Hail No (Hail Raisers Book 1)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  “Did you really go to the doctor?” I asked, the thought just now occurring to me.

  He shrugged.

  I sat up, my eyes narrowing.

  “Evander.”

  He sighed. “I was having chest pains.”

  I gasped and nearly toppled the table over.

  “Chest pains!” I cried out. “You’re only thirty-four!”

  His mouth tipped up at the corner.

  “Actually, it was because the chain on the winch snapped and popped me straight in the chest,” he supplied. “I had to get checked out per company policy. That, and Travis was there when I was recovering the vehicle and pretty much forced me to go.”

  My eyes were still wide.

  “You had a chain…what?” I asked a little too loudly. “Let me see!”

  His eyebrows rose.

  “You want me to take my shirt off in the middle of a diner where everyone and their brother is currently watching our every move?”

  “Fuck everyone else,” I practically snarled. “Let me see.”

  Let me tell you something about Evander.

  He didn’t have a bone in his body that was modest. I’d learned that the hard way.

  Or the nice way, depending on how you looked at it.

  I’d been working that fence with him for the last two days, and he’d gotten all sweaty. Sweaty enough, in fact, that he’d deigned it too hot to wear a shirt, and he’d taken it off.

  He didn’t see anything wrong with the act…and I didn’t think it was something I needed to tell him that men didn’t do when they were in front of a lady…a lady who they barely knew.

  Since today had been the first day that he was back at work, after his two days off, I hadn’t seen him yet today.

  Because if I had, I would’ve noticed early on that he wasn’t moving right. And sitting down, I hadn’t quite been able to put the dots together.

  Evander had this grace about him, despite his height and bulk.

  He looked like a great big cat that was always on the hunt for something—what, I didn’t know. What he didn’t do was favor one side and move stiffly.

  Something in which I’d noticed, yes, but since he’d been sitting with me for over an hour now, I’d chalked it up to being stiff from remaining immobile for that long.

  He was so private and asking anything about him that he didn’t freely offer up, I’d realized, was very hard for him to answer.

  It was as if he had to think everything he said through, and if I asked him a question that he hadn’t thought about having to answer, it was like pulling teeth.

  He didn’t like it.

  So I’d learned to be quiet and let him steer the conversation where he wanted.

  Or at least I tried to.

  Sometimes I wasn’t always so successful.

  He started to pull up his shirt, keeping the left side that faced the diner down with one hand, and raised it until I could see the dark, purpling bruises on his chest.

  There was a distinct purpled chain link mark on four spots across his chest. One right below his right nipple. One about an inch above it to the right. One directly in the center of his breast bone, and one more just below his collarbone.

  “Ohhh,” I winced. “That looks terrible.”

  He shrugged, then pulled his shirt down.

  Too soon.

  I hadn’t gotten my fill yet.

  Dammit.

  “When does your sister start treatment?”

  I looked up to find his eyes on me, and I started fidgeting.

  “Tomorrow,” I hesitated. “I think.”

  “You think?”

  I nodded. “Yes, the last I heard it was tomorrow. I haven’t heard anything to the contrary yet, but as of a week ago, at the doctor’s office, it’s then. They put the port in two days ago…that, however, she never asked me to go with her to. They, my brother-in-law and sister, just did it without telling me she was having the procedure done, and before I could get up there once I did know, she was already on her way home from the hospital.”

  He stared at me for a few long seconds, his brows furrowed. “That sounds kind of shady.”

  I shrugged. “They kind of pushed me out of their life once they found out that she has cancer. It’s almost as if…”

  I couldn’t finish the sentence.

  Saying it aloud almost made it true, and I didn’t want to think the worst of my sister.

  “As if what?”

  I should’ve known the big man sitting across from me wouldn’t let my evasion pass.

  I cleared my throat.

  “Almost as if they’re blaming me for what’s happening to her,” I said. “They haven’t outright said it yet, but I can read between the lines. The only time we have together is when I’m getting my nephew to take him to practice.”

  “I’ve noticed that they hadn’t made one yet.”

  Ever since that first time I’d seen Evander at practice, he’d shown up at nearly every one of them.

  The only one he missed was the one two nights ago when I’d left him at my house finishing my fence.

  “Why do you allow them to use you?”

  “She’s not using me,” I immediately argued. “She’s just doing the best she can.”

  He made an sound that clearly let it be known that he didn’t agree, but I chose to ignore it.

  “I’m helping her because I love her.”

  That shut him up.

  “Don’t know about love. But I know about loyalty, and they wouldn’t show the same thoughtfulness if it were you in the same position.”

  I didn’t have anything to say to that.

  He was right.

  Nobody. Not my brother, who barely even gave me the time of day, my father, who only called me because he needed something, or my sister, would ever offer me help if I needed it.

  My sister, I could forgive.

  My father, I could forgive.

  My brother, I could also forgive.

  Which was the problem.

  I was a freakin’ pushover, and I couldn’t stop it.

  “I’ve been asking around about you.”

