by Jade Kuzma
He leaned back in his seat and held the paper up in his hands. His eyes scanned the front page.
“Front page,” he sighed.
He tossed the paper back onto his desk and stared at me.
“I suspended you from the station and you still made front page news.”
He let out a deep sigh then turned out toward the window.
“You found a serial arsonist,” he said. “Even when our investigators said it was an accident, you figured out that a criminal was responsible for it.
“You’re a hero. You’re so brave. You’re so courageous. The whole fucking town knows because of puff pieces like this in the paper.”
He turned back to me.
“I know people like you. I’ve never met any of them but I know who they are. Some people are just born into who they are. You can’t fucking help it. It doesn’t matter if I suspend you. It doesn’t matter if you join some biker club. You’re always gonna do what you’re gonna do.”
“Sorry,” I said finally. “Is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?”
“Keep your pants on, son. I was just getting to it.”
He stood up and walked over to the window. I didn’t know what he was thinking but he seemed reluctant to tell me whatever the fuck was on his mind.
His hands behind his back, Burton sighed before he finally started talking.
“I’ve been in Ivory my whole life. I went to the same high school as you. That was a hell of a long time ago but it was the same school. I went off to college. I went through the fire academy, same as you. I left Ivory when I had to but I came back. This town is a part of me. I love this town more than anything else. Just like I know you do.”
He kept staring out of the window, lost in his thoughts as he kept talking.
“You’re a danger to yourself. You keep trying to be a hero and one day, it’ll be the last time you ever try. You’ll move from the front page of the paper to the obituaries.
“But… I know your heart is in the right place. I know you just wanna help this town, same as me. And it’s good publicity for the station. They see a hero like you working here, maybe city council will give us the funding we need to get this place into better shape.
“That’s why I’m lifting your suspension, effective next month. You keep doing good and maybe I’ll let you work at the station full time.”
“I… I don’t know what to say,” I sighed.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just say you’ll follow my orders and not get yourself killed. From now on, you stop trying to be a hero. Just do your fucking job and you’ll be fine.”
He slowly turned back toward me.
“You got that, Sullivan?”
“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “I got it. Trust me. After all the shit I just went through, I’m not interested in diving through any more flaming rings.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
He took a seat and glanced down at the newspaper in front of him. Then he glanced up at me.
“What the fuck are you waiting for?” he said. “Get the hell out of here.”
“Yes, sir.”
I laughed as I got out of my seat.
I let out a sigh of relief as I left Burton’s office. I never imagined he would lift my suspension, so coming back was something I wasn’t sure how to react to.
When I got to the garage, all of the boys working there greeted me with smiles and handshakes. The arson incidents made front page news that everybody read. They painted me as some kind of a hero. I didn’t care either way but I couldn’t stop everybody else from being enthusiastic.
I was laughing along with all of the other firefighters when I noticed Adams sitting at the side of the garage. He had his head down as he worked on some of his equipment.
“Excuse me, fellas,” I said.
I walked over to Adams. He didn’t look up at me as he started talking.
“The town hero,” he said. “The man who stopped the serial arsonist from blowing everything up. Then again… the crazy bastard wouldn’t have blown everything up in the first place if it wasn’t for you.”
Adams slowly turned and looked up at me with a straight face.
“Must be some kind of crazy shit you went through when you were on tour.”
“That’s not the word I would use to describe it,” I said with a nod. “But something like that, yeah.”
“That’s the word I would use. For some guy to come back to town and try to blow shit up just to pin it on you…”
“He went through a lot. I can’t hold it against him.”
“No… No, you can’t. Nobody knows what another man is thinking.”
Adams put his head back down as he kept working on his equipment.
“You could have left me in that barn,” he said. “You could have let me burn in there. You could have said there was nothing you could do and everybody would believe you. You could have gotten away with it.”
“I’m not about to let an innocent man die. Not when I can do something about it. You should know that by now.”
“Yeah,” he said with a nod, his head still down.
He put his equipment down and dusted his hands off. Then he pushed himself up from his seat and stood right in front of me. He stared right at me.
“I never liked the clubs in this town,” he said. “Riding around the streets a like pack of wild animals and acting like they own the place. No respect for the law. Doing whatever they please. Outlaws. I know you agree with me.”
“That’s one way to describe them.”
“That’s what makes you so strange. I look at you… You’re not like the rest of them. You’re not looking for an excuse to get into a fight. You’re not anxious to pull your piece out and blow somebody’s head off.”
“Clubs in this town just wanna do good. The Black Reapers don’t go looking for problems, they just solve ‘em.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is that when it comes down to it, you’ll make the right decision. You’ll make the right decision.”
