by Max Henry
“No.” Lace catches my arm before I can leave. “Stay. After this, we’ll talk about tonight.”
Shoot. “Make it quick, then.”
“Oh, please.” Maggie settles herself in front of the unlit fire, heels propped on the hearth. “Don’t deny you’re curious, too.”
I level her with a hard stare. “I’d rather Beau told me himself.” For some reason, this feels like a betrayal, going behind his back to get the dirt.
“So?” Lacey urges, damn near vibrating on the spot. “Spill.”
“Girl.” Maggie sighs. “That boy has a wicked tongue.”
“Jesus!” I cry, hands in the air. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”
“To kiss with,” Maggie presses, gaze locked with mine. She holds a hand up to her mouth as though trying to keep her next words a secret. “I’ll give you the full rundown later, Lace.”
“No fair.”
“Fair,” I growl. “We need to talk about tonight.”
Lacey’s huff echoes my feelings on the matter. None of us can be fucked, but the obligation can’t be ignored.
“What’s my role?” Mags hooks her thumbs in the back pockets of her black jeans; elbows winged out while she awaits instruction.
“You’re looking after Lacey,” I answer, much to both girls’ surprise. I lock stare with Lace and continue. “Amber is unpredictable when she’s threatened. I need to know you’ve got someone watching your back.”
“Why me, though?” Mags asks.
“Where will you be?” Lacey drops to the arm of a chair.
“Helping our dads keep the trouble contained.”
“You’re playing bouncer.” Maggie’s lips set in a firm line. “Let me guess. Beau will be doing the same?”
“With a broken arm?” I scoff. “Nah, mate. He’ll be making sure the animals don’t get fucked with.”
It’s there in Maggie’s disappointed gaze: she’d rather keep him company than watch Lacey.
“I trust you the most,” I tell her.
She shifts her attention to my girl, moving to sit on the opposite arm of her chair. “You try to ditch me, and there’ll be trouble, miss.”
“You’d have to catch me first.” Lace grins, slapping Mags on the thigh.
I love that they have each other. Sure as heck makes me a lot less likely to do something stupid when I don’t have Lacey’s welfare always on my mind. I’m not joking around when I say Amber is volatile. These girls know how she is, and Maggie especially has seen the carnage Johnson’s stepsister has caused since she was still in a goddamn training bra.
But they haven’t grasped the full reach of her influence. Not like I have, knowing Johnson as I do.
Yeah, I’m worried about what Amber will try. But I’m concerned about what she’ll get others doing for her, too.
“Give me the rundown,” Maggie says. “Who is on board with what so far?”
I drop to the sofa, elbows on knees. “Beau is with the horses like I said. Pisses him off, but he can’t do fuck all with a cast. Ed, Johnson, and I plan to be with our fathers, keeping watch on the property. Has your mum said anything, Mags?”
She shakes her head, short black hair falling out from behind her ear. “I thought she might want to stay out of it.”
“Ask her what she’s doing. Dad didn’t say anything, but after last night she seems pretty keen to get involved, right?”
Maggie nods in agreement. “I guess.”
“Colt will be here with us,” Lacey fills in. “He went out a little while ago,” she tells Maggie. “But he’ll be back before everything kicks off.”
“And your friend from town?”
“Greer?”
Maggie nods.
“She had to go home, but she said she’d be back.” Lacey’s gaze drifts to her discarded phone. “I haven’t heard from her.” My girl’s chin lifts, and she looks at Mags and me in turn. “Christian appears to be on our side.”
“What?” I scoot forward. “Since when?”
“He sent his mother after my mum when she came out here.” Her focus settles on me. “After you left.”
“Your mum was here?” Maggie exclaims. “Why didn’t you say?”
“My thoughts exactly,” I grumble. “Why didn’t you tell me this happened when your mum showed up?”
She shrugs. “Didn’t seem important at the time.” The pink of her cheeks tells me why.
