by Rachel Cade
He didn’t answer her, just waited for her to find out.
Inside the bag was a small piece of cloth. She turned it over in her hand to realize it was a tiny gray onesie with black letters.
“Just spent nine months on the inside,” she read. There were bars with tiny hands holding them. “And there’s a skull,” she added, looking at the bottom.
Noa held his hands up. “I didn’t know… I just liked it.”
Lyndie laughed, looking away and hoping her hormones weren’t still acting up. “This is perfect. I’m sure he’ll love it.”
“Is it going to fit? It said zero to three months on the tag.”
“Where did you find this?”
“A couple towns over.”
Lyndie closed the space between them and hugged him.
And Max was wearing the onesie now as he sucked on his pacifier against Lyndie’s chest.
Most of the town seemed to be here, but she hadn’t spotted Peggy yet.
Someone in the front row offered her a seat.
“Thank you,” she said as she sat down.
Five minutes later, Will was at the front of the large room.
“Thanks everyone for coming out.” He glanced around. “I’m not going to beat around the bush. I wanted to talk to you all about the incident with the biker gang coming through town a few days ago.
“I know it scared and worried a lot of people, and I wanted to assure everyone that I spoke to them along with Deputy Harris on the edge of town-”
“Sheriff, Sheriff, if I may-” Hugh Langley stood up from the crowd.
Will seemed startled by having his speech interrupted, but after a pause, offered the man the floor.
Hugh moved into Will’s place. “Amber Falls. Can we give a hand to our Sheriff William Durand?”
The crowd clapped.
“He’s a good man. And we’re thankful to have him protecting our town.”
“That’s right.” Ashley’s voice came from somewhere and her fluttered clap almost distracted Lyndie from Langley. She barely saw the old man, but he was wearing the exact same suit she’d seen him in a year earlier.
And she didn’t have a good feeling about what was coming next. Maybe coming here with Max wasn’t the smartest thing.
“I also have interests in the town. I not only want to protect our little place here in the desert, but I want to see it expand. The only way we can do that is by taking advantage of new prospects and opportunities.”
“So with that being said, I wanted to add the men that rode through town were here to talk some business with me.”
The look on Will’s face.
He didn’t know.
Lyndie dug her heels into the wooden floor.
She didn’t know why paranoia hit her, but she tried to will herself to relax. The marriage was a secret. This blow up was between Will, Langley, and the rest of the town. She sat there patting her baby’s bottom. Outside of Langley, she really was the only one in town that knew.
“They had a proposal to purchase the old warehouse behind the gas station. They plan to open a construction company and a new automotive repair shop.”
“What the fuck?” Mike the mechanic’s voice shot up into the air.
Lyndie dropped her chin down above Max’s head.
This was getting messy. Quickly.
Langley gestured his hand to quiet the rise in voices.
Mike continued to bitterly mutter something.
“Folks. There’s been balking over the years after the plant closed down about the lack of progress we’ve been able to make in comparison to our neighbors. The purchase of this property will bring new money into town. And it also encourages new people to come here. With new businesses comes new jobs.”
“We don’t want new people here,” someone said from the back.
After some agreement, someone else added, “Not them.”
Will appeared to be completely blindsided.
Lyndie didn’t feel remotely sorry for him.
“Instead of making snap judgments, how about you talk to them yourselves?”
Oh. God.
Will’s eyes widened as heavy booted footsteps began from the back row.
A murmur started up and a few shouts left the crowd.
Shit!
Why didn’t she stay home?
Will was like a deer in the headlights.
Four bikers soon stood next to Langley. One was an older man with silver streaked hair. The other two she didn’t recognize, but both seemed like older men, with dark hair and long beards. Last but not least, Noa stood with them, in un-ripped jeans and a dark vest. His hair was in a long braid down his back. It was the most civilized she’d ever seen him.He wore a long sleeved shirt under the vest that covered his tattoos.
Even with all that, he still looked extremely out of place.
Lyndie couldn’t make eye contact with him.
Will’s face had turned red.
“Good evening, folks,” the silver haired man said.
“No,” Will’s voice snapped. “That’s enough.”
Lyndie didn’t mean to, but her eyes drew to Noa, and a smirk rested underneath his goatee.
“Will can you relax a minute?” Hugh asked.
“You couldn’t have told me any of this?” They tried to speak quietly, but their voices carried to the front row.
“What’s going on here?” Mitch pulled away from the far wall. “The Sheriff didn’t know about this?”
Ashley stood up. “Everyone just needs to relax a minute, please!”
“Relax!” Will’s voice boomeranged through the building. “How many god damn felonies do these assholes have?”
“How is having these people here keeping the town safe?” Mary Lee’s, shrill voice was full of alarm.
“I know that bikers don’t have a good reputation. And that’s the reason for your fears, but I assure you we aren’t here to cause trouble in your town.” The older biker’s calm voice rose up above the others.
