He stood tall with a muscular build underneath a three-piece suit. With sandy brown hair that looked swept carelessly to the side and piercing blue eyes, I could see why the Senior Kidrick was rumored to go from affair to affair. He exuded a cold disdain that was mixed with strong confidence. None of that mattered to me, but I sucked in my breath at the sight of pure hatred in his eyes when he stared at me.
"Dad," Kid growled in warning.
Deputy Doug cleared his throat.
I couldn't look away from Mr. Stephens. I desperately wanted to, but I couldn't for some reason.
"Let's go, Dad." Kid moved back across the room and stood in the line of fire between his father and me.
I jerked at the sudden loss of…whatever it was. When my hand trembled, I flushed and tucked it in my back pocket. Then a door to the left opened and everyone heard the sound of locks turning in a back room. A police officer led the way and I tensed even more when I heard the familiar sound of my best friend's swagger.
The police officer pointed him towards another desk in the far corner. As Brady bent over the counter and was given a pen to sign some papers, I looked back and noticed that Kid had grasped his father's arm. He pulled him towards the door, but Frank Stephens stared at Brady, riveted. He didn't budge.
"That should be it, Brady," the police officer murmured, amused. He patted his shoulder in approval. "Dougie's pretty adamant, man. You gotta stay away from that other kid or your butt's going to be in a different jail for a lot longer than you've spent here. Trust me. Dougie's serious on this. You can't bust anymore skulls."
Brady laughed huskily and turned around. The amusement vanished as he took in the group behind him. When he straightened in a flash, an ominous feeling swept through the room. I sucked in my breath and glanced at Frank Stephens. Remorse flashed in his eyes before a wall slammed in its place. I saw nothing after that. Puzzled, I looked back and caught Brady's gaze. He was asking if I was okay and I nodded with a small smile. I didn't dare say anything else. The room was ready to erupt.
"We should go, Dad." Kid tried to pull his father towards the door, but Frank Stephens didn't move. His eyes were still glued on Brady.
Brady took a step towards us, but was halted as the police officer slapped a hand on his arm. "They need to clear the room."
He frowned, but said nothing.
Josh snorted. "Well…this is awkward. If no one's going to start throwing punches, we should go, Uncle Frank."
Then we heard Viola in a backroom. Her voice grew as she approached. "Bailor, if you didn't know how my ass looks in a grass skirt, we'd have to throw down here and now. You let that boy out or I'm going to Veronica about your indiscretion at the CornFestival of 1986. Don't think I don't remember what I saw because I do, even if things were a little fuzzy at the time."
"Jeez, Vi. I was just joshing you. The boy's been released already. No charges were filed in the first place."
She stopped in the doorway as she heard Judge Bailor's sheepish comment and spun around to the assembled group. Unlike Brady, she didn't have a police officer to hold her back as she surged forward. Her finger was drawn in the air with a pinched nerve on her forehead. Rage filled her shoulders. "What did you say to her, Frank? I won't have you berating my granddaughter. You get away from her, you and your son. I don't want either of you in her life!"
Brady jerked forward against the officer's arm. Then Kid stepped in front of his father and stopped Viola in her tracks. "Stop it. He hasn't said a word and he's not pressing charges against Brady. Just…chill, old lady."
Oh no.
Brady cracked a grin and shook his head.
Deputy Doug fought back a snort of laughter. Viola reared her head back, thought for a moment, and then crossed the room to stand toe to toe with Kidrick. She stood an inch shorter and ferocious despite the fifty-year age difference. "You might've sent my daughter away twenty years ago, but you will not speak one word to my granddaughter or I will fulfill my promise, Frank."
Shivers and confusion went down my back.
Kid narrowed his eyes, confused too for a split second before he realized she wasn't talking to him. She wasn't even looking at him. He slowly turned, noticed the locked gazes between his father and Viola, and then stepped out of the way. It was at that moment that I felt someone take hold of my elbow. I jumped, but Brady watched Viola and Kidrick’s dad. Disoriented at the sudden cautiousness in him, I touched his chest in wonderment. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew he was fearful for some reason.