Oops.
“Anyway. Marion—Christian’s mum—chased mine back to the city, I presume. I’m not sure. Derek left with his wife, and Alicia left alone.” She smiles softly. “We have an advantage over them.”
“The affair?”
Lacey nods. “Marion has proof. She’s livid. Derek will be doing everything he can to bury it.”
“And their kids raising hell won’t help,” I muse out loud.
“Dad thinks he can reason with Derek to help shut this feud down,” Lacey says.
As though on cue, her dad walks in with an armful of wood. “Hi, Maggie.”
She slides off the arm of the seat to stand. “Hi, Mr Williams.”
He chuckles. “I’m not going to growl at you for sitting inappropriately on the furniture.” He looks pointedly at his daughter, who still does, before adding. “Have you seen the state of them? They’re hardly worth fussing over.”
Look fine to me. But then again, who knew what kind of expensive stuff Lacey’s family used to own back in Riverbourne?
“Are you sticking around for dinner?” James asks Maggie. “I’ll need to get more out of the freezer if you are.”
“Nope.” She fingers her car keys. “Just stopping by.”
“Have you spoken with Derek?” Lacey cuts straight to the chase.
Her dad drops the wood into the basket by the fireplace. He then turns to face her, brushing his hands over the hearth. “I have.”
“And?” I can’t help myself. I want to know if we’re in this alone, or if we have backing from the city.
“And he promised to speak with the parents after he’s dealt with Marion. He thinks they’re more likely to pay mind to what he says, not me.”
Lacey groans, lounging back against the seat edge. “That could take all day, though.”
“It could,” James agrees. “But it’s all we’ve got.”
I don’t like the way Lacey and her dad seem resigned to our fate. And from the way Mags catches my eye, neither does she. The more this day goes on, the less I feel we’ve got a shot at controlling the chaos at Dee’s.
I don’t even know for sure which approach we’re taking with the jerks from the city. Are we still betting on killing them with kindness, or is revenge the order of the day?
Again, looking at Lacey, I don’t like what I see.
Frustration colours her irises, storming the light from shining through. She grows restless and angry. A combination that’s destructive when left unchecked—I should know.
“We need to talk to Dee,” I drop into the quiet room. “Nobody has got her on side yet. If we stand a chance at doing any of this, then she has to be on board.”
“We’ll deal with her when your father and I head over later this morning,” James states.
“I think we should try first,” Lacey says, resolute in her belief. “Let us talk to her as peers. She might just clam up if you go at her hammer and tongs.”
“I don’t care if she does,” James answers. “I won’t be there as a shoulder for her to cry on. She needs to understand the implications of letting this party go uncontrolled.”
“She knows,” Maggie says. “The issue is that she’s too desperate to care.”
“What do you mean, desperate?”
I hold his eye and explain. “Dee has never really fit in. She’s been Amber’s shadow most of our school-life. She wants to be noticed, whatever the cost.”
“Christ’s sake,” he mutters. “Who will she be most likely to listen to, then?”
I shrug. “Mandy, perhaps?”
“If I let you lot do thi
s,” James details, “it’s one shot. You get one go at making her understand, and then we run with the original plan: Kurt and I will talk to her.”
“Fine.” Lacey scowls down at her hands, balled into loose fists. “But I’ll do it.” All eyes swing toward her. “If it weren’t for me, then her party wouldn’t be threatened like this, right?”
“That’s hefty responsibility to assume,” her dad quietly warns her. “I don’t think you can foot all the blame, honey.”
“He’s right.” I rise to my feet, too agitated to sit. “We’re all a part to blame for this mess. We all had a chance at one stage or another to do something about it, and we all chose to look the other way to further our agenda.”
“That may be,” Lacey argues. “But, I’d like the chance to level with her one-on-one.”
“No offence, bud, but I think she needs Mandy’s influence,” Maggie adds. “They go back a long way and, whether she shows it or not, Dee values what Mandy has to say.”
