Lucas dealt with Michael all the time since they both ran cattle ranches they would often show up at the same cattle auctions, or if there were some sort of fence issue when the livestock escaped, Lucas would always ride over and help. However, today Michael was not in his ranch gear, he was dressed in his nice slacks, a blue button-down shirt, and his hair was perfectly in place. Today Michael was in Mayor mode. Still given all that he had to deal with, he appreciated the fact that Michael would encourage the Sherriff to let Reece take Synclair home. He probably realized the same thing Lucas had that Reece would tear anyone limb from limb who touched that woman.
“Of course, I can bring her in tomorrow morning after breakfast.” Reece’s voice was calm, but Lucas didn’t buy it for a second. Reece was one second from losing it.
“Alright done.” The sheriff looked around at the crowd that had gathered and a whimpering Amber. “Okay folks the show is over, Amber I need to finish your statement, so let’s go back over to the car and wait for the lab unit to get here,”
Michael smiled apologetically at Reece and moved to usher his complaining sister toward her car.
As soon as all the spectators had dispersed, Reece opened the door. Synclair burst out from the seat of the cab and glared. “What the hell is your problem?” She hissed. Matt went to say something, but she silenced him with one hand. “I’m off the clock with the swear jar Matt, even my unborn child thinks his father is a jackass.”
Reece looked at Synclair, his face was full of anger, and he looked tired.
“What is going on? What is going on? What is always going on with you Synclair, every time I turn around you’re in the middle of some childish, female version of a dick contest with my Ex-wife.” He hissed back.
Lucas could tell this was going to get ugly.
“I will have you know I didn’t touch her stupid convertible, I was at the concession stand, and then I was talking to a lady about her cute dog, since you are always saying I’m not social enough, and if it were a dick contest I would win against Amber and You, hands down.” She shouted throwing her hands up in frustration.
“Guys this can’t be good for the-.” Lucas stopped mid-sentence when Reece and Synclair turned in unison and glared at him. Throwing his hands up in surrender, he leaned back against the truck.
“Are you kidding me right now? You expect me to believe that you didn’t take your favorite weapon of choice and smash in Amber’s window, you’re going to stand there and lie to me?” Lucas cringed at Reece’s words and one look at Synclair showed how much he’d just hurt her.
It looked as if Synclair was actually going to cry, Lucas was ready to smack his idiot brother in the back of the head when he saw her face change from hurt to blank, he watched her square her shoulders and take a step toward Reece.
“Yes, I actually expect you to believe me because I’m going to be your wife; you’re supposed to believe what I tell you. I have never, not once given you any cause to not trust me, in fact, I’m the only one in this relationship that has never lied, so yeah I would expect better from you, Hudson.” Synclair’s voice held no emotion.
Her face was stoic, and one look at Reece told him he knew he’d fucked up. Only an idiot would not beg for forgiveness, Lucas may still believe that Synclair did it, but he didn’t condone calling her out on it in public.
“I can’t do this anymore with you, I’m a respected Vet here, people expect me to conduct myself and by extension my future wife in a way that’s fitting. You need to start acting like a respectable woman. This is not Vegas; this is not a thug life.”
Yep, an idiot, Lucas thought. Lucas watched helplessly as his brother dug his own grave. A collective gasp from the surrounding Hudsons told Lucas that he was not the only one that thought so. Apparently expecting bloodshed, Lucas watched his siblings take a step back while glaring at Reece as if he had lost his mind.
Synclair’s face didn’t change, she didn’t flinch, and her eyes weren’t filled with tears. It was evident she had retreated from the hurt his brother was causing her.
“Thug life? That’s what you think I am? You believe I'm some thug from Vegas who’s not respectable enough to be your wife?” Synclair asked her voice an icy calm.
Lucas watched Reece fidget. He had evidently spoken before thinking and now was not sure how to proceed.
“Sweetheart that’s not what I meant?” Reece answered his voice low as if he was taking to a wounded animal.
