20
Dante
Some secrets are meant to be kept secret,played in my head as I sat across from Raymond in the bar at the clubhouse. It was Friday night; karaoke night, and Em made me promise not to tell my cousin Birdie was going to Montana. As far as I knew, Storm hadn’t told anyone at Birdie’s request.
But it felt like I was deceiving my cousin, and that didn’t sit well with me. The guy had been in a bad way since the accident. Finding out he was going to be a father hadn’t helped. Tabitha had been calling him at all hours of the day. Everything bothered her about her pregnancy.
She was exhausted. She had trouble sleeping. Tabitha was cranky, and a royal pain in the ass from what I could see. I felt awful for Raymond. The woman was seriously running him ragged with her demands of chocolate shakes and messages.
I couldn’t deal with someone so freaking needy. Of course, I’d never complain about Ember if she had a difficult pregnancy. But I guess that was because I loved her.
“Is she coming tonight?” Raymond asked in a flat tone. He hadn’t seen Birdie in a couple of weeks, and I suspected it was killing her.
“Em says she is.” I shrugged like I hadn’t spoken to Birdie myself earlier today, but I had. Em and I were taking her to the airport tomorrow morning. She’d told me it would be too hard saying good-bye to her mom and dad and didn’t want to be in a car with them for two hours.
“What about your baby momma? Will she be here?” I was confident Birdie wouldn’t enter the bar if she saw Tabitha with Raymond.
“Hell no. I need a break.”
“Troubles in paradise already, cuz?”
“She’s not my person, so you figure it out.” His gaze darted behind me, and I could tell Birdie had arrived.
Raymond gulped thickly, then picked up his beer and guzzled it. He tracked Birdie like a cocaine addict would a bag of white powder, desperate for their next hit.
“Hey.” Em wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, “I’m going to sit at Birdie’s table with the girls, okay?”
“Sure, baby. Have fun.”
“Thank you.” She kissed me, then left.
“Will she ever acknowledge my presence again?”
“I’m sure she will, eventually.”
Raymond slumped in his chair. “It’s not like I got her pregnant on purpose. The fucking condom broke.”
“So, she said.”
“Why would she lie?”
I leaned toward him, so I didn’t have to shout above the music. “You’re not this stupid, Ray. We all know how babies are made. You got sloppy and now you have to suffer the consequences.”
Laughing came from the girls’ table. We both turned toward them. Chase delivered a tray of tequila shots and put one in each of Birdie’s hands.
“He shouldn’t encourage her like that,” Raymond grumbled.
“Dude, it’s not your problem. Leave her alone, already. You got what you wanted.”
“And what’s that?”
“She’s moving on like you told her to. I mean, you’re having a baby, so, yeah…” I needed to shut my trap before I unloaded on him.
Raymond wasn’t stupid. He knew he fucked up and was trapped. Apparently, he’d gotten ballsy and offered to pay for an abortion, and Tabitha cried. I doubt he would’ve let her go through with it. He’d been unhinged and desperate.
Like my momma always said, abstinence is the only guarantee. I might have been a surprise, but my folks had gone in with both eyes wide open. They had wanted a baby. They’d been intentional, like Em and I. We wanted a baby, and I’d make sure we had one.
A couple of hours passed seamlessly. Ray and I talked about sports and about ice fishing next season. He continued to stare at Birdie. I felt fucking bad for the guy. His own screwup would torment him for the rest of this life. I knew Birdie better than anyone and she’d never be with him after he got that chick pregnant.
“What the fuck is she doing,” he said. It wasn’t a question. I believed he knew exactly what she was up to, just as I did.
Birdie took the stage and grabbed her microphone. “Tonight, I’ll being doing a solo number. Just one. I hope you enjoy it.” She went to the karaoke machine and put in her selection.
I didn’t know what she’d sing, but if I had to guess, it would be something that sent a message to Raymond.
The music started, and I didn’t recognize it.
“No, she’s not.”
“What?” I asked Raymond.
“She’s singing my favorite Christopher Cross song. She’s fucking singing ‘Ride Like the Wind.’”
Still, I wasn’t familiar with the song, so I dialed into the lyrics.
Birdie shimmied her shoulders, brushed her long brown hair off her shoulders and gave us all her sassy attitude as she belted the song. Not knowing what the original song sounded like, I had to give her props. It was a rockin’ song.
If there was a message in the song for Raymond, it was good-bye. She was telling him she was leaving, and she wouldn’t look back. Whether or not he had made the connections, I didn’t know.
“Fuck, she killed it.” He stared at her, admiration shimmering in her eyes. Sort of put a lump in my throat. I wanted to tell him she would be gone tomorrow morning, in case he wanted to apologize or something. But I kept her secret, and it about made me barf, lying to him.
The crowd cheered and wolf whistles came from every direction. Even Raymond clapped and hollered, slay, slay, slay.
Birdie ignored him, of course.