"Let's go," Brady murmured in my ear and led me away. No one noticed our departure except for Deputy Doug, who looked relieved. I glanced back a last time before the door shut behind us and my last view was of the silent standoff. My grandmother was brazen and Frank had a blank expression on his face with the promise of danger underneath his surface.
"What was all that about?" And why hadn't he gotten charged?
The usual cockiness was gone as Brady ran a tired hand through his flat hair. "I don't know, not really."
I narrowed my eyes and got inside the car. "What do you mean that you don't know? You know something, don't you? Josh told me that your fight with Kid isn't really about me. Is that true?"
Brady shifted the car in reverse and pulled into traffic. "I don't really know. The thing with Kid and me is stupid and some of it's about you, but some of it's not. I can't…I can't tell you. I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Brady."
"Rayna."
"Tell me."
"No, Rayray. Not this time. At least…not yet."
Hearing the determination in his voice, I leaned back against the seat. "Why weren't charges pressed? That makes no sense. What you did to Kid…you were like a gorilla, Brady."
He snorted and turned into Nellie's parking lot. "Who'd you get that from? That douche who kissed you?"
"How'd you know that?"
The cockiness flared back to his face as he flashed a smile and parked. "No one else would call me a gorilla. They know better."
I followed him out of the car. "You mean they know you don’t think sometimes before you start pounding fists? It sounds like a gorilla to me."
Brady was on the sidewalk, but turned around. I stopped just short of slamming into him, but he caught my elbows and held me in front of me. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence and a thorough perusal, he asked, "Are you pissed at me?"
Was I? During the party, the fight, and then the police station showdown, I hadn't had time to think about it. Now that I was away, I realized I was pissed. "You're darn right I'm mad. I just spent the night at a party where I got drunk, cried, thought we shouldn't be friends, and then watched you beat Kid up. That's not even adding all the stuff at the police station. You did this. You…you upheaved my night. I wanted to stay in. I wanted to be boring. I like being boring, Brady"
"Okay! Seriously. Stop shouting. Holy cow, Rayray."
I hadn't realized I'd been shouting, but after I thought about it—I had every right to shout. "I feel like I don't know what's going on anymore. Nothing feels normal anymore."
I looked away. I didn't want him to see the tears in my eyes, but Brady caught my chin and pulled me back. With a hand under my chin, he tilted my head up and my eyes met his. He asked in a sombre voice, "You don't think we should be friends? Because I really want to kiss you right now."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I held a hand against his chest. "You can't kiss me."
Brady frowned. "Why?"
"Because I don't know what's going on. I don't know if this means something or not."
"What are you talking about? Of course it means something."
"Does it?" I frowned up at him. He looked beautiful. Shadows graced his cheekbones, giving him a thoughtful look. And the seriousness in his eyes allowed him a haunting presence. I felt my heart skip a beat. "I don't know what anything means right now."
Brady stepped away from me. "What are you talking about?"
Did I know? "I do
n't know, Brady. I just don't know."
"Well, what are you talking about?"
"Deputy Doug asked me about my mom. Why would he ask me about my mom? Why would Frank Stephens hate me so much? Why wouldn't he press charges against you? Nothing makes sense, Brady. And there are girls who say awful things about me…I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do, but the one thing I do know is that kissing you will make things more confusing. It'll be all sorts of confusing. Do you know what I mean? Am I crazy here?"
Brady sighed as he wrapped his arms around me. I shuddered in them, a good shudder. He tucked his chin in my shoulder and murmured, "Do you know what I thought about in there? You, Rayna."
I lifted my arms, fisted, and pressed them against his shoulders. I wanted to say something, I just couldn't.
"You are my best friend. No matter what's going to be thrown at us, we can overcome it. I'm sure. I promise. I want—hell, I can't say that, but I can say that I want this. I want to kiss you, Rayna."
