The Bribe: Calamity Montana - Book 1

by Nash, Willa

  So that was the house she wanted out of. Her own home.

  “Come on.” Duke snatched my hand, leading me past the edge of the gallery so we weren’t in view of the receptionist inside. “April is Savannah’s mother. She and Hux grew up around here and from what people have told me, they were just kids when they got together. Got married right after high school. Both worked minimum wage jobs. Hux got into some trouble gambling, trying to make some extra cash. Cheated and got caught. The guy he cheated came after him and the two got in a fight. Hux beat the hell out of him. Put the other guy in a coma. The judge didn’t like Hux, said it was beyond self-defense and sent him to prison for two years.”

  I blinked. “Wow.” The man inside had been intimidating but I wouldn’t have pegged him as an ex-convict.

  “April didn’t even tell him she’d had his kid. He came home, on parole, and hadn’t heard from her except for the divorce papers she’d served him while he was inside. I’m not sure how he didn’t hear about it, but I guess he didn’t have contact with many while he was in prison. He came home and learned he was a dad.”

  I glanced at the window to the gallery, to the beautiful bison behind the glass, and my heart squeezed for Reese Huxley. For his daughter too, even though she’d vandalized my home.

  She’d been crying for help.

  “So she threw a rock through my window because . . .”

  “Because my truck was parked out front. She knew it would take me all of five seconds to realize it was her. When I pulled up to her house last night, she was on the dirt bike, just waiting for me to haul her in. Because the fucking hell of it is, jail is better than home.”

  “What’s wrong with her home?”

  “April is . . . well, she’s a bitch.” He raked a hand through his hair. “You can’t believe a word that comes out of her mouth. If she can step on you to gain something, she won’t think twice. And after Hux, she married a lawyer in town. Wanted the money and the prestige. The guy’s a monster. Beats the hell out of April behind closed doors and they both get off on it. Has Savannah trapped there while he’s doing it too.”

  “Does he hit Savannah too?”

  “I don’t know. If he does, she won’t admit it. I’ve asked her about a hundred times. Hell, I even made Travis ask her, hoping she’d confide in him, but she just clams up.”

  My stomach twisted because we both knew the answer. “Can’t Hux get custody?”

  “He tried. When he came back from prison, he tried. April’s husband might be garbage, but he’s a damn good lawyer. And Hux is an ex-con. He doesn’t even get visitation with Savannah.”

  “That doesn’t seem right.”

  “It’s not.” Duke shook his head. “She’ll run away from home and show up on Hux’s doorstep. April will call the station and I’ll have no choice but to take Savannah home. She screams and cries the entire way.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “Hux finally just gave up, which pisses me right the fuck off. But I get it. You get kicked enough, have your heart broken enough, you put up walls around yourself. Savannah’s not the only one screaming and crying when I have to take her away.”

  My heart broke for all of them.

  It was so incredibly unfair that bad parents were allowed to keep their children.

  “I don’t want to make things worse for her,” I said. “If she was acting out, grasping for something, I don’t care about the window.”

  “I figured you’d say that.” He touched the brim of my hat, giving me a sad smile. “I called Kerrigan and she said that as long as you don’t want to press charges, she only wants the window fixed.”

  “Okay, good.” I stepped in closer, wrapping my arms around his waist. Duke leaned into me instantly and I was happy to shoulder some of his weight. “How are you?”

  “Wiped.” His face was covered in stubble because he hadn’t shaved this morning and his eyelids looked heavy.

  “I have a confession. This was not the story I expected you to tell. I thought it was Travis who broke the window.”

  “No. Thank fuck.” He chuckled. “I would have had to strangle him.”

  “I’m glad it wasn’t.” Maybe there was hope that Travis didn’t completely hate me. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Keep me company for the rest of the day.”

  “You’re in luck,” I said, letting him go. “I happen to have a wide-open schedule today. And tomorrow. And the day after. Should I follow you to the station?”