“Really, what did you mean Doctor Do-little? Was Amber a respectable wife? I mean Jesus, the woman helps destroy Sara, sleeps with you when you were drunk and then lies that she’s pregnant, and then Photoshopped a video of Matt and me, and you just believe her over and over again? What the hell is the matter with you that you would so readily believe Amber but not even give me the benefit of the doubt?”
Now it was Reece’s turn to rear back as if he’d been slapped. Lucas had to admit, Synclair had a point.
“Maybe it’s not me, did you ever think to wonder why bad shit always happens around Amber, why is her lying, bleach blonde ass always in the thick of every scandal in this town? No? Why not Reece? Is it because she’s so blonde and beautiful? Or is it because she came from the right side of the city and was born to the right set of parents? Is that why she gets an automatic get out of every shitty thing she does- free card?” Synclair looked around at the faces staring back at her.
“Do you think I did this Lucas?” Her gaze zeroed in on him with precision focus.
Shit, he didn’t want to be in this crap. He did believe she did it, but it didn’t warrant the dressing down that Reece was giving her. He was supposed to back up his brother but seeing the cute redhead, her eyes practically daring him to take Reece’s side; he wasn’t sure what to say.
“It just seems really coincidental Synclair, with the bat and everything.” There that was taking his brother’s side in a non-commital way; surely, she couldn’t fault him for that.
When her hazel eyes narrowed, he read how betrayed she felt in them. She turned in a slow circle, making eye contact with each and every Hudson.
“So is that it then? You all agree with Reece, you think I did this?” Her voice cracked with emotion and Lucas had to force himself not to go and hug her.
Instead, he pushed Reece’s shoulder hard, pissed that he could stand there and not fix this, it was evident Synclair was hurting. It appeared his brothers and Rachel were in the same spot he was. They all had assumed Synclair had vandalized Amber’s car, but no one wanted to agree with Reece’s harsh assessment of Synclair acting like a thug.
Synclair hung her head, and Lucas saw her shoulders shake as quiet sobs racked her body. He saw her place one hand on her hip and the other on her rounded belly.
“Come on Synclair, let’s talk about this at home,” Reece told her. The only smart thing that had come out of his mouth in the last twenty minutes, in Lucas’s opinion.
Without looking up, Synclair shook her head. When she finally looked up to meet Reece’s gaze, tears streaked her cheeks. She took a step back, and Reece took a step forward. They continued the dance until a familiar and pissed off voice spoke from behind the circle that the Hudsons had formed.
“She’s coming home with me.” Sara suddenly appeared with one hand gripping Logan’s and the other pushing aside Matt and Dalton until she was next to Synclair.
“You’re an idiot.” She told Reece. Then she turned her angry gaze to Lucas, and he knew he was in trouble.
“And you, you should know better than anyone that when someone comes to you and says I didn’t do this, that it warrants a deeper look, I thought you had finally changed but I guess not, Lucas.”
Lucas grimaced at her words. She was right; he hadn’t given her the benefit of the doubt with Travis and had just stood by while his brother had committed the same offense with Synclair.
“Syn, Logan and I are going to go home and make cookies, but I’m sure you have better recipes than I do, are you up to a girl
’s night sleepover?” Sara asked giving her the biggest smile she could muster, considering she’d like to scratch out both of Reece’s eyeballs.
Reece’s head whipped around to Sara, and he glared at her. Sara let go of Logan’s hand, placed her hands on her hips, and glared right back. There was no way she was going to back down, not after all the horrible things Reece had just said. Part of her knew that Reece didn’t mean them that he was scared for Synclair and didn’t know how to handle her. However, she wasn’t worried about Reece’s feelings right now; she was concerned about her friend who looked moments away from collapsing into a puddle of tears.
Logan, wonderful little boy that he was could tell something was wrong. He walked up to Synclair, who was still staring at Reece and placed his small hands in her’s. “If you're sad Auntie Syn, you can sleep in my bed, I have lots of stuffed animals you can hug, and mama makes hot chocolate- only not too hot so I don’t get burned, and it makes me feel better when I’m sad.”
