I handed them each a beer and took a seat on their couch.
“So you’re sending the picture to Grace?” I asked.
“We’re going to get it framed for her. But first we’re going to put the cardboard Asher in their window. Then we’ll get cardboard cutouts of us wearing the Asher underwear and put those in their window. It’s gonna be fucking hilarious.”
“Just don’t try to make one of me.”
Gavin and Logan glanced at each other.
“Nah, why would we do that?” Logan asked.
“Do you have one already?”
Gavin put the back of his hand over his mouth, unsuccessfully stifling a laugh.
“No,” Logan said and put his hands up when I glared at him. “I swear. We didn’t make one of you.”
It was the stupidest thing, but I was almost disappointed. Not that I wanted them to make a cardboard cutout of me. Or worse, underwear with my face on them. But the three of them had always been close—always in on something together. And now that Asher was home, he was right here too, although in this case, the prank was on him.
But me? I’d always lurked on the edges of their world.
“So what are you doing out here?” Logan asked. “Let me guess. Your woman is busy, so you’re bored.”
“I just wanted to stay close by while she’s at the stitch thing the girls do. Her asshole father showed up in town yesterday.”
“No shit?”
Gavin sat straight up. “Why are we just hearing about this now?”
“Was I supposed to call you immediately?”
“Yes,” Gavin said, as if that should have been completely obvious. “Of course you should have called us immediately. What the hell, man? Also, what kind of asshole are we talking?”
“Her dad’s a prick. Remember the Mustang the cops impounded because it had been stolen? He sold it to me. Fiona used to work for him, but she left because she suspected he was getting into criminal shit after he’d promised her he wouldn’t. Plus he was fucking her best friend and hiding it from her.”
“That’s messed up,” Logan said.
“The friend thing is gross, yeah. But that’s not what pisses me off. It’s how much he scared Fiona. I didn’t realize she was afraid of her dad until I saw her afterward. She was literally shaking.”
“I’d be pissed too,” Logan said.
“He was driving off by the time I got there, but I wanted to rip his fucking face off.”
“Do you think he’ll be back?” Logan asked.
“Maybe. I think she’s worried he will. This is really fucked up, but she said a couple of years ago she quit her job working for him and he got pissed about it. Then there was a fire at the new place she was working. She said she can’t prove it was her dad, but she’s always wondered if he had something to do with it.”
“He’s that crazy?” Logan asked.
“He might be.”
“Do you need any help looking out for Fiona?” Gavin asked. “Because I’d be happy to help.”
I glared at him. “No.”
“Don’t worry, man, I’ll take really good care of her.”
Logan glanced at him. “What’s with the death wish, Gav? You realize he’s going to rearrange your face if you keep talking about his girl.”
Gavin just grinned.
“Seriously, though,” Logan said. “If you need us to keep an eye out or whatever, let us know.”
I nodded and took a sip of my beer. “Thanks.”
“Of course.” Logan tossed me a video game controller. “Time for me to kick your ass.”
I took the controller in my hands. I hadn’t sat around playing video games with them in a long time. But why not? “You fucking wish.”
He did kick my ass. But I didn’t really mind.
Not that I told him that.
But hanging out playing video games and having a beer with my brothers wasn’t a terrible way to fill my time.
I didn’t tell them that either. But I was pretty sure they knew.
30
Fiona
Evan dropped me off at the Knotty Knitter and I went inside, feeling a little buzz of anxiety. Dad’s visit yesterday had thrown me off-kilter. I’d thought about staying home tonight—being with Evan undoubtedly made me feel better—but I also enjoyed Stitch and Sip nights.
And I wasn’t going to let fear make my decisions for me. Not anymore. So here I was.
Like everything in Tilikum, the little craft store was adorable. It smelled of crisp paper with a hint of something floral in the air. The aisles were stuffed with crafting and sewing supplies. Someone had spilled glitter near the scrapbooking section and tracked it across the floor.
