Games of the Heart

by Kristen Ashley

They had something to shut Debbie down, now and forever, Dusty would grow the fucking cocoa beans.

  Mike didn’t share that.

  Instead he looked through the room and said, “We need proof on the code violations then I’m goin’ to McGrath with that as well as providing him the knowledge he doesn’t stand down from the farm, his wife gets a head’s up about his extramarital activities. We need someone at Fire and Building Safety to nose around.”

  “On that,” Colt said. “Know a coupla guys. Already made the calls.”

  “Seems Dusty’s gonna be busy bakin’,” Mike muttered.

  “You haven’t heard what I got,” Ryker put in and Mike looked to him.

  “You got somethin’, share it.”

  “Old lady Molder,” Ryker announced and Mike’s gaze cut through Merry, Colt and Sully.

  Old lady Molder sat on fallow fields for ten years waiting for her grandson to be old enough to work them. Her son had died in a drunk driving accident, him being the one who was drunk. He was good for nothing, found himself a good for nothing woman who left when her kid was two and never looked back then found himself wrapped around a telephone pole. The kid was five.

  Old lady Molder’s land had been in her family for six generations. It was one of the first farms to operate in The ‘Burg. She had members of her family march in The ‘Burg’s Centennial Parade, its Sesquicentennial Parade and its Bicentennial Parade. She was ‘Burg Farmer Royalty, roots so deep no one ever thought they’d be dug up.

  Now her farm was where The Station restaurant, its parking lot and the shops surrounding it sat. When that happened, The ‘Burg rocked. No one thought old lady Molder would sell her land. She’d stake herself to it before leaving it. And it was when old lady Molder sold that the cops got curious but without any complaints or obvious violations, there was nothing they could do.

  “Jesus, Ryker, you probably scared the shit outta her,” Merry said.

  “Old woman don’t scare easy,” Ryker returned. “But she had a lot to say about McGrath. Also said she told the police about it but unfortunately the police she told was Harrison Rutledge, he didn’t do dick because he is a dick so she was fucked.”

  Harrison Rutledge was a dirty cop and the way he was dirty meant he wasn’t having fun in prison and not just because he was a cop. His days were numbered and they all expected to get the news soon he’d been shanked in the heart or jugular and was dead before he hit the cement prison floor.

  “Fuckin’ hell,” Colt muttered.

  “Yeah,” Ryker agreed. “And way she tells it, Rutledge told her McGrath wasn’t doin’ anything illegal and she had no recourse but if things changed, he was her case officer and she should talk to no one but him. So, my guess is, Rutledge was on the take before he got on a different take. Problem was, Rutledge left her blowin’ and McGrath sent boys who scared a woman who don’t get that way easy. She’s got no problem yammerin’ about it now. It’s been years. She’s old as dirt. And her grandson turned out gay and lives in San Francisco. Then, she kept her mouth shut for health reasons. And she wasn’t exactly forthcomin’ when I showed at her door though it wasn’t hard to read she’s lonely since she opened the door to fuckin’ me and it took her a split second to ask me in for lemonade. Sittin’ down with a cool one, I told her the Holliday Farm was in McGrath’s sights and she opened wide.”

  “Fuckin’ hell,” Colt muttered again.

  “Threats and intimidation?” Sully asked.

  “Fuck yeah, and more. Sent a team, they busted shit up in her house, knocked her around, knocked the kid around and told her there was more where that came from she didn’t only shut up talkin’ to the police, she also needed to sell,” Ryker added.

  “Farm sold years ago. Statute of limitations on assault is two years. We’re fucked on that,” Merry stated.

  “It’s not getting to that with Dusty and her family,” Mike stated.

  “’Course not, we got shit, we get proof on the codes, we’ll go in hard,” Sully replied.

  “It’s not getting to that with Dusty’s family or any family who has land,” Mike told them. “He’s run roughshod in this county for decades. Buildings not up to code, payoffs, threats, intimidation, assault. Someone needs to visit Rutledge and see if he’ll talk. We gotta approach anyone who stuck around after they sold their farm and see if these tactics were used with them. We gotta lean on Fire and Building Safety to check his shit out. We use the Debbie shit to get him to back off the Hollidays. But we keep at him to close him down for good. This shit’s been happenin’ under our noses for years. We had nothin’ to go on before. We got shit now and it’s time it ends.”

