Love Me Tender

by Wendy Vella

  When Lenny had told him what was going on, he hadn’t hesitated. Not because it was Rory... okay maybe that was part of it, but more importantly he didn’t like injustice, and what was happening to her was just that.

  “What’s this about, Mrs. Lucas?”

  “We don’t want her in town. We don’t want any Haldanes here, Jack.”

  “Why?” He moved his eyes over each of the women in front of him. “I thought you were all friends of Mr. and Mrs. Haldane?”

  “They betrayed us.”

  “They, not their children, and from memory it was only Mr. Haldane.”

  “Their mother—”

  “Oh hell no,” Rory spat out. “No way in hell are you bringing my mother’s name into this. She died of a broken heart, do you realize that? Died alone and friendless, and it’s all because you all turned your backs on her when she was forced to walk away from the only life she’d ever known!”

  “Sh-she’s dead?” Mrs. Lucas looked horrified.

  “Yes, and she was my mother, so don’t you dare say another word about her!”

  Jack understood the long memories in small towns, but what he couldn’t understand was why there was still so much resentment toward Rory. Who was responsible for whipping these people into a frenzy and keeping them there?

  The only people he could think of were the Harvey women.

  “You all need to let this go. She has as much right to be here as anyone.”

  “She’s stealing from us!” Mrs. Lucas spat.

  “I beg your pardon?” Jack tightened his grip on Rory when she tried to walk away.

  He listened as the thefts were outlined and it was claimed Rory was in each place before the items went missing.

  “I call bullshit on that one.”

  “Don’t you dare talk to me that way, Jack Trainer! I’m speaking for this town when I say she’s trouble!”

  “You don’t speak for us.”

  Jack watched Joe and Bailey join him and Rory.

  “Or us,” Dylan said, arriving with Pip and Grace.

  “We don’t feel that way.” Fin, Maggs, and Mandy followed. Mr. Goldhirsh came, and then Lenny, and a few others.

  “Nana!”

  Turning slightly, Jack watched Grace hold out her hands to her grandmother, who was standing back and away from them.

  The look on Mary Howard’s face when her granddaughter called her would have made him smile if he’d been in the mood.

  “Your granddaughter is calling to you, Mom,” Dylan said.

  “Oh now—”

  “You stay where you are, Mary. Don’t let those people intimidate you,” Mrs. Lucas demanded.

  “Nobody tells me what to do, Gaylene Lucas!”

  Jack watched Mary Howard’s shoulders snap back.

  “Want Nana, Nana, Nana!” Grace cried. Dylan and Pip did nothing to quiet the little girl.

  “Oh well, hell,” Mary Howard stomped forward. “Family is family.” She joined the line and took Grace in her arms. The little girl was happy, wrapping her arms around the woman’s neck and kissing her cheek.

  “There there, sweetheart,” Mary soothed her, and at that moment Jack found a kernel of respect for the woman. It was small, and had room to grow, but it was there.

  “Let me make this clear,” Jack said in a voice that carried where it needed to. “This stops here, today. No more threats, no more whispers or mean words. Rory Haldane has as much right to live in Ryker as anyone. If I hear there’s been any more issues, I’ll be making inquiries through Chief Blake, and if that doesn’t resolve things, my brothers and I will pay a few people visits.”

  Pale, and probably shaking, the group of women who’d confronted Rory walked away.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” Rory said at his side. “They’ll hate you for it.”

  “They’ve hated us before and we’ve survived. We will this time too.”

  “Nice work, brother.” Joe slapped him on the back. “Sorry you had to go through that, Rory.”

  She accepted the hugs and comforting words from everyone, but she wasn’t comfortable; in fact, far from it.

  “You all shouldn’t have done this.”

  “You don’t get to tell us what we can do, young lady,” Mary Howard said. “I’ve been responsible for bad behavior a time or two, and with hindsight I’m not proud of some of it, but this, what’s happening, is not right.”

  She stomped off, followed by some others, back into the meeting room. Grace was on her hip.

