Gaining Ground

by Nikki Bolvair

  “Gee, I wonder why,” I grumped, still a little pissed at her. But the place really didn’t look all that bad. It just needed a little TLC.

  “... but I’m still holding out hope that I’ll get a down payment saved up before it sells,” she continued as if she hadn’t heard me. “I’ve even walked through it. Two bedrooms, one and a half baths, small kitchen, and an open living area. Hardwood throughout.” She sighed as she daydreamed and drove.

  “How’s the lane weaving going?”

  “Daniels. I’m driving perfectly fine.”

  “Wasn’t sure with the dazed look in your eyes.” She reached over and softly hit my leg in retribution as I crowded against the door yelling, “Friend Abuse! Friend Abuse!”

  “Quit it, Daniels, or you’re really going to make me weave.”

  I stopped and sobered, thinking about my brother. “You’re right, sorry. Soo... does Kane know you’re in love with that house?”

  She snorted, turning down a street. “He better. I only point it out every time we pass by it.” Raina pulled up to a large home, similar to mine, and parked. “Welcome to the Nova House! Now let’s go feed the sickies.”

  As we got out, I noticed the next door neighbor's house had a large tree down and wondered if lightning had struck it. When we entered the home, I was still taking in Wendy and Kane’s last name. Nova was not any last name I’d heard of before, but what did I know about last names? Not much.

  The inside of the home was very much like mine. The stairs were the first thing you saw, then a hallway that led right past them. Glancing around, I saw a hint of a kitchen off to the left just past an open doorway and on the right, a living room just like my home. That confirmed the floorplan was the exact same as my own.

  “It’s my house,” I stated dumbfounded, taking it all in.

  “Yeppy, yeppers,” Kane said from the hallway with a very sick looking Wendy and Peter following behind him.

  “I’m taking the food to the kitchen if you want to follow?” Rania suggested as she made her way toward the left.

  I smiled at Kane, but when I went to do the same with Wendy and Peter, I got glares. I guess I still had some explaining to do about yesterday.

  “Guys,” I warned them as we all made the same path Raina did. “It’s really not what you think.”

  “Uh-uh,” Wendy stated, not convinced as we entered the kitchen, and she sat in a chair beside Peter. “And what would you call it, Faith? You were holding his popcorn!”

  I rolled my eyes and threw up my hands as everyone was suddenly listening, “Sheesh! You make it sound like I was holding his—”

  “Enough!” Kane squeaked, straining his voice as it was still mostly gone, eyes wide with confusion and suspension. “What in the hell?”

  “Hand.” I finished tamely, but Raina snorted. I glanced her way and by the look on her face, she knew that was not what I was going to say.

  Kane glanced at Wendy and me with a frown. “What is going on here? What’s with all the hostility?”

  Wendy stood up and pointed a finger at me while looking toward her brother and Raina. “She’s fraternizing with the enemy!”

  I let out an exasperated sigh. I had to admit she had flare. I was proud to call her friend if this was what she did for those who had wronged them. Now I just need to set the record straight, but then Peter had to join in.

  “Don’t do that,” he said, his tone menacing as his eyes held accusations that were unfounded. “How could you hang out with Tucker, Faith?”

  “Tucker?” Raina spoke up, her head whipped my way, her eyes narrowing. “Tucker came after you again?! You told me you would tell me if he did!” If anyone looked pissed, it was the person I had to ride home with, and I was not looking forward to that trip right now.

  “Again?” Kane questioned his eyes now on me.

  I pulled out a chair and sat down with that stupid song ringing in my head, “It’s going down. I’m yellin’ timber then BOOM, crash and burn.”

  “Lincoln knows.” I let out, hoping that would ease the tension. “So do Tyler and Kayden.”