  My brows shot up.

  “You have?”

  He nodded.

  “What did they have to say?”

  His eyes felt like they were boring into my skin.

  “Honestly?” he asked. “Not fuckin’ much. They, the boys at the office, had no clue who you were. And since I’m not liked by the rest of the town, I didn’t learn much of anything but what I overheard some of the people say at the farmer’s market today.”

  “You go to the farmer’s market?” I asked in surprise.

  I loved the farmer’s market!

  He grinned. “Yeah, the shit grown locally is ten times better than the stuff you can get at the store…plus, there’s someone there that I wanted to see.”

  “Who?”

  His grin widened. “A guy named Don. He’s the honey guy that sits on the corner of the road right outside of town. He waves at everyone.”

  I clapped my hands together. “I do know him! I buy honey from him every so often. I even bought a walking stick once.”

  He winked.

  “I bought a walking stick there once, too.” he explained. “Then, on the way home, my bike broke down. When I got off, I placed my helmet on the ground behind the back tire. When I was going back to the bike, I semi tripped on the walking stick and sort of stumbled. To keep myself from falling, I moved down into the ditch further than I intended.”

  “Yeah?” I sat forward.

  “And a car hit my bike going almost seventy miles an hour.”

  My mouth dropped open.

  “You’re saying that this walking stick tripped you, and you moved out of the way in time to avoid getting ran over?”

  He nodded.

  “Holy shit.”

  He nodded again.

  “From then on,
every time I see that man, I stop to talk to him. He’s become one of my best friends.”

  I smiled, my lips spreading so wide that my face nearly hurt.

  “I can only buy so much honey,” I told him. “But I do like him. I’ll have to make a point to stop by there more, though.”

  His grin was sweet.

  “He’s a lonely old man, and I’ve missed him these last four years. I think he’d like that.” Then he sighed. “I have to go back to work, pretty girl. Otherwise, I won’t get to go all chicken mad with you.”

  I grinned. “I think I can deal with that.”

  He winked, then stood up.

  Before I could say another word, he left, stopping only at Phyllis’ side so he could hand her a fifty.

  Then he was gone and I was left staring after him with my heart on my sleeve.

  Chapter 11

  It’s too hot in Texas for titties.

  -Kennedy’s secret thoughts

  Kennedy

  I felt like shit.

  Complete and utter shit.

  Today was the day of Trixie’s first chemo treatment, and I didn’t even know how the hell I was getting to the hospital.

  My truck wouldn’t start, and my father’s car was in the shop for routine maintenance.

  Stupidly, I’d taken it in yesterday for him and had started to walk home.

  I was only about halfway home when I was discovered by Evander, who’d been on his way to my house to go with me to get the chickens.

  He’d then yelled at me for not calling him.

  When I’d explained, rather meekly, that I didn’t have his number, he’d given me his card and told me to program in his numbers.

  I had kept the card in my hand for half the night, looking at it, wondering if I should or not.

  If I had that number…if I used it…then I wouldn’t stop using it.

  He would have me calling him at all hours of the day, and I would send him memes. I wouldn’t be able to help myself.

  But now I had to.

  I looked down at the card for the fourth time.

  I shouldn’t call him.

  But he’d said anything.

  A ride wouldn’t be too much to ask, and since we didn’t have taxis where we lived, he was sure to understand, right?

  I started dialing the numbers.

  It rang twice.

  “Van.”

  “Uhh,” I hesitated. “This is Kennedy.”

  Everything about his abrupt demeanor changed. “Hey, pretty girl. What’s wrong?”

  The worry in his voice filled me with hope.

  Hope that he may someday feel the same way about me that I knew I felt about him.

  “My truck won’t start, and my sister’s treatment is today.”

  “I can be there in thirty minutes. Is that enough time?”

  I looked at my watch.

  If I had a thirty-minute drive to the hospital, and thirty minutes to wait, that was an hour. I had to be there in an hour and fifteen minutes. That would be plenty of time, right?

  “Yes, that’s perfect,” I said, even though it was cutting it kind of close.

  But they’d deal.

  I really thought that Trixie likely didn’t want me there anyway.

  But I’d be there and wait for her to finish and, hopefully, show her that I would support her no matter what.

  “Okay, I’ll be there in a few.”

  Evander arrived in twenty-two minutes, and he was sweaty as hell when he got out and walked around to the passenger side of the truck and opened it.

  I smiled at him, then smiled wider when I saw Gertie in the front seat.

  “Hey, boys,” I smiled, or tried to anyway. “Y’all look kind of dirty.”

  That was an understatement.

  Evander was filthy. He was covered in grease and what looked like mud—but not red mud. Gray.

  The dog wasn’t in much better condition.

  “We were in the middle of a fuckin’ mud pit trying to get a monster truck unstuck. It took three tow trucks to do it.”

  I blinked. “I took you away from a job?”

  He shrugged. “You wouldn’t call me unless it was important. And Travis already had it mostly under control. It wasn’t a big deal.”