  “Actually, I’m headed out on patrol. Needed to get out of the station for a while. Feel like doing a ride along? Though I’ll warn you, it’ll probably be boring.”

  If that was all I could do today, just take his mind off things and stick close, I’d call it a win.

  I wagged my eyebrows. “I don’t mind boring. Especially if you let me hold your radar gun.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Duke

  Lucy ducked her head to hide her smile.

  “What?” I nudged her shoulder with mine.

  She looked up, taking in the football stadium. “I love this. It’s exactly what I pictured. The lights. The green field. The bleachers.” She rapped her knuckles on the silver bench. “It’s perfect.”

  The stadium lights were on full blast, though the sun hadn’t quite set. But in an hour, when darkness crept over Montana, those lights would blanket the crowd gathered tonight to watch the Calamity Cowboys in their first home game of the season.

  It had been two weeks since the incident with Savannah, and the only shiny thing to come out of the situation was the new window at the farmhouse. Savannah was back at home with her mother and stepfather. Hux, as far as I knew, hadn’t tried to intervene. And for the time being, the clusterfuck that was Hux, April and Savannah was on hiatus.

  It wouldn’t last but unless something changed, my hands were tied.

  So we’d done our best to move on, and tonight, we were at the high school football game.

  Besides our first dinner at the bar, it was the only social outing I’d had with Lucy. When I’d mentioned the game, she hadn’t hesitated about coming.

  She was tired of hiding, so here we were.

  “This will be fun.” I put my arm around her, pulling her into my side so that her thigh was smashed against mine. She was wearing a long-sleeve gray T-shirt and jeans. Our coats were tucked beneath the bench, waiting for the sun to set and the temperature to drop.

  “Hey, Duke.” Grayson appeared at my shoulder from the row behind us. “Thought I’d come down and say hello.”

  I twisted to shake his hand. “Hey. Glad you did. I’d like you to meet someone. Gray, this is”—my Lucy—“Jade.”

  “Hi.” She smiled up at him and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Same. Welcome to Calamity. Duke said you’re living out at Widow Ashleigh’s place?”

  “I am. It’s a lovely home.”

  “I’ve always liked that place,” he said. “Well, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. Enjoy the game.” Grayson left with a wave, returning to his seat.

  Others around us must have been waiting because after Grayson broke the seal on introductions, we were inundated with person after person coming to say hello and meet Jade.

  Her smile didn’t falter. If she was nervous about meeting people in town, it didn’t show in her voice, but her leg beside mine bounced almost constantly.

  “Don’t worry, baby,” I told her. “No one recognizes you.”

  Especially since she’d stolen my favorite green hat and apparently claimed it as her own. With the cap, fresh face and black hair, she simply looked beautiful.

  “I know. It’s not that,” she whispered.

  “Then what?”

  “I just want them to like me. I don’t want people to think your girlfriend is a dud.”

  My heart skipped.

  I was in love with her.

  The chance that someone would recognize her was slim, but if they did, it woul
d likely mean a media onslaught and potential targeting from a crazed stalker. But here she was, not nervous that her secret would be blown, but that people wouldn’t think she was good enough for me.

  The truth was, I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve her. My father always introduced my mom as his better half. I’d always thought it was just a saying, but I was beginning to understand he was simply stating a fact.

  She was his better half.

  I wanted Lucy to be mine.

  “Don’t worry.” I kissed the top of her hat. “They’ll love you.”

  The crowd began to settle and focus their attention on the field.

  Lucy smiled at Kerrigan, who’d turned from her seat three rows down to wave.

  “I heard yesterday that Kerrigan bought a shop downtown,” I said. “It’s been vacant for a while.”

  “Yeah, I guess she’s going to turn it into a workout studio.”

  “Huh? How’d you know that?” How did she have the one up on me with town gossip? Lucy rarely left the farmhouse.