Whatever death stare Synclair had pointed at Reece disappeared as she peered down at Logan’s adorable face. The fact that the little boy had offered her his bed and his toys to make her feel better melted her heart.
“You know what Logan I would love some hot chocolate, lead the way, good sir.” She told a smiling Logan. He then proceeded to lead Synclair away from the Hudsons; she didn’t even look back once.
Reece took a step toward the direction where Logan had led Synclair and Sara stepped in front of him.
“She’s coming home with me Sara if I have to pick her up and carry her there.” Reece’s eyes were panicked.
Sara shook her head, “No, she’s not, you hurt her Reece, all of you have.” She looked around making sure each one of them was forced to meet her disappointed gaze.
“You guys are better than this, you guys always stick together no matter what, you convinced Syn that she was a part of that, a part of all of you, that you’d have her back. Nevertheless, as soon as things got ugly you people bailed on her and why? Because you were embarrassed? Because Amber SAID that Synclair had vandalized her car.” She watched as they all hung their heads, except Lucas his gaze never left her.
“You,” She pointed at Lucas, “You need to sort this out. Anyone could have done that to Amber’s car. In case you missed it, she is having an affair with Logan’s coach, a relationship his furious wife just found out about this morning. Yet, here is Amber making it obvious, even though she’s still married, she’s been all over Coach for weeks.” She turned her glare to Reece.
“And you, you were in the dugout all day, that bat on Amber’s seat is from the league, Synclair only uses Louisville bats, I know because she gave every woman in her Self Defense class one, did your pregnant girlfriend somehow slip past you and twelve little boys, including Logan without anyone noticing?”
“Think Dalt. With all of your combat training could Syn have ghosted past that many people to get a bat, then go out to the parking lot, destroy that windshield and make it up to the bleachers, not winded at all?” She watched Dalton’s eyes widened when he realized what Sara was telling him.
“You guys have had each other your whole lives, Syn has had very few people who cared if she lived or died. She changed her whole life for you, Reece, even when you did not deserve it, she forgave you not once but twice for your stupidity, and you dare tell her that she’s not acting like a respectable wife. After what she’s been through, if anyone deserves to be respected it’s Syn, not Amber and after today not even you!” Sara turned to walk away and then turned back and walked straight up to Lucas.
“I will be taking Syn to the station in the morning and don’t even try coming near my house because I own a restaurant, and I am very comfortable with sharp objects, and I will show you just how Thug I can be.” She hissed looking from Lucas to Reece.
Lucas put up his hands in surrender and Reece moved aside as she pushed past him. As pissed as he was that he had just taken twenty steps back in his plan to woo Sara, Lucas couldn’t help but be proud. The kind, shy Sara he knew was now a force to be reckoned with. She was protecting Synclair, and he had no doubt would follow through on her threat if he or Reece tried to show up at her place tonight.
“Sara wait, I’m coming too, I owe Syn an apology, I don’t think she did this,” Rachel shouted running after Sara.
The brothers watched Sara, Synclair, Rachel and Logan climb into Sara’s sedan and driveway.
“Truck,” Lucas said walking around to the driver’s side.
“Bar.” Matt chimed in climbing in the back.
“Drink.” Dalton supplied as he took a seat next to Matt.
The three brothers all looked at Reece, who was still standing, frozen, still staring in the direction that Sara had driven.
“Now.” Came his irritated growl. He joined his brothers and climbed into the passenger seat of Lucas’s truck. Right now, he was trying to figure out a way out of the clusterfuck his mouth had gotten him into with the woman he loved.
**********
“For the record I didn’t do anything to that b- I mean Amber’s car,” Synclair promised, stopping herself before the curse word could leave her mouth and go straight to little Logan’s ears.
Sara rolled her eyes, “Of course you didn’t, you wouldn’t be that stupid, and you would be the prime suspect.”
“I’m really sorry Syn.” Came Rachel’s voice from the backseat.
Sara was glad to hear her use Synclair’s nickname, she really liked it, and Synclair seemed to be getting more and more comfortable with it.
