut, he worried he would never see her again.
14
Johanna hurried into the house ahead of her parents and Fredrick. Izzy sat on the step
s and stood when she entered, her face pale and reflecting a fraction of the pain rushing through Johanna’s body.
“Johanna, stop right there,” Lucy yelled. “Johanna!”
“What? What the hell do you want from me?” she snapped as she whirled back around. “Was this not enough for you tonight?”
The people still there cleaning up the aftermath of the party she and Reider had ruined with their escape attempt stopped what they were doing to watch the fight.
“How dare you?” Lucy said quietly. “You lied to us, went behind our backs, because you thought you might love a Marquette! What were you thinking? Did you sleep with him?” When Johanna clamped her mouth shut, her mom gasped with a hand to her chest. “Oh God, you did! I can’t believe you betrayed us like this! What is wrong with you?”
Johanna’s mouth fell open. “With me? Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” Ben said, moving to stand beside his wife. Fredrick, surprisingly, stayed quiet and stared at his feet. “Answer your mother, Johanna.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me.” She bit out each word harshly. “I was partnered with him by the man Mom used to love but was too scared to run off with. Reider and I have been working together since the beginning of the semester, and we fell in love. I want to be with him, and you two can’t stop me.”
“He’s a Marquette,” Lucy said wearily. “You can’t be with him.”
“You want me to be with Brandon? With a man who simply wants to parade me around and have me pop out babies for him?”
“Brandon is a respectable businessman—” Ben argued, but Johanna cut him off as she threw her hands up.
“No, he’s a pig! If I married him, I wouldn’t be happy ever again, and I guarantee you, he’d cheat on me within the first month. You really want me with someone like that? Do you never want me to be happy and do what I want with my life?”
Ben raised an accusing finger towards her and fumed. “You are a Chadwick, and we stick together as a family. You will do as you’re told!”