She curtseyed and rejoined her girlfriends. For the rest of the evening, I drank and bullshitted with some guys. All the while, I felt like the worst cousin ever. But there wasn’t shit I could do about it, because I’d promised to keep my mouth shut and I wasn’t about to break a promise I’d made to Ember.
My heart fucking shattered watching Em and Birdie say good-bye. It reminded me of when my mom and dad brought me to the airport when I joined the Army.
The crying. The hugging. More crying and hugging.
It wasn’t like Em would never see Birdie again. She wasn’t moving overseas or to outer space.
“You’ll call me every day, right?” Birdie asked.
“Of course I will. And you’ll text before you go to bed, right? I mean, unless Saint will be with you.”
Oh, jeez.
“You’re jumping ahead. He’s just helping me,” Birdie said.
Finally, someone was the voice of reason.
“Yes, of course. I just have a good feeling about him.”
“Me, too.” Birdie hugged her some more. A few tears rolled down her face, but she was holding it together better than Em.
“My turn.” I pulled the girls apart and gave Birdie a bearhug. “Don’t let that Viking into your bed. He’s not husband material.”
Birdie snorted. “I know that. But he’s nice to me and I like him.”
“Not a good combination, Bird. If you need anything, anything at all, call me. I’ll be there within a day.”
“And I’ll be riding shotgun.” Em squeezed into our hug.
“You guys are the best. But I’m only gonna be gone for as long as it takes the club to catch the culprits. I’ll be back before you know it.” Birdie pulled away and inhaled a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
“Melody?” a deep voice said from behind me.
“Saint?” Birdie stared in shock. “What are you doing here?”
“Nothing much. Just waiting for you to hurry it up so we can fly home to Montana.”
Birdie grinned and her cheeks turned pink.
“Minnesota is her home,” Ember snipped.
Saint didn’t reply. He took Birdie’s carry on and stared at her. “You ready, Melody?”
“Am I ready?” She flicked her blue eyes at Ember.
“I think you are, babe.”
“Well, I’m not gonna stay out in the bitterly cold for much longer. If you’re coming with me, we’re going inside now,” he told her in a no-nonsense way.
“Okay, then.” She gave Em a quick hug and accepted Saint’s hand. “Call me,” she threw over her shoulder as they entered the terminal.
“Holy shit. He came to fly back with her. Did you know about this?” Ember asked me as I opened the door of my Jeep for her to hop in.
“Nope. It was pretty cool of him, though.”
“Yes, it was.” She smiled like a fool. Not sure why? He wasn’t that good looking.
I’d dropped Ember off at her parents’ place, so I could finally tell Raymond that Birdie was gone. I dreaded this kind of situation.
Plus, Birdie had given me a letter to give to him. I hated this kind of drama.
The second my gaze connected with Raymond’s; it was like he could read my mind.
“What’s up?”
I handed him the letter and sat down. “It’s from Birdie. Read it in your room.”
“Why?” he asked, irritation thick in his voice.
“Do you want an audience, while you read it?”
“No. I mean, why did she have you give it to me when she could’ve given it herself?”
“Oh. Because she’s not here.”
“I see that.”
“She’s in Montana.” I let the words fly out of my mouth. We were drawing attention from the others, and it was not good.
“What the fuck for?”
Storm burst into the bar with a red face and swollen eyes. He went straight for Raymond, shoved him onto his back and crouched over him. “She’s gone because of you, you motherfucker! My baby left because of you!” He punched Ray in the face, then raised his fist like he was going to hit him again.
I jumped out of my chair but didn’t dare interfere.
“You’re not worth it!” Storm backed up. “I told her she didn’t have to go this morning. That we know who was targeting her, and she was safe now.”
“Who was it?” I asked. This was the first time I’d heard of it.
“The underage chick,” Storm growled. His eyes were wild with rage and locked on Raymond.
“Oh, shit. How’d you find out?” I was doing my best to defuse the situation, but it didn’t seem to be working.
“Your CO showed up shortly after y’all left. He discovered the images on his daughter’s computer and began investigating. He’s handling his daughter. Seems she’s been in and out of a mental facility for years.”
“Christ, I did not know.” I scrubbed the side of my cheek. “And Birdie knew?”
“Yes. That’s why I called her when you were on your way to The Cities.”
I recalled hearing her say, Dad, I just can’t. He’s having a baby with someone else.
“I’m sorry, Storm.” Raymond got off the floor. “I didn’t mean to drive her away.”
“You fucking broke her heart!” He looked like he wanted to go at him again.
“I’ll talk to her. Explain what happened.”
“No! Just stay the fuck away from my daughter. You had your chance and blew it!” Storm left as fast as he’d arrived. A real tornado on legs.
“It’s for the best,” Raymond muttered as he went to the bar. “She’ll be happy in Montana with Saint.”
“She’ll be back. Figure your shit out with Tabitha and you’ll see. If you two are meant to be, you will be.” Of course, I wasn’t sure I believed my own words, but it sounded good.
When Raymond didn’t respond, I left to go pick up my woman. I needed her, and I was confident she needed me, too.
What a fucked-up day…