"Hey you two!" Viola shouted across the street. A moment later we heard her car door slam and I lifted glazed eyes to watch my grandmother dart towards us. She looked giddy.
Brady cursed under his breath, but turned with an arm braced around my shoulders. "Thanks for bailing me out, Vi. I owe you."
Viola swept past us. "You sure do. I need you to keep my grandbaby on the straight and narrow."
I flinched.
Brady stiffened.
Viola laughed and threw her head back. The sound was freeing. "I love it, Brady. You got my girl out for an all-night rager. That's what makes memories. It builds character. I need my baby to have some fun."
I watched as my grandmother bypassed us and went inside of the gas station. "She makes it sound like I'm going to die a nun."
When we heard Bob's welcoming roar inside, Brady hugged me. "Well, we both know you won't die a virgin."
I stopped short, but Brady chuckled and kept going.
Glaring at his back, I retorted, "Not funny."
"That's my job, babe." Brady flashed me a smile as he held open the door.
I wasn't sure which annoyed me the most: Brady's arrogance, my grandmother's expectation that I'd die from boredom, or Bob. At that moment, I picked the Bigfoot. I was going to ask if Ned would get rid of it, but the words died in my throat. He and Viola were involved in a heated discussion or maybe I should say that Ned was proclaiming his love and Viola was ignoring him.
Some things never changed.
"What about Friday night? I will buy a dozen roses. I'll light my humble abode on fire with candles. I'll have a gourmet meal delivered. How about it, Viola Leann?"
My grandmother snorted and reached inside a freezer to pull out a carton of vanilla ice cream. "You mean you'll light the plastic fake-candles that you stole from the church five years ago and you'll order pizza for me?"
"Well, when you put it like that, I could throw in for some cheesy bread. Would that do it for you?" Ned was so hopeful. "Don't forget the red roses. They're expensive."
Viola stopped and tightened her hold on the ice cream. "I have been saying no to you for thirty-nine years, Ned. When's it going to change?"
"I've got red roses, Viola. I know for a fact that Neil's never given you flowers. What kind of man is that?"
Viola turned firm eyes on him. "That man has been by my side for forty-three years. And those were some long and hard years, Ned. You remember some of them. He has not once complained, whined, or made me cry. That is a feat no other man can measure up to. So you ask yourself if you could do better."
Ned opened his mouth, thought for a second, and then closed it.
Brady chuckled beside me and moved forward to follow them. As they moved further down the aisle, I heard Brady taunt, "You going to back down to that, Ned? There isn't a feat that you can't imagine you'd overcome. Some of your lies sound better than that."
"He ain't made her cry, Brady. I can't do better than that."
Brady dismissed, "Come on. What kind of man doesn't make a woman cry? The best ones make 'em cry."
"Brady Jake Remington. You are not helping one bit with your foolish encouragement."
"Come on, Viola. Ned's just a bleeding heart here. He's a literal standing bleeding heart, right in front of you. How can you turn your back on that?"
I shook my head. Everyone knew Ned would never win over my grandmother, except for maybe Ned, but there was some entertainment in his attempts. I always suspected my grandmother was flattered by his attention, which was why she kept shopping at Nellie's even though she always left with a tenfold promise to never step foot in that store again.
I was proven right as I heard a slight hint of laughter in Viola's false sternness. "If he was literally bleeding, I'd have the decency to hand him a towel. Until then, I don't have the time to even offer him a tourniquet. Now scootch, both of you."
I tuned out Brady's predictable comeback and perused the toiletries. I didn't know if I chose that aisle on purpose or if my wanderings guided me to the right spot, but as I kept moving down, I saw a couple of pregnancy tests resting on the white stand. I caught my breath and stood frozen for a moment. Should I move away, ignore what I already worried about, or should I… I had no idea. This was above my head.
Something kicked in my stomach, perhaps my guilt. Without thinking I reached out and picked up one of the foreign boxes. This box, this tiny, simple box could hold an answer for something that could change my life. I blinked away tears and ignored the sudden pounding in my chest. The box felt too heavy to hold. As my hand started to fall, another caught it and tucked it against his chest.
