Chapter Thirty-One
chapter THIRTY-ONE
L orrie waited patiently for Curtis to hang up the phone and join her in the living room. She knew what the call was about, and hearing information on Ethan’s whereabouts had become essential to her sanity. Luckily, thanks to her discreet eavesdropping, she knew things were fine. She was grateful for that.
“He’s all right,” Curtis grumbled when he appeared beside the couch a few minutes later.
“Where is he?” she asked calmly, offering her husband her full attention.
“Houston. With Beau.”
“Who told you?”
“Zane. Beau left him a voice mail before they left. And I called Jared. He confirmed. Ethan stopped in to let him know as well.”
Lorrie released the breath she’d been holding. She had every right to be nervous when it came to Ethan. Although her son didn’t realize it, Lorrie and Curtis were both aware of what had happened to him all those years ago. They were blessed with boys who were concerned about one another, and although Sawyer had kept Ethan’s secret safe from the rest of his brothers, he’d had the common sense to call their father the night Ethan had been hurt.
Remembering the event risked stealing several years off her life, because at the time, Lorrie had worried about her son’s well-being and not just in the physical sense. Especially after the devastating loss of Gavin Reardon several weeks after Gavin’s older brother had beaten Ethan.
It’d taken everything in her power to hold Sawyer and Curtis back, threatening them both with the law if they even thought about going after Jimmy. Although she fully believed that disturbed young man deserved punishment, she did not believe it should come from her family. The possibility of losing one of her boys or her husband wasn’t something she ever wanted to consider; that included the possibility of one of them spending the rest of his life in prison.
And, that afternoon, as soon as they were unable to locate Ethan, she’d gone into a full-blown panic. From the sound of it, the boys at least had the decency to make sure she and Curtis would know they were all right.
“When will they be back?” she asked Curtis, enjoying the sigh of relief knowing that Ethan and Beau were both okay. She couldn’t deny her excitement over the fact that they were together, either. Those two young men were looking for something, and she had a sneaking suspicion that they had already found it, but if she had to guess, one or both of them was being stubborn.
Some alone time would do them some good.
“Tomorrow or Saturday, Jared said. Ethan’s going to Kaleb and Zoey’s to watch Mason on Saturday night.”
“Good. Good.” Lorrie had seen the way Ethan’s eyes lit up when he was around Mason and she liked the idea of him spending time with his nephew.
Curtis moved across the room to the coat rack, and Lorrie watched carefully, weighing her next question. “Where are you going?”
“Moonshiners.”
She had a feeling he was going to say that. “Did the boys invite you?”
“Yeah,” Curtis said solemnly. “Travis called earlier. He’s worried about Sawyer.”
Lorrie stood from her seat and watched her husband as he shrugged on his well-worn Carhartt jacket before tucking his cell phone in the inside pocket.
“Please be careful,” she told him.
Curtis gave her that sexy grin that still made her insides tingle. She loved him with the same passion she’d had when they first met. Although, her heart had grown much more attached over the years, and when she thought he might step in to defend their boys, she couldn’t help but worry.
“Is everything okay with Sawyer?” she asked, knowing the answer before he said it.
“He’s having a hard time with what’s going on with Ethan.”
Rightfully so. Sawyer had been the one to take care of Ethan, to nurse him back to health when the worst had happened. Although Ethan didn’t know it, Lorrie had checked in with Sawyer daily, making sure that her boy was being taken care of. Since then, she knew Sawyer had become extremely protective of Ethan.
“Call me when you’re on your way home,” she told Curtis, making her way across the room. Grabbing the edges of his jacket gently, she pulled him close and went up on her toes when he leaned in for a kiss.
“Will do.”
Lorrie released Curtis, watching as he walked out the back door. Despite her husband’s need to keep her sheltered from the trouble that seemed to be brewing when it came to her children, she knew something was going on. She might not have the specifics, but she fully intended to find out.
After all, what kind of mother would she be if she weren’t prepared to ensure her boys were safe? All of them.
CURTIS PULLED INTO the parking lot of Moonshiners, his gut churning after the story he’d heard from Travis just a short while ago. Even though Travis insisted that he should stay home, Curtis wasn’t having any of it. He’d raised his boys right, taught them to stand up for themselves and those who needed standing up for, but Curtis believed wholeheartedly that not all lessons could be learned the easy way.
