One Last Chance (Complete Series Box Set)

by Lauren Wood

  that she’d talked to Scott. He was coming up to the bar to see her and she was all aflutter. Apparently, they’d made up.

  The two of them were confusing, but it made me think of me and Frank. We’d been the same way. I had been a little crazy over him and when he bounced, it had threatened to break me. It almost did. I knew the level of crazy that sort of love could render a person, that’s why I didn’t try to fight it so much. I had felt that way before and the person that I’d gone crazy for was back in town. I just knew that it wasn’t going to end well.

  “So, what are you staring off in the distance for?”

  I shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just been a strange twenty-four hours.”

  “I hear that. What’s been going on with you? I was just rattling off my problems and I didn’t even ask.”

  “It’s no big deal. Frank’s back in town. Him and Justin are off riding right now. I saw him this morning and he kissed me coming out of the shower. Justin seen it, freaked out a little bit. Flashed them both. They made up and now they’re best buds again.”

  Her mouth was open, and I smiled back at her. It was the look I was expecting because the last day had been crazy as hell. It wasn’t what I was expecting when I got off work yesterday.

  “Wow.”

  I agreed and poured another beer for Charles at the bar. He was checking me out and I just ignored the glares. It didn’t bother me too much and he always tipped quite well.

  “So, you kissed him?”

  I laughed. “That’s what you got out of all of that, huh?”

  “Well you know that I want the dirt first. That’s always the best part.”

  “Yeah, we kissed.”

  “And?”

  “And what? That’s it. We just kissed. Nothing else happened. Well, my robe came open and all that, but that was just a coincidence. Justin didn’t like it all that well.”

  She was just looking at me like I was gipping her. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it if I was honest. They two of them were acting like they were back to right. I wasn’t though.

  “I guess not. I just don’t know what to say right now. There is so many things going through my head. I mean, Frank was ‘the one’, right?”

  I sighed at her air quotes and wished that she wasn’t flapping her hands around as much.

  “Yes, I guess I thought he was the one for a long time.”

  “And now?”

  “Now I’m with Justin.”

  Her brow went up and I ignored it. I tried to love Justin. I really did, but there was always something missing and that something was, he wasn’t Frank. It didn’t help me at all that I told Geni too much. She knew what Frank being here meant. This ‘love’ I have for Justin is going to be tested. I was going to find out if I really did love him or not. The kiss wasn’t helping matters.

  “Yeah, so you felt nothing when you kissed him?”

  Now I was the one shooting daggers. She was just stirring the pot and I wasn’t going to go for it.

  “It was a shock more than anything else. I didn’t know he was there and then he was just pulling me in for a kiss. It was just like it used to be.”

  It was perfect then and it was perfect this morning. I had felt far more than I should have, but I would never admit it out loud. I didn’t even want to admit it to myself, because that meant that he had power over me and I didn’t want that.

  “Well I guess that it is good that you’re with Justin. Frank never was good for you. He makes you crazy.”

  “Like Scott makes you?”

  She smiled in a far-off way. “Yeah.”

  That’s what I was afraid of.

  We dropped the conversation for a while when the bar started to pick up. People were starting to get off of work, though there were a few die-hards that were already pretty drunk. I got my head out of the clouds and into my work. I had a lot to do and the more I had to do, the better. It would keep me from thinking about the past.

  I was wiping down one of ten tables when I felt arms go around me and I knew it was Justin. He made me shriek a little and that embarrassed me. I hit him on his shoulder and told him to put me down.

  “Come on baby. You smell so damn good and you know how those boots get me going.”

  I was giggling because he was nuzzling my neck. It looked like he was in a really good mood and I liked the way he was acting. It had been a while since he’d been this loose.

  “Why don’t we go to the back and make a little love?”

  “No, I have customers and I need the tips.”

  “You won’t have to work much longer Gemma. I know that you don’t like working here most nights. You’ll be able to stay home and do what you want, start that business you’re always talking about with your sewing. Everything is about to change for us.”

  I didn’t know where it was all coming from and I pushed back so I could see his face. Frank had been in town for a couple of days, not even a full one and he already had Justin convinced to go back on everything that he’d worked for. This was typical of Frank and I wanted to tell Justin that he was being an idiot.

  “Are you high or something right now?”

  He grinned, and I knew he was. “A little.”

  “I thought you didn’t smoke anymore?”

  Justin shrugged and kissed me again. “Me and Frank…”

  “Stop right there. I know all I need to know. Frank is a bad influence on you.”

  He chuckled and agreed. “Probably.”

  I just sighed and pushed him away towards the table. “I’ll get you some coffee.”

  Justin didn’t put much substance in his body and he was feeling it at the moment. I could tell by that goofy ass grin on his face. Then I looked up towards the door and there was the culprit.

  Why the hell did my heart just skip a beat?

  Frank

  Seeing Justin kissing on Gem about crushed me. I didn’t like to see it and even though I knew that they were together, I didn’t have to like it. I told myself that I was going to have to stay away from her, but the fact of the matter was, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to. I didn’t know if this was how it was all going to go down, but in a way, I welcomed the inevitable. As it played out in my head. I was going to get the girl. I just had to figure out a way to do it without losing my oldest friend.

