Page 20

D ALI

“I have no idea what I’m going to do with my life,” I admitted as I flopped back onto Jodie’s bed. I could hear my cousin slamming things around in the bathroom, so I lifted my head and asked, “What are you doing?”

“My daughter is a thief.”

“What did Jaimee steal?” I asked with a laugh as I laid my head back down.

“I just bought mascara, and it’s gone along with . . . Okay, I’ll let her live. My mascara is gone, but she left the lipstick.”

“Where is your better half? She is, you know.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Jodie replied as she walked into the bedroom. “She’s at the beach with friends, soaking up the sun and making the most of her summer before I move her into the dorms in August.”

“I can tell by the look on your face and the tone of your voice that she’s handling this much better than you are.”

“I missed too much time with her already, and now she’s leaving,” Jodie said sadly. Suddenly, she shook her head and pasted on a smile. “Nope. Not going down that road. It’s not like she’s moving to Australia or something. She’s just going to be a few hours away.”

I rolled to my side and propped my head on my hand before I pointed out, “You’ve had five great years with her. Now it’s time for her to spread her wings and take all the things you’ve taught her out into the world so she can do wonderful things with her life.”

“Keep saying some version of that for the next four years or so, okay?”

“I’ll change it up so it doesn’t get boring.”

“Speaking of changing things up, tell me how things are going with you and Anthony. He looked like he was ready to rip your clothes off when he found you at the store with me.”

“He tried to be noble but I wasn’t having any of it.”

Jodie started laughing before she asked, “Seduced him, did ya?”

“It didn’t take much effort,” I said with a grin. I flopped onto my back and sighed before I said, “I never imagined that I’d wake up in Anthony Michaels’ bed!”

“You’re living proof that dreams come true.”

“I know, right?”

“God, you’ve got it bad,” Jodie said as she sat on the end of the bed and bent over to pull on her shoes. “I just hope he lives up to the hype.”

“What hype?”

“You’ve been dreaming about the man since you were a kid.”

“Since I was a kid? You act like you’re ages older than I am.”

“I might only be a few years older, but my life took a very different path than yours. I just hope your dream man doesn’t turn into the monster mine did.”

“There’s no way in hell Navy would ever lay a hand on me.”

“I know.” When I just stared at her, she said it more emphatically. “I know ! I just assume a man’s going to flip behind closed doors until I know for sure that he won’t. Even then, I’m always suspicious.”

“Surely, you’ve dated since you’ve been home.” When Jodie just shrugged, I sat up so that we were side by side and softly asked, “Haven’t you?”

“Nothing serious.”

“What?”

“I’ve had a few . . . encounters.”

“Encounters?”

“That sounds better than one-night stands, doesn’t it?”

“I guess. So, you haven’t dated anyone seriously since you’ve been out?”

“I’ve been busy!”

“For five years?”

“Time kind of got away from me.”

“I guess so. We’ll have to find you a good man to corrupt.”

“Oh, no. You better not start in on that shit too. I’ve got enough pressure from the aunts. Even Dad has sent men my way.”

“It might be time to give love a chance.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re mesmerized by Anthony and his .

. . Is it big?” I shoved her away, and she laughed as she stood up and walked back into the bathroom to finish her hair.

“You’ve got that freshly fucked glow about you, so I’m going to assume that it’s better than average and he knows how to use it. ”

“Oh, he does.”

“My question is what kind of man is he outside of the bedroom?”

“We’ve known him forever, Jodie. You know he’s a good guy.”

“Even good guys have secrets, sweetheart. Especially the ones that seem too good to be true.”

“Not Navy. He’s a unicorn.”

“Yep. You’re completely dickmatized.”

“That’s not even a word.”

“If it wasn’t before, it is now. That’s the only way to describe the look on your face and the blind faith you have in a man you haven’t talked to in ten years.”

“We’ve all got skeletons in our closet, Jodie. You know that.”

“I do. I just hope his don’t rattle too loudly when you find them.”

◆◆◆

NAVY

“I’ve got this Anthony! You don’t need to stay all night.”

I smiled at Karlie, not quite sure how much we should tell her about the situation, especially since I knew that once any of my brothers got their hands on the men who had threatened my father and our family business, their injuries would end up on the news.