  She shrugged. “When I called to tell her that the new window was in, we started talking. Actually, I talked. She was gracious enough to listen. I think my lack of conversation with Everly has made me a little needy. Kerrigan indulged me and then, when she could get a word in edgewise, she asked my opinion on the gym idea. She wants to focus more on classes for women’s fitness and I told her it was brilliant. I’m the first member.”

  “It’s not open yet.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m still number one.”

  I chuckled. “Good job, baby.”

  Kerrigan saw a need and was going to be the one to fulfill it. There was only one gym in town and it was mostly frequented by men. Since I had my gym in the basement, I’d never joined, but Grayson and a couple of the other deputies were members. They had some boxing and martial arts classes but very few women were members.

  “Kerrigan Hale is going to run this town one day,” I said with a chuckle. “Just watch.”

  Lucy smiled as the announcer came on the loudspeaker and welcomed everyone to the game.

  The student section cheered, their whoops and hollers echoing over the field. The grass was as green as it would get all year, the chalk lines bright white and fresh. A thrill of excitement raced through my veins as the team captains took their positions for the coin flip.

  “I played on a field a lot like this when I was in high school,” I told Lucy. “It’s fun to be in the stands, cheering these kids on.”

  Most of the kids I’d known for years. I knew their parents and their grandparents. This was what our small town was all about—gathering together, supporting one another and looking out for each other.

  If the town did know that Jade Morgan was actually Lucy Ross, I suspected there were a few who’d make a big deal out of it. The assholes. But the others, the majority, would do everything in their power to shut those few up.

  When we pulled someone into the fold, they were in it for life.

  And based on the welcome reception she’d gotten at this game, she was in.

  The small pep band began playing the Cowboys’ school anthem and she looked past me to where they played and smiled.

  “When I was a sophomore, my dad arranged to have our school’s marching band play ‘Happy Birthday’ to my mom,” Lucy said. “My school was a lot bigger than this and it wasn’t at a game or anything. Just after school. I made up a story about having a club meeting so Mom would have to come late to pick me up. Dad knew the band director and they’d set it up so that the band was waiting at the front of the school. She was so embarrassed. That was one of the last times he earned a cheddar for his cheesy gestures.”

  The longing and the love in her eyes made my heart ache. I’d have to start taking notes about her stories. Make some cheesy gestures of my own.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” She looked up at me and smiled. “I’m glad we’re here.”

  “Me too.” I tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and into the band of the hat.

  I beamed with pride as the Cowboys kicked off, not just because of my community, but because sharing this moment with Lucy was special. It was a beginning. We had hundreds of Calamity events in our future. Of nights together, sharing moments under the stars. There’d been a lot of moments lately. I’d only be satisfied with a lifetime more.

  She was special and I wasn’t letting her go. Maybe I’d known since Yellowstone that Lucy was the one.

  The Cowboys were up by ten as halftime approached, and the concession stands would be a madhouse soon.

  “Want a hot dog or nachos?” I asked Lucy.

  “Both. With a Diet Coke, please.”

  “Okay.” I squeezed her knee. “Be back.”

  I made my way through the stands, returning waves and nods and keeping one eye on the game until the field was out of sight. The lines were already forming at the concession booth, and I spotted a familiar face in the farthest row.

  “Hi, Travis.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “First night of freedom?”

  “Yeah.” He gave me a sheepish grin. “Let’s see if I can go a week without getting grounded again.”

  “How about we aim for a month?” I chuckled. “Good timing. I’ll buy you dinner.”

  “Mom gave me money.”

  “I got it.” We shuffled forward in line one place. “Are you at home this weekend or with your grandparents?”

  “Grandma and Grandpa. Mom was meeting some ‘friend.’” He rolled his eyes with the air quotes. “Which means she’ll be out all night.”

  Was Melanie seeing someone? If she was, that would explain Travis’s attitude. Too much was changing on him, including his body. He looked an inch taller than when he’d come over earlier this week to mow my lawn in exchange for twenty bucks of gas money.