Noa glanced over at her and their eyes met.
He held hers for a moment, then turned his head away.
“I just-” Will’s teeth flashed and he planted his feet.
“This town doesn’t need a repair shop,” Mike yelled. “They got me.”
“That’s not a question.” Noa’s brows lowered as he spoke for the first time.
The silver haired man glanced over at him.
Will’s breathing was hard as he spoke. “I think everyone should go home.”
“Why don’t we hear them out?” Ashley asked.
Lyndie snorted. If Ashley thought she could negotiate this like a realty deal…
She glanced down at Max, who cared so little, he’d fallen asleep.
Lucky.
“There’s nothing to hear out.” Will’s hands were on his hips. Lyndie wondered if he was going to actually burst.
“How are we going to shift from us doin’ our job, keeping out criminals, to you inviting them in?” Henry walked up beside Will.
“We got a lot of seniors in the town, Langley. Children, decent folk.” Lyndie didn’t look back to see which man was speaking.
“I hear you.” Will nodded. “I understand, Robert. You all know I’m a father.”
Then he gestured toward Lyndie and Max.
What?
A father? Had he just said that?
Noa was staring at her.
Hard.
She saw the instant he realized.
And she could have turned to stone.
Langley held his hands up. “People, please! I need everyone to settle down.”
The crowd quieted a bit.
“My family has been here since this town was founded. I live here, I run businesses here. These men came to me. They had a professional proposal on working with us. I believe we should give them a chance.” He glanced sharply at Will. “We have many cultures residing here, and we’ve lived in harmony for decades. It’s not in our nature to judge
people for how they look.”
Lyndie barely heard the speech. Noa wouldn’t look at her anymore.
Max started squirming against her, and after spitting out his pacifier, he began to cry.
Lyndie patted him, taking a deep breath she stood up and left the hall.
Enough disturbance had been started.
Once she got home, she focused on getting Max comfortable, but she noticed more than once that her hands were trembling.
It was like a bee was in her head. She was thinking about everything and nothing at the same time.
God damn it, she just needed to calm down!
The knock at her door jerked her at her kitchen table.
It was coming from the front.
Damn, who was it? She just wanted to be left alone.
It was after ten.
She checked the peephole.
Will.
“Fuck,” she cursed under her breath.
“Will.” She tried to make her voice sound groggy. “I’m about to go to bed.”
“Open the door, Lyndie.”
Pure cop.
Grimacing, Lyndie did as he said.
Will stepped inside in a rush, barely allowing her to get it fully open.
“Why’d you leave? You could have stayed.”
“Max was getting upset.” She licked her dry mouth, not looking at him. “I wanted to get him some place quiet.”
He continued to walk into the living room as she spoke, placing both hands behind his head. “Can you believe that son of a bitch?”
Lyndie should have never answered her door. She didn’t want him bringing this shit to her house.
“I barely got those fuckers out of town and he’s cutting back alley deals with them!”
She held up her hands. “Can you keep it down? I just got the baby to sleep.”
Will sat down hard on her couch.
“This is bullshit, Lyndie. It’s bullshit.” He was still angry but did lower his voice a bit.
Lyndie kept her face neutral. “I don’t know what’s going on between Mr. Langley and those men, but you didn’t have a right to bring Max into it.”
“What?” His expression went from anger to confusion, which fueled her anger.
“There was no reason for you to bring up that-” It was hard for her to say you’re Max’s father because he wasn’t. Not in any way that counted. “You used him to try to get sympathy from people.”
“I am Max’s father, right? It’s not like you were fucking anybody else.”
Lyndie’s eyes narrowed.
For the first time in ages, Will showed some sense of awareness outside of himself.
“Look, you’re scared, alright? I get it.” He looked around at the bouncer and toys scattered through the room. “You bought him some nice stuff with the money.”
Not his, actually. It was still in an envelope in the back of her closet.
“It was a lot going on tonight.” He pushed back into the seat. “I remember you told me about Langley. He wasn’t really for the town. That he was dirty like his old man for selling the plant.” He shook his head. “You were right.”
Memory lane, mentally she had closed that road off.
“Now this. He’s sold out the whole town.”
Lyndie didn’t open her mouth to agree or disagree, and definitely didn’t try to console.
He wanted to come here and pour his heart out, like the way he treated her was just water under the bridge.
“That blue-eyed one. That fucker has been here for weeks. His sons knew about it. There’s no telling how long this plan has been in motion. He let me gather everyone in town and blindsided us all.”
“What are you going to do about it?” she asked.
For the moment, she tamped down her own irritation.
His heels pressed down into her carpet.
Either he had no idea or he just didn’t want to tell her.
“What happened after I left?”
Will folded his arms. “More arguing. He sold them that property.” Disbelief was in his voice and his eyes.
“Was Ashley involved?”
Will’s jaw tightened. The last time she brought her up, she’d gotten shoved into his car for it.
He probably wasn’t sure.