  “Did your mom undergo some kind of procedure, Dylan?” Joe asked.

  “Must have, because I have no idea where those words of wisdom came from.”

  “I need to go,” Rory said.

  “I’ll drive you,” Jack offered.

  “No! No,” she repeated in a gentler voice. “I need to think, and to do that I don’t need you around.”

  “Because my maleness stops your ability to think?”

  “Something like that,” she muttered, pulling away from him. “And thanks, Jack... really, that was a nice thing you did... all of you. I wish you hadn’t, but thank you anyway.”

  “Sure.”

  She’d turned and walked away before he could stop her. Undecided whether he should follow, he moved to the door and watched her stomp down the driveway. He could see she was riled up.

  “I’ll see her home, Jack.” Mr. Goldhirsh ran by him, whacking him on the shoulder with surprising force as he passed.

  “Thanks!” Jack called, ridiculously relieved she wouldn't be alone.

  “We’re starting the boys’ night now, we need it,” Ted said, coming to stand at his side. “My cat has to go on a diet, and with that shit that just went down, I need a drink. Let’s go.”

  “Where’s Rory?” Mandy had arrived.

  “She’s gone home,” Ted said.

  “Oh... well, I guess that’s for the best, she must be tired after all that.” Her nose wrinkled as she frowned. “I don’t like conflict.”

  “She’ll be okay, Mandy.” Ted spoke gently, which surprised Jack. Ted wasn’t really the gentle type. He was a slick operator with guests and someone who enjoyed a beer and a laugh with his friends, but Jack had never seen a softer side to the man. Ruthless, yes, soft, no.

  “She’s a friend, and I worry about her.”

  “You two weren’t friends in school, from what I hear?”

  “No, she was horrible, but she’s not now.”

  “Well I think she will need a friend, Mandy, so it’s good she has you.”

  Jack watched as they interacted, these two people who were so different it was hard to believe they inhabited the same world. One, shy and timid, the other strong and powerful.

  “You think so?” Mandy looked hopeful.

  “Sure, I know so.”

  Her smile was real, and not one Jack had seen often. It seemed to light her from the inside. Ted’s face told him he had seen that too.

  Interesting.

  “You need any help with the decorations, Mandy?”

  “Oh no, thanks, Jack. I have it now, and Rory is going to be on hand should I need anything else going forward. Thanks for that, taking her side like you do... both of you,” she added softly. Then she turned and walked away, and beside him he heard Ted exhale.

  “You all good there, Teddy Bear?”

  “Sure. Now I need a beer.”

  Luke was in the hot tub with Joe, Fin, and Dylan when Ted and Jack arrived. It seated ten, so there was plenty of room for all of them.

  “Hell of a life,” Fin drawled with slitted eyes as he took a long pull on his beer.

  “Someone has to do it,” Dylan added, sinking low in the water so it covered his shoulders.

  “I cannot believe it took Gracie to lure your mother into the light. I love that little girl even more now, if that’s possible,” Joe said.

  “What the hell was all that about?” Luke said. “Joe’s just filled me in, but I still don’t get it. I mean, sure, it’s okay to be a
bit off, and your first reaction is to be angry a Haldane is back in town, but that shit, and the window and notes, it’s going a step too far, surely.”

  “Yeah, I was thinking about that,” Ted said. He climbed in, now dressed in shorts.

  “Are they Armani?” Jack poked at him.

  “Only cost a thousand bucks, so I figured they were a bargain and got two pairs. Now back to what I was saying. This all seems off, and as an outsider who wasn’t around when it all went down, how about you tell me the story.”

  “Actually, there’s more.” Jack filled them in about Mrs. Lucas’s claim Rory was stealing from the town.

  “Like I said, it’s off,” Ted said, “and personal. And what I mean by that is, someone’s going to a lot of trouble to get rid of Rory. You have to wonder why?”

  They fell silent as they thought that over.

  “Okay, I’ll bite,” Joe said. “Why should we wonder?”

  “Making a leap here,” Ted said, “and the profiler may say different, but maybe what happened back then is not the entire truth and someone is feeling uncomfortable that Rory is back in Ryker?”

