“It fucked me up a little bit. It fucked us all up, I think. Asher was… he was the oldest, you know? He wasn’t perfect but we all looked up to him. And then all of a sudden, he was gone.
“After that, things got rough at home. I didn’t go back to school for a while, but I talked to Carly all the time. I tried to convince her to come out here to see me, but she never did. Looking back, that should have tipped me off that something wasn’t right, but at the time, that wasn’t where my head was. After seeing things go down with Asher, I had this sense of urgency about Carly. Like she could be taken away from me in an instant, and I couldn’t let that happen. So before I went back to school, I bought a ring.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was going.
“I wanted to surprise her, so I didn’t tell her I was coming back. I didn’t tell Tucker, either. I went straight to Carly’s, but as soon as I saw her face when she answered the door, I knew something was wrong. She went pale. I tried to hug her, we hadn’t seen each other in months, but she crossed her arms and wouldn’t look at me. She just kept saying she wasn’t expecting me and I should have called first. And then Tucker walked out of her bedroom.”
“Oh my god.”
“They made a bunch of bullshit excuses about how they never meant for it to happen. But seriously, what the fuck? I thought I was going to marry her, I had her ring in my pocket, and he was my best friend. My brother had just gone to prison. And they knew. They knew what was happening at home, and they still started fucking each other behind my back.”
“So you not only lost your girlfriend, you lost your best friend too. During what must have been one of the most difficult times of your life.”
“Yeah.”
I closed my eyes, letting out a long breath. Evan kept his hand over mine, holding it against his chest. I couldn’t believe he’d been betrayed like that. It made my heart ache for him. For the man he must have been before they’d crushed him. No wonder he was so closed-off. He’d given his heart to someone and she’d stomped on it like it meant nothing to her.
Suddenly I really, really hated Carly.
“After that, I quit school. Packed up all my shit and moved home. When I moved into this place, I brought it all with me, but I’ve never unpacked it.”
“So that’s what’s in the spare bedroom? All your stuff from college?”
“Yeah. I don’t know why I even keep it. I guess I keep thinking I should go through it at some point, but I never do.”
“Evan, I’m so sorry that happened to you. And I hope they cheated on each other and gave each other chlamydia and herpes.”
He laughed. “I don’t know what happened to them. Carly tried to call me a bunch of times, but I never answered. I didn’t have anything to say to her, and eventually she stopped trying.”
“Did you ever hear from Tucker?”
“No.”
“What an asshole,” I said. “I don’t even know them and I’m so mad. You know what, fuck them. I hope they got chlamydia, herpes, and some kind of rectal dysfunction that gives them chronic diarrhea for the rest of their lives.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“They’re disgusting. And they deserve it.”
“You’re very vindictive when you want to be.”
“They hurt you.” I said.
He squeezed my hand. “Yeah.”
“So that’s why you live out here by yourself and act like a jerk so everyone will leave you alone.”
“That’s depressingly accurate.” He took another deep breath. “Or it was—before you showed up.”
“And now you have this random girl sleeping here, and working next to you, when all you wanted was to live out the rest of your life in secluded loneliness.”
“Yeah, so get the fuck out.”
I laughed. “Really, though, I don’t want to put a bunch of pressure on you, and under normal circumstances we could just… see where this goes. Like normal people would. But this isn’t exactly a normal situation, is it?”
“No, it’s not.”
“So what happens now?”
His whiskey-brown eyes watched me for a long moment. No brow furrow. No frustration or anger. His expression was as smooth as I’d ever seen it.
“Now you’re mine.”
The possessiveness in his tone gave me tingles. “I’m yours? It’s that simple?”
“It is for me.”
I’d never had someone say those words to me before. But the thought of belonging to Evan Bailey? I liked it. I liked it a lot.
“So I can keep my new plants?”
One corner of his mouth hooked in a smile. “Beautiful, you can fill the house with plants if it makes you happy. Just leave some space for my dog.”
“Done.” I gasped. “Eugenia!”
“What?”
“Blanche and Myra’s new friend. I couldn’t think of a name, but I think it’s Eugenia.”
“Of course it is. And the one in the office?”
“Edith.”
He looked at me like he was mystified. “Where the fuck did you come from?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I just needed a place to fix my car.”
“You got a little more than that, didn’t you?”
I glanced at his dick. He wasn’t hard anymore, but he was still damned impressive. “I’d say I got a lot more. There’s nothing little about it.”
The corner of his mouth twitched in a smile. He rolled me onto my back, pinning his arms over my head, and kissed me.
You’re mine.
This was a lot. It was big, just like the man caressing my lips with his. And for the moment, any doubts I might have had faded into the background.
If this was what it meant to be Evan Bailey’s girl, sign me up.
28
Fiona
The sun was warm and the air was filled with the scent of blooming flowers and rich soil. Gram had the most amazing gardens I’d ever seen. Flowers, vegetables, fruits, berries. I came over to work outside with her at least once a week. Sometimes we chatted as we pulled weeds and tended to her chickens. Other times, we puttered around in comfortable silence.