  Then I saw her look my way. Something jumped in her eyes that had me stopping in my tracks. She looked at me like she had so many times before. She had need in her gaze, but it was gone in a moment as she turned back to the bar. It was only for a second, but that second was enough. I was already fighting this draw to her internally. I didn’t know how else this was supposed to go down.

  When I got to the bar, the blonde served me instead of Gem. I’d always preferred brunettes, but the other chick was cute. She was flirting with her eyes, whether she knew it or not.

  “So, you’re Frank.”

  She said it liked she knew who I was, and I had to figure that she’d gotten her information from Gemma. I liked that Gem had mentioned me. It just made it seem right. Like this was all supposed to happen. It wasn’t just a coincidence that she was still here, and I’d found her number at the jail. I liked that Gemma was the first person that I talked to when I got back to Hartford.

  “Yeah, that’s me. I know you?”

  “No, not really. I’ve heard about you over the years though.”

  “Good things?”

  The little blonde had lust in her eyes and it was clear that she’d heard about some of mine and Gemma’s escapades. We’d done some crazy shit in our day and no matter how long I was away from her, I’d never met another woman like her.

  “Oh yeah.”

  “I see.” I would have asked her if she was single, if this was another place and time. I wasn’t with Gemma, far from it, but I wasn’t going to hit on her friend. It would be payback, but I didn’t have anything like that to think. I didn’t want her mad at me. I wanted this to work out and that meant snubbing th
e hot little blonde. I would bet that I could get in her panties if I wanted to.

  “Get me a whiskey, straight up.” I looked over at Justin talking to Gemma and told the blonde to keep them coming. Another night of drinking was in order for me. Getting Gemma out of my mind was proving harder than I would have ever imagined.

  I took the first shot and welcomed the burn at the back of my throat. This was going to be a lot fucking harder than I would have ever thought.

  Watching the two wasn’t what I signed up for. I wanted to punch Justin out, take his girl and ride off into the sunset. I thought about it the whole time she was laughing and chatting him up. I didn’t want to see that shit. Why hadn’t I realized how much of a problem this was going to be?

  Instead of sitting around, watching it go down, I knew that I had to get out of there. I didn’t want to see them together and I didn’t want to get into a fight with Justin. He was a damn good friend, but that didn’t matter five shots in. He was starting to look more and more like the enemy.

  I got up abruptly and paid the blonde.

  “Leaving so soon darling?”

  “Yeah.”

  I didn’t look back over at the couple. I didn’t have anything to say, but I heard my name being called. Justin was asking where I was going.

  “Bouncing. See you tomorrow with a decision man.”

  He agreed, and I kept on walking. My bike was parked out front and I was ready to get home. I had a lot to think about and none of it was good. I was tired already and I wasn’t even close to getting the club set up. I still needed to find a location and transfer some cash, but all I’d been worried about was Gemma. Why hadn’t I thought that this was going to be like this? I must have really convinced myself that I was somehow going to be able to work it out with her, or I’d forgotten how I felt around her. That’s why I’d left. Maybe it wasn’t because she’d wanted to get married, but because I’d wanted to as well.

  I wasn’t drunk, but I was certainly feeling good as I drove the few miles home. It was a stretch of country road to my parent’s house and I remembered it like I’d been driving on it my whole life. A lot had happened on this road. Being in Hartford right now was a non-stop nostalgia trip. I don’t know how to describe it, but part of me wished I hadn’t came back with the bitterness of losing Gemma. I was second-guessing everything and that was never all that comfortable.

  I was about a mile from my house when I heard a siren and blue lights behind me. I cursed because I knew who it was going to be. I pulled over, not wanting to bring heat to my house and waited for Matt to come around to the window. I didn’t have to look to know that was who it was. The man had a hard-on for me and he was going to smell liquor on my breath. It was inevitable, and I knew in that moment that I was going to jail for the second night in as many days since coming home.

  Maybe I really wasn’t supposed to be here.

  “Sorry Gemma, I hate to do this again, but you know where I am. Do you think you can get Justin to come down here? I’m really going to have to make amends with Matt about his cousin. He’s never going to let me ride in Hartford by the way he’s going. I must have really pissed him off.”

  I was talking fast to extend waiting to see what she was going to say about all of it. I wanted to think that this was all fate, but it wasn’t. it was just a dumb move for drinking and driving, paired with an asshole cop still pissed off about the past. Either way, it left me asking the one person I was trying to forget, to get her boyfriend to help me. It was painful enough in my book.

  “How the hell did you get arrested again?”

  “DUI.”

  She sighed out loud. “Yeah, we should have given you a ride home. You looked toast. Did you lose your ability to drink?”

  “Just hit me fast and he saw the bike. Whiskey isn’t vodka.”

  She giggled. “I told you a long time ago that vodka is your friend.”