  “You’re, uh . . . you’re here with Jade?” he asked though he already knew the answer. I’d spotted him in the student section earlier, looking our way.

  “Yes.” I nodded. “Which means it’s the perfect night for you to give her an apology for missing Spanish lessons.”

  Lucy had spent each of her Wednesday afternoons the past two weeks waiting for Travis to stand her up. He’d been consistent.

  He groaned.

  “Someday, you’d better learn that you don’t leave a woman waiting. And when you do, you apologize.”

  He hung his head. “I don’t need a tutor.”

  “Your grades say otherwise.” So far, he’d flunked his first two Spanish quizzes.

  Travis grumbled something under his breath about the teacher.

  “One session. You meet with her for one session and I’ll give you an extra twenty bucks.”

  Yes, I was bribing him. But if I could just get him in front of Lucy for an hour, he’d fall for her. Just like I had. That was worth a twenty.

  “Fine,” he grumbled.

  “And the apology. Tonight.”

  He nodded. The only reason he was this agreeable was because he was probably running short on spending money and his lawn mowing income was about to get snowed on.

  We finally reached the concession window and I ordered our food. Travis helped me carry it to the bleachers, clutching our haul close as we squeezed past the opposing flow of traffic exiting the stands.

  Lucy was chatting with Kerrigan, who stood a few rows down. When the pair spotted us, Kerrigan waved goodbye and Lucy’s smile widened. As her gaze shifted to Travis, she sat up straighter.

  Her determination was showing. Lucy wanted Travis, more than any other person in Calamity, to like her.

  “Thanks, babe,” she said as I handed her a tray of nachos and pop. “Hi, Travis.”

  “Hey.” The seat beside me was taken so Travis had no choice but to sit beside Lucy.

  I leaned forward, arching an eyebrow in a silent reminder that his twenty bucks had to be earned.

  “Sorry,” he muttered to her. “For standing you up.”

  “Thank you.�
� Lucy cast me a glance and winked.

  “I’ll, uh, be there on Wednesday.”

  “Then so will I.” She dunked a chip in the nacho cheese and popped it into her mouth, chewing with a grin.

  Travis surprised me by sitting with us while we ate. He devoured three of the seven hot dogs I’d bought, plus a boat of nachos.

  “Want another hot dog?” Lucy offered. “I’m only going to eat one.”

  “Sure.” He shrugged and took it from her, eating it at normal human speed this time.

  We’d all finished by the time the team came back on the field and the stands were again full of spectators.

  “You don’t play football?” Lucy asked Travis.

  He shook his head. “Not my thing.”

  Someone caught Travis’s eye and I followed his gaze, spotting Savannah walking along the bottom aisle with a group of girls. She looked up and gave him a smile. Then she shifted her gaze to me and stuck out her tongue.

  Brat.

  She had her troubles at home so I gave her a pass on some of her behavior. But she also courted some of her problems. Savannah was wild. I suspected that spirit of hers was much like Hux’s had been before prison.

  Travis made a move to stand but I reached behind Lucy and put my hand on his shoulder, forcing his ass back to the bench.

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  “What?” he asked, feigning innocence.

  I scowled. “You know exactly what.”

  “She’s my friend.”

  “She’s a bad influence.”

  “Come on, Duke. Savannah’s not that bad.”

  “Tell me the truth. Did she give you that vape pen?”

  Guilt flooded his expression, saving him from answering.

  “That’s what I thought,” I muttered.

  “She’s my friend,” he said, quietly this time, without any defense.

  “Be her friend.” Lucy nudged his shoulder with hers. “Help her make good choices.”

  He gave her a solemn nod and shifted his attention to the field just as Lucy mumbled, “Son of a bitch.”

  “What?” I asked.

  She pointed to her lap where a glob of red ketchup clung to the denim on her thigh.