Behind the Bar (Home in Carson Book 3)

by Renee Harless

  Silence was all Kerry heard from the other end of the call.

  “Mary? Mary, are you okay?” Kerry began to worry as the line ended without a sound. Something about the call bothered her. In Lythembria, it was roughly one in the morning, not Mary's typical time to reach out to her.

  “All clear,” Landon said as he opened her door. Kerry practically launched herself into his arms and explained the phone call.

  “Do you think someone is tracking you with it?”

  “It’s a burner phone I got at the airport before I left. I only programmed Mary’s number into the favorites. Do you think she’s in trouble?”

  “Possibly, but I think you’re in trouble too. Let’s write down her number and freeze this phone until I can get Preston involved.”

  “Landon, I don’t know what to do. I can deal with someone targeting me, but I don’t know if I could handle it if someone's hurt Mary. She was only trying to help me.”

  “I know, beautiful.” He wrapped her in his large arms and comforted Kerry the best way he knew how, except her mind still rolled with the images of Mary being in trouble or hurt.

  Together they went inside the house, Landon taking extra precaution to lock all of the doors behind them, and then made phone calls to Cliff, who Landon explained was ex-military, and the town sheriff, Preston. Kerry perched herself on one of the barstools in the open kitchen and watched as Landon paced back and forth, having a conversation she only heard one side of.

  By the time he was done with the calls, she was exhausted from all of the pacing he had been doing.

  “What did they say?” Kerry inquired as Landon moved around the small island to join her.

  “They’re both going to meet us at the bar tomorrow, if that’s okay with you. Preston wants to take a look at the car and the note, dust for fingerprints, all the stuff. And Cliff is going to look at some security footage and run any faces through a system that he has.”

  “Wow, okay. You don’t think that it’s overkill or anything?”

  Landon arched one of his brows, signifying that he thought she was nuts. Kerry couldn’t blame him at all for the assessment.

  “No, I don’t think it is at all. You’re part of a royal family, Kerry. This is a major thing. And, well, it’s you. You’re important.”

  “I’m sorry I’ve dragged you into this mess.” Kerry dragged her hands through her hair, yanking at the ends of the strands in frustration.

  “Like it’s your fault?”

  “None of this would have happened if I had just stayed.”

  “Stayed and been miserable for the rest of your life.”

  Nodding, Kerry leaned forward and rested her head against Landon’s chest, taking solace in the steady beat of his heart. It was like an anchor in this whirling sea of chaos she had found herself in.

  “Do you have any food here?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why don’t you go relax in a shower or bath or whatever and I can fix something up?”

  Astonished, Kerry jerked her head up, almost nailing Landon in his chin.

  “You cook?”

  “There is more to me than meets the eye.”

  “I know that. I just. . .it was unexpected. I guess maybe I should try to reach out to my parents, at least so they know that I’m alright and that they’re being ridiculous.”

  “I was going to suggest that.” She watched as Landon reached onto the counter for his phone and handed it to her. “Use my phone. Just in case.”

  Kerry leaned onto the tips of her toes and placed a gentle kiss on Landon’s cheek as she took the phone. Thanking him she made her way back to the bedroom she planned to use as the master. In the distance, she could hear Landon banging pots or pans around in the kitchen and decided it was best to make the phone call first.

  Despite not knowing Mary’s phone number off the top of her head, Kerry remembered the royal advisor’s number like the back of her hand. Dialing the number, Kerry sat on the edge of the bed and stared out at the lake through the window. The sun was setting over the property and cast the water and trees in an orange hue.

  The phone rang a bit longer than she expected, but then she heard the nasally voice of Heath, her parent’s advisor.

  “Heath Longfelt speaking, advisor to His Royal Majesty,” he said. The man’s voice was causing Kerry to wince. She didn’t know how her parents could listen to that sound on a daily basis.

  “Heath, please put me through to my father.”

  “He’s occupied at the moment.” Kerry realized that Heath assumed that she was one of her many siblings.

  “He needs to be unoccupied if he wants to know that his daughter is safe.”

  The little weasel huffed and then placed her on hold, the only sign being the standard music playing the background.

  “To what do I owe this midnight interruption?” her father asked as he answered the line. Kerry didn’t know why she expected a warm greeting of any kind, but the cold-hearted and ruthless greeting was a bit off base, even for him.

  “Hello, father.”

  “Karolyna?” he said. A chip in his hardened heart evident in the tone of his voice. Maybe he cared after all, even if just a smidge.

  “I just wanted you to know that I’m safe and that you can call off your manhunt.”

  “Let me get your mother.”

  Kerry waited a moment for her mother to come on the line, then repeated her statement to call off the news reports and hunt for her.

  “Is this because of the ultimatum?” her father asked and Kerry rolled her eyes at the question.

  “The ultimatum was the last straw, but I’ve been unhappy for a long time. I just needed to get away.”

  “You’re a future queen. You can’t just run away!”

  There was her father’s temper. She knew it wouldn’t take long before that would rise to the surface.