I stepped around the glitter and headed for the back of the shop. There was a shabby couch and mismatched armchairs surrounding a large coffee table. Gram was here tonight, as were Grace and Cara. Rounding out this week’s group were Tillie Bailey-Linfield, a woman who looked to be in her late sixties and wore bright pink lipstick, Violet Luscier, who had taken some convincing that I wasn’t a mail-order bride, and Lacey Hanson, a math teacher at Tilikum High School.
I said hello to everyone and got settled in one of the empty chairs. Cara and Grace had given me a Stitch and Sip tote bag my first time, along with a crochet starter kit they’d put together for me. I wasn’t very good yet, but it was still fun.
“There’s our happy little tulip,” Cara said. She actually had a crochet project in her lap, although it was hard to tell what she was trying to make. “You look adorable. What’s different?”
I tucked my bangs—which were growing out too much to be called bangs anymore—behind my ear. “I’m not sure.”
“I think it’s your makeup,” Cara said. “Your punk rock look was super cute, but I like this more natural thing you’re doing. Your eyes are freaking gorgeous.”
“Thanks.” I felt my cheeks warm a little. I had started wearing less makeup. There had been a time when I wouldn’t have been seen by anyone without eyeliner and plenty of mascara. Not even Simone. But lately I hadn’t felt like I needed it the way I used to.
I felt like I could be myself here.
“You do look amazing,” Grace said. “I think Tilikum agrees with you.”
“Something sure does.” Cara winked. “But I don’t think it’s the town. Unless by Tilikum you actually mean Evan’s dick.”
Tillie choked on her drink. “Cara, for heaven’s sake.”
“Oh Tillie, don’t pretend you don’t love a good dicking. We all do.”
Tillie pinched her lips as if she disapproved, but she had a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. Lacey laughed and shook her head.
“Cara, read the room a little,” Grace said, giving a subtle head nod toward Gram.
Gram didn’t look up from her knitting. “Don’t hold back on my account. I’m well aware my boys grew up into men who do all the things men do. Besides, you don’t have to tell me there are benefits to being with a Bailey man. I was married to one for many happy years.”
Cara whistled. “Gram, this is one of the many reasons you will forever be my hero.”
Gram glanced up and winked at me.
“Speaking of the boys, what are they doing tonight?” Violet asked.
“Asher took some of his students to a tournament,” Grace said. “It was a couple of hours away, but they’re on their way home now. Eli took first in his weight class.”
“Good for him,” Gram said. “He worked hard for it.”
“That’s so great,” I said. “I’m not sure what Evan is up to. I’m a little bit surprised he isn’t sitting out in the parking lot after yesterday.”
“What happened yesterday?” Grace asked.
“My dad and Simone showed up at his place.”
Cara sat bolt upright in her chair. “Oh hell no. Why didn’t you call me?”
I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“Who’s Simone?” Lacey asked. “Evil
stepmother?”
“No, so much worse,” I said. “She was my best friend until I found out she was sleeping with my dad behind my back.”
Violet and Tillie shared a shocked glance. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was. It’s part of why I moved out here.” Fresh anger bubbled up and I dropped my crochet hooks in my lap. “You know what really pisses me off?”
“Let it out, baby girl,” Cara said.
“He sent Simone in first to try to coax me into talking to him. Why would he think that would work? Do neither of them realize how much their betrayal hurt me? I haven’t even talked to Simone in weeks and she walked in and hugged me like we were still best friends.”
“She touched you? I’ll claw her face off,” Cara said, and Grace put a soothing hand on her arm.
“I just don’t understand how they can be so clueless.”
“Selfishness breeds blindness,” Gram said. “I’m sorry that happened, Cricket.”
“Thanks.”
“What did they want?” Grace asked.
“Dad wants me to come home and go back to work. I told him no, but he wasn’t happy about it.”
“Was he always so controlling?” Cara asked.
“Pretty much. He doesn’t like it when he doesn’t get his way.”
