by R. Linda
“What?” Indie kicked me under the table.
“Ouch,” I hissed at her before looking at Linc. “Control your woman.”
Stupid mistake.
Linc laughed and shook his head like I should have known better.
I should have.
She kicked me again.
Hard.
“Dammit, Indie, that hurts.”
“I am not his woman.” She pointed at me. “And I can’t be controlled.”
“Clearly, you’re a savage,” I muttered and rubbed my shin where I was sure there would be blood streaming down if I chanced a look. “Linc didn’t tell you either.”
I was tempted to flip him off but figured the wrath of Indie would be enough punishment for how smug he looked when she mutilated my leg with her scuffed Chucks.
She spun to look at Linc with a raised eyebrow.
Linc raised his hands in defence. “Ace, relax. I didn’t tell you because whenever I saw you, Brody was the last thing on my mind.”
Indie smiled at him, satisfied with that answer. Linc slung his arm over her shoulder and flipped me off with the same hand.
Prick.
“But all those times you didn’t see her and only spoke on the phone, you never thought to mention that Brody had moved back home?” I could have let it go, but I enjoyed messing with him too much. It was what we did.
“Seriously, In, I only moved back a couple weeks ago. Don’t worry about it.” Brody tried to diffuse the situation, but it was a futile attempt.
Indie spun in her seat and shrugged out of Linc’s hold. “Why didn’t you tell me on the phone?”
“Ahh, come on. Really?” Linc groaned and tilted his head back.
“Really.”
Linc glared at me then kicked me under the table as well.
“Shit.” Match made in heaven, those two. I rubbed my shin.
“Because when I spoke to you on the phone, Ace, Brody was the last thing I wanted to talk about,” he said quietly, pinching her chin between his fingers.
That was my cue to close my eyes and not look at them.
Still too weird.
“Okay,” Indie said softly. I peeled one eye open, and then another, and noticed she was back to sitting under his arm. “So where are you living?”
“At Nate’s place.” Brody reached for a menu from the table behind him.
“Nate’s?”
“Yep, ever since Linc moved out.”
Linc had bought the old shack on the beach a couple of months ago and had been fixing it up for him and Indie to live in when she graduated. And Brody had moved back to town about a week before Linc settled the house and got the keys, so he slept on the lumpy sofa for a few weeks before taking over Linc’s old room, while Linc moved out and finished renovating the home he planned on sharing with my sister.
Weird.
“Okay, good.”
“You worried about my living conditions, Indie?” Brody teased.
“Just wanted to make sure you weren’t living in some dive or sharing with some weirdo.” She glanced at me. “Some other weirdo.”
“Nope, all good. Nate needed a roommate to take Linc’s place since you have him wrapped around your finger and buying you a house.”
“I still can’t believe you bought a house for us and kept it a secret from me,” she said to Linc.
“It was bound to happen eventually. Sooner rather than later, don’t you think?”
She dropped her voice to a whisper and put her lips against his ear so no one else could hear what she was saying.
Linc grinned. “Not now.”
I shuddered.
Brody looked between us with an amused expression.
I didn’t know what she said to him, and I didn’t want to.
Too. Damn. Weird.
Bailey and Ryder took that moment to walk in through the doors, bringing with them howling wind and the rain that had begun to fall. The storm seemed to be settling in for the next few days.
“Julie.” Ryder’s face lit up as he dragged Bailey around behind the counter and gave the woman who served us last night a kiss on the cheek.
“Ryder, darlin’, and Bailey, you sweet thing, good to see you back.” She hugged them both before ushering them away with the promise of a round of Cokes and burgers on the house to celebrate their return.
Not one to complain about free food, I shoved the still unappetising menu aside and greeted Bailey and Ryder when they made their way over to the table.
“Kenzie coming?” Indie asked Bailey when she sat at the table next to us with Brody.
The booths were big, meant to seat six people, but it was too close for comfort. Bailey answered with a nod.