  He got a lot of looks, some chin lifts and some nods.

  Mike looked at Sully, “You go to Rutledge. See what you can get.”

  Sully pulled a face because they all liked Rutledge only slightly better than they liked Hitler but he nodded.

  Mike looked at Colt, “Speed that shit up with Fire and Building Safety.”

  Colt jerked up his chin.

  Mike looked at Tanner. “Under radar, if Ryker can pull that off, you start visiting families.”

  Tanner also jerked up his chin.

  “I’ll visit McGrath about what I know about Debbie,” Mike said, his eyes on Merry. “You’re with me.”

  Merry nodded.

  Mike looked through them and finished, “Then Dusty starts bakin’ cakes.”

  That got him grins.

  Powwow over, they were all busy, it didn’t take long for them to disburse. Outside, Colt and Sully hit Mimi’s. Cal moved to his truck. Ryker had stayed up in Tanner’s office.

  Merry, Rivera and Mike headed back to the Station.

  As they walked, Rivera asked under his breath, “You payin’ any of these guys anything other than cake?”

  Mike looked to his left and slightly down.

  “No.”

  Even as they walked, Rivera held his eyes.

  Then he looked forward.

  Mike did too.

  Then he heard him whisper, “The depth of your loyalty.”

  Mike again felt his lips curve.

  He was getting it.

  * * * * *

  Wednesday evening…

  Mike walked in through the garage door, instantly heard Adriana’s loud, squealing, little girl laughter and for the first time in a long time, he missed having kids in his house. Kids. Not young adults.

  And on his son’s seventeenth birthday, a year before he graduated from high school, a year before he was able to enter the military, a year before he was able to vote, it was less missing having little kid laughter in the house and more an ache.

  He walked down the hall and they were all waiting for him in his living room.

  Rivera had his girl in her little girl’s party dress wrapped around his middle and he was tickling her. No was in his suit, sitting on the couch with Joaquin who was wearing a little boy suit and they were playing some video game on the TV. Fin was also wearing a suit, looking more a man than ever standing next to Reesee who was in a striking, deep purple dress that made her look more grown up than ever.

  And then there was Dusty, all done up. She was ass to the back of the couch talking to Jerra. He hadn’t seen her in anything close to what she was wearing. A tight black dress that was sleeveless, the neckline high and straight but it exposed her collarbone, the skirt to the knee. Slim-heeled, pointed-toed, black shoes that had a thin strap around the back of her heel and had to be at least four inches high. Hair twice the volume. Makeup dark and smoky. Diamond studs at her ears, a delicate, slim-linked bracelet on her wrist made of white gold. And that was it.

  She was stunning.

  Her eyes came to him and her smile got brighter.

  Jesus. God.

  Beautiful.

  “Hey, babe,” she called. “We’re all ready.”

  He felt eyes on him and he lifted his chin to Dusty.

  “Gonna change. Be right down.”

  “We’ll be
here,” she replied.

  He nodded then looked around the room giving nonverbal greetings, smiling at his gorgeous daughter and his good-looking boy.

  His eyes scanned the room one more time right before he was going to turn to walk down the hall and he saw Dusty twisted, bent double and there was no back to her dress. Just her phenomenal skin exposed in a deep vee that started wide at her shoulders and tapered to a point at her waist. She was listening to Adriana who’d been released by her father and seemed very earnest in telling her something and Dusty’s profile looked just as earnest in listening.

  He was forty-three. She was thirty-eight.

  He’d done it before and he was almost through it with only minor bumps along the way for the kids, the only major one being their parents’ divorce.

  He looked to Reesee smiling up at Fin as he murmured something to her Mike couldn’t hear. Then he looked to No who was bumping fists with Joaquin, one or the other of them had apparently done well at the game.