  “That’s a hell of a leap,” Joe said. “It was a pretty clear-cut case.”

  “It was, but think about what happened to Dylan. That was a stretch to believe and yet it was happening,” Luke said.

  There was silence while they digested that piece of news. The son of someone Dylan had helped put in prison had come after him, seeking retribution, but had targeted his family through a random series of events.

  “Tell us everything you remember, Jack, from back when Mr. Haldane stole the money. Only you and Luke were here when it happened,” Joe said.

  Jack shrugged. “Not much to tell. The town raised money, but it was slow going. Then they hit on a carnival weekend, and all the money would go to the school rebuild. It went well, and they raised twenty-eight thousand dollars, which took the total to a hundred grand. Mr. Haldane was in charge of the money, but it never made it to the bank account, he funneled it off somewhere else.”

  Ted whistled softly. “Who else had access to that account?”

  “I guess June Harvey, as she was the mayor’s right-hand lady, and him.”

  Dylan took up the story. “I talked to Dad again about it last night, and he said June Harvey and Jackson Haldane were both under suspicion, but the investigation turned up him as the guilty party.”

  “So they charged him.”

  “Yes, and sent him to jail.”

  “Did your dad think he was guilty?” Jack asked.

  “He said it surprised him that Jackson had done what he had. The man was a slick operator, and while he was arrogant and thought he was better than most, he never thought of him as a criminal. He also believed Rory’s father was way too clever to get caught the way he did.”

  “Maybe he was set up by someone else?” Ted said.

  “Maybe, but why?”

  “No idea. But I guess seeing as Rory’s getting all this crap thrown at her it’s something to think about.”

  Jack felt a shiver traverse his spine.

  “I remember school was hard for the Haldanes after that,” Luke said. “I was there most days, unlike Jack, who came to eat his lunch then leave.”

  “I was intelligent enough. Learning would have just added to that. I thought it my civic duty to dumb myself down some.”

  That got them snorting.

  “Anyone know how much time he did?” Jack asked.

  “He got five years, but I doubt he did all that,” Dylan answered.

  “What’s the deal with you and her, Jack?”

  “What?” Jack slipped and fell off the seat, going under the water. His beer, he kept above. It was several moments before he was settled again, during which his friends laughed hysterically.

  “By that reaction I’d say there’s something,” Joe teased.

  “No, I just think she’s being unfairly treated.” Jack’s heart was suddenly racing, which he could blame on the dunking he’d just had, but it would be a lie.

  “She’s not your usual type. No fitted clothing or bright red lipstick. No giggling or sighing when you’re near. In fact, she’s usually abusing you,” Luke said. “I like it.”

  “Shut up.”

  Luke snorted. The others surprisingly remained silent, which in itself was disturbing. They usually never missed an opportunity to annoy the shit out of each other.

  “I’m still not happy that she wants me to put Branch on a diet,” Ted said. “But I have to admit that she’s smart, kind, and pretty. Not sure what more you’d want.”

  Ted’s words absolutely did not make him feel a flash of anger that another man was speaking about Rory that way. His mind moved from that to thinking about what had happened to the Haldane family, but now there was something else to think about. Was Mr. Haldane innocent or guilty? Why Jack suddenly believed it was the former, he had no idea. Did Rory think that way? Was that why she was back?

  Chapter 28

  Rory fumed her way home, stomping and muttering. They shouldn’t have done that, supported her. It wasn’t right. She didn’t want friends or people in her corner; with that just came emotion, and she didn’t have time for that.

  She expelled a loud breath. Things were getting messy, what with this and the business with Jack, which she had no idea how to handle. Maybe it would be better all round if she simply left town.

  “Pick up the pace now, and I’ll walk you home.”

  “Oh hey, Mr. Goldhirsh.”

  He jogged on the spot beside her.

  “You must be hell to live with,” she said as he did a series of lunging movements while she stood and watched.

  “It’s important to keep your body supple, Rory. No telling when it will give out on you.”