“And Harper too,” Ryder said, falling into a tattered red pleather chair beside her.
Harper.
“Harper’s coming?” Brody sat up and straightened his shirt. Ran his hands through his hair.
Linc looked at me with a raised eyebrow. And I knew what he was thinking. After reconnecting with Harper at my parents’ wedding six months ago, Brody realised his feelings hadn’t quite gone away when they broke up. He was still trying to impress her and win her back.
“Yeah, she’ll come join us as soon as she finishes work,” Bailey answered.
After seeing her walk out of here last night, I wondered briefly if Harper worked here. And if she did, whether everyone else knew as well but decided it was not really any of my business. We weren’t friends, even though she had dated Brody a few years ago when they were both in uni. We had only met the week of my parents’ wedding when Kenzie asked if she could bring her friend along because she was scared of flying alone, and it just so happened Brody’s ex-girlfriend was Kenzie’s best friend.
“Is Kenzie bringing Cole?” Indie asked Ryder. “I miss that kid.”
“Nah, it’s too late for him.” Ryder glanced at his watch. It was only six p.m. There was no way the kid would be asleep now. He was five.
Cole was Ryder’s twin sister Kenzie’s son, who also happened to be the son of Bailey’s ex-boyfriend.
Yeah, their family was complicated.
Kenzie and Chace dated until she fell pregnant at fifteen and he demanded she terminate the pregnancy. When she refused, his family ran her out of town, and he moved on to the naive and unassuming Bailey before breaking up with her for Bailey and Indie’s ex-best friend, Christina. The bloke was an asshole. And that was putting it nicely.
“Bailey, pretty lady. I heard you and the kid were back in town. I’ve missed seeing your face around here.” I looked up to see a guy who I could only assume was the cook, judging by his greasy apron, hair net, and spatula in his hand, standing at our booth.
“Johnny.” Bailey stood to kiss him on the cheek. “How are you?”
“Good.” He smiled at her before glaring down at Ryder. “Don’t get up on my account, kid,” he said and slapped Ryder over the back of the head.
“I won’t.” Ryder punched him in the side.
“So, you guys know each other, then?” Brody asked.
Obviously, they knew each other. That would be why Ryder suggested meeting here and not somewhere…nicer.
“This little punk wandered in here about six years ago, looking like a lost and lovestruck little puppy. Caught the moron scratching his name into my tabletop with a sweet little love heart below it…” Johnny increased the pitch in his voice and wiggled his fingers in Ryder’s face until Ryder slapped them away. “Never did get to finish writing who it was he hearted, but I think we can all guess whose name it would have been etched into my lovely Formica.” Johnny winked at Bailey, and we all laughed, because Ryder had been in love with Bailey before she was even a blip on Chace’s radar—another reason the guy deserved the award for the world’s biggest asshole. “Forced the kid to pay for the damages, and turned out he could get his way around the kitchen almost—”
“Better,” Ryder interrupted with a cough.
“Almost as good as I could.
So, I gave him a job until the day he packed up and moved to uni with pretty Bailey, here.”
“And the jerk never fixed the table,” Ryder grumbled. “Made me work every day for three weeks with no pay and didn’t replace the table.”
“Taught you a lesson, didn’t it?”
“No.”
“What happened to the table?” I asked curiously.
“Nothing.” Johnny reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. “’Bout time he finished it off and wrote that name, I reckon.” He handed Ryder the knife and nodded to the small table over by the front window.
“Just so you know, I’m not working for damages this time.” Ryder snatched the knife from Johnny’s hand before standing and kicking his chair back, with Bailey close behind, and walked over to the table he had marked with his name all those years ago.
Bailey stood back and watched as he scratched and carved what was clearly her name into the tabletop.
“Hey, Johnny,” she called over her shoulder.
“Yeah, pretty Bailey?”
“I’m not working for this either.”
Johnny laughed. “Noted.”
Ryder finished carving Bailey’s name and dropped the knife on the table before grabbing her by the face and kissing her.