A month ago, Evan Bailey had declared that I was his. And he’d certainly meant it.
Not that he’d changed. He was still serious and broody with a perpetual brow furrow. He still growled at things when he was frustrated. He was still rough around the edges. Still Evan.
But somehow I was the lucky girl who got to see the Evan he kept hidden on the inside.
That man was affectionate and devoted. He kissed me tenderly, fucked me mercilessly, and never missed an opportunity for an ass grab.
What he hadn’t said that day was that I wasn’t just his. He was mine.
I knew how special that was. Evan Bailey didn’t give his heart to just anyone. He guarded it fiercely, lest someone wound it again.
That someone was not going to be me.
I didn’t necessarily know what the future held for us. My bank account was recovering, but I hadn’t mentioned Iowa in weeks. The truth was, I already knew I wasn’t going to leave. Not unless something changed. If things crashed and burned with Evan, I’d have to reevaluate, but for now, I couldn’t imagine life without him.
So I didn’t.
Gram came over to where I’d been pulling weeds for the last half hour. “Why don’t we take a break? I made some iced tea.”
“That sounds perfect.”
I went inside to wash my hands, then joined Gram on the back porch. Her peckers clucked and scratched and the beautifully cultivated rows of her gardens stretched across the yard. Birds chirped and the creek trickled in the distance.
It was positively idyllic here.
“How’s my Wolf doing?” Gram asked.
“He’s busy. He’s working on a car for Chief Stanley, plus the Pontiac of course.” I nibbled on my lower lip. I spent more time with Gram than he did, and I wondered if that bothered her. “Maybe I should suggest that he stop by next time
he comes into town.”
“It’s all right, Cricket. He’ll come home in his own time.”
“Come home?”
She slowly tipped back and forth in her rocking chair. “Have I told you the story of the lone wolf and the chief’s daughter?”
“I don’t think so.” I settled in to my chair. I loved Gram’s stories.
“When the world was still young, there was a great wolf pack. They roamed far and wide through their vast territory. One day, a young male wolf took a grievous injury. Not a mortal wound, but close. So he did what wolves do: He found a safe place to lick his wounds and heal. Except when he was up and walking again, he didn’t return to his pack. He stayed in his cave and avoided them, as if they’d done the damage.”
“He didn’t trust his own pack anymore?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“That doesn’t seem fair of him. Although I guess he was just a wolf.”
“True. And fair doesn’t hold much sway in the wild. Doesn’t always hold sway with men, either.”
“What happened to him?” I was afraid she was going to say he died alone in his cave.
Gram’s mouth twitched in the hint of a smile. “One afternoon, the chief’s daughter was out gathering berries when she came across the mouth of the lone wolf’s cave. His yellow eyes glowed in the darkness and he growled a warning.”
Involuntarily, I gasped.
“Her father, the chief, was friends with the wolf pack, so his daughter wasn’t afraid, not even when the wolf bared his teeth to her. She knew the pack had traveled north in search of prey and this male must have been separated from his family. And as he paced back and forth in the entrance to the cave, she could see the signs of his injury.”
“So she knew he’d been wounded and now he was alone.”
“Yes. And she knew it wasn’t good for the wolf to be alone. So she decided to help him.”
“How?”
“She began leaving pieces of meat to coax him from the cave. At first she kept her distance, but gradually she moved closer. It wasn’t long before he was eating right out of her hand.”
“She wasn’t afraid he’d attack her?”
“Oh, I imagine she had moments of fear. The lone wolf wasn’t friendly to most people. He growled and bared his teeth to everyone else. But the chief’s daughter became the exception.”
“But what about his family? What about the wolf pack?”
Gram’s lips turned up in a smile. “That’s a very good question, Cricket. You see, the chief’s daughter wasn’t trying to tame the wolf. She was merely teaching him to trust her. Once he did, she started luring him farther from his cave, in the direction of the pack.
“One day, she led him close to where the pack was resting. The lone wolf sat at a distance and watched for a while, then went back to his cave. But the chief’s daughter was determined. Each day, she led the wolf back to his pack, until he finally ran into their midst and made contact.”
“Was the pack happy to see him?”
“Indeed they were. They circled and sniffed and did what wolves do. And the chief’s daughter watched with a full heart as they accepted the lone wolf back into their pack. The story says the alpha wolf looked at the chief’s daughter and dipped his head to acknowledge what she’d done.”
A tingle raced down my spine. “That gives me chills. What a beautiful story. Do you mean I’m kind of like the chief’s daughter, luring the lone wolf out of his cave?”
“A little bit,” she said. “He’s happier than I’ve seen him in a very long time. Soon I think he’ll remember he can trust his pack. He’ll be a part of it again.”
I finished my iced tea with Gram and reluctantly said goodbye.
When I got home, Evan and Sasquatch were gone. His vehicles were all here, so he’d probably taken him for a trail walk. I threw in a load of laundry and glanced in the spare room. He’d thrown out most of the boxes he’d brought home from college without even looking in them.