  I decided not to argue, but I did get in the truck and question him about it the moment his ass touched the opposite seat.

  “Why were you in the middle of a mud pit?” I asked.

  His grin was wicked.

  “The guy put his monster truck—and when I say monster truck, I literally mean a monster truck—up for collateral on the bond for his brother. It was a five hundred-thousand-dollar bail and the only thing he had in equity was his truck that he used for shows. When his brother didn’t show for court, he knew the truck was going to be taken…so, in a fit of anger, he took it to the middle of the biggest mud pit he could find and parked it. He didn’t think we could get it.”

  He sounded like he was having a grand old time, and the smile on his face was enough to put me in a remotely better mood.

  “That’s exciting,” I said softly.

  He nodded. “One of the more fun ones, for sure. Where do I need to go?”

  The mood lost, I told him how to get to the hospital, and then waved him off as he pulled into the car port of the hospital entrance. “Don’t get out, honey. I’ll just go in here, and I’ll catch a ride home.”

  His eyes were hard when he disagreed. “No, you’ll call me when you need a ride, and I’ll come. I just need about thirty minutes to get here.”

  I tightened my lips together, and then nodded once. “I guess I can do that.”

  He touched one finger to my face through the open truck window, and then winked. “Go or you’ll be late.”

  I went and managed to look over my shoulder only three times before I had to turn the corner.

  The last look he gave me, as I went, was enough to stick with me for the next four hours while I waited for my sister, who never showed.

  ***

  “Hello?”

  I finally got my brother in law to answer his phone, and when he did, he sounded angry and upset.

  “Darren!” I cried. “I’ve been trying to reach you and Trixie for the last four hours. Why isn’t she at her appointment?”

  He grunted something.

  “There was an accident, and Trixie is in the hospital.”

  My brows furrowed.

  “What kind of accident?”

  “She was on the tractor mowing last night, and it tipped over on her.”

  I practically ran across the street as I made my way to the second tower of the hospital—the part where the emergency room and the patient rooms were.

  The moment I arrived on the floor that Trixie was on, I found Darren in the waiting room, waiting for me.

  I was so confused.

  So, so confused.

  “What do you mean the tractor tipped over on her?” I asked in bewilderment. “Why was she on the tractor in the first place?”

  Darren glared at me.

  My stomach was cramped so hard that I couldn’t breathe.

  “I don’t know,” he lied.

  Lied.

  I knew when the man was lying.

  Trixie had told me he had a tell, one I thought was actually kind of cute…until now.

  He scratched his chin, and his nose twitched.

  Not that I couldn’t tell just by the tone of his voice.

  Trixie hadn’t been on that tractor willingly.

  Trixie had told me she hated being on the tractor and only got on it if Darren needed her help with something.

  It scared her, and she literally couldn’t stand being on it for more than a few seconds, which most of the time was all that Darren needed from her.

  This time, he’d said that she’d been mowing.

  Mowing my ass.

  “So how is she?” I asked hop
efully. “Can I see her?”

  He shook his head. “This is the ICU. She’s not good, Kennedy.”

  My heart started to hammer.

  “What did the doctor say?”

  I could tell he didn’t want to talk to me.

  Not at all.

  But I needed to hear the diagnosis. I needed to know if I would lose her, too.

  “She has crush injuries,” he said through tight lips. “She’s in renal failure. She has fluid on her brain that they’re pretty sure will need to be alleviated right now, and her blood pressure is through the roof… They’re not sure any of that will matter at this point because her cancer has made her body very weak.”

  I sat down, no longer able to feel my legs.

  “When can I see her?”

  She was going to die.

  I knew that like I knew that tomorrow the sun would rise.

  “Visiting hours at the hospital are eight AM to twelve PM, and two PM to six PM. I’m bringing the kids later. Normally, they don’t allow kids, but since she’s not expected to make it through the night, they’re waiving the rules for now. Tomorrow morning will be the best time for you to see her.”

  I couldn’t take those kids’ last chance at seeing their mother alive away from them. Tomorrow would have to be okay.

  I closed my eyes.

  “Okay,” I whispered. “You should go, though. There’s a baseball practice tonight that I know DJ won’t want to miss…if you don’t mind me walking with him.”

  He nodded.

  “Thanks,” he muttered. “Have a good day, Kennedy.”

  Have a good day.

  Have a good day?

  How could I have a good day when my sister was dying?

  I knew she was, too.

  I also knew that this wasn’t an accident.

  What I didn’t know was if this was Darren’s idea or Trixie’s.

  I stood up and started walking, not sure if I wanted to call Evander or not for the ride, but in the end, I knew that he was the only one that I could call at this point.

  I pulled out my phone, put it to my ear, and waited.

  “Evander?” I asked the moment that he picked up.

  “You ready?”

  “Yeah,” I nearly choked. “I’m ready.”

  “I’ll see you in fifteen. I’m close.”

  He hung up, and I sat down next to the exit of the hospital and cried.