“Fine.” Lacey nods. “Then, we both go.”
“Not on your own,” I protest, beating her old man to it. “I’ll take you.”
James catches my eye. “I think that would be wise.”
The steely determination resides in my girl, apparent in the grind of her jaw before she huffs, “Fine.”
She wants to take this all on her back—for what reason, I’m not one hundred per cent sure. To be a martyr? I don’t think so.
Guilt fits better.
But if there’s one thing I’m going to make her damn well understand before this night is through, it’s that shouldering the pain isn’t her job.
It’s mine. And that ain’t ever going to change.
Not as long as I’ve got her name etched on my heart.
COLT
The passenger door slams, rocking my Explorer when she gets in. “You can’t come inside.”
“Why not?” I lean back in my seat—cool, calm, and collected on the exterior.
Internally, I burn.
“Because you’re Riverbourne’s most wanted, at the moment,” Willow levels. “And Portside’s, for that matter.”
“Lucky me.”
Her huff echoes around the cabin. “Why are you here?”
“You need to come out to Arcadia tonight.” I flick a speck of dust off the dashboard. “You’re the only neutral party in all of this that holds any weight to what she says.”
“You think your schoolmates would listen to me?” She scoffs. “What makes you think I’m down to broadcast my involvement anyway?”
Willow visibly pales when I roll my head to pin her with a hard stare. “Because you love my sister.”
She fails miserably at hiding her hurt. “She made it clear where we stood with each other when she left for Riverbourne.”
“She was a puppet to my mother’s strings,” I explain. “Lacey had no choice but to go radio silent.”
“Or what?” Her brow pinches while she stares out the windscreen at her house.
“Mummy dearest would have sent her to live with our grandparents for the remainder of her schooling.”
Willow snaps her head around. “They live in the North Island.”
“Exactly. Out of reach, away from influence, and closer to the eligible bachelors of Auckland.” I smile, remembering the simmering rage our mother held for weeks on end, waiting for Lacey to slip up. “I think Mum was quietly disappointed she couldn’t follow through. Probably why she started buttering up Christian’s parents.”
“Your mother never wanted Lacey to date Christian,” Willow argues. The two of them share recent history. It must be a touchy subject, given the way she scowls.
“How do you think my mother ended up with Derek?”
“She was initially trying to match Christian and Lacey?”
I nod, loving the shock she displays. It grows increasingly harder to do this with people as time goes on; I miss the thrill.
“Makes sense, I guess.” Willow stares off into contemplative silence. “I still don’t think I could help tonight.”
“Won’t know for sure unless you’re there.”
“What if showing my face makes matters worse?”
“Again,” I drawl. “Won’t know unless you’re there.”
She falls into a trance, eyes glazed as she slowly breathes deep and long. I reach across and snag my phone while I wait for her to decide, disappointed to see there’s nothing new from Greer.
“When?”
“Now.” I toss the device back in the centre console. “I have one more stop to make, and then I’m back out in Hicksville for the night.”
“Heavens,” she sighs. “Give me some warning, don’t you?” Willow reaches for the door, tossing over her shoulder. “Give me an hour to get ready and tell my dad I’m out for the night.”
“Forty-five,” I counter. “I’ll run my other errand and be back to pick you up.”
“Damn it, Colt.” She scowls my way; hand braced on the side of the door.
“It’s the country, Willow.” I lean over the centre to see her better. “Nobody gives a fuck what you wear, as long as it’s warm.”
“That’s what you think.” The door slams shut, and she strides toward her front door.
With a chuckle, I turn the engine over and then slot it into reverse. The girls around here are all the same: far too hung up on what people think of them. But then, who can blame them when they live under their mothers’ shadow?
“Siri. Call Greer.”
I back out onto the street and turn toward Christian’s. The line rings twice before she picks up.
“Hey.”
“I’m on my way to meet you.”
“Colt,” she hisses. “No.”