  His eyes went back to Dusty to see she’d leaned deeper into Adriana, she had her hand wrapped around the side of the little girl’s head and she was pressing their foreheads together while they both giggled softly about something.

  He raised two great kids even doing it mostly alone.

  Watching Dusty, suddenly he was looking forward to doing the same thing but together. With her.

  His eyes shifted from his woman to the door to see Layla out there going nuts.

  “Reesee, beautiful, go let Layla in before she explodes,” he called.

  Reesee looked at him and called back, “Sure, Daddy,” but it wasn’t her who headed to the door. It was Fin.

  Christ, who would have thought Finley Holliday would be a gentleman.

  Fuck.

  Smiling at the same time shaking his head, he turned to walk upstairs to change.

  * * * * *

  Wednesday late night…

  “Mike, honey, uh…maybe you’re not in the state right now to make that decision.”

  This was Dusty. They were in bed after dinner, after the Riveras had gone to their hotel, after his kids had gone to bed and after sex. He was mellow. They’d had a good time that night. For some reason Mike did not get, No loved Swank’s, a high end restaurant in Indianapolis. For the past three years, Mike had been taking him and Reesee there even though they had to dress up and it cost half a fortune, this year with everyone there and Mike firm on paying for them all, a full one. No got it once a year so it was a once a year hit Mike was willing to take for his boy on his birthday.

  And Mike had just told Dusty that when she was ready to try for a baby he was ready to talk about it.

  He was on his back. She was pressed to his side but her torso was angled up and she was looking down at him.

  “In what state?” he asked.

  “This is a big day for you,” she said quietly.

  “How’s that?”

  “No turned seventeen. This is on the heels of all that’s gone down with Rees. They’re getting older and fast. That’s gonna make you feel –”

  Before she said something that might piss him off, he did an ab curl, rolling into her and switching their positions, taking her to her back. At the same time, he lifted a hand and cupped her jaw, his thumb resting lightly on her lips.

  “Stop right there, darlin’,” he ordered softly. “Yeah, I’ll admit, comin’ home tonight, I felt what you’re sayin’. But comin’ home tonight, I also heard Adriana laughin’, I saw you with her and I liked what I saw. I’m not sayin’ you need to go off the pill tomorrow. I’m sayin’ I know you want this, seein’ you with Adriana it’s come to my understanding I want this with you so when you’re ready, we’ll talk so we can plan.”

  Her eyes were wide and her lips moved against his thumb so he slid it away while she said, “You want this with me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So it’s not just you giving me what I want, it’s you wanting it too?”

  He grinned and repeated, “Yeah.”

  She studied him closely and asked softly, “Sure?”

  He dipped his head and against her lips whispered, “Yeah.”

  Her arms slid around him and he felt her lips smile against his while he watched up close her eyes doing the same.

  He brushed his mouth against hers and lifted his head away an inch as she held his eyes and whispered back, “Then we need to plan.”

  She wanted a kid and she wanted to start now. He wasn’t surprised. Dusty knew what she wanted and when she did she wasn’t one to fuck around.

  “Right,” he replied gently. “Then this is the thing. I want more time just you and me. Not years but some time. And I’m not plantin’ a baby in you if you aren’t wearin’ my rings and don’t have my name so our baby has our name.”

  Her eyebrows drew together and she told him, “Our baby would have your name anyway.”

  “That’s not what I said. We bring a kid into this world, our baby will have our name.”

  Her brow relaxed but her teeth bit her upper lip for a second.

  Mike did not take that as a good sign and he’d know why when she stated, “I was, um…so you’re talking marriage?”

  Fuck.

  “Uh…yeah. That is the next step, Angel.”

  Her face went soft and she whispered, “Right. I like that.”

  “Well, good,” Mike muttered and her lips twitched.

  “But, the thing is, I was thinking of keeping my name. I kinda like it but also in my business I’m known by it.”

  “I don’t care what you need to do for you, for the rest of the world, for your business. In this ‘Burg, this house and for our family, you’ll be a Haines.”

  Her brows drew together again. “What?”