“Good for you for standing up for yourself,” Cara said.
Lacey nodded. “Absolutely. That’s not easy.”
“Thanks. It was nerve wracking, but thankfully Sasquatch came running out of the woods and cut our little reunion short.”
“I swear, you’re the only other person that dog likes,” Grace said.
Gram’s needles clicked. “She’s part of his pack, now.”
I smiled. I was, wasn’t I?
“Grace, I keep meaning to bring this up,” Tillie said. “Did you ever discover anything more about that mirror you found?”
“Not much,” she said. “Cara and I hit a dead end and then I started planning a wedding. I haven’t though much about it.”
“What mirror?” I asked.
“Someone hid a box with an old mirror and a stack of anonymous love notes beneath the floorboards in my house,” she said. “The mirror was engraved with the name Eliza Bailey, but I’ve had a hard time finding out anything about her.”
“Thanks to me, or at least thanks to me hiring Libby Stewart, we did find out that Eliza went missing,” Cara said. “And it’s possible a Haven had something to do with it.”
“Is that how the feud started?” I asked.
“We don’t know,” Grace said. “Everyone in town has a theory about why the families started feuding. But people in town also say you’re in witness protection because you’re the daughter of a motorcycle gang leader, so…”
“People say that?” I asked. “What people?”
“Oh, I started that rumor,” Cara said, her tone nonchalant.
I laughed. “Why would you start a rumor about me?”
“I just like to see how outrageous I can make them and still get them to spread,” she said. “I also started the rumor that Asher escaped from prison.”
Grace sipped her drink. “Mrs. Darby still believes that, you know. She gives him the side eye every time she sees him.”
“And she probably thinks Fiona is in witness protection.”
“Anyway, my point is, you can’t believe town lore,” Grace said. “And it’s hard to find any reliable information from before the 1920s. There was a fire that burned down half the town and a lot of records were lost. All I know about Eliza is that she was receiving anonymous love letters, and then she went missing. There was a notice in the newspaper offering a reward for information on her whereabouts, and it had what looked like a list of people wanted for questioning. One was a Haven—John Haven. But we don’t know if he was actually involved, or how, or whether the families were already feuding then or not.”
“They could have been secret lovers torn apart by the feud,” Cara said. “Or maybe he murdered her.”
“Or maybe they died together tragically,” Grace said with a sigh.
“Did you say John Haven? Why does that name sound familiar?” I searched my memory. The only Haven I really knew was Luke. Except— “I know! I saw a picture of a John Haven. It was a really old photo—black and white and very faded.”
Grace let her crochet hooks drop in her lap. “You’re kidding. Where?”
“In Luke Haven’s shop. He has some vintage auto-racing photos behind the front desk. I’m almost positive he said one of them was John Haven.”
“Do you know how old the photo was?” Grace asked.
“I don’t know the exact year, but early 1900s.”
“Wow,” Grace said. “That matches up with the style of the mirror. I bet that’s the John Haven mentioned in the newspaper notice.”
Cara arched an eyebrow at me. “You were at Luke Haven’s shop?”
All eyes swung to me.
“Yeah. It was a month or so ago.”
Her lips curled in a devious smile. “Why?”
Violet clicked her tongue. “I smell gossip.”
“No, there’s no gossip,” I said quickly. “When I first came to town, Luke offered me a job. I went to his shop to tell him thanks but no thanks.”
“He what?” Grace asked. “I can’t believe Luke offered you a job. What was he thinking?”
“I’d love to believe he simply thought I’d be a good fit, but I’m sure it was to get back at Evan more than anything.”
“Could have been a bit of both,” Gram said. “I have a feeling the boy liked you quite a lot.”
“How do you know that?” Grace asked.
Gram shrugged. “A hunch.”
“Well, he did kind of ask me out. And he kissed me.”
Everyone in the circle gasped—except Gram.
“No, no, no. You’re getting the wrong idea. I told you, this was a while ago. Before Evan and I were… anything.”