I looked up and saw Brady. He held me tight against him and transferred the pregnancy test from my numb fingers to his.
"Are you worried about this?" There was a gruff note in his voice, but there was something else.
I shook my head. "We didn't use…"
Brady switched the box to the other hand and squeezed my hand with his free one. "We'll get through it. I promise."
I wanted to believe him. I really did. I wanted to close my eyes and know that whatever Brady said was true. He could do anything. But this, I knew he couldn't stop something that might already be growing inside of me. The time to stop it had already passed.
"Don't make promises that you can't keep," I whispered back.
Looking up, Brady caught his breath at my emotion. I let it shimmer, bright and shining, because I needed him to see how serious I was. I couldn't have him shrug it off and party it away. This was real, could be real.
"Holy. Mother of God. Are you kidding me?"
I whirled around and saw Viola at the end of the aisle. Her eyes were hot and she gripped the ice cream pail until her knuckles became white. Her face lost all the blood flow as she stomped forward. "You had better be joking. This had better be an elaborate pathetic joke, Brady. I won't be laughing if I'm the brunt of this awful, awful trick. Brady? Tell me you're kidding."
A lesser man would've laughed off the false joke. He would've taken the opening and ran for the hills.
Brady tucked me behind him and lifted a sober chin. "We'll handle this. Rayna and me."
"Like hell you will!" Viola whipped out, her eyes storming. She stepped forward with her hand outstretched to grab me, but Brady shuffled me out of her reach. She reared back. "You give her to me now. I can't believe you—I can't believe the two of you—Rayna! What were you thinking?"
"All due respect, Viola, we weren't thinking. We were doing what most kids do. We were living in the moment."
My grandmother's mouth clamped shut, but she flung a finger up and thrust it against his chest. "You know better," she seethed. "Of all kids, of everyone, you know better! You don't give me that crap. Now Rayna, she's sheltered, but you knew better."
"And she doesn't?" Brady firmly planted himself in front of me. "You treat her like she's a two-year old. You act like she's this fragile future spinster who doesn't know how to walk on her own two feet. You're clueles
s about her."
"You don't tell me about my granddaughter." Viola bristled in her rage. "You don't tell me."
"All due respect, but I know your granddaughter a little better than you do."
"No, you don't."
Brady quieted, but he only lasted a second. "You have always preached to me about making her live a little. You wanted her to have adventures, but still stay the same person. You wanted me to be the person to help her with that. You picked me on purpose. You saw how I was going to be a long time ago and you constantly called me over for lunch and supper. You handpicked me to be friends with Rayna. You knew that I'd take care of her. And now that the friendship has gone to another level, what'd you expect? You know who I am. You've always known who I am. What'd you expect?"
Viola surged forward and gritted out, "I expected you to respect her. I expected you not to treat her like one of your hussies. I expected you to not have sex with my granddaughter, who you know doesn't do those things easy. She's not like the rest of them."
"Like the rest of who? The rest of the skanks in this town? Or just the ones I sleep with?" Brady tilted his chin up further.
"I'm inferring that you didn't respect her enough to use a rubber," Viola lashed back.
"Enough!" I cried out.
"Rayna, no…" Brady urged.
I ignored him. "Grandma, we can talk about this later. I think it'd be the smart thing to schedule a doctor appointment for me tomorrow or as soon as possible."
"When?" Viola gutted out.
Brady flashed a triumphant smile, but I inquired, "When what?"
"When'd you do it? It might not even need to be done."
"Oh you mean about the—it was within seventy two hours, but I won't even think about any abortion pill. If it's…," My throat was tight. It was painful to swallow. "If it's supposed to be, it's supposed to be. I do think I could benefit from a check-up and further birth control measures." I finished and then tucked my chin against Brady's shoulder. It took everything I had to muster that maturity.
Viola didn't see my weakness and chuckled to herself as she shook her head. "Which one is the adult here?"
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