  “Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe I don’t want to be the queen.”

  “Why would you say that?” her mother interrupted. “You were born to be queen.”

  “And that’s all that has ever been expected of me.”

  “Karolyna, please come home and we can sort this all out. Lord Donoveaux is simply beside himself with worry.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about Lord Donoveaux or what he’s feeling.”

  “Language, young lady.”

  “You know what? I don’t know why I called. I just wanted you to have your people stop following me around and make sure you know that I hadn’t been kidnapped or anything. I can see that I’ve wasted my time.”

  “Karolyna. . .”

  “I’ll come home when I’m ready, if ever. Good night father, mother.”

  Kerry ended the call, almost wishing that she hadn’t dialed the number in the first place. No matter what age, her parents were always able to make her feel like a foolish child. And she hated that feeling.

  A knock on the door sounded and Landon peeked his head through.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. . .” she lied. He looked at her suspiciously but didn’t press further.

  “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, just some chicken alfredo.”

  “Okay. I’ll pop into the shower really quick.”

  Holding his hand out with her bag dangling from his fingers, he placed it on the dresser beside the door.

  “Thought you might need that.”

  “Thanks. It has something priceless in it.”

  “Really?” Landon took a step into the room and eyed the bag as if it were Mary Poppins’.

  Wordlessly she moved to the dresser and opened the bag, unzipping the secured pouch at the bottom. The tiara felt heavier in her hand than she remembered. And as she brought it up, the gems gleamed in the light from the window.

  “Is that?”

  “Yeah, it’s my crown. Literally.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “I know. Maybe I’ll wear it for you sometime.”

  “So long as that’s th
e only thing you’re wearing.”

  Chapter Eight

  The night before, Landon and Kerry had spent their time in her bed doing nothing else but talking. He felt things for her so quickly that it scared him, and he still worried that she would run scared when she learned about his past — something he needed to remedy sooner rather than later. With the threats coming for her, Landon wanted to make sure that she had no remorse for her time spent with him. And the truth was part of that. She had shared her secrets with him and Kerry deserved to hear his.

  He had tried to disclose some of his past to her, but she kept changing the subject. And by the time she seemed interested in hearing his tale, she fell asleep in his arms just a moment later. Of course, having her in his arms had him falling asleep faster than he ever had before. And he had the most lifelike visions. Landon had dreamed of stripping her bare, leaving only that glistening tiara on her head while I took her on the counter of his bar.

  Landon woke with the stiffest erection he had ever experienced, but Kerry took that as an invitation to soothe the ache with her mouth.

  “Jameson is going to stop by to install the register system for me, if you’d like to learn the program while we wait for Preston and Cliff to arrive.”

  “Really? You’re going to let me help?”

  “Yeah, if you want to, I mean. I do need someone to help.” Kerry launched herself at him as he worked to open the front door of the bar. He was lucky that his reflexes were so good that he caught her easily.

  Once they stepped inside, he noticed how dim the space was, and if he was ready to open soon, he should probably let people begin to see what was inside.

  “Want to work on pulling the paper down from the windows while I get the computer set up?”

  “Sure.”

  Landon moved to his office in the back to grab the laptop that Jameson would need with the information for the register system. He needed to check on the order for the shirts and napkins he had printed. The sign he ordered was scheduled to be delivered later in the week.

  Just as he hitched the laptop beneath his arm, a scream came from the front. Landon ran for his life to check on Kerry and practically threw his laptop onto the bar in his haste to get to her.

  “Kerry! What’s wrong?” he shouted until she was safely in his arms. Her body shook in fear as if she had seen a ghost. Landon knew that kind of fear.

  “I’m sorry. I. . .I started pulling this paper down and when I got about half way, there was a face peering in on the other side.”

  Landon didn’t wait to hear any more. He dashed out the front door and looked down the sidewalks for anyone that seemed suspicious. At this hour on a Monday, the only crowds were three blocks down at the bakery for their morning pastry and coffee fix. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but after that note left on Kerry’s car, Landon wasn’t going to be too careful.

  “I’m sorry.” Kerry apologized as he walked back into the bar. “It may have been someone looking in through the tear in the paper to look inside. I overreacted.”

  “No, you didn’t. Let’s make sure that you mention that to Preston and Cliff so they can work on that too. Just to be safe.”

  Jameson showed up not long after and went to work on installing the hardware for the three registers Landon had ordered. Kerry peered over the software engineer’s shoulder the entire time asking questions. He would have found it annoying with anyone else, but with Kerry, he could tell that she was truly interested in everything the tech wiz was doing.

  An hour later, Cliff and Preston strolled into the bar and focused in on Kerry, who was practicing at the register. Landon greeted them and gave them the low down on everything that had happened the night before and mentioned the morning encounter.

  “I don’t think that her parents have set this up. Whoever is doing this is trying to scare her.”

  “Maybe they’re trying to scare her enough to come home,” Preston suggested.

  “I don’t know. I just don’t think that a king and queen would resort to those kinds of tactics if you know what I mean.”