There was a knock at the front door, so I went to answer it. I opened the door and almost choked on my own tongue. It was Simone.
Her platinum hair was down and she wore a flowy pink tank top, jeans, and bright red lipstick. She smiled and held her arms out.
“Oh my god, Fi, I missed you so much.”
Before I could say a word, she grabbed me in a hug, pinning my arms to my sides. My back stiffened and I squirmed out of her grasp.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I stepped away from her. “Wait, how did you even find me?”
“I don’t know, your dad talked to someone who said he talked to you a while ago about a car for some Bailey guy.”
Oh my god. The Caddy for Chief Stanley. It wasn’t like I’d been actively hiding, but I had liked the idea that my dad didn’t know exactly where I was.
Damn.
She wandered into the front room, glancing around. “This place is kinda basic, but I guess it’s cute. So you’re shacking up with this guy? He must have a huge dick.”
“What?”
“Well, it’s obviously not because he has money.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Seriously?”
“I’m just saying. Anyway, I know I should be all totally mad at you for abandoning me and everything. But I can’t stay mad at you.”
“You’re mad at me?” I asked. “Did you forget the part where you were sleeping with my dad and lying to me about it?”
Rolling her eyes, she groaned. “Are we still on that topic? God, Fi, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“Are you still with him?”
She shrugged. “For now. He blew me off for a while, but he came crawling back. You know how men are.”
That figured. It was typical of my dad. “Not all men are like that.”
“Don’t be naïve, Fi. Of course they are. I know exactly why he’s with me.” She gestured to her body. “And he knows exactly why I’m with him.” Raising her eyebrows, she rubbed her thumb and fingertips together, signaling that it was because he had money—and spent it on her.
I stopped myself from asking whether she realized she’d just made herself sound like a prostitute.
“Simone, why are you here?”
She took a dramatic breath. “Because your dad needs to see you.”
I gaped at her. He’d sent her to convince me to talk to him? Unbelievable. “I don’t see how this is any of your business.”
“I know you have this weird hang-up about me being with your dad, but we’ve been best friends our whole lives. Or close to it. Are you really going to let a man come between us?”
“When that man is my father and you both lied to me about sleeping together, yes. Yes, I am.”
“God, Fiona, you’re being so fucking unfair.”
“Look, I don’t care. Date my dad. Sleep with him. Move in with him if you want. It’s fine. And I’ll go see him eventually, but I’m just not ready for that right now. I need some space.”
She crossed her arms. “Could you maybe stop being selfish for like five seconds? He’s waiting in the car for you.”
“He’s here?”
“Yeah.”
Letting out a frustrated breath, I glanced at the door. “Fine.”
Simone gave me a self-satisfied smile. I wanted to smack her, but I settled for glaring at her back as I followed her outside.
Dad got out of his SUV dressed in a pale blue polo and dark slacks. He looked a little rough. There were circles under his eyes and his face was slightly puffy, like he was bloated.
He was stressed. He always ate too much salt when he was stressed.
“Fiona,” he said, then glanced at Simone. “Wait in the car.”
Her face twisted in a sneer. “But—”
“Just get in the damn car,” he said.
Simone rolled her eyes, but got in the passenger side.
I crossed my arms. “Hi, Dad. Nice to see you too.”
“Can we go inside?”
There was no w
ay I was letting him into Evan’s house. It was his den—his safe place. And right now, my dad felt more like an adversary than family. “I’d rather not.”
His face darkened a single shade. “I didn’t come out here to argue with you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To come clean.”
I felt like a terrible person, but I was immediately suspicious of his motives. “Okay.”
“You were right about me working with Felix Orman again. I got into some debt. The business wasn’t making enough to pay it off. Felix came to me with an offer. Low-key stuff, not a lot of risk. I took him up on it because I needed some quick cash.”
“What debt? I was doing your books and I didn’t know the business was in debt.”
“It was personal.”
“So your solution was to join up with the guy who almost got you sent to prison once before?”
“Look, there are things you don’t understand.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, Dad, because I’m just a child. “So you did know the Mustang was stolen.”
He shrugged. “We were moving a lot of goods. Rare cars, parts. Other stuff. I found him a buyer, I didn’t ask Felix for the car’s history.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You were moving other stuff? What other stuff?”
“It doesn’t matter now. I’m getting out. Felix is into some heavy shit and even though the money’s great, it’s too much for me. Plus he’s got the feds breathing down his neck. That wasn’t what I signed up for.”
“So you’re out? Just like that? We both know it’s not that easy.”
“Yeah, I’m aware of that,” he snapped. “I’m working on it.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re getting out. Believe it or not, I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“Good. Then come home.”
My shoulders slumped. So that was the catch. “Dad—”
He put a hand up. “Fiona, I know I broke my promise, and I’m sorry. I’ll own up to that. But you have to come back. The shop is a mess without you.”
My heart fluttered with sudden fear. I’d defied my father up until now. I’d left my home and my job, and I’d stayed away, even when he’d called, demanding I come back.
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