He dug his index finger into my chest.
“I still don’t respect club members,” he said. “The less there are of them, the better off this town is. But I can make an exception for you.”
He raised his arm up and held his hand out. Adams smirked and I did the same as I shook his hand.
“When we’re out there, I got your back,” he said.
“I’ll listen,” I replied. “Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it. We gotta work together if we wanna save this town.”
He gave me a nod then went back to working on his equipment. Everybody in the garage returned to their business. I headed out of the station toward my bike where Gina was sitting.
“So?” she said. “How did it go?”
“Burton said my suspension will be over next month. I can volunteer at the station again.”
“That’s great!”
She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek.
“Have you thought about working here full-time?”
“That’s a big commitment,” I said with a laugh. “Right now, there’s only one thing I’m committed to.”
I held her waist as I kissed her again. It was like nothing else mattered when my lips were on hers. I pulled away from her and sighed as I rested my forehead against hers.
“It was because of the article in the paper,” I said. “Burton read it and realized that my heart’s in the right place.”
“The article in the paper… You’re a town hero.”
“I’ve been in the paper before. Back when we were in high school, there were articles about me all the time because of what I did with the football team.”
“It must be nice though.”
I pulled away from her.
“Is that what you care about?” I asked. “Me being famous in Ivory?”
“Being famous in a town as small as this doesn’t mean much.”
She giggled softly.
&n
bsp; “I don’t care about any of that. I just care about you.”
“I would trade it all,” I sighed. “I would give up all of that glory if I could get Logan back.”
“Don’t blame yourself for that. You know you had no control over what he did.”
“I know. It just makes me realize what’s important now.”
“…When are you gonna see him?”
“I talked to Sutton. Once Logan is sentenced, I’ll be able to visit him regularly. He’ll be behind bars for a long time but at least I can be there for him now. He’ll get out eventually. I’ll be waiting for him.”
“And I’ll be there with you.”
“It could be a long time.”
“I’m prepared to wait for a long time. Just as long as I’m with you.”
Gina gave me another kiss.
I got on my bike and she squeezed her arms around me.
“Where are we headed?” I asked.
“Well… The bakery is still being fixed up. Lydia doesn’t need me around because Sean is there to help her out.”
“My suspension is still in effect. And there isn’t any business at the clubhouse at the moment. It looks like we’ve both got clear schedules.”
“I’ve been thinking… The big city up north was nice. It’d be fun to visit it without having to visit some shady arms dealer. And the weather is kinda nice today.”
“Say no more…”
I revved my engine and sped off down the road.
The streets were empty. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The wind blew through my hair as I spend down the road up north away from Ivory.
There was nothing better than the freedom of the open road. Having Gina there with me made it that much more special.
She and I were two of a kind. Ivory was a part of me just as it was a part of her. She was always the one. I just didn’t realize it until I met her.
I didn’t know if I would stay in Ivory for the rest of my life. I didn’t know where my future would take me. But the one thing I did know was that Gina would be a part of it. Wherever we went, I would be there for Gina and she would be there for me.
Epilogue
GINA
One month later…
“What do you put in this?”
“It’s a secret.”
“Don’t give me that. Come on. Tell me.”
“It’s a secret.”
“You know, I could just look it up and figure it out for myself.”
“Then why don’t you do that?”
“Because you can just tell me right now.”
“If I tell you, I’d have to kill you.”
Ben cut a piece of the tiramisu with his fork and stuffed it into his mouth. The way he closed his eyes and savored it never failed to make me smile. He smacked his lips and let out a contented sigh.
“If you killed me after a bite of this, it’d be worth it.”
“Don’t say things like that now. Being a cop in this town is pretty dangerous.”
“That’s why being in a place like this is so nice. It gives me a chance to relax. It’s nice to see that Amy’s is back in business.”
He looked around at the newly remodeled bakery. It had been completely rebuilt after the fire. You would never have guessed that the place exploded a little more than a month ago.
“Amy’s will always be around,” I said to the cop. “I’ll always be around.”
“Just keeping making this tiramisu and I’ll always be around, too.”
He took another chunk of his dessert into his mouth. I giggled and patted him on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, Ben. It looks like the new employees need some help.”
I made my way back around the counter and clapped my hands.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” I said. “Lots of pastries for everybody! Get your sugar and caffeine fix right here!”
It was a sunny day in Ivory. The weekends weren’t usually this busy but with Amy’s grand re-opening, more townsfolk than usual had come out to celebrate.
Cakes. Cookies. Donuts. Coffee. People lined up out the door to the small bakery to grab a snack.