Imagine. Someone he was sleeping with, lying to him. Wow. How horrible.
“Lyndie…” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs.
She quietly eyed his body language. He was stressed and humiliated.
A wail hit the air. Max was up again. Lyndie quickly went to the bedroom.
“Munch,” she whispered, picking him up and holding his small body to her, resting his head on her shoulder. “It’s okay, honey.”
She smoothed his back.
When she turned around, Will was in the doorway, staring at them.
After an awkward silence, Max burped.
“That was it, huh?” she said to him.
The corner of Will’s mouth kicked up. She guessed he thought the burp was funny. “I’ll let you get some sleep. Diner’s still closed tomorrow.”
She nodded and he walked away, letting himself out the front door.
An hour or so had passed. Lyndie was glad she was off work because she doubted she would be able to get any sleep.
She didn’t like Will showing up here. He was putting her in the middle of all this and she didn’t want any part of it.
Another knock came as she was sitting in the living room after cleaning it once she’d put Max down.
Damn.
This time, it came from the back door.
She dreaded answering it, especially at this hour. Lord knew she couldn’t take a drunk Will-
Noa peered down at her from above the sliding lock chain.
All the air evaporated from her lungs.
He didn’t say anything. Not even to ask her to unlock the door.
Lyndie quietly removed the chain, opening it to let him inside.
Silently, he stepped into the kitchen.
She shut the door and locked it as she bit hard on her lip.
“Him?” The combination of facing him and the rasp in his voice made her want to sink into the floor. “Him, Lyndie?”
“Noa. I’m sorry, I should have-”
“You were pissed off with me about my MC. I get that. But even after I told you the truth, you still lied to me.”
“Noa-” she could hardly speak between the tears that rushed down her face.
“I asked you if you knew him, point blank. You couldn’t have said anything?”
“I didn’t know you then.” She wiped her eyes. “I didn’t know any of this was going to happen between us. I just-”
“How long were you two together?” His voice was flat. She could see it in his eyes, the coldness. It was why she stopped speaking. A clamminess was forming in her gut.
“Five years,” she answered.
His eyes went heavenward. “So what, were you guys, like, high school sweethearts or some shit?”
Lyndie hated the wet saltiness on her lips. “No, it was after.”
“He was here tonight.” Noa’s eyes narrowed on her. “I saw him leave.”
Lyndie shook her head. “He never comes here. He was upset about you guys.”
“And he probably wanted to check on his kid and you.”
Lyndie grimaced. “He doesn’t check on me or-”
“I want the truth, right now. Are you still fucking him?”
“No!” She couldn’t take the way he was looking at her. “I told you I hadn’t been with anyone…”
Nothing she said was getting to him. His scowl deepened. “I should have made you tell me who Max’s dad was.”
Lyndie wiped her eyes again.
Noa hovered over her. “Whatever’s been going on between you two, it’s done.” His voice was hard and clipped in her kitchen.
Not long after, he stepped out of the back door and was gone.
Lyndie covered her mouth
before a fist formed over her lips. She couldn’t even explain herself. Would he even believe her?
She doubted it.
Standing in the quiet alone, she was sure they were done too.
Chapter Seventeen:
Fallout
“How could you argue with Daddy in front of everyone like that?”
When Will came through the door, she started in.
“Ashley,” he said calmly. “Don’t.”
He should have stayed at Lyndie’s, spent the night so he could get his head on straight. It was better than being here.
“Will. You could have just listened.”
“To what? A bunch of lies?”
“My dad doesn’t lie.”
Will squinted hard at her. After a moment, he slammed the door behind himself.
“He’s trying to bring new business into the town.”
“What did I tell you the other day? Everything isn’t about money.”
“What’s it about, then?” Her voice smoothed out, but her anger was still there. “The fact that you’re a father?”
“I left her for you. For you – and you’re still insecure about it?” Normally, Will would have watched his words but right then, he just didn’t give a shit.
“You think I’m insecure over a waitress?”
“A waitress that’s the mother of my child, yeah.”
Ashley’s face twisted. “I’m not! I just want to know why you had to point it out to everybody. It had nothing to do with the meeting.”
“You always do this in an argument. You try to deflect. Your father made a deal to allow a motorcycle gang to buy property in this town. A gang that just rode through here, terrifying everyone including you. He did it behind everyone’s back and completely blindsided me! Those are the fucking facts, Ashley. How can you defend him?”
“What do you want me to do?” Her face flushed. “He’s my dad, and he’s also my boss. In most ways he’s yours too. Don’t be stupid here, Will. You can’t win.”
He listened to her. It never occurred to him while making his plans that the benefits of his relationship with Ashley would backfire on him. He didn’t know when he was going to be able to shake his anger over all this. But he needed to be able to rely on Ashley.
“What if I was your husband?” he asked, trying not to grit his teeth. “Would you have some loyalty to me then?” He walked past her through the kitchen to the backyard.