“Told you this was real.” He winked.
“Never doubted it.” She smiled at him.
He picked up the knife and handed it back to a smiling Johnny. “Now, go back out there and make our food. I’m starving.”
“Yeah, yeah. I might just spit in yours, kid.” Johnny elbowed him in the stomach and called back to us, “Don’t worry, I won’t spit in yours. I save that for the VIPs.”
“VIP doesn’t mean what we think, does it?” Linc asked.
“If you’re thinking it means Very Impatient Pricks, then you’d be right,” he said with a laugh as he walked back to the kitchen.
“You guys are so gross.” Indie screwed up her face at Bailey and Ryder when they sat back down holding hands and kissed again.
“You can talk…Ace,” was all Ryder said, using Linc’s nickname for her. Bailey laughed, and Indie blushed and shut up.
The door to the kitchen opened about fifteen minutes later, and out walked Harper with a tray full of burgers.
My jaw dropped. She did work here, and she was working tonight. For some reason, I assumed she worked with Kenzie at the hospital.
Brody’s back straightened.
And Linc tilted his head curiously.
“Hey, guys.” Harper set the tray of burgers on the table in front us.
Bailey and Indie smiled at her while Ryder lunged for the food.
Harper glanced at Brody and then me before muttering, “Hi.”
She whipped off her apron and flicked her eyes between the empty seat in the booth next to me and the lone chair at the table between Brody and Ryder.
I choked on air when she chose to sit beside me.
“Umm, how long have you worked here?” Brody asked, trying to sound casual, but I knew he was anything but. He had desperately been hoping for another chance for months.
“Since I moved back to town.”
“Tell your uncle his burgers are still crap.” Ryder smiled through a mouthful of food. So, he knew she worked here, which meant Bailey knew. And if Bailey knew, Indie knew. And if Indie knew…I looked at Linc, but he just raised his eyebrows and shrugged. He didn’t know.
“He won’t believe that, you know,” Harper said, reaching for her own burger.
“But you know it’s true.” Ryder was cocky as hell.
“Your uncle?” I raised an eyebrow and reached for my own burger, wanting to know how bad they really were. Maybe last night was a fluke. Though I suspected it was just a long running joke between Ryder and Harper’s uncle.
“Yep. Johnny is my dad’s brother. I moved here with him and Julie about two years ago. Transferred my degree here and…yeah.” She went silent and cast a nervous glance at Brody before she dropped her gaze to the table.
I got the feeling the reason she moved to Blackhill with her uncle wasn’t something she talked about regularly. And I was sure whatever happened, Brody had no idea, judging by the stunned expression on his face.
I took a bite of the burger and groaned. Ryder was wrong. They were still as good as last night. Best burgers in the state, for sure. “These are so good,” I said, shovelling more deliciousness into my mouth.
“Wait until you try Ryder’s burgers.” Bailey nodded in agreement, a drop of sauce on her cheek.
“You’ve…ahh…got some…” I waved a fry in front of her face to draw attention to the fact she had sauce there.
“Thanks.” She wiped it with her napkin and gave me a sheepish smile.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Kenzie?” Indie asked, drawing attention to the fact that Ryder’s twin sister still hadn’t arrived.
“Nah, she’ll be here when she gets Cole sorted.”
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. That was how the saying went, right? Cole took that moment to come rushing through the front doors. Unruly blond curls matted to his face from the rain and green eyes wide with fright, he lunged for Ryder as soon as he laid eyes on him.
“Whoa. Hey, buddy.” Ryder wrapped him in a hug. At five years old, he looked the exact image of his uncle, only with lighter hair. “What are you doing here?”
“Mumma said I could come. She needs you.” He sniffed.
“What’s wrong? Where is she?”
“Outside.” We all stopped to listen to the kid. What was wrong with Kenzie?
“Is she hurt? Cole, tell me what happened,” Ryder urged, his voice laced with worry about his sister.