I wasn’t worried about my brothers getting caught - we’d all learned our lesson the first time.

Even though we weren’t exactly law-abiding citizens, we were much more careful than we’d been before.

I decided to give her the basics and explained, “Dad was attacked by some thugs. A few days later, a man came with a couple of goons to shake Dad down for protection money and threatened that much worse would happen if he didn’t pay up.”

“Oh, hell no!”

“That’s a much nicer way to put what I thought about the situation.”

“Did you call the cops?”

“We did after the attack but not when they came to shake us down.”

Karlie looked out over the few patrons that were still in the bar this late.

They were mostly regulars who were just glad to have their home away from home finally open again.

Trout, one of my club brothers, was sitting at one end of the bar, minding his own business as he watched over things and relaxed after his long ride from Wyoming.

Her eyes drifted toward the other end of the bar where another club brother, Shorty, was seated. She watched him as he stared at his phone and then frowned before she looked back over at Trout.

I didn’t want to draw attention to our connection, so I hadn’t talked to either of them any more than any other patron. You could never be too careful.

Dismissing the two men who happened to be here right now, she asked, “Those two hotties who came in to talk to you earlier are part of your solution, aren’t they?”

When I nodded, she said, “Good. If you need a place to bury the bodies, I inherited some land from my grandpa.”

Trout coughed, and I knew he was trying to hide his laughter, but Shorty wasn’t quite as successful. He barked out a loud laugh and then cleared his throat. When he saw Karlie and I watching him, he grabbed his phone and mumbled, “Sorry.”

Karlie ignored him and said, “I’m serious. You know I love your family, Anthony. All of you have stood by me through some of the hardest times in my life and cheered me on through some of the best. I’d do anything for the three of you.”

“Thanks, Karlie. We’re glad to have you as part of our family.”

“Well, keep that land in mind. It’s not much, but it’s mine, and I don’t ever plan to sell.”

“That’s good to know. I’ll keep it in mind as an option if something comes up that needs to be hidden.”

“The land is almost a hundred acres, so neighbors aren’t a problem, and there’s a barn out there too,” Karlie hinted.

“Do you go out there very often?”

“I’ll go out and forage for berries for jelly when I get an urge to be Holly Homesteader, but other than that, not really.

There are a few plots I lease to neighbors for grazing to help me pay the property taxes, and that land is fenced off.

The rest is on the mountain, so it’s not good for much. ”

“Are you keeping it in case you win the lottery one day and decide to build a mansion?”

Karlie laughed before she said, “If I wanted to build a mansion, I’d sell the land for a stack of cash and live somewhere else.”

I knew Karlie well enough to know that her offer was real, and she wouldn’t blink an eye if I asked her to keep a secret. I filed that away for now but thought it could come in handy if we needed a quiet place to conduct some business.

And by business, I meant torture and killing, but business all the same.

Karlie must have sensed my uncertainty because she looked something up on her phone and then slid a napkin down the bar toward me. I glanced down and saw she’d written down coordinates and a four-digit code. When I looked up at her, she smiled and said, “That’s for the gate.”

“You’re the best.”

“No, your dad is the best.”

“Thanks, Karlie,” I said as I slipped the napkin into my pocket. I put my arm over her shoulders before I lowered my voice and said, “If I happen to go out there, I’m not going to tell you about it.”

“Good because I like living in the land of ‘I didn’t see nothin’, I didn’t hear nothin’, and I don’t know shit.’”

“Since I’m staying anyway, why don’t you go ahead and take off? I’ll close up.”

Karlie scoffed before she walked over to the cabinet and pulled out her purse. “I’m leaving before you change your mind.”

I chuckled as she walked toward the door. As she called out her goodbyes to the regulars, I caught Shorty’s eye, and he nodded before he slipped his phone into his pocket. As soon as the door closed behind Karlie, he was out of his seat, headed outside to make sure she got to her car safely.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was time for last call, so I made my way around the bar toward the customers seated at the tables to let them know this was their last chance for a drink.

By the time I got back behind the bar, Shorty had returned to his seat and was watching the news intently.

As soon as I read the caption, I used the remote to turn up the volume.