  “I also need someone to check up on her friend and assistant in the palace Mary Santiago. Kerry thinks that she may be in trouble for knowing Kerry’s whereabouts and helping her escape.”

  Chiming in, Cliff said, “That’s not really our jurisdiction, but I’ll see what I can find out.”

  “Thanks. Let me see if I can pry her away from the register so that you guys can ask her any questions.”

  “She really plans on working here?” Cliff asked.

  “Seems that way. At least until she leaves.”

  “And how do you feel about that?” Preston asked.

  “It sucks. I like her, a lot. More than I deserve.”

  “You going to tell her everything?”

  “I tried last night. I plan on trying again.”

  “Good. Nothing that happened was your fault. If your brother can move on, so can you.”

  “Oliver is the most decent human being on this planet. He is worthy of all the good.”

  “So are you, man. So are you. Kerry falling for you is proof of that.” Preston looked over his shoulder and Landon joined his gaze where Kerry was watching them, her eyes pinned on Landon. When she smiled, all of the tension he felt twisted inside began to ease.

  Turning back to him, Preston added, “Pretty sure you more than like each other.”

  “Dude, it’s been like two days.”

  “What’s your point? Love has no timeline.”

  “I’m not having this conversation. Go get your questions answered and then I’ll get you’re a drink on the house.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Landon went back to his office to find something to occupy his time while his friends interrogated Kerry. While he was killing time, Landon reached into the back of the filing cabinet next to his desk and pulled out the large manila folder that contained his past.

  He hadn’t sifted through the papers in two years and he didn’t know what possessed him to do it now, but some sort of subconscious demand compelled him.

  Opening the file, he looked at his mug shot, taken at the age of seventeen. Instead of flipping the page, he brought the image closer. He always thought that he looked like a typical angry, cocky teen, but as he focused in at the eyes, Landon could see the weariness and the strength hidden behind the attitude.

  Minutes passed as he stared at the untrustworthy kid that lost ten years of his life because of technicalities.

  A knock sounded and Landon looked up to see Kerry’s head peering inside.

  “The guys said they’d be back in an hour or so. They wanted to go ahead and check the cameras around the parking lot.”

  “Thanks. Come here.”

  Landon was surprised at the sense of calm he felt as she took the seat across from him. Her eyes dipped down to the paper in his hands as her curiosity grew.

  “Recognize that kid?” he asked as he held out the paper for her to grab.

  She scanned the image and then he knew when she realized it was him because her already large eyes grew double in size.

  “Is this you?”

  Leaning back in his chair, Landon closed his eyes and thought back to a time he wished he could erase completely.

  “Let me tell you a story.”

  ***

  Kerry slowly lowered the image of a young Landon and watched the man she knew that she was falling head over heels for, settle into his leather chair. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body as he tilted his head back.

  She assumed he had wanted to talk about his past last night in bed, but she didn’t want to force him, and then she fell asleep listening to him talk about his brother.

  “Let me tell you a story,” he had said and Kerry waited patiently for him to continue.

  “I grew up in a small town in Ireland. A little blip on a map. It was the town my mother grew up in and everyone knew everyone. You couldn’t miss a day at school without everyone knowing.
>
  “I don’t remember a lot, but I think we had a fairly happy family. That was until my mother died of ovarian cancer when my brother and I were about five. My father changed after that. He had never raised his fist to us before, but then suddenly, we were getting smacked around for the littlest of things. Not tying the trash bag a certain way. Having the volume on the television at an odd number. Running the water in the sink too long while washing dishes. You name it and my father would find a reason to get mad about it.

  “We’d go to school with bruises and broken limbs, but no one would intervene. And the one-time Oliver called the police because I was knocked unconscious my father wormed his way out of the charges and then made Oliver pay. My brother had to miss school for a month. He still has a slight limp from where his leg didn’t heal correctly.”

  Kerry felt the urge to speak up and comfort him and his childhood, but she could see that he was lost in the past, and that knowledge burned a hole in her stomach. She didn’t want him to relieve the horrors he had gone through, and somehow she knew that the story was about to get worse.

  “When I was ten, my father got a job in the US working at a plant in Georgia. It devastated my brother and me to leave the only place that reminded us of our mother.

  “He was working so much that the abuse eased for a few years. Oliver and I felt like we could be kids and enjoy things the way kids do. Except we let our guard down too soon.

  “My father was fired for drinking on the job and then the abuse came back tenfold. There was no escape from him that summer and at fifteen, Oliver and I had to go find local jobs to help pay the bills. We begged to move back to Ireland, but our father refused. We came up with a plan to move back to Ireland after we graduated high school. Oliver had stayed in touch with my mother’s family and they were eager to have us home despite my father keeping them away from us after my mother’s death.

  “We had a plan, you know, and that was what kept us going through high school. We could mask the bruises and broken bones with sports and lies. We knew from the past that the police in town wasn’t going to do anything. Our father was able to convince them nothing was happening every time. He really should have been a lawyer with the way he could convince everyone of his lies.”