“Why the fuck not?” I shout, over this shit.
Her silence weighs heavy before she whispers her response. “Don’t complicate things.”
“By being there when you need me?” I growl. My hands throttle the steering wheel. “I’m minutes from Christian’s, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Jesus, Colt! Stop. We’re not at his house.”
“Then where the fuck are you, Greer? And don’t think you can blow me off with some bullshit answer.”
“I’m trying to protect you,” she pleads. “Protect us.”
“From who? If you think I’m going to let our goddamn pretentious parents dictate our lives anymore, you have another thing coming.” My neck cords with rage, arms vibrating with excess adrenalin. “I will drive to every fucking residence in this city if I have to until I find you, and then I’m taking you with me, where you belong, home.”
“I’m not going back to my house.” Thunder fills her statement.
“I don’t mean your house!” I roar. “Listen to what I’m saying, Greer. My home. You belong with me, and that’s where you’ll fucking stay.”
She remains mute a moment, sending my pulse hammering. “Life isn’t a fairy tale, Colt. Sometimes the big bad wolf wins.”
“I am the fucking wolf.”
Rustling pierces the line, a muted argument concealed by the scratch of hands over the microphone.
“What the hell are you saying to upset her?” Christian.
“None of your business.” I pull to the side of the road, unsure where to go now I know she’s not at his house. “Where is she, Mayberry?”
“Safe. So, you can stop playing the hero.”
“Never started.” I’m the villain in this story. Always have been. Always will be. “She doesn’t belong with you.”
“And right now, she doesn’t want to see you.”
“Bullshit,” I holler, slamming the heels of my hands against the steering wheel.
My horn sounds, startling a woman walking by with shopping in her hands.
“For once in your ignorantly stubborn life,” he sneers, “take my advice. Breathe deep and take a goddamn moment. You won’t help anyone when your emotions rule your reactions.”
“Then tell me what the hell yo
u’re doing with her, Christian. Why have you got my woman?”
“Your woman?” He snorts. “Beating your chest, too, are you?”
“Fuck you.”
“Meet us at my country house in an hour. We’re on our way there.”
“How can I trust you?”
“I sent my goddamn mother after yours, didn’t I?”
My molars grind. “To save your inheritance, I bet.”
He sighs. I can picture the arrogant bastard pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just meet us there.”
Prick hangs up before I can get him to put Greer back on the line. She doesn’t want to see you. Whatever.
I refuse to believe it until she says it to my face.
LACEY
“Hey.” Mandy climbs in the back seat of Tuck’s Hilux, buckling herself in. “Dee’s expecting us.”
“You already spoke to her?” Tuck asks, eyeing her in the rearview.
“After you phoned to say you were coming over.” She huffs, catching her breath. “I didn’t tell her anything else, though.”
“I’m sure she would have figured it out,” I say, staring out at the fenceposts as they slip by.
Maggie left my place to head across to Beau’s, keen to help him get ready for the night ahead. I’m sure dressing and pulling shoes on with a cast isn’t that hard, but she seemed adamant that his house is where she should be.
Tuck confirmed my suspicion when he smirked at her haste to get out the door; she’s after another taste of our boy Maun.
Can’t blame her. The way that guy swoons over her would make any girl’s knees weak.
I sat in the truck by myself and watched Dad give Tuck a stern talking to before we left. He wouldn’t say what they discussed, only that Dad wanted to impart a little advice before we embarked on our crusade to talk sense into Dee.
I get the feeling it was a little more, given Tuck stood with hands in pockets, head down as he rocked on his heels, and listened. I plan to get the truth out of him later—in private.
“Where’s Johnson?” Mandy asks. “I thought he’d be down to strongarm Dee into doing something.”
“At home,” Tuck answers. “Hey, tell me. What’s the feeling you get off him?”
“About what?”
“All of this,” Tuck says, waving his left hand around. “The shit going down tonight.”