  “But WE didn’t. Spill, Faith. Now,” Wendy demanded, like a bloodhound on a scent, not about to give up. Wendy ‘The Interrogator’ looked pissed, and she wanted answers... so I gave them, leaving out Roxie. Yes, I wanted to know, but Raina was right; I should talk to Tyler about it. Didn’t Lincoln say the three of them never had a relationship with just one girl? Maybe Roxie was just Tyler's old girlfriend, not Kayden’s and Lincoln’s. Either way, Sunday with Tyler should be interesting. I still needed to ask if he could come. Tomorrow was shopping day with Sarah. I’d ask her then, if I survived.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” I started off. “Tucker keeps finding me and making my life complicated. I guess he saw me and came over to where I was. He had me hold his popcorn while he put his card away.”

  Wendy frowned. “Why did you agree to that? Why didn’t you just walk away when he approached you?”

  That was a good question. Why didn’t I walk away? Because I wanted to know more about the trouble between him and Tyler, and he was the only one giving me answers at the moment.

  I shrugged. “I should have, would have too if he hadn’t walked away while I was still holding his popcorn. He said he forgot something. Thinking back now, I probably should have just set his popcorn down and walked off.”

  “Or just took it,” Raina said with a grin. “Free popcorn.”

  Kane sneezed before putting in his two cents. “Or not taken it at all,” he pointed out. “You need to stay away from him, Daniels. He’s not exactly on the right side of the law.”

  That caught my attention. “What do you mean?”

  “What Kane is saying,” Wendy butted in as Peter wrapped his arms around her, “is that despite how nice Tucker’s family is, they always seem to slip just under the radar of the police. Never getting caught.”

  My brows lifted as curiosity sunk in. “Like what?”

  “I was told the grandfather was actually the accountant for biker, Prez Bruno Mace,” Peter whispered, leaning against the kitchen counter beside Wendy.

  “Heard that myself,” Raina agreed. “Dad said when the police came sniffing around Mace and his club, Tucker's grandfather sold him out. Bruno Mace found out and had Tucker’s grandfather killed. The rest of the family was taken underwing by Vic Manto, which is the Prez of the rival club too. It was weird that happened because when you betray one club, you’re considered tainted by all the others. No one would put you under their protection but for some reason, Prez Vic took Tucker’s family on.”

  “So Tucker’s under the influence of a biker club?” I asked.

  “That's the story, yes.”

  That made my head swim. Tucker was bad news.

  “That’s a good reason to stay away,” I concluded.

  While everyone worked on the last bit of their soup, I wanted to change the subject, so I brought up the haunted house that Raina loved so much. I wanted to see if any of the others knew about it.

  “So, Raina showed me something interesting on our short drive over here.” I smirked at her when she snorted and glared at me.

  “Was it that damn downed tree in the neighbor's yard?” Kane asked as the other snickered. “Because that was all Tyler's fault. We still need to break it down for firewood. It was a good thing that Old Man Brent wasn’t too upset.”

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Raina chimed in calling him out. “It was just as much your fault as it was his.”

  My mind raced with curiosity as to what could’ve happened, and I leaned in. “What happened?”

  Wendy was shaking her head in amusement. “He—They took out the wrong tree.”

  What?

  I must have looked as confused as I felt because she explained further. “Old man Brent asked Kane”—she glanced toward him with a mock glare and he rolled his eyes—“to take down his old oak tree. For firewood. Tyler came and helped. They thought tying a rope around the aged
tree, without any prep work, would pull it out. The line broke, and Tyler ran into the other one and surprisingly it toppled over just missing the truck.”

  Kane had his arms folded, sitting back denying the whole thing.

  “Just deal with it,” Peter said with a sickly cough, patting Kane’s shoulder as he got up to put his dish in the sink. “You were an accomplice in the Tyler Mishaps.”

  My mouth hung open. “Tyler Mishaps?” I looked between all of them, and they looked serious. Tyler did do that whole hearse thing—then my eyes got wide. My broth— I turned to Raina. “Austin was the one to dare Tyler!”

  She looked confused at first then it dawned on her what I was talking about. She busted out laughing. “Yes! Yes, he was.”

  After Raina had explained to the others about the dare Tyler had been issued to go joyriding in a hearse, rigged to expel a fake corpse at every stop, I went back to my original thought.

  “Guys, Guys,” I called out to get their attention. “What I was going to say was...There’s this house we pass—”

  They all groaned. “We know.”

