CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER
FOUR
His phone rang. Without looking at the caller ID he answered without a word.
“Rusty’s after shift ends? I need a fucking beer, man,” Peter James announced after a beat.
“Yeah. I need to grab a shower and change clothes. I’ll meet you there,” Jayson agreed, knowing he’d need the alcohol.
Rusty’s was one of the local bars he would go to when he didn’t feel like hooking up with anyone. When you were born and raised in a small town, one tended to know everyone more than they really wanted to.
It’s why Jayson usually went to the bars outside of Hellburn Falls. He usually would go into Asheville or Swannanoa where the tourists would frequent since most were only in town for the weekend.
He didn’t have to worry about them wanting the white picket fence dream. The one time he made the drunken mistake of hooking up with a local right after coming home, he couldn’t get rid of her for months.
She’d been determined to rekindle their relationship and was already talking about wedding bells and babies. That shit wasn’t happening.
When she’d caught him with another woman, she’d lost her shit. But it did what he’d wanted to do, so far.
Tonight, he wasn’t going to fuck another woman to forget Lana Pennington. Hadn’t worked for him these last six years, so tonight would only be a drunk night.
Three hours later, Jayson walked into Rusty’s and found Peter at the bar with his beer waiting. After ordering a cheeseburger and fries, he started drinking his beer.
“Lana’s back in town,” Peter started right off the bat with the news he’d already figured out.
“So, I’ve heard. Christy’s meeting her tomorrow to help with the dad’s arrangements.” Jayson took a gulp of his beer.
“She’s not here alone.”
“So, she’s found her someone who makes her happy. Good for her. Proves she never cared about me.”
Jayson downed his beer in three more swallows, slamming the glass on the bar. After signaling to the bartender to get him another one, he turned to survey the crowd.
“It wasn’t a man. She has two of her teammates here with her. Turns out she’s a cop in Houston. Part of some spec ops task force there. When I arrived on scene, they were in the kitchen of Lana’s old house with Nan, having sweet tea. Nan says she’s not hitched.”
“She got out of the Army?” Jayson looked over at Peter in shock.
“Yeah.”
Jayson watched his friend fiddle around a little, appearing nervous about something. He kept studying his friend until the guy sighed heavily.
“She has a kid, Jayson. Her friend, Sunny said she was knocked up by an ex who cheated on her with another woman that he’d also gotten pregnant when she was in the Army. I saw the little girl, Jay. She’s a spitting image of you and Lana together.”
Jayson looked at his best friend in shock, listening to what Peter had told him made all the memories of the night Lana had left him rush forward. Memories he’d tried for years to forget but never worked.
“She wouldn’t do that to me…”
Jayson stopped his statement in its tracks when he saw the look in his friend’s eyes. He’d seen the child himself.
“H-how old?”
“She’s seven, I believe the Sunny chick said. The little girl has your eyes and hair. Everything else is all Lana. Even her attitude.” Peter chuckled as he took a sip of his beer.
“I never cheated on her. She never gave me a chance to prove where I was when Aleman accused me of knocking her up. The fact she didn’t trust me is what broke me the most.”
“Did they ever find out who the real daddy of that bitch’s baby was?”
Jayson stared into his beer for several minutes as he fought his emotions at the news he’d just learned. He had a kid…with Lana.
“Um, yeah. Turns out she was banging a guy in another battalion, along with two of his teammates. She saw me and that guy talking one day and set sights on me. When I ignored her and paid her no attention it made her more determined to nail me.”
“She ever get into trouble?” Peter pressed on as he took another sip of his beer.
“Yeah. She had violated the R.O. I had on her before Lana left me to tell Lana she was knocked up by me. When the X.O. found out, she was arrested, and court martialed. She was dishonorably discharged.”
“Did Lana ever try to reach out to you after she left?”
Jayson looked at his best friend for several seconds. “No. She never reached out and I didn’t change my number until I was forced to by the Army because Aleman kept calling me.”
“Damn, I’m sorry. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m debating on waiting to see what Christy says then go from there.”
“She doesn’t know you’re back in town. She thinks you’re still in the Army. I didn’t tell her otherwise and neither did Nan.”
Jayson looked over at Peter to gauge what he was implying. Lana didn’t know he was back in Hellburn Falls.
Guess when he shows up out of the blue it will be a shock to her then. Serves her right he guessed.
Crystal Mackensie stood on the street corner giggling with her best friend. Her parents thought she was staying the night at Stacie’s house, while the Millers thought Stacie was staying at her house.
The truth was that the girls were meeting up with a college guy that Stacie had been talking to on the internet. Their parents were worried about stuff like that because of a couple of other girls that had gotten snatched after lying about their whereabouts to their parents.
Amateurs. She and Stacie were pros at this kind of thing.
“I’m so nervous,” Stacie Miller huffed as she looked around.
“Relax. I’m here. That’s what best friends are for.” Crystal patted her best friend’s arm as she too looked around at their surroundings.
Both girls watched as a van pulled up to the curb. When the side panel door opened, the girls waved at the guy who introduced himself as Chad, Dave’s best friend, and gave them room to jump in.