Page 2 of The Locksmith’s Promise (The Promise Duet #1)

Eyes on the Prize

B axter

I slammed the liftgate down over the last box I’d packed into the cargo area of my SUV.

There wasn’t much. By the time I sold the furniture, all that was left was my guitars, my landscape, and my clothing. I didn’t know what waited for me in Moose Lake, and it wasn’t like I could pack up my furniture and sleep in that house.

Pacing the sidewalk with my cell phone pressed to my ear, I waited for Miller to pick up.

Here in Bridgewater in mid September, the mid-afternoon sun burned hot. At home it would be at least ten degrees cooler.

I still didn’t know the answer to the question, but worthy or not, I was going home.

“Yo.”

“Status.”

“She’s home; looks like she’s here to stay. Uh, I gotta tell you—”

“I don’t want to hear anything,” I cut in.

I’d taken enough from her. Anything else, I wanted her to give me freely. Or not at all.

“She’ll tell me herself if she wants me to know.”

A sharp laugh rang in my ear. “That’s how you want to play it?”

I nodded, then realized he couldn’t hear that. “I’m sure.”

“Bax,” he began. “I don’t want you to be blind-sided–”

“Miller,” I begged, coming to a stop. I covered my eyes with my hand and breathed deep.

I was so close .

“I don’t want to hear anything that might mean I can’t see her. Please. I’ll find out everything I need to know when I get there.” I closed my eyes. “I need to see her, talk to her, at least once. Just once.”

“Okay, man,” he replied softly.

He’d always had my back growing up. I wished I’d been half as good to him.

His next question cut through the debris of my thoughts. “You coming here?”

I snorted. “You got room at your place?”

The truth was, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. And Miller had gotten married and had a house full of kids since I’d left.

“Fuck, yeah,” he spat. “You think I’d let you sleep under that asshole’s roof?”

“My fuckin’ roof now,” I reminded him.

It had been weeks since Miller last called. I’d briefly considered packing it in and leaving right away, but I had responsibilities here, work to wrap up, and friends I couldn’t let down. Especially my band.

With bees buzzing beneath my skin, I waited until we played our last gig of the summer to break the news.

After the last performance, we gathered around the table Barrett’s wife, Willa, Lucky’s wife, Minty, and Lenny’s wife, Junie, had claimed earlier that night.

They were the reason I didn’t often join them.

Not that they weren’t good girls, they were.

And I’d grown to love them in my own way in the months I’d played with the band.

But they reminded me of the one I lost.

Eleven years later, it didn’t hurt any less.

Eleven years later, I still didn’t want anyone else.

My hand tightened into a fist as my knee began to bounce. “I’m moving back home.”

Barrett, Lucky, and Lenny turned to stare at me as one.

I wiped my sweaty palms down the worn thighs of my jeans. “My f-father,” I stumbled on the word, “passed away a few months ago. I’m going home to tie up loose ends.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Barrett rumbled.

“I’m not,” I admitted.

Lucky tipped his beer down his throat. “How long are you going for?”

I shook my head shortly. “I’ve got unfinished business. A lot of it. If things go the way I hope they do, I won’t be back.”

“Well, fuck!” Lenny exclaimed, slamming his bottle down on the table. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that many words in a row.”

I allowed a hint of a smile.

Lucky tilted his shaggy blond head back and eyed me. “I’m sorry to see you go, man. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Barrett leaned back and jerked his chin up with a small smile. “You already know what you’re looking for.”

I nodded shortly.

Those eyes that missed nothing flashed. “Or who.”

I nodded. “Who.”

Gifting me with a rare grin, Barrett stood up and extended his hand for mine.

Taking to my feet, I clasped his hand, then pulled him in for a hug. “Thank you. You don’t know—”

“I do,” he replied quietly. “Make sure you invite us to the wedding.”

I snorted my disbelief. I couldn’t afford to hope for the best, not when its failure to arrive delivered such devastating consequences.

Barrett’s hold on me tightened. “Eyes on the prize, man. Eyes on the prize.”