  Raina scooted out of her chair, heading out. “It’s not haunted!” she denied.

  I laughed. Apparently they did know.

  With everything evened out, we all followed Raina from the kitchen to the living room, where we sat down to pick a movie. I sat in my own chair, since I was a loner in this get together. I pulled the blanket from the back of the chair over me and snuggled in. Raina sat down closest to me on the sectional, saving a seat for Kane next to her. The other two took up residence on the other side.

  “Are we up for comedy or suspense?” Kane asked as he pulled out two good movies.

  “Comedy,” I replied first, because I wanted something for stress relief.

  “I second that,” Peter called.

  “Comedy it is,” Kane agreed, putting in the movie, before settling down beside Raina.

  Halfway through the film, we paused it for a snack refill. Raina went into the kitchen, and I went to get up and follow but she waved me aside.

  “You’re fine, Daniels. Don’t get up.”

  “Well, I’m not,” Wendy grumbled as she got up from her place on the couch by Peter. “I need to grab something for my headache.”

  Peter got up, rubbing his head as well, and cleared his hoarse throat. “I’m coming too.”

  Settling back into my place on the couch, I snuggled back underneath my covers. Kane coughed, reminding me that I wasn't alone. I glanced over at him, and he shifted uncomfortably.

  “So...” he hedged. “I know you most likely already know, because of Tyler, but don’t say anything to Raina. I want it to be a surprise.”

  Well, that had come out of nowhere. What was he talking about? I’d just play along until I figured it out.

  “Oh. Okay, sure,” I said convincingly, hoping that I didn’t give it away that I had no idea what in the world he was talking about. I eyed him. “How long are you keeping it a secret?”

  “Until the papers are signed. She’ll freak at first, but just go with it.”

  “Um, okay.”

  “Thanks, Daniels.”

  Papers signed? She’d freak?

  Even though I was desperately curious, I kept my mouth shut. Kane was safe. It was hard to say anything when I was in the dark just as much as Raina was. That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to snoop for clues.

  “You pretty excited?” I asked him. It was a vague, general question that could give me a clue.

  His eyes twinkled as he grinned. “Yes. I think it’s about time, anyways.”

  On the inside I was squealing in my head. He was going to propose to her! On the outside, I was trying really hard not give anything away.

  “Probably,” I choked out, trying to keep the high squeak out of my voice. “She’ll be excited.”

  “Hey,” Peter said coming back with the rest of our small group. “Hope you all like butter on your popcorn.”

  Kane gave me a warning look, before smiling over at Raina, all while I was still squealing in my head. I was pretty sure I was right.

  Chapter 7

  “Sarah?” I called from inside the dressing room. It was Sunday, and she had me in a mall. She made me try on a lacy skirt that was definitely not me. I wanted her to see it before I took it off and told her why it wasn’t my style; she’d demanded I do that when we first started.

  “Sarah?” I called again, opening the plum colored curtain to peek out. Huh. She wasn’t there. I didn’t want to leave my stuff, so I quickly looked around the store until I saw her bright colored pink shirt moving around a display of dresses. Earlier in the day I would have shuddered, but I was getting used to the idea of skirts and dresses. Only if I liked them, of course. When the two of us arrived at the mall late in the morning, Sarah looked right at me with a stern face and said, “If you aren’t truthful with me on what you like, I will buy you everything in yellow.” I blanched and told her promptly that I would be truthful. More than truthful even. I’d be blunt as a kid in a candy store. I didn’t want to get stuck with anything canary colored.

  I stood there, half in half out of the little curtain dressing room area, hoping she’d turn and see me.

  “Miss? Do you need another size?”

  I turned to find a petite sales associate with caramel tan skin smiling at me. When I met her eyes, I noticed that they were light blue. They were so light actually that I thought they might be white, with just the barest tint of blue in them. Freaky, but cool. Not only were her eyes different, but her hair stood out too. It was a long gorgeous red with ice blue highlights underneath, like the flame of a torch when the heat was turned up.

  “Miss?”

  Red stained my cheeks when I realized I had been staring, but dang, I thought, taking another quick glance at her. She knew what worked in her favor.