Synclair turned in the seat and faced Rachel. It was hard to stay mad at the kid for any length of time. As soon as those waterworks turned on, Synclair was a goner.
“It’s okay Rachel, I know it looked bad, I’m just hurt that Reece didn’t even ask me, he just assumed.”
Moments later, they pulled up to the apartment that Sara shared with her father. She walked around to open Logan’s door but by the time she had rounded the car Logan was out of his seat and dragging Synclair toward the front door as if she was his new show and tell toy.
Laughing Rachel and Sara trailed behind as Logan spoke a hundred miles an hour to Synclair about everything from his pet frog to his favorite flavor pancake. Chocolate chip, of course. When Sara heard Synclair promise to make him some, she smiled. There were times he reminded her so much of Lucas. There was a time when all Lucas had to do was smile at her, and she couldn’t deny him a thing.
Shrugging, she reminded herself that there was no sense wishing things were different, it didn’t matter that Travis was Logan’s biological father, Logan was her child and hers alone.
A few hours later Logan had been bathed and put to bed and after wishing everyone a good night, Sara’s father went to spend the night with Ms. Daley, the widow down the block. Ewww. Sara tried not to judge, but she didn’t want to imagine her father being intimate with a woman, just ew.
Settling down in front of the sofa, the women sat cross-legged all cradling the delicious hot chocolate that Sara had made, munching on the cookies that Rachel and Synclair had baked while Sara was seeing to Logan.
“Come on Syn, this is what girls night is, we sit around, vent about men and stuff our faces, it’s a time-honored tradition,” Sara explained nudging a brooding Synclair with her shoulder.
“Sorry, only had one girl’s night, and it was a long time ago.”
“Who with?” Rachel asked taking a bite of her cookie.
“When I was in Vegas I volunteered a lot at an abused women’s shelter. We weren’t supposed to stay in contact with the women once they moved on but there was a woman there named Taylor Duke; she and I really hit it off.”
“Can I ask what happened with her husband?” Sara asked moving closer.
Synclair gave her a tight smile. “Her mother was an American missionary from Utah, and she met a man down in Argentina, fell in love and got pregnant. Only her mom was killed when she was eleven and the father who really did
n’t give a shit about her, traded her off to a local crime boss to pay off his debt.”
Sara couldn’t help the gasp that left her mouth; she glanced at Rachel whose eyes looked as wide as saucers.
“Yeah, I hear it happens a lot. Long story short is that crime boss married her off to his son, his son moved to Vegas and not only did he beat her, but he forced her to work at the strip club he owned and sell herself. When she finally broke away from him, she had a broken leg, bruised ribs, and some serious emotional scars. She stayed at the center for about eight months; we spoke every day and eventually became friends.” Synclair sipped some of her hot chocolate, realizing the women were riveted by the story, she continued.
“Taylor was awesome; she had a great sense of humor and was dead on with a bow and arrow.”
“Did you say bow and arrow?” Sara asked obviously surprised.
Synclair smiled, “Yeah, her mother was a world champion in Archery. When we went to the range, I practiced my gun shooting, and she used her bow and arrow or crossbow. When she ran from her husband the only two things she took with her was her mother’s crossbow and her bow and arrow. The woman can make a crack shot from three hundred yards; it is unbelievable. You’d like her Rachel; as soon as she got back on her feet, she acquired a strong affinity for all things Victoria’s Secret.”
“All things Pink.” Rachel practically sang. Rachel did seem to have a strange obsession for that darn Victoria’s Secret store.
“So where is she now?” Sara asked grabbing the last cookie before Rachel could snag it.
“She lived in Vegas for a while and then moved to Washington to write romance novels. We call or text every so often. Vegas had too many bad memories, and she wanted her own land so that she could use her bow whenever she wanted.” Synclair grabbed the cookie that Sara has poised to pop in her mouth and popped it in her own.
“Bitch.” Sara scolded laughing.
Baby Mine: A Hudson Family Series- Book Two- Lucas and Sara Page 10