If anyone knew about that, it was him.

I breathed in his faith and nodded shortly. “Eyes on the prize.” Drawing back, I met his gaze. Calling myself a million times a fool, I claimed it. “I’ll see you in Moose Lake next summer.”

He grinned. “Count on it.”

I shrugged. “But I’m telling you now, if that woman ever agrees to marry me, we’ll be celebrating after the wedding. I won’t give her a minute to change her mind.”

He laughed. “I don’t blame you. I did the same.”

Over the past week, the three of them helped me pack up my house, and last night they brought pizza and beer for an impromptu goodbye party. I hadn’t known them all that long, but they’d quickly become brothers.

Would the past ten years have been different if I’d found them earlier?

I shook my head. Nothing would be worth it if it meant I wasn’t going home to Maggie now.

With a final look around the neighbourhood that had been more home to me than any other, I rounded the hood of my truck and readied myself to leave it all behind. I had just opened the door when the deep rumble of a motorcycle drew my attention.

Pulling in behind me, Lucky swung his long-ass leg over the seat and pulled off his helmet.

I quirked an eyebrow. “You miss me already, asshole?”

He grinned as he walked toward me, “Fuck you, motherfucker.”

I gasped in mock dismay. “Is that any way for a man who’s teaching the next generation to speak?”

He laughed. That sound, joyous and free, divided us in ways he couldn’t fathom.

“I have something for you.” Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a small package and gave it to me.

I dipped my chin and opened the case to find a Hohner 64 Chromonica harmonica. My eyes stung suspiciously, as if I’d contracted a sudden case of hay fever.

“I know you don’t like accepting gifts,” he began roughly. “And I know you had a shit dad. I don’t know what that’s like, but I do know how much it means to have someone believe in you.”

Unable to look at him, I turned the harmonica over and over in my hands until something caught my eye.

My hands froze in place.

He had engraved the back.

Write your own song .

My mouth went dry while shame crept up my neck. He knew what I came from.

I cleared my throat and rasped, “Are you my daddy now?”

His laughter rang out and it pierced me.

Write your own song .

I grinned at him.

“He actually has teeth,” he teased.

Just then, a little red sports car pulled up behind Lucky’s bike.

His eyes lit up before he even turned around. The driver’s side door opened, and a shapely leg tipped in sky-high heels stepped out onto the pavement.

“I don’t know how you managed to land that,” I joked.

He smiled softly. “Fuck if I know but I’m not complaining.”

Minty smiled at me before opening the back door and leaning in.

Lucky’s head tilted to the side as he watched her round ass wiggle as she struggled to pull something out of the back seat.

“You better not have your eyes on my wife’s ass, fucker,” Lucky murmured.

I barked out a laugh and averted my gaze.

He faced me and wagged his eyebrows.

Of all of them, I would miss Lucky the most. He reminded me of Miller, and he made me laugh when for a long time, nothing had been remotely funny.

Minty closed the door and sashayed toward us, blond hair elegantly upswept, a small smile on her serenely beautiful face. She positively exuded grace, yet I’d seen that woman get down and dirty with the best of them.

She contained multitudes.

I tilted my head to the side. “What have you got there, Minty?”

Her cheeks pinked. “You know we get all kinds of donations for the music program at Lucky’s school.” She hiked up the guitar case in her hand. “This would be wasted in the classroom.”

I shook my head. “I can’t take something away from the kids.”

She held out a graceful hand and arched her brows. “It’s not polite to refuse a gift, Baxter Martin, and I know you don’t want to hurt my feelings.”

I shook my head, lost for words.

“If it makes you feel better, the man who donated it asked that it go to a skilled musician. Someone who was worthy of it,” she added softly.

Are you worthy of her? Are you worthy of her like this?

My throat thickened.

I slanted a glance at Lucky. “I’m going to hug your girl, Luck.”

Minty handed the case to Lucky and opened her arms.

Soft and sweet, she gently wrapped her arms around my back.

I knew exactly how long it had been, to the very day, since I’d last had this.