Thankfully, Lydia had hired enough new employees to help me deal with all of the customers.
“Smile, people,” I said. “They don’t just come to Amy’s for the treats.”
The enthusiasm of the customers and employees was infectious. Everybody was in a good mood. I guess that’s what happened when you were hopped up on sugar.
I lost track of time as I worked. It had been so long since I worked but I quickly got back into my routine. It was busy but nothing I couldn’t handle along with the rest of the staff.
A few hours went by but the line didn’t stop. I was in the kitchen baking another batch of pastries when a pair of familiar-looking faces came in from the back door.
“Lydia! Sean!”
I walked up to the two of them with a big smile on my face.
Sean was just as handsome as he always was. He wore nothing but a t-shirt and pair of blue jeans. His arms were decorated with the ink from his former life.
“There he is…”
I whispered and looked down at the small baby Lydia held in her arms.
“There’s my little man… How are you doing, Jake?”
The newborn writhed in his mother’s arms, his eyes completely shut. I stuck a finger out and playfully caressed the side of his cheek. He cooed softly, getting me to smile even wider.
“What are you two doing here?” I said as I looked up at them. “You guys should be at home. This is no place for a newborn.”
“We saw how busy it was,” Lydia said. “I thought I would check in and see how things are going.”
“You know her,” Sean added. “I can’t keep her down for long.”
I rolled my eyes as we all shared a laugh.
“Everything is going fine,” I said. “The customers are loving everything.”
“What about the new staff?” Lydia asked.
“Great! They seem like they enjoy working here.”
“You trained them well…”
Lydia smirked at me. I bit my lip and nodded.
“I’m proud of you, Gina. It looks like you’ve got everything completely under control.”
“I… I’m just doing what you taught me. And… I enjoy it. I love working here. I… I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
“I’m glad you enjoy it. You’re just as much a part of Amy’s as anything else.”
“I bet,” Sean said. “Showing off that amount of cleavage, I’d be coming down here to get a donut every day!”
“Sean!”
Lydia slapped him on the arm and he laughed in response. I sighed then giggled right along with him.
“She’s taken,” Lydia said. “I think everybody in this town knows who he is… And speak of the devil…”
I turned around just as she said. Dorian stood there and knocked on the side of the doorway.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”
“Not at all,” I said.
Dorian walked up to me and greeted me with a kiss.
“Dorian, you know Lydia,” I said. “I don’t think you’ve ever met Sean before…”
Dorian held his hand out to the man. Sean shook his hand, his eyes glancing down toward the patches on Sean’s leather kutte.
“Sully,” he said. “I guess you’re the man who replaced me.”
“I could never replace another Reaper,” Dorian replied. “I’m just another man honored to wear the patch.”
“If you understand what it means to be patched in, then you’re the right kind of man to replace me.”
“Listen, guys,” I said. “It’s pretty busy out there. So, you two, need to get out of here and take care of little Jake.”
“All right, all right,” Lydia said. “We’re going. Take care of the bakery now…”
“You know I will.”
Lydia smiled at me before turning around and leaving with
Sean. As soon as they disappeared, I let out a deep sigh of relief.
“What’s wrong?” Dorian asked. “It seems like you didn’t want them here.”
“It’s not that I don’t want them here. I love the both of them. But right now, they need to focus on themselves. I’ve got everything under control.”
“It seems that way.”
Dorian leaned forward and kissed me again.
“How are things?” I whispered, my lips near his.
“Couldn’t be better. I’m working short shifts at the station to get my rhythm back. No action at the clubhouse.”
“Logan?”
Dorian sighed through his nose. I put my arms around his broad shoulders and held him close.
“Twenty-five years,” he said. “He’ll be up for parole in 10 but…”
“That’s still a long time.”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll be there for him.”
“I will. I know I can be there for him. I haven’t forgotten him.”
I looked up and smiled at Dorian. Those gray eyes of his. I saw so many things when I stared at him. It was like the entire world stopped all around me.
“You’re a good man,” I whispered. “What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?”
“You didn’t do anything to deserve me. You’re just who you are. That’s all I want. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“You know… Seeing Lydia with her fiancé got me thinking—”
Dorian suddenly burst into laughter.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said.
“Do you?”
I raised an eyebrow at him. The half-smirk on his face told me that he did indeed know what I was thinking.
“Ivory has always been my home,” he said. “I’d love nothing more than to make it our home. Get married. Settle down. Have a family.”
“It’d be nice…”
“But I’ll always be with you. No matter where we are. There’s no need for us to hurry.”
“The big city is pretty nice. There are so many different places we could fuck.”
“Look at the mouth on you,” he said with a chuckle.