  “Women use two names all the time. One for business, one for personal and family shit. You need to be a Holliday for business and out there in the world, fine. Whatever you need. In this house, in this ‘Burg and with our family, you’re a Haines.”

  She held his eyes then she said quietly, “I could do that.”

  He was glad since she didn’t have a choice.

  He didn’t inform her of that.

  “Good,” he muttered again.

  She grinned.

  Then her grin faded but her gaze on him grew warm and intense when she whispered, “Are you asking me to marry you, honey?”

  “No, I’m tellin’ you by the end of this year you’ll be wearing my rings, bearing my name and, probably, pregnant with my baby.”

  Her gaze was no less warm and intense but her lips twitched again.

  “So you said we’d plan but actually what you meant was that you already have it planned.”

  “Yep,” he agreed.

  He felt her body start shaking against his.

  “You got a problem with any of that?” he asked.

  She shook her head and forced out a vibrating with humor, “No.”

  “Good,” Mike muttered.

  One of her arms disengaged from around him, her hand sliding around his lat, in, up his chest to curl around his neck and even as she chuckled she lifted up and touched her mouth to his.

  When she fell back to the pillows, her fingers at his neck gave him a squeeze and her humor was gone but the warmth remained.

  “I love you, babe,” she whispered.

  “Love you too, Angel,” Mike whispered back.

  “Now I need my nightie and panties and you need to go get Layla from No.”

  Mike nodded, bent his neck, kissed her throat and rolled away. Then he grabbed her nightie and undies and handed them to her. As she was shimmying them on, he tugged up his pajamas.

  Then he went to get his dog.

  Then he closed them in and, like every night, the three of them fell asleep in the six thousand dollar bed he’d fucking hated for years but for the last two months he fucking loved.

  * * * * *

  Thursday early evening…

  Mike walked into Mimi’s and, to his surpris
e, he saw Audrey sitting at the back corner table. She had a mug of coffee in front of her and that was it. No white bag. No coffee for him. No sitting at a window to show to anyone who passed they were having a sit down.

  He strode directly to her. She’d seen him arrive and she’d gone for her purse right after. She was digging through it when he made it to the table.

  Out of habit, his eyes went to the words scratched into the table he’d seen time and again. Feb’s Spot, sit here and die. Before Colt and Feb reunited, Colt’s wife spent a lot of time here and she sat at that table. Mimi’s kids were terrors, they loved their Aunt Feb and they went about making sure she always had her favorite spot. Mike thought it was hilarious. He doubted Mimi felt the same but still, it had been years and she’d never replaced that table or sanded it out.

  Mike pulled out the chair opposite Audrey and folded into it.

  Her eyes went from her purse to him.

  “Hey,” he greeted.

  “Hey,” she greeted back, put a rectangular piece of paper on the table and slid it to him. “I know you’re busy. So you can just take that. It’s for Rees’s school.”

  Mike felt his brow furrow and he looked down to see the paper was a check. His hand came up, his fingers shifting it around on the table so it faced him then he stared down at it, his eyes now narrowed.

  It was for fifteen thousand five hundred dollars.

  What the fuck?

  His eyes cut back to Audrey.

  “What the fuck?” he whispered.

  “Like I said, for Rees’s school,” she answered. “I talked with Mrs. Layne. She said tuition for that school up in Chicago, the one that she thinks will suit Clarisse better, is fourteen thousand dollars a semester and that doesn’t include the room and board. She gets in, I’ll pay the first semester and the rest is for supplies or living quarters or whatever. We can, um…figure out how to split the rest of her living expenses. Then you can pay the second semester and I’ll see what I can do for the year after that.”

  Mike stared at her hard. “Where did you get this money?”

  She licked her lips, her head shifted strangely on her neck for a second then she locked eyes with him and answered, “I sold the Mercedes this week. I got a secondhand Hyundai. And since we sat down with Clarisse and Mrs. Layne I’ve been putting things on on-line auctions, selling shoes, handbags, stuff that…uh, you got me. They, well…I took care of them so they sold well. I have some other stuff to sell but I’m setting that aside to do it when it’s my turn again to cover her tuition.”