  “I’m fine,” I mumbled, turning my eyes away to search out Sarah once again. The sales associate probably thought I was a lesbian the way I ogled her.

  “Okay! Just let me know if I can help!”

  I nodded, turning to give her a brief smile as she walked off, before catching Sarah’s attention with a hand wave.

  “I got you a few dresses,” she told me when she got close, “and this purple top.” She brought a hanger forward with a deep purple top that had black lace accents on the side.

  I scrunched up my nose. It looked okay, but it wasn’t me. She didn’t argue as she put it back on the rack. She came back, handing me a red denim, knee length skirt, eyeing the one I had on.

  “I don’t like it.” She glanced up at me and saw my distaste and smiled. “And you don't either. Go take it off, and put that one on.” She motioned to the one I now held. “It seems more you, anyway.”

  I rolled my eyes and went back behind the curtain. As I shimmied off the skirt I didn’t like and donned the one that Sarah gave me, I remembered Tyler’s request to have dinner with us that night.

  “I grabbed another one, Faith.” Sarah’s voice floated toward me through the closed curtain. “Just in case you like it.”

  “Thanks. Hey, Sarah?”

  “Yes?” I could see her shoes move closer to the bottom on the curtain as she came near.

  “Do you think Tyler could come for dinner tonight?” I was untucking my shirt from the skirt when I asked.

  “Weren’t you just on a date with Kayden?”

  I paused mid untucking and answered her question cautiously. “Yes?”

  “And then last night when Lincoln showed up was... what? A friendly encounter? Or a... date? And that tongue war between the two of you that Tom saw? What was that about?”

  “Um...” I was stumped. I never thought about how Sarah might take this kind of relationship I had going on with the guys.

  She drew back the curtain, and she looked confused and a tad bit upset. “Tyler, when he heard you had gone, left town, he went a little crazy. He literally pushed Brady out of his way while he yanked his keys out of his pock
et and tore out of the driveway to race after you. That boy,” she said, bringing her finger up to point at me, “would do anything for you. Don't play him against his brothers, Faith. It’s not right. Pick one, and then let the other two find their own girls.”

  “Sarah, I—”

  “And birth control. We need to get you on that,” she said, moving to the next topic I'm sure she'd been waiting to talk to me about.

  “What!” I squeaked, utterly mortified that she would even bring that up here. I looked around hoping no one else heard what she had said, and was relieved to find that everyone seemed to be minding their own business. There was once a time I had used that very same topic to avoid talking about something Brady had brought up, and now it was coming back to haunt me.

  “Birth control, Faith. I want grandbabies, but not that soon,” she explained, reaching past me into the changing room to take the discarded skirt I didn’t like and put it back on the hanger. Sarah was still young late thirties, early forties. Didn’t she want her own kids before she even thought about grandbabies? Sarah walked over to the return rack to deposit the skirt there, then returned to where she had left me standing, shocked. Her face turned confused when she saw my state. “You have had the talk, right? I mean... you were old enough before... uh. I’m sorry, Faith. I just—” she fumbled, trying to ask if my mother had ever had ‘the talk’ with me.

  I put a hand on Sarah’s arm stopping her. “Yes, Sarah,” I murmured, giving her a soft smile. “My mom had the birds and the bees talk with me when I was younger. I know how things go.” I took my hand away to twist my fingers together in front of me. “But we never really talked about birth control.”

  She let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “It's nothing to worry about,” she said, and she reached over and patted my twisted hands. “There are lots of choices. I’ll make you an appointment.” Then her face grew sober. “But just because we’re doing this doesn't mean I’m okay with you having sex.”

  I cringed at her blunt statement and looked past her shoulder. Now people were looking. I narrowed my eyes at the store associate that had helped me earlier. When she noticed I was glaring at her, she gave me a small smile and dropped her head. Why were people such curious little eavesdroppers? I wanted to shout the word sex several times, just to see what people would do, but looking back toward Sarah, I figure she might disown me if I did. Brady was more tolerant of my crazy outbursts than she was. Grinning, I thought, I'll save it up for him.