Page 10 of Wildly Yours (Owl Creek #3)

I pull down the driveway leading to my parents’ place as my skin continues to prick with the heat of my rage.

My stepdad, Buzz, is in the driveway changing the oil on his truck.

He looks up at me as I park nearby, and rolls out from under his rig to greet me at my truck with a hug.

There’s no visiting these two without being smothered in hugs.

I pull away from him and wave the folder in the air. “Did you know about Blake Johnson harassing Mom?”

“What’s this about?”

“When he was on the city council twenty years ago. Mom was working as the admin and he harassed her.”

Buzz wipes his hands on his red shop rag and shoves it in his back pocket. “Let’s go inside. I’ll let your mother explain.”

I follow him inside and find my mother in the kitchen, working on her laptop.

“Cody! What a wonderful surprise.”

“Mom, what did Blake Johnson do to you?”

She exchanges a look with Buzz.

“Sit down honey. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No. I want to know what happened.”

“It was so long ago, why are you asking about this?”

“Because I just found out, that’s why.”

“But it’s done and put to rest. And how did you find out, anyway?”

I lay the folder down on the kitchen table, and my mother and Buzz sift through the papers that document her complaints, the meeting the mayor had with a lawyer, and the agreement they came to.

“I was looking in files below Town Hall, and came across this.”

“What are you doing looking in those files?”

“It’s public information.”

My mom squeezes my shoulder and smiles at me sweetly, which has the calming effect of a cup of herbal tea.

“I mean, why are you looking at files in the first place? Is something going on?”

I relay the whole story about the park, and as I do, Buzz pulls out some plates, forks, and a pie from the fridge, and he serves us all up.

“Whipped cream?”

I nod. No pie is complete without my mom’s homemade whipped cream. As I start to eat, I notice my body unclench a bit more.

“...So now Serena and I are looking for anything we can find about the park to help me apply for grants, or…anything really to save the park.”

“You and Serena again, huh?” Buzz has a twinkle in his eyes.

“No, not us again. She’s helping me as the mayor. Nothing else.”

Why do I feel like a teenager being interrogated by his parents again?

“And Blake Johnson is running against Serena this election. And if he sexually harassed you, the town has a right to know. I have a right to know. What happened?”

My mom and Buzz exchange looks again, and she nods.

“As you know, I worked as the administrator at Town Hall for the first few years we lived here. And Blake was one of the council members. It began somewhat innocently—”

“Harassment isn’t innocent, Mom. Don’t protect him.”

She places her hand on mine. She always does this to calm me down.

“Blake was having trouble in his marriage, and he confided in me one day when I was working late to finish up a project. After that evening, he changed. He started doing little things that seemed like no big deal, just some extra attention here and there. But over time things escalated. Never to the point that I could say I was being harassed, though. He knew Buzz and I were together, but that didn’t seem to matter to him.

And honestly,” she squeezes Buzz’s hand, “he started to tell me that I deserved better than what I had. I never thought that, but he wouldn’t let it drop.

And then he began leaving little gifts on my desk.

Nothing over the top. Always toeing the line.

He always had an out, like he'd stumbled across it. Like the little gifts were an after thought. I always threw them away.”

Keeping my butt in this chair is becoming increasingly difficult. I want to go outside and scream. I want to drive to Blake’s house and make him regret he ever took one look at my mother. And I want to make sure he knows that Serena is off-limits personally and politically.

“Then he came to Town Hall one day when no one else was around. Just me. And he seemed off. Something was wrong—I could see it in his eyes. And he…well, he made a pass at me. He cornered me and tried to kiss me. So, I did what any woman would do. I kneed him in the crotch, ran away, and locked myself in the bathroom. He called out to me a few times in between groaning and swearing. When I heard him leave the building a few minutes later, I locked the front door and called the mayor to report him. And the rest is history.”

“But it isn’t history, Mom. He’s trying to get back into a position of power. And besides, you ended up leaving that job after that happened, didn't you? His actions hurt you.”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts. He has to be stopped. If he becomes mayor, who is going to hold him accountable if he does it again?”

“What do you want me to do? I agreed not to say anything if he left the council.”

“Did you sign anything to that effect?”

“Not that I recall.”

I spread all the documents from the file across the table while Buzz clears our pie plates.

“Our son is right, Callie. Unless you signed an agreement, which surely expired after all this time, the town has a right to know about the man who wants to lead them. Think of the new admin, Meredith.”

We comb through everything in the file. There is only a brief mention that Mom would stay in her position, and Blake would resign. Nothing that says she can’t discuss it.

“Why doesn’t anyone in the town seem to know about this? Surely someone remembers him resigning from the council unexpectedly?”

“Because he told everyone he was resigning to focus on his family. They practically gave him a parade for being a man who prioritized his marriage.”

If I recall correctly, Blake's kids moved away after high school and rarely come back to visit. Maybe there's more rot in that family than we know about.

I lean back in my chair and look at my parents.

Two solid people who love my brothers and I unconditionally, even after all the years of chaos we created.

We're so lucky to have them. I just wish Buzz was my flesh and blood.

I wish this good man was the one who made me, instead of the monster we escaped from when I was a baby.

The one whose DNA courses through my veins.

The one whose rage lives and breathes through me, threatening to erupt.

Maybe I’d have a different life if Buzz was my father and not just my dad.