  “That’s a cheery thought for a day cold enough to freeze your nose off.”

  “It’s brisk, dear, and if you were running, you’d be able to enjoy it more.”

  “Look, there’s Buzz.” She hoped that would distract him.

  The dog was bounding toward them. He woofed, and then greeted them both.

  “Hey there, boy.” Rory scratched his head.

  “He’s lazy and knows when I’m running, and comes to meet me for the home stretch.”

  “Lazy or smart?”

  “Good point. Now move it, Rory, we need to reach your place before the snow starts in again.”

  She looked upward. The sky did look ominous.

  They walked at a brisk pace, and she was soon sweating beneath her coat, but she refused to admit she wanted to stop. This man could be her grandfather; it was shameful how unfit she was. Rory was relieved, however, when her driveway came into view.

  “I can take it from here, Mr. Goldhirsh, thanks.”

  “Sure, but I’m a gentleman so I’ll take you to the door. Plus, there may be some of Miss Marla’s cake left.”

  “Jack ate it,” Rory said without thinking.

  “Man’s got hollow legs” was Mr. Goldhirsh’s only reply, thankfully.

  They walked, Buzz bounded, and soon all reached the house. Rory knew right off something was wrong. The front door was open, and she’d left it shut and locked.

  “Thanks, and I’ll see you around,” she said, desperate to get rid of Mr. Goldhirsh, wanting to deal with whatever was waiting for her alone.

  “Why is your front door open?” He passed her.

  “I left it that way.”

  “No you didn’t.” He shot her a look, and then ran up the front steps with Rory on his heels.

  The stench hit her first, and then she saw it. A huge pile of horse manure spread along the hallway carpet. It made Rory gag.

  “Assholes!” Mr. Goldhirsh roared, and Rory had absolutely no reason to laugh, but hearing this very proper man swear did just that to her. Seconds later she was bent double, giving in to hysteria. A hand rested on her back.

  “It’s the shock, dear. There’s that business up the lodge with those horrible wome
n confronting you, the rock through your window, and now this.” He gripped her shoulders hard. “You’re not alone, dear, don’t forget that.”

  Rory righted herself and wiped her eyes.

  “Hello, is anyone home?”

  “In here, Bas,” Rory said, resigned that he’d see this.

  He lumbered in and stopped in the doorway, carrying a container. His eyes went around the room before focusing on her.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  “It’s been a long day,” Rory said. Her legs wobbled, and then she was on the floor. “A really, really long day... month, actually. If we’re going there I should probably say year.”

  “Jen made you some cookies,” Bas said, looking angry.

  A loud yowl had Rory on her feet again and running down the hall, jumping over manure as she went. She found Phil shut in the closet in her room.

  “Hey, bud.” She scooped him into her arms. He yowled some more, letting her know he was seriously annoyed about his time locked away.

  “Is that a cat?” Bas pointed to Phil.

  “Well he’s hardly a dog,” Rory replied, holding the feline’s warm body close. The heavy weight in her arms was comforting. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take. This stuff with rocks and manure, and the other stuff with her father. It was enough to send a sane person crazy.

  “He yours?”

  She nodded before she could stop herself. Lowering Phil, she watched him stalk off to the kitchen.

  “I found him, and his name is Phil.”

  “Nice. But we have more important things to discuss than your cat. Who the hell would do this to you?” Bas’s thick brows met in the middle.

  “That, we need to find out,” Mr. Goldhirsh said.

  “Any chance you could keep this to yourself?” Rory said.

  “Not a chance in hell,” Bas said, already dialing on his cell phone. “Can I speak to Chief Blake, please?”

  “Not the police, Bas, really.” Rory tried to reach his cell phone, but he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and held her at bay. “We don’t need more trouble,” she said.

  “Chief Blake, can you come out to the Haldane house now? Okay, I’ll be here.”

  “He did the right thing,” Mr. Goldhirsh said as Bas finished the call. “This will not stop, Rory, and maybe Chief Blake can find out who is doing these things. I heard you mention something about notes too. You have those still?”