“No, she’s okay. Just hurry, Unca. There’s a man out there, and he wouldn’t let us inside.”
With that, Ryder passed his nephew to Bailey, who hugged him to her chest, and stood and stalked toward the door.
“It’s okay, buddy. He’ll bring your mumma inside,” Bailey cooed in Cole’s ear, rubbing her hand up and down his back to comfort him.
Linc looked at me with a slight tilt of his head. I nodded, and he stood, kissed Indie on the head, and followed Ryder out the door.
“Harper?”
She looked at me and waited for me to speak.
“Can you move?”
There was no way I was sitting in there when who the hell knew what was going on out there. But I knew one thing. I wasn’t leaving Ryder alone out there with whoever was harassing his sister.
Harper slid out of the booth, allowing me to make my exit. I ruffled Cole’s hair in reassurance as I walked past and heard Bailey whisper to him, “See, they’re all going. It’ll be okay.”
Pulling my jacket tighter around me, I stepped through the doors into the howling wind and needle-like rain. Squinting in the darkness of the parking lot, I could just make out four figures on the other side, so I jogged toward them. Kenzie appeared to be screaming and yelling, but I couldn’t hear her over the storm, and as I got closer, Ryder seemed to be struggling against Linc’s hold.
Linc was arguing with Ryder, trying to hold him back from beating the shit out of some dude who looked vaguely familiar. Kenzie was still screaming, and this time I could hear the abuse she was shouting at the Ken doll wannabe getting in Ryder’s face.
“Kenz.” I touched her shoulder, and she spun around so fast, her fist connected with my cheek. The crack of her knuckles on my bone echoed through the parking lot, even through the storm. Slightly disoriented, I shook my head and pulled her to me.
“Nate, I’m so sorry. I thought—
“It’s fine. You hit like a girl,” I laughed when all I really wanted was to ice my cheek because she hit nothing like a girl. “But you should go inside.”
“I can’t leave Ryder out here alone with him,” she spat. The venom in her voice was jarring, and it dawned on me.
“He’s not alone. Go to Cole,” I said. “We’ve got him.”
She looked over her shoulder at
her brother, who was still fighting Linc’s hold, and then to the diner where her son was inside worried sick about his mumma and his uncle. “Don’t let him do anything stupid.”
“Of course not.”
“Thank you,” she said and darted across the parking lot.
“Linc,” I said standing just behind them with my arms folded and eyes narrowed on Barbie’s boyfriend. “Let him go.”
“What? No.”
“Let him go.”
Linc looked at Ryder and must have seen something in his eyes because he listened and let Ryder go, stepping back to stand beside me.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” he asked, folding his arms and watching as the fight unravelled in front of us.
Ryder was kicking his ass.
“Chace.”
Chapter Four
Harper
No sooner had Nate stormed out of the diner in search of Ryder and Linc than Brody got up and followed.
“What is going on?” I asked the girls, but neither answered.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Indie pushed her food away and reached out to brush Cole’s hair out of his face.
“Shh.” Bailey glared at her then spoke to Cole, her eyes softening. “You hungry, buddy?”
“Can I have a burger?” Cole straightened, his eyes widening in delight.
“Sure.”
“And fries?”
“Absolutely. Want a milkshake too?”
“Mum said I can’t have chocolate or sugar before bed.”
“I think it’ll be okay. If she says anything, tell her it was my fault. Okay?” Bailey tickled Cole’s stomach.
His laughter rang out through the diner.
“I’ll go make you something special,” I said to Cole, getting up from the booth. Bailey thanked me as I walked past.
It was nothing. The poor kid looked terrified when he walked in, so I was going to make him a monster chocolate shake with extra cream and ice cream. Whatever was going on outside, it couldn’t have been good for them all to go storming out there.
As I approached the counter, the door opened, and Kenzie rushed in. “Where’s Cole?” Her voice was panicked.
“He’s okay,” I said and nodded in the direction of the table where Bailey was drowning her fries in ketchup for him.