And apparently Jimmy Reardon needed a good hard lesson.
Not that Curtis was a violent man. Quite the opposite, but he believed in fighting for his own. And what had happened to Ethan at the hands of Jimmy had managed to go unpunished for far too long.
As he headed into the bar, Curtis located Travis’s truck, Kaleb’s truck, as well as Sawyer’s car. He didn’t see the others, so he assumed the twins and Zane had other plans for the night. That was just as well.
“Hey, Pa,” Sawyer greeted him when he stepped up to the bar, the overly loud country and Western music making it difficult for him to hear. Curtis grinned. No, he was not getting old, he told himself. The music was just loud. That’s all.
“What’s up, boy?” he asked as he signaled for Mack to bring him a beer.
“Not a damn thing,” Sawyer said, glancing behind him as though he was looking for someone.
“Something’s up,” Curtis stated, not believing his son for a single minute. Sawyer was on edge, his shoulders tense, his muscles geared up for a fight. A quick perusal of the bar told Curtis who was there and exactly where they were located.
Travis and Gage were near the pool tables, watching a couple of guys play. Looked like they left Kylie at home tonight. Another thing to be grateful for. His boys weren’t stupid, that was for damned sure.
He nodded his head at Travis, acknowledging him before doing a three-sixty to see who else was in the place. “Charlie,” he called out to his buddy who was sitting in the far corner.
“Curtis, what brings your old ass down here?” Charlie hollered with a gruff chuckle.
“Same thing that brought yours down here,” he answered, lifting his beer up.
“Glad to see you.” Curtis heard the underlying meaning of Charlie’s comment, and that’s when Curtis noticed the four men who were sitting at a table near the door. Jimmy Reardon was one of them. Curtis would never forget that man’s face, would recognize him anywhere. After what he did to Ethan, Curtis had studied his face, prayed that he never caught the man in a dark alley and that one of his boys didn’t, either.
“Settle down, Pa,” Sawyer mumbled from beside him. Curtis glanced down and realized his hands were balled into fists at his sides. Damn, he was pretty sure he hadn’t been this riled up for at least... well, since what happened to Zane. And now the horrifying nightmare of what happened to Ethan had risen to the surface once again.
“Woo-hoo! You’re up, Travis! Show that boy what you’ve got!” Some cowboy in the back of the bar was yelling along with the other hoots and hollers around the pool table.
Curtis sipped his beer and turned to look at his oldest son. The grin on Travis’s face made his heart swell. Curtis had wondered for far too long whether that boy would ever find true happiness. And now he had. In abundance, which was what he deserved.
“Fucking faggots.”
Curtis’s head snapped toward the front of the room where the foul language had erupted from at the same time Sawyer got to his feet. Instead of indulging the dim-witted little shits, Curtis grabbed Sawyer’s arm and pulled him up short before he could get far.
Sawyer stared down to where Curtis’s fingers were clamped around his ropy forearm and then back up to meet his eyes.
“Not yet, son. Not yet.”
Some of the tension relaxed in Sawyer’s arm, and Curtis let him go.
The noise in the back settled to a dull roar, but to Curtis’s relief, Travis hadn’t moved. Then again, Gage was keeping a keen eye on the situation. Ever the cop, that one was.
For the next half hour, things seemed relatively normal. No more hateful comments, the boys in the back continued to play pool, and Curtis had taken a seat at the bar and was chatting with Sawyer about the resort. Just normal, everyday stuff. And if Curtis had believed for even one second that tensions weren’t high and a storm wasn’t brewing within the thin walls of the bar, he would’ve been kidding himself.
Curtis turned slowly when Jimmy Reardon and one of the others at his table stood. They didn’t head toward the door as Curtis had hoped. Instead, they were heading toward the tables in the back. As though synchronized, Curtis stood at the same time Sawyer did and they moved in behind them.
Just a precaution, nothing more.
Speaking of precaution... “Hey, Mack,” Curtis whispered as he passed the end of the bar where Mack was wiping down a glass.
“S’up?” Mack asked, his eyebrows hidden in his scraggly hair.
“Call the sheriff, would ya?”
Sawyer’s head snapped in his direction, but Curtis didn’t say a word. It was high time they put an end to this bullshit once and for all. And since Curtis had no intention of any of his boys spending time in jail or the hospital, he was going to make sure he got it taken care of.