  This evening I was wishing that I’d listened to her advice, but it tasted like crap to me.

  “Justin isn’t here. Something happened with his mom and he had to go over there.”

  “Why aren’t you over there with him?”

  “His mom hates me. She thinks I’m the devil and he thought it would be better if we didn’t get her all riled up. So, it’d just me here.”

  I waited for her to offer to come get me. I didn’t know till that moment that it was what I wanted. I wanted her to come alone. I wanted to see her, talk to her without Justin in the background. He was gone and that left her alone.

  “Where does his mom live?”

  “A couple of hours away. He probably won’t be back until tomorrow or so. She is a hypochondriac, but she’s old as hell so eventually she’ll be right.”

  “Yikes.”

  “Yeah, the feeling of hate is mutual. She call the cops on me once for borrowing his car. It wasn’t pretty.”

  “I hear ya. Sounds like it’s not pretty at all. My mom always loved you.”

  She made a sound that told me that she didn’t believe me.

  “She did. She asks me all the time when I’m going to come home and marry you like I should have done years ago.”

  “I knew I always liked her.”

  That had me chuckling. Even if I had to sit in this cell tonight, at least we got to talk. I missed this, and I missed the sound of her laughter. It was a tinkling sound that I liked very much. It was unique to her.

  “Well shit Frank. Justin will get mad if I leave his friend in jail, so I guess I will be up there in a few. Is Matt the only one on call because I don’t have any money.”

  “Why would that matter?”

  “I’m friends with his wife, so I’m going to play that card. See if I can get it dropped.”

  “Look at you, friend’s in the Sheriff’s office.”

  She sighed and told me that I was always causing trouble and that I needed to get my own friends in the office as well.

  “You used to like trouble if I remember correctly.”

  “Yeah, that was when I was young, and I didn’t know any better.”

  “Alright thanks Gem. I will see you in a little while.”

  She hung up and I just stared at the phone. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? It didn’t matter how she got me out, just that she did, and we had those few moments alone. I had a lot to say to her and although I wanted to kiss her, I was still trying to stay on the right side of that line. It was going to be hard, but I was going to do the best that I could. I was only human and a little drunk.

  Matt came back, running his mouth, but I just ignored him.

  “Don’t have anyone coming to get you, huh?”

  “No, there is someone on the way. They will be here in a little bit.”

  He didn’t like that answer and he said something under his breath about making sure that I didn’t get out.

  “Look Matt, I’m sorry about your cousin. I don’t know what you want me to say. It was a long time ago.”

  “And you’ve changed, have you?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  He pushed his face close to the bars and told me that it didn’t look like it from where he was standing. I wanted to tell him to piss off, but that was not going to help. I was going to need him to turn a blind eye soon enough. This beef with him had to be worked out or it was all going to blow up in my face.

  “You’ll see Matt. I’m not the bad guy anymore. I just want to keep to myself.”

  “Is that why you’re driving around my town drunk?”

  “Lapse of judgment. You know that I just got back, found out my ex is with my best friend. It’s a lot to take in and instead of starting a fight in the bar, I drove home. I thought it was the better decision, though I bet the bail would be less if I would have just punched him out.”

  Matt just chuckled. “Yeah, I see you choir boy. You’ve changed.”

  He walked away, and I hoped that Gemma could help. This guy wanted to bury me.

  Gemma

  “Come
on Matt. Who hasn’t driven with a few too many in their system? I know that you have. That fundraiser we had for the hospital last month? You were toeing the line then.”

  He scowled at me and I grinned at him. I hadn’t brought up the fact that I would call Anne if he couldn’t help me. She would make him, and I didn’t want to go there if I didn’t have to. I don’t think I really should have had to say anything. It was rather obvious as far as I was concerned. I would go there if need be.

  “Gemma, why are you even messing with this guy? What about Justin?”

  “They are good friends and I’m just here to help expedite the process.”

  “Is he the same one that is with his ex and he wanted to punch him until his face caved in?”

  “He said that?”

  “Yeah.”

  I smiled to myself before turning away. I didn’t want him to see how much I liked the sound of that. Not that Justin would get hurt, but that he cared. Maybe it was all about getting him to feel as desperate as I did. It was hard for me to manage without thinking about him. It served him right that he was thinking about me. I really didn’t mind the thought that he was feeling some pain too.

  “It doesn’t matter. Justin is out of town, so I’m here to get him. I’m not leaving without him Matt, so let’s just make this as easy as possible. You don’t have to take it all so personal.”

  “Bail is…”

  “No bail. Drop it. I’m broke, and I don’t even have enough to front it. He doesn’t have any cash in his pockets and I really don’t want to go wake his mom up. You’ve met her, haven’t you?”

  Matt nodded. Everyone in town knew Dorothy and about half of them wished that they didn’t. No one in town wanted to cross Dorothy because doing so was guaranteed misery. She was hell on wheels and it was always obvious where Frank got his attitude and ways. He was a mess, but I knew why. She was a mess too.

  “Yeah, I know who she is. Are you threatening me?”