“Was he a good kisser?” Cara asked. “I bet he was. Luke is completely fuckable.”
Grace whirled on her. “Cara. You can’t say that. He’s a Haven.”
“Oh come on, we all know the Havens are a bunch of fuck-hot mountain men. I bet they smell like pine trees, flannel, and bad decisions. Don’t look at me like that, I put them all on my no-touchy list a long time ago. But that’s entirely out of loyalty to you, and under protest.”
Grace glanced at Gram, probably wondering if Gram was going to scold Cara for her language. I’d heard her tell her grandsons to watch their language plenty of times, but her no swearing rule seemed to be limited to her house. Or maybe just her grandsons.
Cara turned back to me. “So? How was he?”
“He was fine, but honestly, I didn’t feel much of anything. I was surprised when he did it, but not the good kind of melty surprise when you really want to be kissed. It was very meh.”
Cara’s shoulders slumped. “Well that’s disappointing. I guess you’d already been hooked by whatever makes some women,” she said, gesturing toward Grace, “fall for those Bailey boys.”
“There’s three left,” Grace said, her tone full of mock innocence.
“Do you even know me?” Cara asked.
Grace laughed. “Anyway, it’s a good thing you didn’t take that job with Luke. That would have been a disaster.”
“Would it have been that bad?” I asked. “I know, I know, the feud is real, and Luke and Evan hate each other anyway.”
“Most everyone chooses a side eventually,” Violet said. “Or they default to one.”
“But sometimes Baileys and Havens are friends. Marlene Haven comes to Stitch and Sip. She was here last week.”
“Stitch and Sip is different,” Tillie said. “The Knotty Knitter is sacred ground. The feud is neutralized here.”
“Well, if it can be neutralized here, maybe it can be neutralized everywhere. Especially if you could figure out how it started in the first place.”
Gram met my eyes and th
e corner of her mouth twitched in a hint of a smile.
“I don’t know,” Grace said. “It’s so deeply ingrained in people here.”
“I have to agree with my little tootsie roll,” Cara said. “Tilikum is the feud.”
Maybe they were right. But what if someone did figure out how the feud had started? Would discovering the origin make a difference?
I didn’t know if anything could bring the feud to an end. But finding out how it had begun would have to do something. Maybe it would be the first step in finally burying the hatchet.
Not that there was anything I could do about it. I couldn’t exactly go ask Luke questions about the photo in his shop. Whatever good rapport I’d had with him was certainly gone now. I hadn’t seen him since the day I’d turned him down. I doubted he had any interest in being friendly with me, let alone helping me solve a century old mystery.
But I still had to wonder if someday, someone would bring the feud to an end.
31
Evan
I sat on my bike outside the Knotty Knitter, waiting for Fiona. A few women had already come out. My great-aunt Tillie patted my cheek and inexplicably said, “Good job.” For what, I had no idea, so I just said thanks.
Gram walked out with a bag hanging from her arm. Our eyes met and she veered toward me. I dismounted so I could see if she needed help with anything.
“Hi there, Wolf. Isn’t this a nice surprise.”
“Hi, Gram.” I kissed her forehead. “Can I carry that for you?”
“No, I’m fine. And Cricket should be along soon. She’s still chatting with Grace and Cara.”
“Should I be worried about that?”
“Maybe.”
I cracked a smile. “You love to make people wonder, don’t you?”
“I make myself quite clear. It’s not my fault if people don’t always understand me right away.”
“Fair enough. Speaking of, where’d you get the name Cricket?”
“From the night air.”
“This is you being clear?” I asked. “The night air told you to name a woman you’d just met after an insect?”
She tilted her head and smiled at me, like I was a child who didn’t understand a basic concept. “Cricket is who she is. She’s the evening song that soothes the spirit of the restless wolf.”
Unraveling Him: A Small Town Family Romance (The Bailey Brothers Book 3) Page 23